ᐅ Is the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system adequately sized? Any experiences or feedback?

I’ve just been through the same ordeal myself. As a layperson, it’s easy to forget how much space is needed for pipes and the work involved with them. For example, try mentally tracing how your water and ventilation pipes will run from this room into the rest of the house, and consider what that means for the usability of the walls along the way. And as @ypg already mentioned, the air-to-water heat pump in the corner won’t work—you should allow at least 30cm (12 inches) of clearance from the wall so it can be connected. Even if that’s enough, you’ll still face the problem later that no one can access it if you build in more equipment around the system.

Aside from that, the placement of ventilation and heating has a huge potential for (long-term) savings. This should be taken into account whenever possible.

I would estimate that your room just barely has enough space for the connections, heating, and control panels. Everything else will need to be accommodated elsewhere.

ypg schrieb:
Hmm, a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery wouldn’t fit above our storage room anymore. But I find such discussions or drawings not very informative, since rarely is a heating unit mounted on the wall, many pipes need to be accessible, ventilation ducts have their own dimensions, and meters from providers like the water utility must be removable. They have their own regulations.

There are no tall rectangular water tanks either. But as mentioned before, you have to plan enough space for pipes and so on. I understand that these discussions can’t serve as a solid reference, but it helps me get a better overall understanding. Right now, I can only rely on the dimensions from the technical specifications. Information like the air-to-water heat pump needing at least 30cm (12 inches) clearance from the wall is helpful.

hanse987 schrieb:
Where will the fiber optic termination point go? Where should the small server cabinet for the patch panel, switch, router, and possibly NAS be placed?

Will the TV wiring run through the utility room?

At the moment, I would like to place the connections including fiber optic on the upper wall. The air-to-water heat pump, mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, and hot water supply would go on the wall to the left. Most likely, one electrical cabinet will be sufficient, so the lower one could be omitted and the battery could be installed there instead.

Dr Hix schrieb:
I’ve just gone through this hassle myself. As a layperson, it’s easy to forget how much space is needed for pipes and working on them. For example, think through how your water and ventilation pipes will be routed from this room into the house and what that means for how usable those walls will be along the way. And as @ypg already said, the air-to-water heat pump in the corner won’t work—you should plan at least 30cm (12 inches) clearance from the wall for installation and connections. Even if that’s enough, you’ll still have the problem later that no one can access it if you fill in the space with additional equipment.

Besides that, the placement of ventilation and heating has a significant potential for (long-term) savings. That should be taken into account whenever possible.

I would estimate that your room just barely fits all the connections, heating, and electrical cabinets. Everything else will have to be located elsewhere.

Thanks for the information. Do you think it’s enough to install the connections on the upper wall and put the air-to-water heat pump, mechanical ventilation system, and hot water supply on the left wall? If that works, I should be able to manage the rest as well.

Let me put it this way: Our boiler room is 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) wide and 2.65 m (8 ft 8 in) long, with the door located on the narrow side to the right. Opposite the door, at the bottom right, are the electrical and water connections, and on the left runs the drainpipe. On the right long wall are the main electrical distribution panel and the water meter. On the left wall, there is the gas boiler, the 200 l (53 gal) hot water storage tank, as well as the piping with expansion tanks (MAGs), refill station, sludge separator, and so on. Everything is just still comfortably accessible, but otherwise the room is simply full.

I also initially thought I could install the mechanical ventilation system there – no chance.

What is often underestimated with mechanical ventilation systems are the ducts. Either you place the distributor box elsewhere in the house and have to manage four ducts with diameters of 160–200 mm (6–8 in) (possibly even thicker with insulation) in the utility room, or you have the distributor there and need to accommodate at least a dozen flexible ducts.

Edit: Maybe you can fit the distributor boxes under the stairs?!

I’ll put it this way: we planned and built with a small utility room to create more space in the kitchen.

In an area of 1.60m x 2.60m (5.25 ft x 8.5 ft), we fitted: house connections, gas boiler, 300L (79 gal) storage tank, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, solar thermal station, Hager ZB34S, heating control valve for 8 circuits, washing machine + dryer, and I’m also considering installing a 9U cabinet at some point due to the increasing LAN cabling.

So, you can fit quite a lot in there, but the utility providers have to cooperate. Still, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

Could you please take a photo of that? It’s already a piece of art!

Sure, that fits. The gas boiler is located at the back left wall behind the storage tank. The pipe running diagonally upward is the chimney. However, as mentioned, this setup is not recommended.