Passive heating / Discussions

...heating and cooling infrastructure, but don't underestimate the advantages of including thermal mass in homes for energy efficiency. We were hopeful that phase change drywall with wax beads would make more of an impact in the green home building community than it has just yet, so if you or anyone knows of any new PCM m...

I'm replacing aluminum frame single pane glass windows with double pane windows. I live in Sacramento, Ca where summer temperatures exceed 115 degrees Farinhight, and winters freeze. Choosing the right window frame is a big part of finding the best performing window. In a warmer climate you are not faced with the same ...

...Passive solar home design basics All you need to know about Passive House How to build a greenhouse in a cold climate

...passive heating and cooling to my home.  Since On this same website, I see that there have been a few projects in Colorado, so I'm hoping you can direct me to someone who can help us do this. I appreciate any information you can provide. Passive heating and cooling is a great way to save energy in a home, but if you me...

...heating or cooling dominated climate, and make your house airtight. Airtightness plays a crucial role in energy efficiency, reducing heat loss and improving indoor air quality. How airtightness affects energy performance in Passive House and Net Zero homes is an important factor to consider when designing a resilient a...

...passive house in Boston on a tight budget? Local builders here are too expensive.  Thank you You can find local builders near Boston for a passive house in the directory here, but some of our prefab kit houses are Passive House ready, and they are usually more affordable than site-built houses, so that is a potential o...

...heating in the home. Heat pumps are the most efficient heating system, so with that combination you would have an efficient source of air heating, your feet would not be too hot or too cold, and for the spring and fall when you may want a bit of heat in the house and not heat the entire floor you have that in the heat ...

...Passive Solar Home Design If it's mid-September and you are calculating this now, does that mean you are still in the design phase or have you started building?  If so, and if you’re not a mathemagenius, AND you can wait until December 21st, then you could just do it on site by hand and not risk having made any mistake...

...passive heat gain, so you want the highest R-value windows possible to reduce heat loss.  And remember that maximising your southern exposure for passive heat gain needs to include a passive cooling strategy such as overhangs or sun shades to prevent overheating in summer or you'll be spinning your wheels and spending ...

...heating system. The house is now standing, it is the first house built of our new prefab modular kit houses available across Canada and the US. you can see a full break down of the mechanical systems, energy performance and total carbon footprint on this page here -  Zero Carbon Homes - The S1600 Prefab Eco Home is aff...

...passive heating.  The house is certified LEED Platinum but also meets Passive House levels of performance (and then some), but it does go beyond what we consider to be a resonable return on investment in terms of insulation levels.  That said - in general, the answer is yes, you are better to increase your performance ...

...heating during sunny winter days that provided too much passive solar heat. How well did that experiment work at collecting excess heat?   It was also mentioned using the radiant hydronic floor, moving purposely heated water in the radiant tubing to help balance the excess heating. My understanding was that the unheate...

...passively heated Edelweiss Demonstration house that covers the basic principles of passive heating and cooling concept and design.

...heating, and a concrete floor is one of the best surfaces to collect and store heat. But the energy gains are not nearly significant enough to be worth living on a floor that you just don’t like. You may have seen this already, but here is our page on passive heating – Passive solar heating - how to warm your home with...

...heating solution, is that correct? If not let me know. From the beginning, your best bet is to have a very good thermal envelope to reduce the heat load and, if possible, orient the house for passive solar heating. Both of those design priorities will reduce the size of the heating system you require as well as the amo...