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How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

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Re: How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

#21

Post by dredmorbius »

osobo wrote: post #9
SenHeng wrote: post #6

I'm in the middle of building a PassivHaus. The building itself is mostly done and we're working on the interior. There are still a few gaps that haven't been plugged and the heat exchangers have not yet been installed. I'm above 800m elevation, snowstorms every weekend. It's cold here. My house also actually faces West instead of South, so I'm not getting much heat from the sun. This was a surprise to use because th…

I'm looking into making a house sustainable right now and the windows are actually a point of contention. One side thinks super-high insulated (triple pane) windows are a waste of money, the other swears by them. Assuming the frame doesn't leak, does triple really make that much of a difference?

As others have said, solutions depend on your climate, and especially on whether you principally have heating or cooling loads.

For cold climates, designers such as Thorstein Chlupp (Rienna LLC, in Fairbanks, AK) rely on triple-paned high emissivity windows for solar gain, and external thermal shutters at night to reduce radiative loss.

For warm climates, you'll want low emissivity glazing, as well as awnings or landscaping which block direct summer sun while admitting light. For winter time, you can probably get by with internal thermal curtains in winter, though an external storm glazing or shutter may also be helpful.

Having windows face the equator (that is, south-facing in the northern hemisphere, north-facing south of the equator) will increase light and decrease heat loss. Glazing on the pole-side of your home is generally reduced, and in sufficiently cold climates, eliminated.

More than you'd ever want to know (2h26m video) here:

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Xen_VWyDezY

Re: How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

#24

Post by atoav »

osobo wrote: post #9
SenHeng wrote: post #6

I'm in the middle of building a PassivHaus. The building itself is mostly done and we're working on the interior. There are still a few gaps that haven't been plugged and the heat exchangers have not yet been installed. I'm above 800m elevation, snowstorms every weekend. It's cold here. My house also actually faces West instead of South, so I'm not getting much heat from the sun. This was a surprise to use because th…

I'm looking into making a house sustainable right now and the windows are actually a point of contention. One side thinks super-high insulated (triple pane) windows are a waste of money, the other swears by them. Assuming the frame doesn't leak, does triple really make that much of a difference?

They can be a dream in terms of noise blocking as well.

Re: How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

#25

Post by pomian »

osobo wrote: post #9
SenHeng wrote: post #6

I'm in the middle of building a PassivHaus. The building itself is mostly done and we're working on the interior. There are still a few gaps that haven't been plugged and the heat exchangers have not yet been installed. I'm above 800m elevation, snowstorms every weekend. It's cold here. My house also actually faces West instead of South, so I'm not getting much heat from the sun. This was a surprise to use because th…

I'm looking into making a house sustainable right now and the windows are actually a point of contention. One side thinks super-high insulated (triple pane) windows are a waste of money, the other swears by them. Assuming the frame doesn't leak, does triple really make that much of a difference?

Yes. Makes measurable difference. Especially big picture windows. Other things to consider: is the type of glass. In places like Arizona you may not want sunlight to get through, but further north, the sun can provide a great deal of heat. So you want transmissivity. To stop that in the summer, you have a overhang roof, far enough out, to block sun in summer but not winter. Also, be smart installing the window, to prevent leakage around the frame, lots of good tricks there. For example- Avoid tightness of frame.

Re: How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

#27

Post by LunaSea »

Mromson wrote: post #11

It saddens me that construction quality is almost irrelevant when building a new building nowadays. The profit difference between a well-isolated passive building and one that merely meets the minimal standards, is often very small, so why bother building a passive building? My personal interest in passive buildings generally revolve around maintenance. Passive houses seem to require far less maintenance.

> Passive houses seem to require far less maintenance.

Interesting! Could you explain a bit more on how you came to this conclusion?

Re: How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

#28

Post by chippytea »

locallost wrote: post #7

I watched a report on a block of "passive houses" in Germany and the people liked it, but had a complaint that the air is too dry, so they dried their laundry indoors. I'm a fan of the idea, so not really critical, but I wonder what it's really like to live in one.

Modern heat exchangers allow you to set the air humidity.

Re: How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

#30

Post by andi999 »

a_square_peg wrote: post #13
osobo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm looking into making a house sustainable right now and the windows are actually a point of contention. One side thinks super-high insulated (triple pane) windows are a waste of money, the other swears by them. Assuming the frame doesn't leak, does triple really make that much of a difference?

This depends on your house - heat tends to leak out through the lowest path of resistance so if you have a well-insulated house with leaky window, it would certainly be the case but without considering what the rest of the house is like, it would be impossible to tell how much they would help.

Heat leaks out through all path of resistance not just the lowest. (The lowest might dominate though if it is orders of magnitude lower than the second lowest)
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