How much more does a Passive House cost?

The Passive House against the ordinary house and nZEB

For the 120 m² house in Bucharest, at October 2026 prices, the Passive House costs 45,857 € (envelope and systems), that is 19,189 € more than the ordinary house and 5,951 € less than the nZEB house. The difference to the ordinary house is recovered from the bills in 11.2 years; the nZEB difference in 16.5 years. The Passive House needs 773 kWh of heat a year, 15 times less than the ordinary house.

Total cost, build and bills, the yearly bill

The charts above put the three houses side by side: the long-run total cost of the Passive House, the construction cost against the bills, and the yearly heating bill. Below, what each one shows, with the figures of the 120 m² house in Bucharest.

Passive House total cost over 25 years

The first chart adds up, year by year, the construction cost (envelope and systems) and the energy bills of each of the three houses. The ordinary house starts lowest, at 26,669 €, but pays 969 € a year for gas, so its line climbs fastest and reaches 62,012 € after 25 years. The Passive House starts at 45,857 € and, with a negative net bill (the exported PV electricity brings in more than heating and hot water cost), reaches 18,960 €. The point where the Passive House line crosses the ordinary house's line is the Passive House payback: 9.8 years with rising prices (the simple payback at today's prices is 11.2 years). The nZEB house starts at 51,808 € and crosses the ordinary house's line after 13.6 years. Total cost of ownership over 25 years: Passive House 18,960 €, nZEB 31,684 €, ordinary house 62,012 €. Rising energy prices (3 % a year) weigh on the ordinary house, not on the Passive House.

Passive House construction cost vs ordinary vs nZEB

The second chart puts the three houses side by side as bars. The solid part of each bar is the construction cost of the envelope and systems: ordinary house 26,669 €, nZEB house 51,808 €, Passive House 45,857 €. On top come the bills over 25 years, at today's prices growing 3 % a year: 35,343 € for the ordinary house, almost as much as the build. For the Passive House and the nZEB house, with 6 kWp of PV on the roof, the net bill is negative: the dashed outline shows the net income of 26,898 € over 25 years, which lowers the total. The figure on top of each bar is everything the house has cost in 25 years: Passive House 18,960 €, nZEB 31,684 €, ordinary house 62,012 €. The higher construction cost of the Passive House comes back with 43,052 € to spare: in the long run, the Passive House is the cheapest of the three.

Passive House energy bills per year, with solar PV

The third chart breaks down the yearly bill of each house. Above the zero line sit heating and hot water: the ordinary house pays 793 € a year for gas heating (12,196 kWh of gas at 0.065 €/kWh) and 177 € for hot water; the Passive House 45 € for heating with the air-to-air heat pump (193 kWh of electricity, SCOP 4.0) and 195 € for hot water from the heat-pump water heater. Below the line sits the PV electricity: 6,870 kWh a year from 6 kWp, 35 % used in the house and the rest exported, worth 978 € a year. The thick mark is the net yearly bill: ordinary house 969 €, nZEB house a net income of 552 €, Passive House a net income of 738 €. Under each house stands the heating demand, 93.5, 28.8 and 6.4 kWh/(m²·a): the heating energy use that separates the three standards and the reason the Passive House bill is so small.

Heating demand and payback in nine cities

The climate changes the heating demand, not the thicknesses: the nZEB and Passive thicknesses are set by the U-values, so the envelope costs the same everywhere. In Brașov or Cluj the ordinary house pays more, and the difference is recovered sooner.

Summer cooling: what each house needs

Passive House cooling in summer: air conditioning through the ventilation

Air conditioning for a Passive House? Not as a separate unit. A Passive House is cooled in summer by the same system that heats it: the ducted air-to-air heat pump sends cooled air through the ventilation ducts into every room, with no units on the walls and no outdoor unit under each window. That is why the Passive House column has no line for air conditioning. The cooling need is small because the envelope, the window shading and the summer bypass of the heat-recovery ventilation keep the heat out; the heat pump only covers what is left. Cooling through the ventilation works because the small, constant airflow of a Passive House is enough for the little cooling it needs.

Air-to-water heat pump and floor cooling: why fan-coils are needed

In the nZEB house, the air-to-water heat pump heats the underfloor, but floor cooling is limited by condensation: the water in the pipes cannot go far below the dew point of the room air. For summer cooling, the nZEB house needs fan-coils in the rooms, with piping, condensate drains and a cooling mode on the heat pump. It is an extra system, which is why it appears as a separate line in the nZEB column.

Air conditioning in the ordinary house: what cooling a house costs

The ordinary house with double glazing and 10 cm of polystyrene overheats in summer and needs air conditioning in most rooms: split units bought separately, each with its own outdoor unit and its own consumption. The calculator puts three units in the ordinary house column. What it costs to cool a house in summer depends on how many rooms are cooled and how well the house keeps the heat out; the electricity for air conditioning is not in the calculated bill, so the real gap between the columns is wider than shown.