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Comment by jopsen | Hacker News Reader

Spot on.. also many Nordic cities also have district heating, which can utilize surplus heat from power production.

Right, my Stockholm apartment was built in the 90's, so it's not exactly super-modern, but it still has triple-glaze windows, very well-insulated outer walls, and is connected to Stockholm's district heating system, which generates heat by burning trash. The whole building uses a trickle of heat, and my tiled bathroom is still nice and warm, and I can get scalding hot water from the taps if I want it.

There are literally zero drawbacks to the way it's constructed and heated, no compromise needed, so this HN Ask is so weird to me, and it's clear that me and OP live in completely different worlds.

Connecting district heating is not a good investment anymore (unless it's a building with 20+ flats and you want to save space in the apartments)

Triple glazed windows, 25+cm insulation, heat pump + heat recuperation, solar panels and you have a passive home. No need for gas which is a fire hazard.

Hmm, heat pumps are certainly attractive..

But if you're building a new house, wouldn't you roll in district heating if readily available.

Agreed, patching district heating into an old house might be hard/expensive.

Depends on the costs. In my location is too expensive for a single house (it cost more that a heap pump with aircon and recuperation)

There is also risk for the future. What if there is some corruption and private entity would take over trying to squeeze money from the people cause it's a monopoly?

District heating is heavily regulated here..

I think owned by the consumers.

Indeed local regulation for the lot of land I'm on stipulates that district heating must be the primary heat source.

This gives it some economies of scale, I'm guessing...

But I do wonder if geothermal power will come along to make district heating cheap and renewable.

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