East-west orientation of the roof surfaces, gas or air heat pump

Hello forum community,

we are currently facing the following problem:

We are planning to build our own house (solid construction 140 m²) on our property, whereby (as the title already says) the ridge direction is such that the roof surfaces face the east and west sides. We are thinking about the right choice of heating system. A natural gas line is located at the property boundary. The primary energy demand cannot be determined yet. We are a family of three and are planning to have more members :-)

District heating, oil and geothermal energy are not options for us. Pellet heating is also out of the question due to limited space. Actually, only two heating systems are available: gas boiler + solar or air-to-water heat pump.

Now my question is: under what conditions and based on which criteria should I decide on one of the two systems???

I am aware that no selection can be made without concrete information/numbers. Nevertheless, your contributions should help me decide or focus more on certain things, etc....

Best regards

Hello,

...Actually, only two heating systems are available for selection. Gas heater + solar or air-water heat pump.

Since a narrowing down has already been made here, the result also depends on the figures of a basic survey.

...I am aware that no selection can be made without concrete information/numbers. Nevertheless, your posts should help me decide or pay more attention to certain things, etc....

Are you aware of the contradiction in your own statements?

Best regards

By the way Taler: If you have nothing to say on the subject, you can also just leave such posts alone. But that way you also get over 1000 posts. Congratulations on that!

Keep in mind, solar thermal energy does not only come from the sun directly, but the modules also draw heat from the air during cloudy conditions or indirect radiation, although not as much as when the sun is shining directly on them, they never drop to zero like solar power systems do when the sun isn't there.

Do you want to use solar for hot water or also for heating support? Are the roof areas from east at sunrise and west until sunset free or are other buildings/trees etc. in the way that limit the time window?

Personally, I would choose an air-water heat pump and combine it with solar. I am not a fan of gas, and the gas price will always be higher than electricity costs (considering the annual energy demand); this is due to political reasons alone.

There is nothing against installing solar panels, for example, two panels on the east side and two on the west side. But for that, I do not know the local circumstances; I would meet with the heating technician on site and review the sun positions throughout the year.

By the way, the heat pump usually has a longer service life than a gas boiler and you don’t have such high maintenance costs (modern systems are not simply adjusted in 2 minutes, etc.).

...I would personally choose an air-to-water heat pump and combine it with solar...

Not me, unless it is photovoltaic ;-) In addition, a "normal" air heat pump is not suitable for every application!

regards

I would personally choose an air-to-water heat pump and combine it with solar. I'm not a fan of gas, and the gas price will always be higher than electricity costs (considering the annual energy demand), which is due to political reasons alone.

Heat pump and solar thermal system? Often makes little sense. When it's warm outside and the heat pump is really efficient, the solar thermal system delivers the most. I wouldn't be so sure about the gas and electricity costs either. ;) At the moment, the air heat pump is only cheaper in terms of consumption costs if the annual performance factor is significantly above 3. And with real implementations, this sometimes gets very tight. See also all the threads in various forums on the topic of air heat pump consumption.