Oil / Gas or something else? Or something else?!

Hello people,

My girlfriend and I are finally starting with the shell construction in March 2011.

We do not have a basement and therefore not too much storage space.

Our house has about 185 m² of living space including storage rooms. We are getting a large, open living area with kitchen, living room, and dining room. This room has about 60 m².

In this room there is a wood stove storage fireplace of the brand "Brunner" which, according to the stove maker, can store heat for 8 hours. Since we can make our own wood, we want to heat quite a lot with this stove.

Our living area on the ground floor also has very large windows. Additionally, the ground floor and upper floor are equipped with underfloor heating.

Now the question arises how to install the heating.

I was thinking now that we would get an oil condensing boiler with a solar system for domestic hot water, because it’s cheap. However, everyone around us now says it’s no good.

I ask you to share your opinion with me.

At the moment we really don’t know what is best. Oh yes, there is no natural gas where we are.

The only thing that bothers me about oil right now is that I need a whole room for tanks, etc.

I ask for your help, thank you
Chr.

Hello,

...In this room there is a wood stove storage fireplace of the brand "Brunner" which, according to the stove builder, can store heat for 8 hours.

That should be put into perspective, because even a building wall can store heat without making you feel comfortable ;-)

...Additionally, the ground floor and upper floor are equipped with underfloor heating.

Underfloor heating and storage stove do not match well in terms of operating behavior, as both react slowly. Therefore, for the room where the stove is installed, only an alternative, not a parallel operation would make sense. It would be different with radiators.

...I thought now, we would get an oil condensing boiler with a solar system for domestic hot water, because it is cheap.

Cheap has never proven to be sustainably valuable in the long run. The tank would be the least of the problems. Oil is by far the energy source with the highest consumption competition. Anyone who relies on oil in a new building ignores what is happening worldwide in this regard.

...I ask you to share your opinion with me.

Since gas apparently is not an alternative here, one should consider a heat pump. Skip solar (solar thermal system) because it usually does not pay off economically for a single-family house anyway. Use the funds thus freed up additionally for thermal insulation. With the reduced heating demand, consider an air heat pump!
Have the whole thing, taking into account hot water preparation, calculated by a professional, not a heating engineer or house salesperson (energy and cost balance).

Best regards

Hello Chr.,

In this room there is a "Brunner" wood stove storage fireplace that, according to the stove builder, can store heat for 8 hours. Since we can produce our own wood, we want to heat quite a lot with this stove.

Here it must be taken into account that you need to install a heating system alongside the wood stove storage fireplace that can heat the entire building even without the fireplace. What if you do not have any wood or can no longer produce any yourselves?

Our living area on the ground floor also has very large window fronts. In addition, the ground floor and upper floor are equipped with underfloor heating.

Despite enormous improvements in recent years, windows are still the weakest building component. This means that, according to the Energy Saving Ordinance 2009, the heat loss of the window component is still five times greater than that of the wall component.
This implies a corresponding heat demand for the room, which, as already mentioned, must also be covered by the heating system! At the same time, a sufficiently large heat transfer surface must be available!


Now the question arises as to how to install the heating.

I was thinking we should have a condensing oil boiler with a solar system for domestic hot water because it’s cheap.
However, everyone in our environment now says it’s no good.

Building and operating the house is not a project that can be planned with a horizon of 5 or 10 years. Here you have to try to consider longer time periods! A good guideline is the service life of the individual systems, apart from the obviously available budget.

What good is it if you save money at one end and then throw it out the window (or chimney) again on oil? The underfloor heating is initially a good starting point for using various heating systems, as it is possible to operate the system at low system temperatures. This reduces the required energy input.

Which energy source is the right one now is to be weighed up. Oil cannot be the answer, firstly because of the environmental balance, the emerging cost developments and the security of supply. Other negative points include space for the oil tank, cleaning costs, the need to order, and odor nuisance.
Heat pumps also require a room or must be positioned on the property. This must be taken into account with regard to your own use but also that of neighbors, since the devices also make noise and are visible.

Gas is also possible, even if there is no connection. Here it is possible to set up a tank. Since no room for storage is needed, however, a place on the property must be available. Regular reordering is also necessary here. The cost development will decouple from oil in the medium term, since the connection of the gas price to the oil price was abolished by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
With regard to the security of supply with gas, this is greater than with oil due to existing reserves; biogas also plays an increasingly important role and improves the security of supply of this energy carrier.
If a gas supply is later realized on your street by the supplier, the tank can also be omitted!

Hope to have helped you further!

Regards