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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)

#331

Post by jmrm »

voisin wrote: post #312
jmrm wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People doesn't give the massive importance the isolation has. Some years ago we remodelled our home and added XPS (Extruded Polystyrene) to insulate the roof of the house. After that we use the AC only three or four days in the year, and before that we had to use it at least a complete summer month. That house is in the south-interior of Spain, so heat is no joke here. If somebody are constructing or remodelling any…

What about windows? I find buildings with few or small windows to be unmanageably dreary, but the math works out that no matter how insulated you make the walls if you have a good amount of glazing on the walls the effective R value drops quite low.

You always can use isolated glass panels and wood or plastic frames to prevent that: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/window-types-and-technolo...

I personally have gas filled glass panels and are pretty good at that, but I wish I had also those that have an IR filter coating that prevent IR heat from entering and from exiting the house. That was a lot more expensive when I installed mine.

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

#332

Post by goodpoint »

Terry_Roll wrote: post #304
goodpoint wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know where google scholar, pubmed and wiki is? I know them quite well but this is a conversation on HN and people should back their claims here.

Well you can see that breathing is stimulated with rising CO2 levels, everyone knows this whether they have exercised or held a non-permeable bag over their head. Its interesting because Climate Change aka rising CO2 levels will stimulate the population globally which then presents a new area of concern for authorities who like to keep control of a population. Hadnt thought of that until now!

You are throwing around the word "stimulating" in a very misleading way.

If don't have good circulation in your home your respiration rate is going up by an unnoticeable amount. The idea that this prevents "relaxation" is absurd.

Equally absurd to claim "presents a new area of concern for authorities who like to keep control of a population".

If anything it's the very opposite, where *high* levels of CO2 *decrease* attention and causes drowsiness.

- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-019-0071-6

- Karnauskas, K. B., et al. (2020) Fossil fuel combustion is driving indoor CO2 toward levels harmful to human cognition. GeoHealth. doi.org/10.1029/2019GH000237.

- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200421090556.h...

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

#333

Post by chipsa »

johndhi wrote: post #290

Any tips for me? I live in Northern California in a house that (1) has an empty space below it, (2) single-pane windows, (3) an inefficient fireplace with no steel stove, (4) a big, cavernous room with high, un-insulated ceilings on one half of the house. Obviously we could spend a zillion dollars to insulate everything and fix all of the problems I identified above (and probably more), but what is critical? One thin…

The bigger the room, the higher the ceiling has to be to feel comfortable. I'd still insulate the ceiling of the big room, but I wouldn't necessarily lower it. Instead, put in a ceiling fan so that the air doesn't stratify. Fireplace isn't critical unless you're actually using it for heating.

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

#334

Post by madaxe_again »

voisin wrote: post #317
madaxe_again wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 exp…

What do you do for fresh air? We have a very well insulated cabin heated by fire, but find the CO2 builds up, particularly overnight with no doors opening, and if we aren’t very quick to close the fire once it gets going, PM2.5 can jump quickly.

We sleep with the window open in the bedroom, and I air the place each morning. Also, it’s almost too well insulated, as it’s easy to accidentally make it 30C in here while it’s -9 outside - so more often than not we have a window cracked open for some air whilst sat in in the evenings. Our PM2.5 is often a silly number, same reason. I’m considering getting an air purifier, but to be honest, given all the crap I’ve inhaled whilst building the place, and given that I smoke anyway, it’s low on my list.

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

#335

Post by mariushn »

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…

Salut! Could you please share more info / photos / tips, besides the sdac.ro link? How high is the elevation? What kind of heating do you use? How do you refresh the air? (opening the windows or heat recovery system) Thanks
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