We are building our nest – a healthy and environmentally friendly place to live

For Anne and Florian R. from Attendorn, the dream of owning their own home started, just as for many others, with a visit to a show home exhibition. They unexpectedly fell in love with one of the first few houses they saw: The Stockholm house by Danhaus from northern Germany. The architecture, and particularly the layout instantly appealed to them both. The air-water heat pump built into the show home seemed to be the ideal solution for their plot of land, as it does not have a gas connection and they did not want a tank.

Everything was going perfectly according to plan up to this point. However, the preparation of the site for the house started experiencing unexpected delays of several months. So they made a second visit to Danhaus. The manufacturer had since replaced the heating in the show home to use Welltherm infrared heaters with ESHC technology. This likeable couple from the Sauerland region recalled: “It was a cold winter day when we made our second visit, but it was pleasantly warm inside the house. There were no irritating draughts and no balls of dust collecting in the corners. That is what convinced us!”

The young couple were certainly also happy about saving more than 9,000 euros compared to installing an air-water heat pump. They invested some of the money saved into a 6.5 kW peak

PV system in order to produce some of their own electricity and lessen their dependence on the local energy supplier: a good decision – and one they would make again.

Their energy provider has since billed them for the first full year, putting them in a position to tell us about their ongoing heating costs. Florian: “For our 140 square metre home built to the KfW40 standard, and considering our PV system, we spent a total of 1,169.18 euros on electricity. This amount covers not just the electricity used for heating, but all electricity used in our home – including for hot water! The PV system has saved us 852.86 euros over this period, although we had a very low consumption rate of just 19%. Since we don’t have a separate meter for the infrared heating, we’ve had to estimate how much electricity it consumed. Generating hot water for two people in a single-family home is usually estimated to require around 3,600 kWh. Subtracting this amount from the 6,862 kWh consumed, we get 3,262 kWh energy consumption per year for the heating. That equates to 840.32 euros per year for heating (without factoring in the PV system). Unfortunately, the extent to which the heating costs are reduced by the energy generated from the PV system cannot be determined due to not using a separate meter. But regardless: Less than 100 euros per month for electricity, hot water and electrical heating – we are very happy with that!”

The couple from Attendorn both agree: “If we had to make the decision again, we would definitely go with Welltherm infrared heating again. When you consider the low cost of purchase and the reasonable running costs, this heating system is the most affordable option bar none. It couldn’t be clearer!”