Heating with ice, ice heating for single-family house, experience reports

Which soil surveys and test drilling etc. are involved with the deep drilling? Normally, there are maps available for the yield in your region – at least that is the case for our construction project – so that no additional costs will come your way. We pay (however, for a more powerful heat pump with approx. 10kW) about EUR 8,500 for the drilling with everything included such as probes, trenches, etc. (drilling 2x80m). You can buy the heat pump directly with an integrated hot water storage tank, so that the external storage (why heating water storage??? – isn’t there enough storage in the house through the underfloor heating?) is unnecessary.

So friends of mine who built on the other side of the village needed a geologist who conducted a test drilling with a soil survey. That is also because no one in this village has heated with geothermal energy yet. But if something like that already exists, I will inquire about it, thanks for the hint!

Pragmatic solution: Simply get a few offers and then compare. I feel you will then move away from the ice heating (the ice is really just an additional storage medium, right?).
I would be interested in the result.

That’s exactly what I will do. I just hoped to also get some experience reports on how the heating runs, what problems, repairs, maintenance there were. Somehow I can’t find anyone who can show me the system live. But as you already wrote, after the HVAC and the calculations, I will get the offers and also ask the companies if they have reference buildings/customers who are willing to share their experiences.

Hello,

....
I am not sure about the acquisition costs, installation costs (excavation work, delivery, crane, etc.), and maintenance costs whether the source ice storage is worthwhile compared to the geothermal source (deep drilling).

Probably compared to deep drilling. Not sure compared to a trench collector with own labor.
An ice storage is the best and most effective form of solar thermal use. This cannot be said at all about the usual 0815 solar thermal systems. Here, every delivered Wh is actually used!
The effect of crystallization heat is utilized. However, this only works if the solar thermal system ensures complete thawing. It "goes wrong" if the solar thermal system does not guarantee complete thawing.
In addition, for the design, the actual energy extraction as well as the output for heating and hot water must be known, as is the case with every source dimensioning!
Only when the basic data is available can investment expenses be evaluated.
Until then, a glance into a very cloudy crystal ball

best regards

€uro was faster...

I also wanted to ask why not simply use a brine water heat pump with trench collectors?
Either do the earthworks yourself or have them done; costs with us (for a 150m2 living space house) 6550 €uro complete.

I'll bring up the post again. Is there already an update on the decision?

I'm facing a similar decision. We are not allowed to use oil and gas. Air-water heat pump is not an option for us. Ground-water heat pump is probably not feasible due to the size of the plot (would have been my favorite with slinky installation). Borehole is not possible for us.

What remains?!? : Pellet or ice storage

The acquisition costs are not that different.

Everything has its pros and cons, but I actually find it more energy-efficient and "moral" (don't know if that's the right word for it) to not have to burn anything.

Now my question to you: Can you maybe help me a bit with the decision-making? Perhaps I have simply forgotten something in my consideration. Does anyone have experience? Just share your opinions.

I would be very happy.

Morally, a heat pump only makes sense if the electricity used for its operation is generated 100% from renewable sources. However, then it is a very climate-friendly option. Have you ever thought about producing the electricity for it yourself? This way, an autonomy rate of almost 85% can be achieved.

hello,
here are my experiences as a long-term user of an ice heating system - since 2014.
My house has about 240 sqm to heat and I am very enthusiastic. The heating runs (so far) even better than expected.
What was decisive for me was that, when weighing all the pros and cons, this heating system actually only has one disadvantage, that it is somewhat more expensive.
My costs back then amounted to just under 30,000 euros.
In return, the consumption values are already very low. On average, the heating system uses about 2500 kWh heat pump electricity/year, so it ranges between 40 - 45 € per month, considering a Kfw 40 house with underfloor heating.
In return, you can also cool in summer - but only to a limited extent. It only cools and does not dry the air like in a car.
Also, the storage tank heats up relatively quickly, and then the cooling stops. So you have to cool in a controlled way and not keep the terrace door open all the time, which with children in summer is difficult.
Another point is that the heating system runs completely maintenance-free (also so far).
Loading and unloading of the storage tank works without intervention; on warm days in winter it immediately begins storing heat in the tank until 10 degrees are reached again.
Then it stops.
However, at the beginning I had considerable problems with the seal. Almost all of them broke due to temperature fluctuations in the system.
There was definitely some frustration here, no denying that.
But once they were all replaced with seals that really withstand it, it has been quiet since then.
Last year I completely pumped out the water and refilled it, because like water usually, it stinks after some time standing.
It is not prescribed, I just did it on my own initiative.
Conclusion: despite the initial problems, I would take the heating system again at any time, because it runs completely autonomously. You also don’t need smart home control for this, as at such consumption values there isn’t much more to be gained from it.
best regards