Without a doubt. SDS is MADE for concrete (you don't need either the tough concrete bit build, or the pneumatic piston action of SDS drills instead of the more flimsy cam-action in the chuck of regular Jacobs-type chucks) for masonry.
I don’t think there is any air trapped, so no way to have condensation, no? Breathing: absolutely not. Which is why all of those minergy houses come with an air ventilation system. All I can say is that for me it really works. The house is a LOT colder in summer than older houses with no need for an ac at all (and it stays warm in winter...)
The drill is drill and sds or sds plus, sds max only stands for type of drill bits (locking mechanism in drill head) any normal drill with sufficient power and drill/hammer function will work. My old Bosch (20+ years) with concrete bit still making nice holes even in this gas concrete which is much stronger.
I have the joy of Führer-Bunker-Beton, my standard Schlagbohrer is nearly useless, a Bohrhammer on the other hand is a bliss. So yes, it makes a difference.
Is depending how thick is the concrete wall if is under 200mm will condensate and then is needed a breathable membrane and isolation installed with gap from the wall, with top and bottom ventilation...
Word of warning with SDS drills be careful and take your time they can be aggressive and blow chunks of the concrete out of the wall rather than just drilling a nice hole.
Allow the bit to chomp away slowly doings its work rather than adding lots of pressure, especially for the first 5 cm or so. Maybe start with a smaller bit size and work your way up.
Secondly, I see no one has mentioned rebar/metal-reinforced concrete, I guess this exists in Switzerland and it's a pain in the neck when I came across it in NL.
I live in a building built in 1970. The load bearing walls all appear to be cast concrete, with only the interior partition walls being of lighter brick.
We had a lot of condensation problems until about 10 years ago when the house had a membrane and cladding put on the exterior and the difference was like night and day. For example, before the membrane, mould would appear on the back of furniture so we had to re-arrange it so that as little furniture as possible was stood against exterior walls, or where it was unavoidable, leave a significant air gap. All these problems are no more.
Strangely though, heating costs are only down marginally, much less than the landlord predicted, so the membrane appears to be doing more for the condensation than for the actual loss of heat.
I am a novice in this area and am really trying to understand what I need to look for while buying a drill just to drill the bloody concrete walls and ceiling. without blowing my bank just for 2-3 holes
I thought it had already been explained - it's not about power, but the hammer mechanism. the SDS-Plus drills we've been talking about use a completely independent pneumatic action to hammer the bit into the concrete, whereas this Ikea one, despite having an SDS chuck, just causes it to vibrate by means of a ratchet mechanism.
You've already discovered that this tool is not up to the job, so you don't really have any option but to buy (or borrow, if you have a friend with one) one that is.
You may find it cheaper or a similar model elsewhere, wireless will be more expensive for the same power so would the professional line. I guess you're not building the Gotthard tunnel so you won't need that.
Something like this will go through the concrete like butter, whilst annoying the neighbors.
1:50 on this video shows the guy drilling the concrete with a similar model to the one I suggested.
I’m one of those. I broke two “cheap” drills by only drilling the occasional hole for my own house and furniture... then I got a good one. I personally recommend to avoid anything “Bosch”, made good experiences with Metabo and Makita tools.
Nothing wrong with Bosch, IME. You may prefer to avoid the entry-level model of some tools, but the PBH "Rotary Hammer" drills referenced a couple of times in this thread are fine. I've had one (a PBH 240 RE ) since around 2002 and it's still working well.