At best they have some knowledge about their machinery.
I’ve not seen one really sit at the table and be able to THINK beyond the water pumps… be happy water flows in and your home is heated.
When it’s not, call me and I’ll arrange that for three zillions bucks (if you’re a good customer with a maintenance contract). Or freeze your ass off and get cold. And most of customers are so HAPPY to pay for their saviors (as soon as it does not happen every other night).
What a nightmare.
In reality if something is wrong with the heatpump, the installer will most of the time not be able to do anything (unless its a hydraulicalnproblem on the distribution side. You will call a manufacturer certified picet service (like meier/tobler) they dont care who installed it if the system has been properly commissioned according to manufacturer specs.
I had idly considered the same 
More of a retirement ‘hobby’.
Me too until the wife lectured me about how long it would take to get the trade accreditation haha
I also can confirm that subsidies schemes are pushing prices up.
For heat pump I saved easy 20k by installing a „Ringgrabenkollektor“ instead of drilling. It is DIY friendly.
Currently I asked for offers to replace an existing Pellets Heating. Only The heater and additional buffer tank. Material costs in German Onlinestores 15k incl Transport to CH.
Estimated working time for 2 Persons 1-1.5days
Quotes I got so far: 30-35k (!) (thus material maybe 20k).
Marings are high and many heating company push for parts not mandatory and very often also efficiency killing.
for water / air heatpump, imho @logitacher did the right think - talk to a cooling company. They are the heatpump experts, not the heating guys.
happy to help anyone who is DIY willing, with my experience or by directing to useful online ressources.
If anyone has an idea or experience about warranty of direct imported heating systems, I would take a hint. I wont do the replacement at this pricelevel. rather would invest 1000.- in spare parts and do a full renovation myself or go the direct-imported heating route.
@logitacher did you buy inline and register with meier tobler or was it bought from them?
I did not buy anything yet. I just did emergency planning with the refrigeration company because some heat pumps are nearing 25 years of service and they mostly break during winter, the worst time possible. So we are speaking in more than 100k in possible costs so I wanted to have a clear plan on what to do if one, or worst case, several heat pump break down at the same time.
Why ‘several’ properties? Do you have multiple rentals with heat pumps?
Yes
understand if you don’t want to go into personal details, but why are multiple with heat pumps, did you install them, or were they part of same development. where I am, heat pumps are relatively uncommon, so was just surprised that you have multiple.
also interested to understand the economics of it for rentals. i know from first hand experience that oil heating is a major PITA requiring regular maintenance and costs. i was expecting to transition to heatpumps but would not be happy to learn that I’d be signing up for more of the same.
Let’s just say that the buildings were already there, and that my grandfather had already fitted all the houses with heat pumps and underfloor heating by the 1980s. I have never had to deal with anything other than an air/water heat pump.
The most important thing is finding a local company for repairs. Heat pumps are not magic; they are easily maintained and repaired if the technician understands how the machine works.
I posted a maintenance summary of one of the heatpumps here Heat pump insurance - #12 by logitacher . As of today, the heat pump is still working. One thing to note is that when we replaced this specific heat pump in 2003, the electricity cost almost halved, as the previous heat pump was from 1979, one of the first in Europe, and took up 20 sq m of space, looking like the inside of a submarine.
what a legend!
sounds like your grandfather is/was a person I would enjoyed to chat with
I also like to be prepared for such things. If you dont want to buy standard scheme at high price it pays out investigated your personal solution in advance. It could also pay out to replace it before a full break down - eg if you are able to do some work yourself.
But again, I hear order books for heating are full in switzerland. Probably due to the end of „Eigenmietwert“ - this supports high prices atm
maybe i’ve been in switzerland too long, but getting anything major done for less than 35k seems good
looks good on the first pass. But It looks like warm water (brauchwasser) is not included in this offer? I would make sure to have that included, except you already have a standalone heatpump water heater.
BTW. if you have floor heating you probably wont need a buffer storage (Technischer speicher). This will simplify the system and should also reduce the price. “Einkrei-systeme” are pretty standard with most modern heatpumps and fully upported by pansonic (dep on dimensions of floor heating i think) (https://www.panasonicproclub.com/uploads/AT/catalogues/2023/ii_A2W22_DE-02_150dpi.pdf)
but many installers still recommend the buffer (more money and because it has always been done that way I guess..
What should be added I think, is a water filter for the underfloor pipes so that you can always ensure good water quality and prolong pipe lifespan. That would be another 3-4k CHF.
+1 for @Ilpiccone
Price looks OK, but is it the right product?
ai assume it is a 12kW machine, right? What is the min kW heating produced at 0 Degree outside temperature? how much oil did you use per year?
I think it’s a good price but as others have mentioned it’s extremely important you ensure the device is correctly dimensioned. I used an online paid tool and did it myself Because I didn’t trust the installer, but I must say the lack of « accessories » already gives me a good feeling about your contractor.
as I said I would just do a double check of the building heat demand (heizlastberechnung) and then you’re good to go
I used around 2300 liters of oil. And yes, it is a 12kW machine, which, based on back of the envelope calculations (Area [m2]×Specific Load [W/m2]÷1000) seems to be the right model. not sure about the other questions. I will do the heating demand in good time. I just filled in the oil tank so I am good until Q1 2028 - but I am planning to pull the trigger on the heat pump in Q2 2028.
Then I suggest to use the time remining to understand how to properly chose a heat pump yourself (–> Bivalenzpunkt) and how to ensure a efficient hydraulic (–>buffer tank).
About your math: What did they use as specific load? Some number from a document? Why didnt they use the “Hottinger Formula” which can be based an the actual energy consumtion. In my rough calculations 10kW should be big enough.
you can also try in the coming winter to optimize your oil heater (heating curve for example). Many of them ar set since 20 years on some default values and arent optimized for efficiency.
In 2028 there will be new models on the market, R290 models are still “first generation”, I would realy focus on the know how behind it and when winter comes trying to figure out if the oil heater works as efficient as possibel or not.
