Search for suitable underfloor heating

Hello,

my wife and I want to realize our dream of owning a house this year.

Like everyone else, we are looking for a good heating system with relatively humane running costs.

Our household:
three people who shower every morning and evening, my wife takes a bath once a week.

The plan is underfloor heating throughout the entire house, operated with warm water.

My idea for heating:

Gas condensing boiler with solar support for hot water
Fireplace which, when used, also heats the water in the boiler

Is this a sensible idea or should one rather work with surface geothermal energy?

I hope for many answers :) thank you very much!

Hello,

...Gas condensing boiler with solar support for hot water
Fireplace which, when used, also heats the water in the boiler at the same time

Whether this even makes sense should be checked in advance.

...Is this a sensible thing or should one rather work with surface geothermal energy?

Without the appropriate fundamentals, this cannot be answered reliably. The fact is that in many cases air heat pumps, gas condensing boilers, and brine heat pumps prove to be suitable. Unfortunately, gas condensing boilers have the disadvantage that, for primary energy reasons, the uneconomical solar system usually has to be purchased unless replacement measures or exceptions are considered.
Brine systems are usually more expensive due to the costs of additional source development but are necessary under certain conditions. Air heat pumps are well suited for many applications, provided the conditions are right and one relies on modular devices of the latest generation and refrains from combo solutions, which are often used in general contractor projects.

Best regards.

Hello Luisa and Felix,

a dream that can come true and should not turn into a nightmare! The forum is certainly a good idea to get information in advance! The question allows the conclusion that you are still at the very beginning of making your dream a reality. Therefore, here are some general information that can certainly be specified later through further questions in the forum.

As it sounds, you are planning a new building! For three people, you need about 120 – 180 liters of hot water per day, which is covered by a corresponding tank. Depending on which heating system is chosen later, there are different systems (combination storage, stratified storage, etc.) and different sizes will be required.

By choosing underfloor heating, you have intuitively made the right decision. This gives you the possibility, through the large heating surfaces, to operate the heating system with a low system temperature. The lower the temperature of the heating water needs to be heated, the lower the heating costs. This is the basis for operating the house with “rel. humane running costs” as much as possible.

Regarding the heating, the choice of a modern gas heating system with condensing technology is certainly a good choice. Through the use of the condensation heat of the water in the exhaust gases, the efficiency is significantly increased (theoretically up to 111% with gas). This saves gas and thus money and protects the environment by reducing CO2 emissions and acidic exhaust particles. Due to the low system temperature and thus naturally also particularly low return temperature of the heating, the mentioned condensing effects are especially well achieved.

Regarding solar hot water production and heating support, opinions may vary. Certainly a meaningful contribution to reducing energy demand and thus CO2 emissions. Especially the current discussion about the phase-out shows the necessity to avoid the use of electricity for hot water preparation whenever possible. Nevertheless, when building a new residential building, a solar component does not necessarily have to be taken into account. If the current [Energieeinsparverordnung] is undercut by 30%, it can be omitted. Basically, every home builder is advised to undercut the [Energieeinsparverordnung] 2009 since in 2012 (i.e., in a few months) a new [Energieeinsparverordnung] with tightened requirements will come into force.

Best regards

Erik