ᐅ Would you choose an air source heat pump again? I am looking for alternatives to air source heat pumps.
Created on: 9 Apr 2015 19:45
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xycrazyHi everyone,
we are facing a decision regarding the heating system for our new build! The house has 160m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space plus a basement apartment with about 80m² (861 sq ft).
I have to admit, it’s not easy. Initially, I was leaning towards an air-to-water heat pump, then we considered pellets for a while, and now we are back to the air-to-water heat pump. Meanwhile, I’ve also read about trench collectors, which, if installed by yourself, can save the high investment costs of geothermal systems and make them similarly priced to air-to-water heat pumps.
You often read that air-to-water heat pumps only work well if everything is properly sized and the winter is relatively mild. I would be interested in hearing generally if you would choose an air-to-water heat pump again and what your monthly electricity consumption is. I’m concerned about heating with electricity. In the past, night storage heaters were criticized, and now we are supposed to heat with electricity again? Even though the air-to-water heat pump is much more efficient, I still feel uneasy because of the dependency on electricity prices and all the horror stories about very high energy bills.
By the way, we were recommended the Wolf BWL-1-A (outdoor installation). It is supposed to be very, very quiet but not exactly small. Does anyone have experience with it?
What would you choose as an alternative to the air-to-water heat pump? Gas? That’s basically not an option for me. I’m not comfortable having a gas line in the house, unless you have good arguments for it.
Other alternatives? Fireplace with buffer tank? Pellets?
Looking forward to your answers.
we are facing a decision regarding the heating system for our new build! The house has 160m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space plus a basement apartment with about 80m² (861 sq ft).
I have to admit, it’s not easy. Initially, I was leaning towards an air-to-water heat pump, then we considered pellets for a while, and now we are back to the air-to-water heat pump. Meanwhile, I’ve also read about trench collectors, which, if installed by yourself, can save the high investment costs of geothermal systems and make them similarly priced to air-to-water heat pumps.
You often read that air-to-water heat pumps only work well if everything is properly sized and the winter is relatively mild. I would be interested in hearing generally if you would choose an air-to-water heat pump again and what your monthly electricity consumption is. I’m concerned about heating with electricity. In the past, night storage heaters were criticized, and now we are supposed to heat with electricity again? Even though the air-to-water heat pump is much more efficient, I still feel uneasy because of the dependency on electricity prices and all the horror stories about very high energy bills.
By the way, we were recommended the Wolf BWL-1-A (outdoor installation). It is supposed to be very, very quiet but not exactly small. Does anyone have experience with it?
What would you choose as an alternative to the air-to-water heat pump? Gas? That’s basically not an option for me. I’m not comfortable having a gas line in the house, unless you have good arguments for it.
Other alternatives? Fireplace with buffer tank? Pellets?
Looking forward to your answers.
If there is enough space in the garden, I would tend to choose a brine heat pump with a ground collector (preferably installed as a trench collector). The efficiency is hard to beat.
However, it basically depends on the building’s heating demand. With very low heating load, an air source heat pump may still be more cost-effective.
However, it basically depends on the building’s heating demand. With very low heating load, an air source heat pump may still be more cost-effective.
Sure, it depends on the heating demand. But I have to decide for or against it in advance. And with more than 200m² (2150 sq ft) of living space including the basement, I’m not sure whether gas or another alternative might be more economical. That’s why I’m interested in your consumption... specifically, the electricity costs for the air-source heat pump per year and your living area.
There are several online databases where users share their consumption data. In my opinion, an air-to-water heat pump is an appealing option if the unit is relatively inexpensive and drilling is not permitted or there is no space for ground collectors (or you can’t find anyone who has ever done this before -.-).
Due to the BAFA subsidy for new buildings using efficient ground-source heat pumps, the additional costs of drilling are generally more than offset by the equipment cost difference compared to an air-to-water heat pump and the higher ongoing expenses (this is my bold assumption).
Due to the BAFA subsidy for new buildings using efficient ground-source heat pumps, the additional costs of drilling are generally more than offset by the equipment cost difference compared to an air-to-water heat pump and the higher ongoing expenses (this is my bold assumption).
I can only provide limited information here since we moved in November and have so far only experienced the cold (well, rather cool this year) months. I have only been recording the daily consumption figures since mid-January.
We have a geothermal heating system with deep drilling. Our photovoltaic system supports the household electricity but not the heating electricity. Therefore, the heating electricity meter shows the actual consumption for heating and hot water:
When it was really cold (January/February), the daily consumption averaged 24 kWh of heating electricity.
In March — following the sunny days — it was about 17 kWh.
Now in April, with the somewhat mixed weather, the average was 16 kWh.
And here’s the surprise: This morning, I read the consumption from the previous day (I always do this in the morning before going to work). Yesterday, we used only 3 kWh of heating electricity. I was totally amazed. It was definitely due to the quite intense sunlight yesterday and the significantly higher temperatures. However, I did not expect such a sharp drop in heating electricity consumption.
We have a geothermal heating system with deep drilling. Our photovoltaic system supports the household electricity but not the heating electricity. Therefore, the heating electricity meter shows the actual consumption for heating and hot water:
When it was really cold (January/February), the daily consumption averaged 24 kWh of heating electricity.
In March — following the sunny days — it was about 17 kWh.
Now in April, with the somewhat mixed weather, the average was 16 kWh.
And here’s the surprise: This morning, I read the consumption from the previous day (I always do this in the morning before going to work). Yesterday, we used only 3 kWh of heating electricity. I was totally amazed. It was definitely due to the quite intense sunlight yesterday and the significantly higher temperatures. However, I did not expect such a sharp drop in heating electricity consumption.
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