Hello everyone,
we are currently planning to build a relatively large single-family home (living area, including the rooms in the basement used as living space, around 450 sqm (4844 sq ft)).
In addition, we are building an outdoor pool, which should also be heated from April to October. Ideally, it should not have a separate heating system but be integrated into the overall heating concept.
I generally prefer to invest a bit more upfront in order to have lower ongoing costs.
The construction companies mostly recommend an air-to-water heat pump because it requires the least effort for them (no chimney needed, no solar system required).
However, I am somewhat skeptical about heating such a large house and the pool only with a heat pump.
Therefore, the question is:
What would be a reasonable solution for the heating? Heat pump? In combination with solar thermal or photovoltaic? Gas condensing boiler with solar thermal or photovoltaic? Or perhaps even a small combined heat and power plant?
I would really appreciate any input on this.
we are currently planning to build a relatively large single-family home (living area, including the rooms in the basement used as living space, around 450 sqm (4844 sq ft)).
In addition, we are building an outdoor pool, which should also be heated from April to October. Ideally, it should not have a separate heating system but be integrated into the overall heating concept.
I generally prefer to invest a bit more upfront in order to have lower ongoing costs.
The construction companies mostly recommend an air-to-water heat pump because it requires the least effort for them (no chimney needed, no solar system required).
However, I am somewhat skeptical about heating such a large house and the pool only with a heat pump.
Therefore, the question is:
What would be a reasonable solution for the heating? Heat pump? In combination with solar thermal or photovoltaic? Gas condensing boiler with solar thermal or photovoltaic? Or perhaps even a small combined heat and power plant?
I would really appreciate any input on this.
Hello everyone,
just a general note:
The house doesn’t cost 2-3 million but less, and as is usually the case, it definitely matters whether the final cost is higher or not — what counts is the value for money.
And the assumption that just because someone can afford a house that is more expensive than the average cost, it automatically means they can afford every advisor or specialist — that’s not true here.
Besides that, there are many reasons why building through an architect with individual contracts for each trade is not an option:
- We do not live on site but a bit away, so we cannot manage every individual service ourselves
- The construction timeline is very important to us. With individual contracts, given the current workload of tradespeople, significant delays are practically guaranteed since many different trades have to be scheduled in the correct order, all of whom need to be available at the right time
- etc.
Furthermore, even with the main contractor, we have the option to exclude individual services (for example, the heating system) and have them done by a specialist. But you first need to have that specialist lined up — and at the moment, we do not.
just a general note:
The house doesn’t cost 2-3 million but less, and as is usually the case, it definitely matters whether the final cost is higher or not — what counts is the value for money.
And the assumption that just because someone can afford a house that is more expensive than the average cost, it automatically means they can afford every advisor or specialist — that’s not true here.
Besides that, there are many reasons why building through an architect with individual contracts for each trade is not an option:
- We do not live on site but a bit away, so we cannot manage every individual service ourselves
- The construction timeline is very important to us. With individual contracts, given the current workload of tradespeople, significant delays are practically guaranteed since many different trades have to be scheduled in the correct order, all of whom need to be available at the right time
- etc.
Furthermore, even with the main contractor, we have the option to exclude individual services (for example, the heating system) and have them done by a specialist. But you first need to have that specialist lined up — and at the moment, we do not.
Hello Kmk123,
thank you for the brief explanation of why you prefer to build with a general contractor (GC).
I hope you keep us updated and reach out if you have any questions.
I wouldn’t want to judge whether the GC necessarily finishes faster.
Certainly, the time and coordination effort is lower compared to managing individual contracts.
On the other hand, the result is usually less customized and often more expensive overall.
thank you for the brief explanation of why you prefer to build with a general contractor (GC).
I hope you keep us updated and reach out if you have any questions.
I wouldn’t want to judge whether the GC necessarily finishes faster.
Certainly, the time and coordination effort is lower compared to managing individual contracts.
On the other hand, the result is usually less customized and often more expensive overall.