Dear forum members,
I am new here and, to be honest, I haven’t read all the previous posts yet, so a similar topic might already be discussed.
We are a family with three small children and are fortunate to be allowed to build in our hometown near Regensburg. In 2011, we built a small 145 sqm (1,560 sq ft) Tuscan-style house, but unfortunately, it no longer meets our needs, so we are planning to build again. Our current home is heated with a groundwater heat pump including cooling (which we rarely use). Overall, we are satisfied with the heating results, although on cold winter days, I miss the comfortable “warm feet feeling” that I have experienced with friends who have pellet or gas heating. What bothers me more is that our hot water takes quite a while to heat up and only reaches a temperature where I can still comfortably keep my hand under it.
We are considering a pellet heating system, but to be honest, we haven’t really researched heating systems at all yet—and a lot has probably changed in the last eight years. Our architect has proposed a compact heat pump with a central ventilation system and hot water storage, as this would likely be cheaper than a pellet system with central ventilation. However, for the heat pump, we definitely do not want an outdoor unit. An indoor installation might be possible, but we have concerns about the noise.
Is a central ventilation system really necessary or required? Currently, we have a decentralized ventilation system, which works well overall, but I am quite bothered by the plastic covers inside, which have yellowed over time.
What are your experiences? Ventilation—yes or no?
Heating—pellet, compact unit, or something else?
Thank you very much!
Best regards, Stefanie
I am new here and, to be honest, I haven’t read all the previous posts yet, so a similar topic might already be discussed.
We are a family with three small children and are fortunate to be allowed to build in our hometown near Regensburg. In 2011, we built a small 145 sqm (1,560 sq ft) Tuscan-style house, but unfortunately, it no longer meets our needs, so we are planning to build again. Our current home is heated with a groundwater heat pump including cooling (which we rarely use). Overall, we are satisfied with the heating results, although on cold winter days, I miss the comfortable “warm feet feeling” that I have experienced with friends who have pellet or gas heating. What bothers me more is that our hot water takes quite a while to heat up and only reaches a temperature where I can still comfortably keep my hand under it.
We are considering a pellet heating system, but to be honest, we haven’t really researched heating systems at all yet—and a lot has probably changed in the last eight years. Our architect has proposed a compact heat pump with a central ventilation system and hot water storage, as this would likely be cheaper than a pellet system with central ventilation. However, for the heat pump, we definitely do not want an outdoor unit. An indoor installation might be possible, but we have concerns about the noise.
Is a central ventilation system really necessary or required? Currently, we have a decentralized ventilation system, which works well overall, but I am quite bothered by the plastic covers inside, which have yellowed over time.
What are your experiences? Ventilation—yes or no?
Heating—pellet, compact unit, or something else?
Thank you very much!
Best regards, Stefanie
Bookstar schrieb:
The recent political developments seem to have passed you by as well, but keep dreaming about your so-called great returns that don’t actually exist.
You won’t get a positive return with a ridiculous feed-in tariff of just 12 cents; you need to factor in your own consumption. And if electricity prices drop significantly, your calculation is wrong. No one can guarantee that either.
Thanks to the heat pump tariff, I pay much less for electricity than usual, and without having to put such a device on the roof with all its disadvantages. You won’t find such returns anywhere for an absolutely secure investment based solely on feed-in. What’s so ridiculous about 12 cents? That statement makes no sense without context. It’s like saying 1€ for one kWh of electricity is ridiculous. Nobody claims you can’t make more money with stocks, but that’s not secure—many people have already ruined their lives because of that.
Heat pump tariffs don’t make sense in about 90% of cases, but that’s one way to make the numbers look better.
If anything, political developments are currently moving in a green direction, and you’re talking about the end of renewables...
It’s just baffling.
I’m not talking about gambling on the stock market, where you can get much higher returns; I’m referring to DAX ETFs and similar investments. Over the same period, these carry almost no risk. What happens if your photovoltaic system breaks down? Material defects are usually covered by insurance, but what about the inverter, etc.? A neighbor of mine recently had huge problems. Where is your 100% certainty? Before you dismiss these things as ridiculous, you should inform yourself first.
Hampshire summed it up really well. I don’t think photovoltaic systems are inherently bad; there are also good reasons for them. But returns come far down the list...
and the development of energy prices is uncertain, as the world will change. Predictions, like weather forecasts, are rather unreliable.
Many homeowners consider it and ultimately decide against it. I’m one of them as well.
Hampshire summed it up really well. I don’t think photovoltaic systems are inherently bad; there are also good reasons for them. But returns come far down the list...
and the development of energy prices is uncertain, as the world will change. Predictions, like weather forecasts, are rather unreliable.
Many homeowners consider it and ultimately decide against it. I’m one of them as well.
Except for the inverter, everything comes with a 25-year warranty, and module defects are almost non-existent. What kind of trouble did your neighbor have?
I didn’t start out thinking about the returns either; I would have done it even if it broke even over 20 years. But with how the system is performing, it will pay for itself in 9 years. I just thought it didn’t make sense to compare solar panels to stocks.
When people decide against solar panels, they often give reasons that aren’t really valid, like the one about 12 cents without any real context.
I didn’t start out thinking about the returns either; I would have done it even if it broke even over 20 years. But with how the system is performing, it will pay for itself in 9 years. I just thought it didn’t make sense to compare solar panels to stocks.
When people decide against solar panels, they often give reasons that aren’t really valid, like the one about 12 cents without any real context.
We have now been living for one year in a KfW40+ house with an air-source heat pump (outdoor unit), photovoltaic system, and battery storage. There is a buffer tank connected to the heat pump, underfloor heating, and a central ventilation system. We are very satisfied. The air-source heat pump is extremely quiet; I have to hold my hand near it to tell if it’s running. Only in winter, at -8°C (17.6°F), can you hear it from about 5 meters (16 feet) away. Net energy consumption after 12 months was 822 kWh (2930 kWh consumption minus 2108 kWh feed-in) for electricity, water, and heating. In winter, the indoor temperature is 21°C (70°F), and in summer, exterior venetian blinds shade the rooms. Today, with 35°C (95°F) outside, the indoor temperature was 22°C (71.6°F). We could still retrofit the cooling function on the air-source heat pump.
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