Common Misconceptions in Building Services
As a consumer nowadays, one is literally bombarded with a multitude of information, whether through various internet portals, improper empirical values from DIY enthusiasts, through television media, or through hearsay in acquaintances and circles of friends. The supposedly false assumptions go so far that as a consumer, one considers sensible or even safety-relevant measures as unnecessary and thus endangers life and limb. Building services technology or building technology (concerning electrical engineering, heating technology, air conditioning technology, energy technology, ventilation technology, plumbing, etc.) in general is a very sensitive area where each specialty requires major qualification proof and years of experience to be able to independently and professionally carry out implementations and inspections (and to be allowed to from a legal perspective). Today we would like to present some known misconceptions to you and at least open your eyes a little.

1: Existing Rights Protection of Electrical Installation
Many homeowners or owners of commercial properties are still of the opinion today that when renovating electrical installations, they can invoke the so-called existing rights protection. Usually, they argue that the system was legitimately manufactured according to the state of technology at that time and therefore does not need to be changed, even if the requirements have changed in the meantime.However, that is only half the truth.

Correct is: For systems that are over 30 – 40 years old, existing rights protection no longer applies in most cases anyway, because the existing rights protection regulation becomes void as soon as (among other things) the following circumstances occur:
1. The system poses acute danger and endangers life and limb.
2. Certain requirements for system adaptation.
3. A change of use has occurred in the meantime.
4. Interim changes or extensions to the system (even the smallest changes like adding an additional socket, for example).

Experience shows that at least two of these mentioned points apply to over 80 percent of all systems, for which existing rights protection is no longer valid according to the recognized rules of technology!

2: Missing Hydraulic Balancing of the Heating System
Unfortunately, we had to determine that both homeowners and long-established heating and installation companies are of the opinion that hydraulic balancing of the heating system is generally not necessary. This claim should definitely be reconsidered, because this statement is nowno longer correct and even entailsadministrative offenses and fines.

Correct is: Hydraulic balancing is now even required by the Energy Saving Ordinance. If hydraulic balancing is omitted, the legislator (depending on the case / facts) explicitly speaks of an administrative offense and imposes fines. In the following cases (among others), hydraulic balancing is mandatory:
1. When renovating or renewing the heating system.
2. When renovating the building envelope (facade, roof, etc.) to over 50 percent, even if the heating system is not affected by the renovation measure.
3. When changing or extending the heating system (e.g., installing additional heating circuits and radiators, etc.).

Interestingly, it can be observed that architects, operators, or craftsmen mention the necessary hydraulic balancing neither when renovating the building envelope nor during extension measures of the building technology. It should also be mentioned that with various existing buildings, hydraulic balancing has unfortunately never been applied.

3: Incorrect Use of Radiator Thermostats
Many homeowners still believe today that a radiator thermostat works like a water tap (i.e., when turned on, the heating runs, when turned off, it stops). However, that was neither the case then nor does the functional description apply to today's thermostats.

Correct is: Thermostatic valves permanently monitor the existing room temperature and heat accordingly or switch off. When the user sets a certain level on the thermostat head, that is nothing more than setting a desired room temperature (each heating level specifies a required room temperature). The radiator now heats until the set temperature has been reached, then it switches off. If the temperature falls below the set point, it heats up again until the temperature is reached again. In principle, the specified temperature is kept constant. Furthermore, one should (among other things) always observe:
1. Turn off thermostats completely when windows are opened for ventilation (to save energy).
2. Do not place furniture in front of the thermostat head.
3. In winter, always set a constant temperature (even when absent), as permanent turning off and full reheating costs more energy.
4. Newer thermostats have a switching accuracy of 1 Kelvin (older ones usually have a switching accuracy of 2 Kelvin), which in contrast to older thermostats can save up to 7 percent heating costs per year.

Unfortunately, improper use of radiator thermostats is frequently observed, which unfortunately also results in increased heating costs.

4: Common Misconceptions Regarding Residential Ventilation
If you ask someone today about their opinion regarding controlled residential ventilation, you often hear that it is not particularly worthwhile and that facade thermal insulation alone is much more efficient. In fact, this widespread view is not correct. Thermal insulation is of course an important factor for energy saving, however, controlled residential ventilation should not be underestimated.

Correct is: With increasing layer thickness of thermal insulation, its economic efficiency decreases significantly, as energy efficiency through transmission heat losses via uncontrolled manual window ventilation (e.g., tilting windows) is demonstrably significantly reduced from a building physics perspective. A controlled residential ventilation system, on the other hand, achieves a measurably high heat recovery of an average of 70 percent during the automatic ventilation process (with correct planning and execution), which is clearly noticeable in the energy saved at the end of the year.

5: Incorrect Design and Application of Heat Pumps
From our personal experience, we have recently had to observe several times that homeowners complained about their dissatisfaction with the newly installed heat pump and described heat pumps as unsuitable energy wasters. At the same time, however, we find that their heat pump installation was not carefully planned but simply installed by the installation company without considering important factors.Denying heat pumps their efficiency is definitely not correct!

Correct is: That a heat pump in combination with surface heating systems (e.g., underfloor heating in living spaces) shows high effectiveness, in contrast to conventional boilers and even makes sensible use of night shutdown. The most common errors in the installation of heat pumps that lead to inefficiency are (among others):
1. Heating the rooms with the heat pump via radiators, as these require a significantly higher flow temperature (which the heat pump can only achieve with very high power consumption) than underfloor heating, while the heat pump operates optimally with underfloor heating (which even simultaneously uses the screed for heat storage).
2. The nominal heat output of the heat pump was not determined by means of a (detailed) heat load calculation according to DIN EN 12831 but only roughly determined with "empirical values".
3. Solar thermal support for heating domestic water was completely ignored and therefore not installed.

With proper professional planning and design of the heat pump, the high effectiveness in energy saving can be proven very quickly. As long as the individual consumer is of the opinion that he does not need an independent expert and specialist planner for energy and environmental technology, ineffective heat pumps will continue to exist.

Play It Safe With Us
But that is far from everything. There are a lot of misconceptions and incorrect implementations in the field of general building services, where the individual consumer is the one who suffers. Both safety for life and limb as well as a lot of money and energy is very often wasted in this process. We are happy to stand by your side as specialist planners and experts in the field of building services and protect you from wrong decisions.