ᐅ Heating / New Single-Family Home Construction / Which Options Make Sense / Costs and Benefits Over 20 Years
Created on: 10 May 2013 11:23
N
Nordlichtchen
Hello... we are about to start building a simple single-family house with 140 sqm (1,507 sq ft) of living space and KfW 70 standard, heat recovery through the ventilation system, windows with 0.5 glazing, etc. Now we are facing the decision of which heating system to install. The options are natural gas with solar support for domestic hot water, natural gas with solar support for both domestic hot water and heating, an air-to-water heat pump (possibly combined with solar support), or a ground-source heat pump with horizontal collectors.
Regarding initial costs, it doesn’t really matter to us since we have sufficient funds. For gas, for example, a lot of piping would be required (30 meters / 98 feet), and for the generally more expensive ground-source heat pump, the earthworks. What matters most to us is what pays off in the long term. It is important that we have a system for the next 10 to 20 years and don’t end up paying more after 10 years for a cheap system due to high running costs. Of course, maintenance is also a factor. According to the heating engineer, a gas system may fail after 15 to 20 years, which is not a big problem, but then the question is whether getting a new gas system would be more worthwhile than, for example, a ground-source heat pump that is supposed to last 30 years.
Also, the question of energy costs: the heat pump runs on electricity (assuming normal household electricity since I don’t believe special tariffs will last forever and that phasing out nuclear power will cause quite a shock to electricity prices). Is it cheaper than a gas system? Of course, neither I nor anyone else knows what electricity and gas will cost in 10 to 20 years. However, most people agree that electricity prices will rise more than gas prices.
Then there is the topic of solar power: the difference between support for domestic hot water and support for both domestic hot water and heating is quite significant. But will it really pay off? I find it very difficult to decide which system or combination makes the most sense.
Regarding initial costs, it doesn’t really matter to us since we have sufficient funds. For gas, for example, a lot of piping would be required (30 meters / 98 feet), and for the generally more expensive ground-source heat pump, the earthworks. What matters most to us is what pays off in the long term. It is important that we have a system for the next 10 to 20 years and don’t end up paying more after 10 years for a cheap system due to high running costs. Of course, maintenance is also a factor. According to the heating engineer, a gas system may fail after 15 to 20 years, which is not a big problem, but then the question is whether getting a new gas system would be more worthwhile than, for example, a ground-source heat pump that is supposed to last 30 years.
Also, the question of energy costs: the heat pump runs on electricity (assuming normal household electricity since I don’t believe special tariffs will last forever and that phasing out nuclear power will cause quite a shock to electricity prices). Is it cheaper than a gas system? Of course, neither I nor anyone else knows what electricity and gas will cost in 10 to 20 years. However, most people agree that electricity prices will rise more than gas prices.
Then there is the topic of solar power: the difference between support for domestic hot water and support for both domestic hot water and heating is quite significant. But will it really pay off? I find it very difficult to decide which system or combination makes the most sense.
Nordlichtchen schrieb:
...If the architect is to carry out the exact calculation for the actual demand, he wants 1000 Euro for it. With this calculation, I can then go to the heating engineer or whoever and have them estimate what costs what and how much running costs are involved. Just for this detail, that is rather expensive; a complete design for clarifying the main priorities of a "normal" single-family house usually costs in this range. However, the building geometry and so on are completely unknown here, so this is tentative. I cannot assess whether the architect has the necessary technical building equipment (TBE) knowledge or training for this.
Leaving the required calculations to a general contractor is, in my opinion, not very effective, since sales interests often play a major role here, and sometimes there are also professional shortcomings.
It is advisable to engage an independent technical building equipment (TBE) planner who is not connected to the project or sales interests.
Best regards