How complicated are heat pumps in practical operation?

I am experiencing it myself as a new owner of a newly built house with a heat pump, underfloor heating, and controlled residential ventilation, who previously lived in an old building with radiators without controlled residential ventilation.

In general, optimizing the heating system is a hobby and fun for me; it's less about saving 5€ on heating costs per month.

Regarding the question of whether one has to get used to it, I think yes, especially if one previously lived in a conventional old building.

The most important factor when it comes to getting used to it is probably the factor called government, also known as wife... (See additional notes)

1. Underfloor heating is sluggish; you can't just turn it off quickly to cool the room and then crank the controller up again (like on a radiator thermostat).
Quote from wife: it's crap, in the past one could also dry a towel or clothes on the radiator. And rooms could be adjusted quickly in terms of temperature.

2. Ventilation/Controlled residential ventilation
I never would have thought how much dirt the controlled residential ventilation filters out (just changed the filter again), and that's even though we live in a new development area with little traffic and still close to the forest and not near an industrial area or something similar.

2.1 Ventilation
I ask my wife if I should lower the heating curve (after all, I am optimizing the heating) because she cracks the windows in the morning and if it’s too warm in the house? No, let's leave it as it is; it’s not because of the ventilation, everything is fine. I crack the windows because it lets in a different kind of oxygen. (I nearly fell off my chair, by the way, it doesn't make the hydraulic balancing any easier)

2.2 Controlled residential ventilation
Since she found out how to set the controlled residential ventilation to manual mode and run it at the highest level, she does it regularly and is resistant to the time programs/automatic mode of the system. However, she doesn't notice that for weeks I have set the highest manual level to the same airflow as the automatic program.
The main thing is that the display shows the system running at full throttle.

In general, optimizing the heating system is a hobby and fun for me; it's less about saving 5€ on heating costs per month.

I can absolutely understand that, and then it’s also the right way! It’s similar for me in other areas; I fiddle around for days, but when it comes to heating, I quickly get annoyed.

Quote wife: it’s crap, in the past you could also dry a drying cloth or clothes on the radiator. And rooms could be quickly adjusted in terms of temperature.

Of course, there are also advantages; I always liked having a radiator, but underfloor heating also has nice aspects.
Sounds like a perfect solution you both have found there :D

but we save on the gas boiler as well as the gas connection, the chimney, and the solar thermal system (which is now mandatory, right?). That sums up to around 10K, doesn’t it?

No, rather half of that. Because you don’t actually need a chimney in the proper sense, just an LAS, which costs you around 500€ (up to 10m). A gas connection doesn’t cost the earth either (in some areas you’re at 1K), provided gas is nearby, but that’s the case with all utilities. Solar thermal is still not mandatory. At minimum, a contract with a biogas supplier is sufficient. Also, depending on the house, a controlled residential ventilation system is still sometimes adequate as an alternative measure. Gas + photovoltaic is still possible.

Quote wife: it’s really crap, you used to be able to dry a cloth or clothes on the radiator. And rooms could be quickly adjusted in terms of temperature...
I tilt the window open because then a different kind of oxygen comes in.

I can only agree with the best wife of all. :) (There must be “somehow” a different kind of oxygen coming in, otherwise women wouldn’t notice the difference. ;-) )

But she doesn’t notice that I have set the highest hand setting to the same air volume as the automatic program for weeks.

My husband also thinks that I don’t notice this or that. ;-) (And why? Simply because I don’t say anything. :) )

It will be similar for us in the future. I am already looking forward to the discussions. ;-)

Something is missing especially in spring. The air smells different then, either like rain or like the snow air this morning. That's when I also open the windows. That's also possible. You don't get that through the [Kontrollierte-Wohnraumlüftung]. [Kontrollierte-Wohnraumlüftung] is simply a basic ventilation. Always clean, fresh air. You don't have to ventilate, you may.

Something is missing especially in spring. The air smells different then, either like rain or this morning like snow air. That's when I open the windows. That's also possible. You can't get that in through [Kontrollierte-Wohnraumlüftung]. [Kontrollierte-Wohnraumlüftung] is simply basic ventilation. Always clean fresh air. You don't have to ventilate, you may.

For us: only cold air is fresh air :)