District heating yes or no

Hello everyone,
We will probably soon purchase a plot of land where there is a mandatory district heating connection, now my wife and I are absolute novices when it comes to district heating, we have informed ourselves on the internet regarding the pros and cons but haven’t really figured out if it’s something for us

One advantage: If you don’t want to deal with heating + maintenance yourself: everything is included here. You pay for repairs and maintenance through the price. This is missing from the bills above. If you already have €200 annual maintenance fees, a €350 connection pays off quickly. No one knows how much gas / wood / electricity prices will rise,... And if the connection obligation exists, the alternative is not even up for discussion anyway – I wouldn’t decide for or against a house based on district heating. If location / house are right, the heating type might be the icing on the cake but not decisive.

Maintenance or problems with the wood chip system can quickly mean no hot water without prior notice for many households (at least in our residential area it was like that, that without prior notice due to maintenance work on the biogas plant's electrical system everything was shut down for half a day and it was minus 5 degrees in winter, since it was a planned maintenance, it was already annoying for those affected... but at least some could find shelter with neighbors who did not have district heating... among other things, the shower was also used at our place once

Maintenance costs of 200 euros hmm well, we have had 0 euros in maintenance costs for the heat pump in 10 years so far... and no costs for the chimney sweep either

There is always another choice, namely another property/residential area

What I find good (don’t remember exactly where that was) are ideas like a system that collects diapers from kindergartens, households, or nursing homes etc. and converts them into energy... at least no wood has to be specially cleared for that (there was once a TV report)

well, we have had 0 euros maintenance costs for the heat pump in 10 years so far

10 years without servicing the heat pump even once or having it checked by a professional? I find that... um... interesting.

Maintenance or problems with the wood chip system can quickly mean no hot water without prior notice for many households (at least this was the case in our housing estate, where due to maintenance work on the biogas plant’s electrical system everything was down for half a day without prior notice, and that at minus 5 degrees in winter. Since it was a planned maintenance, it was already annoying for those affected... But at least some were able to find shelter with neighbors who did not have district heating... in our case, the shower was also used once among other things

Well, I lived for many years in an apartment with district heating, and the heating never failed even once. But that was a large power plant and not a small municipal power plant operated by an E-9 power unit.

If location / house are right, the type of heating might be the icing on the cake but not decisive.

In most cases, you don't have a choice anyway unless you want to start commuting. But precisely for that reason, for me it is not a question of icing on the cake but a case of extortion. It's different with water and sewage because who has their own sewage treatment plant. But the mandatory connection for district heating is coercion by some local politicians who want to be creative and abuse their power in land allocation to impose their ecological prestige projects on people.

In most cases, you have no choice anyway unless you want to start commuting. But that’s exactly why, for me, it’s not a question of the icing on the cake but a case of extortion. With water and sewage it’s different, because who has their own sewage treatment plant? But the mandatory connection to district heating is coercion by some local politicians who want to be creative and abuse their power in land allocation to impose their ecological prestige projects on people.

That reminds me of something... the residents in the Flensburg new development areas from the last 10 years... they complain like cats and dogs that they had to take district heating there