CO2 Carbon Footprint Gas Heating vs. Heat Pump in New Buildings

I got the 35,000 euros for the heat pump versus 15,000 euros for a gas heating system (both including installation) from a more recent YouTube video. And in another video, it was calculated in detail that installing a heat pump in Germany is not possible for less than 30,000 euros. I’m not an expert, but if that is actually a false assumption, then the matter is settled. Can you provide a source for that?

As you surely know, you can’t cite sources here, otherwise you would have done so,
You can simply check the prices yourself using the price comparison tool of your choice.

But let’s do a calculation ourselves:

Cost Item	Gas Heating	Air-to-Water Heat Pump
Heat Generator	3,000€	5,050€
Expansion Vessel	200€	200€
Water Storage Tank	1,500€	1,500€
Base	0€	1,000€?
Connection Material	600€	400€
Gas Connection Installation	2,000€	0€
Labor	2,000€	2,000€
Total	9,300€	10,150€
+X Profit?	5,000€	5,000€
+ Solar Thermal (without it you probably can’t build gas anymore)	6,000€	0€
SUM	20,300€	15,150€

Of course, you can shift the numbers both ways now.
For example, with the air-to-water heat pump choose not a German but a Korean device.
Or leave solar thermal out of the calculation, like photovoltaics.
Or claim that heating installers want to make more profit on heat pumps and add something on top, etc.
But it clearly points in a direction: factually, there is no reason why an air-to-water heat pump installation should be more expensive than a gas heating system.

Google tells me that you have to expect about 300 euros per year in maintenance costs for a heat pump. I have no personal experience, neither with gas nor with heat pumps.

A heat pump is basically maintenance-free.
A gas heating system, however, is not. Where combustion occurs, ash, acid, etc. accumulate and must be removed.
However, of course you can also take out maintenance contracts for a heat pump, which are often necessary to retain the warranty.

But even if we exclude that from the calculation, the gas heating system is 316€/year more expensive than the air-to-water heat pump!

Are you calculating the 1,400 euros for offsetting the CO2 footprint per year?

Yes, of course, those are the current costs of DAC, i.e., the actual removal of CO2.

Okay, so my whole comparison is based on the assumption that CO2 compensation is not a scam and actually has an effect – i.e., the entire additional CO2 emission is compensated right at the beginning over the lifetime for 800 euros.

I will inform myself about what CO2 compensation schemes, like atmosfair, are actually worth. The entire comparison stands or falls with that.

Your comparison “is based” on two things:
1. Exaggerated prices for heat pumps
2. The assumption that indulgence trading actually removes CO2.

Both can be refuted with a short internet search.

We can open a calculation ourselves:

Remember that you also need a chimney for the gas heating. Or rather, it is now only called an exhaust pipe - but you also need a structural implementation for that, which can cost four figures.

Whoever builds a house these days without a chimney is beyond help. So anyone who spends that much money should always plan for one, better two chimneys. This way you stay flexible and can react quickly. And if you don’t connect anything, you can, for example, very comfortably lay your [Photovoltaik] cables from the roof to the basement if needed.

There are enough smart alecks who years later have tacked such a stainless steel chimney to their exterior wall and now heat their garden with it. These visual highlights are now seen very often.

Again, a chimney is absolutely essential in every house!

Anyone who builds a house without a chimney these days is beyond help. So anyone who invests that much money should always plan for one, better yet two chimneys. This way you remain flexible and can react quickly. And if you don't connect anything, you can, in case of doubt, very easily run your photovoltaic cables from the roof to the basement.

There are plenty of smartass people who, after years, have just tacked some stainless steel chimney to their exterior wall and now heat their garden with it.

Once again, a chimney is absolutely necessary in every house!

Exactly, let's build two chimneys to use them as cable ducts. OMG, it’s really getting more and more absurd with you.

PS: I don’t have a chimney!

My final invoice from 2022:



VAT still has to be added, but the subsidy (back then 35%) deducted. Installation is not extra, but he basically charged list prices without discount for the materials. Most of the components on page 2 you would also have with a gas heating system. Vaillant is not the most expensive brand, but it can definitely be cheaper. 2022 was the heat pump boom and a total supply shortage. So now, after production was basically at its peak in 22 and 23, there should be plenty to do, because they should always be in stock and construction activity for single-family homes has already decreased.
The costs given in the video might come from that time and possibly from renovation, where ancillary measures might still be necessary (larger radiators). But with renovation, larger subsidies are also possible and ancillary measures were also subsidized (here I don’t know if that is still the case, but I believe so).

There have been some recent revelations about compensation, that for very large providers, for example reforestation programs, were subsidized at the start, but then were left to themselves and half or more of the trees did not survive and consequently died. Of course, the full CO2 amount was still booked, which can already be criticized regarding the survival of the trees, since the tree first has to grow for 30-40 years (if that is even enough). Others basically only trade certificates, so buy from companies and countries that emit very little CO2 anyway. And exactly, that achieves nothing. It’s like a pub having a trough into which everyone was allowed to pee. Everyone has one free visit, after that it costs five EUR. Now you can go and buy others their inclusive-pee visit for 2.50, but in the end the trough is still full...

Who nowadays builds a house without a chimney,

... maybe he doesn’t want a heat-retaining fireplace and uses empty conduits for a possible photovoltaic system. He is smart when building.