Energy Efficient + passive solar plans: comparision
chueh
12 years ago
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12 years agoEpiarch Designs
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Energy Efficient
Comments (26)calliope & christy, that's the whole crux of the problem realy, the indoctrination into badly designed homes is fairly complete, and when you consider that up to 75% of those homes are also built on the wrong aspect and take orientation of the home into that there are not going to be very many homes that you can buy out of the new or used home lots that will be able to be run with noticable efficiencies. but on the other hand a lot of people do get to build their own home from scratch but they always or nearly always follow the indoctrinated model with some "we love that" variation. need to keep the heart out of these decisions and use the head a whole lot more, and that means oodles of latteral thinking, thinking outside the "box/square" and working outside your comfort zones. and the squares we are in and the comfort zones around us are all indoctrinated, a fairly hard mold to break most of the time. and the current climate in the home design area won't change while we home buyers keep buying what "they" dish out. we don't need macmansions we need affordable comfortable homes, at the time we built ours it cost around $50,000AUD the nearest affordable steel plan home (macmansion style no options away from that style that is all they want to build for us) then was around $80,000AUD, that is a big saving for a young family well for any family, and then the home was so much cheaper to run. it had lots of benefits to suit the local conditions ie.,. it was termite resistant in its own right without the use of any chemicals or barriers, it was also fire resistant ad it had almost no combustable material only furnishings, it was Cyclone proof beyond the minimum standard of normal homes, and the list goes on. Even the plumbing was either exposed or easily got at for repairing or adding to, all modern homes have hidden plumbing so when a fault occurs or addition is needed it requires in a lot of cases the removal of wall sections and alot of mess to complete the task. 'christy', in your travels abd wanderings from this home to that home, have you ever noticed in like climates how one home may be more comfy that anotehr even if someone else yo know through association happens to be living in it, these differences will be there, and they aren't differences by design they are accidental as a builder/planner may have given some homes better aspect and design lent itself to better orientation. we see here our home is that bit more comfy than the one our daughter rents a couple of kilometers away, our young neighbours over the road can't figure why our living area is heaps more user friendly on the comfort side than what his is. the best tools are a compass, and powers of observation with good analytical skills, and being able to figure the suns track over the season. when we buy a home before we step through the door the compass comes out, and if it is the wrong aspect we don't go any further, drives real estate people crazy, but deep down they know we are right they just want everyone to be like the lemmings and just buy a place because it looks pretty or has a pretty view whatever. when people buy cars and fridges etc.,. they are more astute, yet the biggest thing they buy gets cursory attention to detail. when you look at a concept if the first words/thought are won't/can't/yuk then you have locked yourself into the box, make your thinking why/what/how. thanks for the great chat hey? len...See MoreTurning sunroom into Passive Solar source..
Comments (4)That is a good question, the sunroom opens up to 70% of our living space in one great room it includes kitchen, dining room, living room/family room. It is where we usually are if we are not in bed!! The thermostat is in this room. Currently the opening is huge, nine feet, I am closing this off with french doors and casement winds. I am just in the initial stages of weaning this house off natural gas. A furnace upgrade will come come in several years. Right now I am focused on sealing this sunspace and spent the weekend begining to seal up the ducs and adding insulation. The gas fireplace will be the next big issue to address, it lies in the middle of the living space and has a brick chimmney going up the middle of the building. Your questions "A and B" will be determined by how clever (or if) I can get a fan blowing out the ceiling in the summer. The larger deciduous trees do shade southwest and west in summer already. To get the air in I hope to rig the return to my furnace on the sunroom roof into the living space. I have yet to figure out the best way to do this. So with a fireplace insert, insulation and sealing, and a functional passive solar space I would be thrilled to cut my gas bills in half....See MorePassive solar and roof overhangs
Comments (12)Ed's idea for the protrusions is actually a very good idea, I think, for a contemporary house. But, since I live in a 1950's house in a historic district, I was planning on giving my house a more historic look with the remodel. So, I guess, landmarker, the only option is to plant trees in front of my house to block solar gain in the summer from the east. I already have a couple of really nice trees there, including a full moon maple and a red horsechestnut. I really don't want to plant any more in the east, and even if I did, because of the steep slope of my lot, they would be planted downhill from the house, and would take years to grow tall enough to shade the house. I might not ever see it in my lifetime! The trees that I have are old, and tall, and not nearly shading the house, except really early in the morning, when the sun is low in the sky. I have actually considered putting a porch across the entire front of the house, but, I don't want to lose all of the solar gain that I get in the winter. So, I am strongly considering changing the roof lines in order to get the slope in the front. This is the best compromise that I can think of. Concerning the low-e glass then...Is it really better at keeping the heat in in the winter than it is at keeping the heat out in the summer? I keep my windows open almost all summer long anyway. So, the heat should be able to escape on it's own, right? We're also planning on installing a whole house fan for the evenings. The tintable windows are an option that I'm not really happy with, again, because of the loss of winter heat gain. Also, although they don't necessarily block the view, the tinting does affect the outdoor scene in a way that is unappealing to me....See MorePassive Solar Recommendations?
Comments (2). Can't recommend any particular text for passive solar design . . . but NOW is definately the time to consider such things; especially in a sunny clime. You can get a lot of benefits from the design for FREE . . . or battle their side-effects forever through heating / cooling / lighting systems. For PV and energy conservation; try Homepower magazine . . . covers the gamut of stuff. I'm in central New York state and PV works here . . it'll surely work where you are. You will likely NOT get incentives like here in NY; we've actually got some pretty good ones right now. HomePower usually includes info on what's going on where in terms of incentives and such; either directly or through links from their site . . . lots of good, real information there . .. Good luck . . Bob Here is a link that might be useful: HomePower magazine...See Morechueh
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