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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)

#81

Post by mrweasel »

kitd wrote: post #64
poseva wrote: post #43

I've also built a simple and small (99sqm) PassivHaus in Romania, 5 years ago. Everybody, and I mean everybody from family to friends called me nuts, but I've got my payback this winter when the energy prices went trough the roof and I'm just slightly affected. The house is elevated from the ground on 12 concrete columns so that I can insulate under the foundation beams using glass foam, insulation on walls is 30 cm…

It is interesting that you insulate under the house. One of the more intriguing passive house designs I saw was one where the insulation went down 2-3m into the ground all around the house footprint. This trapped the natural ground heat within that area and fed it upwards into the house. It took about 18 months for the ground to warm up, but once it was there, the ground/house warmed itself with virtually no input. T…

> It is interesting that you insulate under the house.

Isn't that pretty normal, I mean maybe not three meters down, but modern foundations are required to be isolated in many places. The legal requirement in Denmark is at least 300mm of isolation under the house.

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

#82

Post by mdp2021 »

mcot2 wrote: post #15

I wish more municipalities would mandate tighter homes with good ventilation. Recently when searching for a new home it was so dishearting to see brand new developments where the homes had standard insulation, bad orientation for things like solar and passive heating and giant fossil fuel based heating systems instead of heat pumps. I decided to instead go the oppostie direction and buy a 1960’s split level that I am…

> with good ventilation

Mandate windows?!

> heat pumps

That means (if I understand you correctly), fans. That is noise pollution - some will not have it, and some will not bear it. And (after experience), heat pumps can be inadequate for heating: they can raise a temperature, not warm the environment.

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

#83

Post by bee_rider »

wcoenen wrote: post #61
mattlondon wrote: post #33

I wonder how these "no heating"/"no cooling" homes work in situations like mine: my wife is permanently freezing cold, sitting around inside with multiple layers on, sometimes a blanket, and the heating on full-blast while I am walking around in shorts and t-shirt sweating? I.e. people have different ideas about what a comfortable temperature is. In my wife's example it seems like unless she can actually "feel the he…

It's the opposite for us; I'm the one feeling cold, while my wife is comfortable. I started wearing a layer of thermal underwear in the cold seasons to compensate.

You must embrace the cold. Any attempt to warm yourself will just make your body expect warmth. Never turn on the heat, and you'll slowly adapt along with the seasons. Maybe set the thermostat to 33F so that the pipes don't freeze...

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

#84

Post by mdp2021 »

pqs wrote: post #74
mdp2021 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> about what a comfortable temperature is ... it seems like unless she can actually "feel the heat" as it were, she is not comfortable You wrote it yourself... Comfort is not with the temperature (scalar quantity for C implemented roleplaying¹), it is with the "warmth", with the effect obtained in the internal environment, a quality you feel. This is why heat exchange feels ineffective compared to radiators. Sheer te…

To feel warm, radiation is more effective than temperature.

And it has to be the right radiation (hence the example of the (bad) environmental quality of a car under full sun).

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

#85

Post by pkdpic »

pdamoc wrote: post #71

My favorite approach remains the Dome of Visions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bn2o-xyS6M

Cool project and name. Ive always been curious if domes like this become problematic in hot weather though or if they have some dynamic that makes them beneficial then too. Not sure how to google that but maybe someone knows.

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

#86

Post by ricardobayes »

whirlwin wrote: post #70
kitd wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is interesting that you insulate under the house. One of the more intriguing passive house designs I saw was one where the insulation went down 2-3m into the ground all around the house footprint. This trapped the natural ground heat within that area and fed it upwards into the house. It took about 18 months for the ground to warm up, but once it was there, the ground/house warmed itself with virtually no input. T…

We have an old house from 1988 located in Norway. Walking on the non-insulated wooden floor is very unpleasant. We will refurbish, and insulate under the floor, but it will not be anything near a passive house because of other construction shortcomings

well try non-insulated tiles here in Spain haha. I don't know why houses are built to such a low standard in Spain. Even the UK had better quality constructions when I was there, and that says a lot (single glazed windows, poor insulation, weak plumbing)

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

#87

Post by madaxe_again »

poseva wrote: post #43

I've also built a simple and small (99sqm) PassivHaus in Romania, 5 years ago. Everybody, and I mean everybody from family to friends called me nuts, but I've got my payback this winter when the energy prices went trough the roof and I'm just slightly affected. The house is elevated from the ground on 12 concrete columns so that I can insulate under the foundation beams using glass foam, insulation on walls is 30 cm…

We’ve just built a 45m2 log cabin to passive standards here in Portugal - heavily insulated in walls, floor, roof, lifted off the ground on concrete columns, double glazed, only heat source is a 2.5kw log stove. Everyone here (who all live in uninsulated concrete houses heated by open fireplaces) said we will freeze in the winter, roast in the summer. We situated the house on a north facing slope, to minimise sun exposure in the summer. Means little direct light in the winter, but we think (have yet to experience a summer in it) the balance will be good.

As I write this, the stove is out, having burned out overnight, it’s -11 outside, and 25 inside. We are getting through a ridiculously tiny volume of firewood compared to when we were living in a more traditional house for here - less than ⅛ the volume.

Insulation works. It’s also cheap. I don’t understand why people would build new structures without it.

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

#88

Post by Mromson »

LunaSea wrote: post #42
Mromson wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, this conclusion comes from the notion that a passive house has fewer moving parts and requires less attention. A poorly insulated house demands that you take more active measures to ensure that it keeps a positive temperature (so water pipes don't freeze), this is extra pertinent should the power go out. A well-insulated house is also likely to have fewer points of failure (water getting into cracks and w…

Ah I see, that makes sense. I've always found Passive Haus design interesting although the (expensive) single point of failure that lies in the air pumps scares me a bit.

Personally I've addressed that concern with a CO2 alarm in every room (which you should have regardless, so I don't count that against passive houses). I suspect that there exist ventilation fallback solutions that can address a power failure scenario, but I've yet to find any viable ones.

It should be possible to have a system that generates automatic airflow should power fail.

Best ones I've found are solar panels, or geothermal power generator (geothermal is generally really amazing for everything), but that still leaves mechanical failure.

That said, it takes quite a bit of time before ventilation failure leads to a dangerous CO2 buildup. And the addition of having a single entry point for air means that it's easy to filter my air through a HEPA filter, ensuring top quality air all year round.

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

#89

Post by joking »

ricardobayes wrote: post #86
whirlwin wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have an old house from 1988 located in Norway. Walking on the non-insulated wooden floor is very unpleasant. We will refurbish, and insulate under the floor, but it will not be anything near a passive house because of other construction shortcomings

well try non-insulated tiles here in Spain haha. I don't know why houses are built to such a low standard in Spain. Even the UK had better quality constructions when I was there, and that says a lot (single glazed windows, poor insulation, weak plumbing)

no harsh climate overall so much less insulation is needed?

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

#90

Post by madaxe_again »

ricardobayes wrote: post #86
whirlwin wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have an old house from 1988 located in Norway. Walking on the non-insulated wooden floor is very unpleasant. We will refurbish, and insulate under the floor, but it will not be anything near a passive house because of other construction shortcomings

well try non-insulated tiles here in Spain haha. I don't know why houses are built to such a low standard in Spain. Even the UK had better quality constructions when I was there, and that says a lot (single glazed windows, poor insulation, weak plumbing)

Portugal manage to be even worse. You’ll be stood there in someone’s kitchen wearing a coat and gloves, watching your breath condense, and they’ll be like “oh but we don’t get cold winters like you do in the northern countries”. That’s the rationale. The reason is actually more likely financial.
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