Suitable heating system for new construction - how to choose?

In the forum I mostly only see air-to-water heat pumps, so presumably underfloor heating. That seems to be the most popular system. Is there a special reason for that?

If heat pump, then this is the best in terms of price/performance; for this reason it is also the most popular system/combination not only here. And on the subject of underfloor heating... hmm no, never again without. It is simply so much more comfortable and pleasant and in most cases surprisingly also cheaper to operate than other heating methods (in continuously inhabited houses).

@ , Yes, the plot has been purchased and we are listed in the land register :)

Yes, I already had that concern too. Basically, I see the basis as the same for everyone at first. Let's say, for example, I want to build a KfW40+ house. Then the walls and insulation must comply with that. All providers will offer that. Whether one has it in the wall and the other doesn’t should not matter for now. We also want to specify the roof shape, so that will be the same at first. I suspect the insulation will come out the same for all here. Then there are only small requirements on our part. I think we will do part of the interior finishing ourselves, floors, walls and such, so the second to last finishing stage.

If I now tell everyone: This is the floor plan I want with KFW40+ Then it really shouldn't differ much anymore, except in the areas of technology, electrical, heating. If one has plastic window sills and the other marble, that surely makes a difference also in price. Basically, I already have figures that are certainly optimistic, but based on the offers I see what is included, what is standard for whom, and what corresponds to our wishes.

Another example, we roughly had an offer made by a prefabricated house builder. He then explained everything nicely, the price was good, but he already said that for us the standard upstairs is carpet and downstairs laminate. We surely want parquet and I already included that as an extra service. But now if a company wants to sell us a house and in 2021 offers carpet and laminate as standard, then that won’t do and we will not buy. That already shows they are 20 years behind and who knows what else I can't even judge.

@ , thanks, I hadn’t considered the dry air at all, but that sounds logical.

Best regards Marc

Now, let's say a company wants to sell us a house and offers carpet and laminate as standard in 2021, then that's not acceptable and we won't buy it. That already shows they are 20 years behind and who knows what else I can't even begin to judge.

Interesting, choosing the house builder based on the flooring, which is usually not included anyway, is something I haven't heard before either.

@ , that is now very pointed and unnecessary. What I want to say is that if such a company has something as simple from the 90s as a standard in 2021, then surely countless other things are not current in their standard either. I have to say that with other providers this was directly of higher quality in the standard, like marble window sills and such things. Since I only have a limited view of certain things, I have to see how I filter providers and I find one way is to say if provider X does not keep up with the times, then I look at provider Y. But basically no provider has been selected yet, only some have already been eliminated and unfortunately it turns out that rather the cheaper providers are dropped and I tend towards Schwörerhaus, Weberhaus, Hanse Haus. That is the result of my current work. And the equipment features simply helped me with that. Best regards Andreas

Doesn't matter whether it's the standard for that one or not. Set your standard and give everyone the same one, then it becomes comparable!

I personally would also see it more like . That can be a strategy of a provider to simply be cheap at first and thereby offer rather outdated features as basic equipment. However, that does not mean that they cannot offer the higher equipment or process it worse or are more expensive for it.

As wrote:

If you really want to compare the offers with each other, then they have to be the same, ergo you have to specify ALL details. But probably hardly any general contractor will go along with that, and you would probably also need a "technical assistant" (architect) for that.

But a floor plan, KfW40+ and heating system specification are not enough. There will be different windows, electrical equipment, outdoor faucets, who knows what...

In my opinion, there are two possibilities:
1.) Obtain X offers with rough guidelines and go with the one where you have the best feeling
2.) Hire an architect, plan a house and go to X providers with this plan and obtain X comparable offers and decide systematically