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

true. my spec sheet is for Louisiana,south central La., a hot humid climate. while location isn't in the actual specs location is in the links & of course my user name. lzerarc,you got my gender wrong. LOL. Are you still building Energy Star homes? I've been doing mostly existing homes but have a builder that wants to build to the 50% better standard, for the $3,000 builder credit. do you find this too much to ask of a builder? just wondering if I want to invest time & effort into this..again. glad to see my specs are helping. please no IC recessed lights. ICAT only. recessed lights & duct leakage is so easy to get right and has such a bad effect when it isn't done right. these two things are my pet peeves. best of luck.

I always enjoy threads dealing with energy-efficient homes, as our plan is to, within the next few years, build a home that is as energy-efficient as possible. Like teresa b (above) originally considered, we have thought about an ICF home and geothermal. The ICF concept is still almost unknown in our area. A few years ago, we attended a home show, and not only was ICF not represented, no one with whom we spoke knew what we were talking about. Fortunately, I have located a builder in the area who has some experience with the Logix ICF system, so I hope to speak with him in the future. Another interesting thing -- at a party last night, I spoke with a guy who has one of those Hardy (brand) woodburning furnaces, the type that is located outside the home, with underground lines connecting it to a heat exchanger located in the standard heating system. It also preheats water going into the water heater, to save on water heating costs. Something else I will consider!

Perhaps you would be interested in the article I wrote regarding energy conservation. Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss, resulting in increased energy costs. The same air leaks that cost us heat loss in the North can cost you cooling loss in the South. thanks, Mark D. Tyrol, P.E. Battic Door Attic Stair Covers PO Box 15 Mansfield, MA 02048-0015 tel. 508.320.9082 fax 508.339.4571 email: mark@batticdoor.com web: www.batticdoor.com Reduce Your Heating Bills This Winter - Overlooked Sources of Heat Loss in the Home, by Mark D. Tyrol, P.E., www.batticdoor.com - November 2004 Imagine leaving a window open all winter long the heat loss, cold drafts, and wasted energy! Well if your home has a folding attic stair, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home! These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause your heat pour out and the cold outside air pour in costing you higher heating bills, causing cold drafts, and wasting energy. Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Homeowners are well aware of the benefits of applying caulk and weatherstripping to these areas to minimize heat loss and cold drafts. But what can you do about the three largest "holes" in your home the folding attic stair, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes. Attic Stairs: Do you have a folding attic stairway in your house? When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet!) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed. And what is installed to cover this opening? A thin, unsealed, un-insulated sheet of plywood! Did you know that your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors? In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood! Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night when it is dark, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door - do you see any light coming through? These are gaps - which add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year! This is like leaving a window open all year round! An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling. Fireplaces: Approximately 100 million homes in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers! Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing! One remarkable research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating energy consumption by 30%! A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter just due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces! Why Does a Home With a Fireplace Have Higher Heating Bills? Hot air rises! Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when your warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw - sucking the heated air from your house. This is like leaving a window open all year round! An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. A fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after. Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts: Have you ever noticed that the room containing your clothes dryer is the coldest room in your house? Ever wonder why? Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house, while your heated air just pours right out! Dryer vents use a sheet metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open. This is like leaving a window open all year round! An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal! A dryer vent seal will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint, and moisture to escape. If your home has a folding attic stair, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes. At Battic Door, we have developed low-cost, green solutions to these and other energy-conservation related issues. For more information please visit our website www.batticdoor.com or send a S.A.S.E. to P.O. Box 15, Mansfield, MA 02048.