Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Black is not a color at all... aside from that...

Here we are once again experiencing the German in pure form. For 16 years it was said, "Politics no longer sticks to anything." Those were the Merkel years. Now we have a party in government that is following its roadmap almost millimeter-perfectly, and people are outraged... but above all surprised. Consistent politics, that is no longer something people are used to after 16 years of botch... uh Merkel.

But it actually started much earlier. The GEG2020 should have actually included the passive house standard as a minimum, according to EU guidelines. In Germany, probably due to the pandemic, it was agreed to stick with the 2016 standard again. Good for me, so I could build with a gas heating system that I stroke every evening... different topic.

In the end, it's like with an alcoholic. You give him a deadline, 2 weeks, 6 months, 2 years, doesn't matter. And on the last day it’s like, "I won’t drink anymore starting tomorrow. Promise. Seriously now. Honestly. No joke!"... bla.

It was clear to everyone that the cut had to come at some point. My uncle proudly told me 3 years ago: "50,000 EUR for insulation? Never worth it, we pay xx EUR for gas per month..." well... meanwhile he pays xx EUR times 4 per month and the renovation would have paid off in 5 years...

The Greens are often accused of Bullerbü. That’s nonsense. In Bullerbü lived all those who thought Russia was our best buddy, Putin was a democrat, and gas would be almost free until the end of our days.

And to fundamentally clear things up about Bullerbü, because I happen to be in Sweden right now. Bullerbü is not a paradise. In Bullerbü, 7-year-old children transport grain to the mill and harvest the fields. Life in 1920 was everything for children... but certainly no Playstation paradise...

It actually started much earlier. The GEG2020 should have included the Passive House standard as a minimum, according to EU regulations. In Germany, presumably also because of the pandemic, it was agreed to stick to the 2016 standard again. Good for me, that way I could install a gas heater that I stroke every evening... different topic.

We voluntarily built with a heat pump in 2020 because we anticipated that gas would become so much more expensive over the lifetime of the first heating system that it would pay off in the long run. Even if it didn’t seem that cheap in the short term yet. We didn’t expect it to happen so quickly in the end. But we did expect the crash to come at some point. After all, the CO2 tax was foreseeable, and 2020 was already six years after the "model democrat" had grabbed Crimea by force. So you could estimate where things were headed.

I think it’s good, but I currently can’t foresee the "bang". I can still get gas for 12 cents/kWh, electricity costs me at least 40 cents/kWh. Plus the absurd surcharge of 15,000 EUR in mid-2022, if we had wanted to have a heat pump... which still wouldn’t have been delivered, so it would have caused enormous costs due to delays in construction... take a breath...

And now the uncertainty whether as an owner of a heat pump in 1-2 years you will even get approval for a wallbox connection... I’m quite satisfied with a gas heating system at the moment. Well, it doesn’t feel very progressive... but the engineer manages quite well with it from time to time.

Gas new customer 11 cents, electricity about 33 cents. So a factor of 1 to 3. Any heat pump can achieve this in new buildings. Thus, running costs are identical. Purchase price of heat pump about 15k more. Lifespan several years shorter. Financially, the heat pump will probably be hard to justify, especially because most people add a wood stove for comfort reasons. But still the best heating technology for new buildings.

I'm relaxed about it. New gas heating, gradually being energetically renovated… and if I have to, a heat pump will be installed in the house, which is also efficient. The research never stops

Gas new customer 11 cents, electricity about 33 cents. So factor 1 to 3. Any heat pump can achieve that even in new buildings. Thus, running costs are identical. Purchase price of heat pump about 15k more. Lifespan several years shorter. Financially, the heat pump will hardly pay off. Especially because most still add a wood stove for comfort reasons. But nevertheless, the best heating technology for new buildings.

In 2015/2016, the heat pump cost almost 10k extra for us. We only chose it because no gas connection was laid in our cul-de-sac and we would have had to pay 10k for the house connection as well, so the gas heating would have come to about the same price. All our neighbors decided on the heat pump for this reason back then. I'm curious when the first ones will run into trouble. We are the only ones with a pure outdoor unit; the others all have split pumps. Let's see if the lifespan differs.