you were away from the street for a while......um....from the forum....
Oh, yes, I somehow just forgot. We've moved now, so there's no big construction progress to report anymore.
I could update my construction report with the "drama" about our heat pump software. But it's not really super dramatic, so probably not that exciting.
That is not my intention at all.
I just thought that something noticeable had "happened" in this direction, i.e. a clear reduction in energy consumption, especially since the houses are so heavily insulated.
I find it quite amazing that the heat pump can even operate that efficiently. After all, it's an electric heating system. Anyone who's ever used one of those plug-in electric heaters knows how much energy they consume. A lot has happened since then and I find the technology fascinating. To achieve consumption roughly at the level where you don't pay more money than if you heat with a fossil fuel. There are calculators for that online.
Beforehand, we played around with the Tecalor toolbox calculator and knew that monetarily we would have roughly the same installment as before. But that was okay for me. From my point of view, the advantages are:
- no gas connection required (potential hazard? More theoretical, I guess. But saves 2000€).
- Entire house can be supplied with renewable energies.
- Avoidance of the CO2 tax (in my personal opinion, CO2 will get much, much more expensive)
- Very good synergy with photovoltaic system. Our photovoltaic system is completely under-dimensioned. We are considering whether to upsize and fill the roof completely with modules, as many as fit.
Modern insulation, of course, saves energy costs, but what balances that out (in our case) is the controlled residential ventilation system. Which I NEVER want to miss again. God, how I love that thing.
A modern controlled residential ventilation system naturally has a high heat recovery rate; I believe ours is around 95%. That sounds great, but that also means that with every complete air exchange, 5% of the heat is lost and naturally has to be reheated. On top of that, you occasionally open a door or a window here and there in winter.
But the indoor climate with controlled ventilation compared to before is simply a piece of quality of life. In our old rented house, we kept everything shut as much as possible (door closed, it's drafty! Don't heat to the window!), just to keep energy costs under control.
In our new house, we have warm AND always good air, at roughly the same price as before. What an improvement!