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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)

#321

Post by franciscop »

shostack wrote: post #318
franciscop wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What people definitely don't give enough importance is CO2 buildup as well. The more isolated a place is, and smaller, the more environment friendly it is BUT the more likely it is to build up CO2, which leads to headaches. I installed a CO2 meter both at my current home, and at my parent's home for when I go back for Christmas. In my home, it's a fairly big open place so it takes ~2 days of closed windows (0-3C outs…

I suspect I'm experiencing some of this in a small home with poor circulation. Any suggestions for inexpensive room monitoring sensors?

I just bought one on my local Amazon version by searching "CO2 meter". While true numerical accuracy is "who knows", on rest/full ventilation it shows 400PPM and blowing at it (even gently) shows the CO2 increases drastically, as expected, so I'm happy with it.

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

#322

Post by CrazyStat »

voisin wrote: post #316
CrazyStat wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heat recovery ventilation [1] can bring in fresh air and output old air while recovering the vast majority of the heat. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_recovery_ventilation

These are only compatible with forced air systems, correct? I.e. using in-floor radiant heat would require an entirely separate ventilation system with heat recovery?

Correct.

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

#323

Post by SenHeng »

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?

I’ve not had a chance to test it in summer yet but it’s still cold to the touch even in the evening sun so I guess that’s a good sign?

I went with Low E specifically because I’d rather be cold than hot and wanted to block out the scorch from the evening sun.

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

#324

Post by SenHeng »

spiffistan wrote: post #41
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…

How is the ventilation and air quality? I work in a passive house in and we're experiencing significant issues with the indoor air quality when the building HVAC turns low.

I wouldn’t know, they aren’t installed yet. Japan doesn’t really do central heating or ventilation so I’ve got 4 smaller air exchangers all over the house and they’re supposed to work together somehow?

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

#325

Post by SenHeng »

sambeau wrote: post #130
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…

Is a stove like that not really dangerous in an air-tight house? Where do the fumes go?

Yeah, like fish said it’s not airtight yet so probably not that big of a deal.

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

#326

Post by SenHeng »

inovica wrote: post #8
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…

Sounds great. Do you have a blog or anything online about your project?

Unfortunately no.

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

#327

Post by SenHeng »

yboris wrote: post #307
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…

For heating a home efficiently, one approach is a rocket mass heater . It does require burning firewood, but if that's an acceptable/desirable quality, this technology seems far more efficient than standard fireplaces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mass_heater

I have thought about that but it’s a bit too much custom work to add into a passive house.

I might try one in a future garden shed/office.

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

#328

Post by tonyedgecombe »

jayflux wrote: post #286
lbriner wrote: post #143

I think this is one of those things where people generally agree that better insulation and lower energy costs is a good thing but who pays for it? In the UK, there is a constant demand for "affordable housing", which is caused by governments not controlling the housing market from either foreign investors or also people using the housing bubble to buy up loads of properties over time forcing others to rent. Bearing…

> Another major problem is the quality of building in the UK, mainly driven by a lack of tradespeople, and simply not having the skills to install to the quality levels required by thermally efficient houses like installing a membrane with zero holes in it, using the correct tapes, designing, installing and maintaining heat pumpes and various other things. I agree with the sibling comment this is an incentive problem…

Interestingly the previous Labour government had raised the standards for insulation but one of the first things Cameron did was abandon that legislation. This stuff is so frustrating.

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

#329

Post by maxwell86 »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #285
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…

So with home solar panels and storage getting cheaper and cheaper and better and better, where is the optimization point of investing in better insulation vs just buying more solar panels? Especially if the solar panels may produce profit on sunny mild days about 40-50% of the year if there is reverse metering and the like?

Insulation beats solar panels. It’s not only much cheaper to get, but also to maintain.

The body heat of a family of 4 is enough to heat a well insulated house.

Solar panels are there to supply electricity for use. The last step of passive houses are zero-energy houses, which means that they don’t get electricity from the grid.

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

#330

Post by jaclaz »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #272
jaclaz wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand fully your way of reasoning. A normal house costs - say - 200,000 "units" (dollars, euro, whatever). Making it "energy saving" costs an additional 60,000 units. In 20 years time you will be spending 60,000 units (3,000 per year) less for energy costs (and here we are assuming that ventilation and heating/cooling machines in the "better" house have the same maintenance costs than the ones in "normal…

"You essentially have a "break even" point 20 years in the future, from there onwards you start saving money." That's exactly how a 5% roi investment works. There is nothing unusual here. "in less than 20 years time it is possible that someone comes out with a mega-para-hyper-ultra climatization device that makes yearly energy costs go down by (say) 90%" And it's possible second coming of Christ will happen, or an as…

>That's exactly how a 5% roi investment works.

Not exactly, in a 20 years 5% roi investment you normally get your invested capital (admittedly reduced in real terms by inflation) back.

In this case a the end of the 20 years you have something that has degraded and that probably needs replacing (talking of ventilation systems or solar panels) and/or needs repairs.

I find it more like a 5 year lease for a car vs buying it cash.

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