Truly independent with a passive house?

Is it possible to become completely independent from external energy supply with a passive house? Is the yield of the photovoltaic system really sufficient to cover the normal electricity and heat energy demand by itself?

Hello Carli08 The question cannot simply be answered with "yes". It does not work without external energy supply. But it is a give and take. A passive house requires at least only as much energy (for heating, ventilation, electricity) as it produces itself through solar panels, photovoltaics, etc. But it needs the public grids for the "give and take" – as an intermediate storage. In this sense HDE

Electricity from a photovoltaic system alone is not sufficient. The heat losses in a Passive House are reduced so significantly that a conventional heating system is no longer necessary. The heating demand is calculated/planned (building envelope, windows, ventilation heat losses) in such a way that any remaining small "residual heating" can be easily supplied by reheating the supply air when the maximum heating load is less than 10 W/m² (living area).

The "Passive" in Passive House therefore refers more to heat generation. Even if the house no longer needs a "normal" heating system, electricity will be required for appliances, lighting, kitchen devices, entertainment electronics... These devices must fit into the Passive House scheme in terms of electricity consumption and even more so through user behavior.

The electricity consumption of these devices should, to connect to your question, not be higher than the output of the photovoltaic system, which is actually not consistently achievable in Central Europe.

A passive house does not work without electricity. Even if there is no heating, electricity is required. This also costs quite a bit of francs.

It is always advertised that way, but here all costs really have to be considered. Anything else is too short-sighted.

Sure, electricity is needed, but such a Passive House already has several advantages. The heating demand is zero. The electricity is only used for comfort.

I see it differently; there is already a heat source available that can be used if needed. Sometimes something is spread here that is not entirely true. That is clear, after all, it is about selling.