The autumn has started and the winter is coming. Time to write a blog about heating your house in the winter. Many of you come from a country where heating is not necessary. Time to dig in this subject!

Did you know Dutch people heat their living room normally till 20 degrees Celcius, because heating is expensive. And some people doesn’t heat their bedroom at all.

Ways to heat your house in the winter period

Have you recently bought a house, or thinking about making your house more energy-efficient? Do you know what possibilities you have? If not, feel free to plan a kickstart here! We love to help you with information and advice.

1. Boiler or central heating

This is by far the most used system to heat the house in the winter in the Netherlands. For this, you need gas, water, thermostat, the boiler and radiators and/or floor heating. The idea is simple, the gas heats the water, which will flow through the pipes to the rooms in the house. When you open the button, the warm water will flow through the radiator or floor heating.

The result is that your house will warm up. A thermostat helps you to get the right temperature in the room. A new CV-kettle will cost around €1.500,00 and needs a check-up every year for safety reasons. It is wise to replace the CV-kettle every 10 years, as the efficiency goes down.

Sometimes you can have a shared central heating in a flat. You will pay for what you use, or the bill is shared.

2. Wood stove

This is a system most of you know. You make a fire with wood and the heat will come your way. It is more used in rural areas than in the city. An open fire is not as efficient as the modern wood stoves (up to 90% efficient use of heat). At this moment there is a discussion in the Netherlands about this way of heating. It produces a lot of particulate matter, which is seen as bad for the health of people.

3. Pellet stove

Ever heard of pellets? These are pressed wooden grain which is used for a pellet stove who burns them. The installation is mostly automatically and replaces the CV-kettle. Last years it is promoted as a durable system to heat your house, but not everyone agrees on that. The investment is around €20.000,00.

4. Infra-red panels

Infra-red panels are useful as a particular place in your house is not warm enough. Instead of heating the air, it heats the objects, including yourself. They are not so expensive. The panels use electricity (it will cost you around €0.50 per hour per panel).

5. Electrical heater

An electrical heater is inexpensive to buy, but expensive when you use it. When I was a student, I used it very often to warm my feet when I was studying in a very cold space. It is a good temporary solution for heating your house locally in the winter. However, it is using a lot of electricity.

6. Gas heater

You will see this type of heating still in a lot of old houses, or as an extra decorative way of heating. Every space has its own gas heater. You can adjust the gas to the temperature you want to have in the room. Nowadays, it is seen as an inefficient way to heat your house in the winter.

7. Heat pump

This kind of heating is seen as a sustainable way of heating. Especially in a combination of solar panels on your roof and a well-insulated house.

There are 2 ways a heat pump can work:

The easiest way to explain one way is that a heat pump is actually an air conditioner that can cool and heat. It is efficient until about a temperature of 5 degrees. The costs for this system is depending on your house and starts at €4.000,00.

The second way a heat pump can work is using the heat in the ground. This system is more expensive and starts at €9.000,00. For this system, pipe holes are drilled into your garden. The heat in the ground is used to heat your house in the winter and cool it down in the summer. The pump itself uses some energy to pump the water through the floor or wall heating. If you want to build your own house or do a big renovation, this is worth to investigate.

Do you want to know more about heating your house with a heat pump? Read this blog.

8. District heating

In some cities in the Netherlands, you can heat up your house with district heating. Only available if you have a connection in your house. The source of the energy can differ from green waste till remainder heat from the industry.

In the coming years, there will be more houses connected to district heating. Some solutions can be very sustainable. In general, the government will set the prices for the use of district heating.

We use district heating already for years in our house in Meerhoven/ Eindhoven. It has proved to be reliable, but sometimes it seems to be more expensive than using central heating.

Conclusion

This list is not complete, because you can combine different kinds of heating to have a warm house in the winter. Every house and situation is different. The most environmentally friendly heating is a heat pump. In case you want to heat just a small space, an infra-red panel can be a good solution.

Do you have a question? Or do you want to know more about the possibilities for a sustainable house? Please send a message.

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