A heat pump makes an old building fit for the next generation
A 90-year-old settler's house with a family history – Heiko Röder inherited his grandparents' house and has since renovated it to make it energy-efficient and sustainable. The centerpiece was the new heating system from Dimplex.
Family tradition and their connection to their hometown of Kulmbach are very important to Heiko Röder and his wife Heidi. Nevertheless, they were initially skeptical when it came to taking over their grandparents' house. A legacy with history – because the grandfather had built the house on the outskirts of Kulmbach in the 1930s.
“We love Kulmbach, the location of the house is wonderful, and we appreciate the timeless architecture and the solid structure,” says Heiko Röder. ”But when my wife and I were faced with the question of whether we wanted to take over the house, we did start to wonder. Because in terms of energy efficiency, the house was simply outdated. The windows were draughty, the boiler was getting on in years and the radiators hadn't been replaced since my father did it in the 1980s.” Nevertheless, the Röders decided to take on the family legacy and renovate the house to make it more energy efficient. ”Sustainability and efficient heating are extremely important to us. It was therefore quickly clear that we would use heat pump technology.”
Since 2020, the semi-detached house, in which Heiko Röder and his wife live alongside Heiko Röder's father, has been gradually made ready to be able to supply itself with sustainable and environmentally friendly energy in the future. In the first phase of construction, the father's 120 m2 living space was equipped with a Dimplex heat pump for heating and hot water. The windows were replaced with new double-glazed windows, and a photovoltaic system now supplies both semi-detached houses with free electricity.
New heating system in just three days
The starting signal for the second construction phase was given in March 2022. A new heating system was to be installed for the 100 m2 apartment of Heiko and Heidi Röder. Except for the replacement of the windows, no changes were made to the building fabric or interior design; the Röders continue to heat their rooms with classic radiators.
To ensure the necessary flow temperatures of 55 °C and still achieve a good energy balance, the decision was made to use a Dimplex System E Pure heat pump system. The device works efficiently even at higher flow temperatures, is very quiet and could be installed in a space-saving way in front of the house wall in the garden.
The installation required only two core drillings through the house wall, through which the lines (supply and return, as well as electrical lines) were routed to the rear of the building. In the house, the old gas heating was dismantled, a new circulation pump was installed, the piping in the boiler room was updated and a new 200 l buffer storage tank was connected.
A separate fuse box was installed for the electrical connection. Commissioning via Easy On on the WPM Touch, including the electrical work, was completed in just five hours. The complete replacement of the heating system in the semi-detached house was completed in a record-breaking three days.
Unbeatable efficiency.
The results are impressive across the board: in the first six months of operation, the system was able to achieve an outstanding annual performance factor of almost 5. “We expected to see improvements in terms of energy and costs, but these great figures still surprised us! The new heat pump has more than paid for itself,” says Heiko Röder happily. He has even won a small in-house competition with his father: “With the System E heat pump, our consumption is even lower than the energy consumption of my father's heat pump – and that was already significantly more efficient than the old heating system!”
Data and facts:
Year of construction: approx. 1930
Conversion time (heating system): 3 days
Heated living space: 100 m2
Number of residents and users of the heating system: 2
Heat pump power consumption (03/2022 – 03/2023): 4.000 kWh
