The heating must go!!! But what?

Why exclude pellets because of "high initial costs"? Our pellet boiler including buffer storage, installation, and all piping (there was no heating system before) cost a modest 6000 euros! Heating surfaces are not included, we are also installing underfloor heating, which costs extra. From these 6000 euros, half is subsidized again by BAFA. So please, 3000 euros for a completely new pellet heating system can hardly be called expensive.

Which pellet heating system is it exactly and how was heating done before? I'm a bit surprised because according to my information, the purchase of a pellet heating system will cost around 18 to 25k. :oops:

It is a Red Compact Slim boiler with 15 KW, which costs around 4000 euros. Previously, heating was done by the predecessor with a night storage heater. We ourselves used a wood stove. Of course, there are also boilers for 20k euros. Surely, those are more comfortable, but with us, the pellets have to be refilled manually. Since we had the wood stove before, that does not bother us, and 20k for a heating system was simply not possible – with a total budget of 60k for a complete renovation. Since the boiler is located in the living area (under the stairs), operation is not a problem either, as you don’t have to constantly run to a boiler room. It is a quite nice little boiler, no uglier than a stove, just without a visible flame.

I will get advice from the local HB's regarding pellet heating whether oil or pellets are better and if pellets, what "good" systems are available and what they cost.

You won't get any advice there, the HB only want to sell what they offer. In any case, I would still visit a stove builder, because in the pellet sector there are also water-bearing stoves, which are also significantly cheaper than boilers. Just to be thorough, take a look if the technology is not ruled out from the start (especially because of the lower degree of automation, meaning having to refill). The advantage of the stoves is that they start at lower kW numbers, which can be quite beneficial in insulated houses.

No, we do not want a heater that has to be started manually, so it must be state of the art and fully automatic ;)