ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Gas or Air Source Heat Pump + Photovoltaic System + Energy Storage?

Pinkiponk schrieb:

And with gas, I also rely on biogas and similar sources. The prices for biogas are reasonable.

As @Deliverer already mentioned, the resource demand for biogas plants is often very unfavorable in practice, since corn is grown for these plants, which not only consumes land but also significantly depletes the soil.

Deliverer schrieb:

The problem with hydrogen is the underground efficiency.

The issue is that we tend to believe one technology will be able to do everything, while focusing on major drawbacks of each technology instead of considering their specific application advantages.
Hydrogen is an excellent energy carrier with an impressive energy density. Storing energy in hydrogen involves more losses than other storage methods. However, when used with fuel cells, hydrogen is extremely efficient.
Methanol is also an excellent energy carrier with a good energy density. As a liquid, methanol is easy to handle, its production is improving in efficiency, and industrial CO2 emissions can be reused for its production. Methanol is suitable for powering efficient fuel cells.
Current battery technology does not (yet) have the energy density to be used for long-term storage. With modern charging and discharging technology, they are extremely flexible, offering fast charging and good peak load capability. As powerful short-term storage, they are ideally suited—also in many (though not all) mobility applications featuring electric motors.
In the field of sector coupling, a variety of other excellent energy storage options come into play.
It’s about choosing the right energy carrier for the specific requirement, not about one all-encompassing lead technology. Don’t let outdated skeptics guide you; that definitely leads nowhere. It’s better to take one or the other wrong turn but make significant progress along the way.

hampshire schrieb:

Hydrogen is extremely efficient when used with fuel cells

Compared to combustion engines, it could have an advantage. ;-)

No, of course hydrogen and methanol are valuable. And we will need both in huge quantities in the future. The important thing is that the end consumer understands that they won’t directly receive it. It will mainly be used by industry. And even industry, due to the exorbitant price, will try to minimize its consumption as much as possible.

A different picture: Many complain about wind turbines and electric vehicles while hoping for hydrogen or e-fuels. These people need to be made aware that driving with hydrogen or e-fuels requires operating five times more wind turbines than driving with batteries. And no – importing is not a solution, it is even more expensive and not realistic for at least the next 30 years.

First of all, there needs to be a greater change in mindset. Rising energy costs and a CO2 emissions price are certainly painful, but probably effective for that very reason. Ultimately, our daily behavior holds enormous potential for savings that takes effect immediately. Energy that is not needed in the first place is the most environmentally friendly.

For this reason, I am not very upset about fuel prices, even though I consider myself to be especially dependent on a car.

Deliverer schrieb:

Compared to combustion engines, it might come out ahead. ;-)

No, of course hydrogen and methanol are great. And we will need both in huge quantities in the future. The important thing is that the end consumer understands that it won’t reach them directly. It’s all used by industry. And even industry, due to the exorbitant cost, will do everything possible to minimize its use.

A different perspective: Many complain about wind turbines and electric cars while hoping for hydrogen or e-fuels. We need to make it clear to them that driving with hydrogen or e-fuels requires operating five times as many wind turbines as driving with batteries. And no – importing it doesn’t work; it’s even more expensive and not realistic at all within the next 30 years.

Our beloved still “disaster government”… And by disaster, I don’t mean they were disastrous themselves, but that they only acted based on disasters. Shutting down nuclear power plants was one of the government’s major mistakes. It should have been handled differently—first shut down coal power plants, then nuclear plants. What’s the point of shutting down nuclear plants in Germany when there are several at the border in France and soon more in Poland? Given the high-quality standards that apply in Germany, I’d prefer to have a few nuclear power plants in Germany rather than in France or Poland, and then import the electricity from there.

french_fry schrieb:

Thanks! We will be using a Vaillant aroTherm Plus. We plan to position the air-to-water heat pump so that it does not face directly towards the neighbor’s house. The straight-line distance from the air-to-water heat pump to the neighbor’s children’s room would be 8m (26 feet), and 20m (66 feet) to the other two neighbors, who are in direct line of sight of the heat pump, but I hope that won’t be an issue.

Although you are in a rather weak negotiating position, I would still ask the general contractor about the extra charges. A €12,000 (approximately $13,000) surcharge seems quite high: after all, the gas boiler, solar thermal system, and the required piping for those would no longer be needed; and air-to-water heat pumps are not that expensive. If still possible and an option for you, you could also save on the chimney and fireplace. You would save the gas connection anyway. In your arguments in favor of the heat pump, you also mentioned photovoltaics. Are you planning to install photovoltaics?

If you decide on the heat pump and possibly photovoltaics, feel free to ask here again for some pointers on the system design.

Good luck!

Just omitting the buffer tank, which might involve some discussions with the heating installer, can save an additional 2,000€. The effort required for the heat pump is much lower. However, the heat generator in a heat pump system is often actually twice as expensive as a conventional boiler.

In my case (retrofitting an older building), after deducting subsidies, there was a difference of just under 4,000€ between gas and a heat pump. And with that money, I would have had to buy a buffer tank and have a gas connection installed...