Design for solar passive
Kate
5 years ago
Featured Answer
Comments (20)
MB Design & Drafting
5 years agoKate
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Natural passive airflow, cross ventilation, working in this heatwave?
Comments (2)once our homes are allowed to heat up it's very difficult to cool them down because heat from warm air allowed in through open windows and doors is stored in the walls and floors and then released back inside the house as the outdoor temperature drops ..this heat sink effect is fabulous when you have a good sunny day in cold climates but challenging when we have extended periods of hot weather and especially challenging in your hot climates where homes need to be lightweight to minimise this passive heating effect and outlook and orientation need to be different than most advice available about these effects (which is usually aimed at retaining heat in cold climates). We have ceilings fans and cross ventilation in all major rooms, high windows with electric openers to increase the stack exhaust effect, maximum insulation in roofs and walls, double glazed windows, insulated internal window coverings and solid internal doors to restrict heat movement, wide eaves and/or verandahs and have substituted more lawns,trees and gardens for some paving but windows on the eastern side still allow sun to heat the house from early morning and windows on the west increase the effect till late evening and we now plan to install adjustable vertical screens on the outside of windows and verandahs to increase shading.. living in a cold climate we already have heating but we are now considering upgrading our heaing to include reverse cycle air conditioning but we're hoping the new screens will avoid the ac..good luck with your challenges...See MoreNew home - Off grid, rural. Advice
Comments (15)How exciting El Bee. I live in a similar rural climate. Everyone with bottled gas for heating (and anything else) constantly remarks how expensive it is. It’s really expensive to run. The most efficient heating type is reverse cycle air conditioning. The Daikin US7 has a COP (coefficient of performance) of up to 7. What that means (in lay person’s terms) is that one unit of energy produces 7 units of heat. Most other brands have a COP of up to 5. COP is also affected by the size of the unit and the temperature where the compressor is located (usually outdoors) Other forms of electric heating have a COP of 1 at best. An alternative could be wood fired or heat pump hydronic heating and water heating. It gives a much nicer heat than ducted and may be cheaper to run if you can source your own wood. If you buy firewood then the economics may not work for you. Whether a heat pump system will work for you in winter, which is when you need heating, depends upon how many sunny days you get in winter. It still needs to be powered by some electricity but is efficient. The best solution is to build a house that requires very little heating or cooling (or even none) using solar passive design principles. Good places to start are the yourhome.gov.au website, the alternative technology association website (although it can get bogged down in debates about technology) and renew and sanctuary magazines. If your house is oriented correctly, right amount of shading, cross ventilation, insulation, right materials etc then you may need very little heating or cooling at all. Good orientation and cross ventilation costs nothing but will reap huge benefits in terms of comfort and liveability, and reduced reduction on energy to heat and cool the house. For me, I would prefer the master separate to the kids rooms unless there is a solid reason for grouping the bedrooms together. It’s good to be close to kids when they’re little and need you during the night, once they are older you might want more privacy for adult activities. Teens typically go to bed later than their parents and there are likely things you don’t want them to hear. If possible it’d be great to get the loo out of the bathroom. Especially for morning rush time. Even though there’s another loo in the laundry. Think about wood storage too. Accessible to the house and easy access for the delivery truck. You don’t want to be pushing wheelbarrows of wood up a steep slope. Some wood storage inside is also a good idea so you don’t need to dash out in the cold to stock up on wood all the time. And finally, possibly more pantry space. If you are not close to a major town or decent food shopping then you may have longer between shopping trips and need more storage for food. It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just bigger. Think about using a building designer or architect with an understanding of sustainable design and solar passive principles in your climate. Or if designing yourself then going with a builder who understands these principles and has worked on similar projects in the past. They’ll have great insights about what works in your climate. Is there a sustainability or permaculture group in the area? They’ll probably be a great source of information and contacts. Good luck with the build....See MoreLiving Room window, clerestory and passive design
Comments (11)As for the clerestories, glass is a very, very poor insulator & doesn't block radiant heat (sunshine). So in winter you want to gain more heat from sunshine coming in the house than you lose through poorly insulated windows (clerestories lose a lot of heat, as it's warm near the ceiling). So you want your windows to be unshaded in winter. Unfortunately your roof design means your northern clerestories will be shaded, losing more heat than they gain. So I see no advantage having north facing clerestories with that roof design. As oklouise says, north facing clerestories are much better with a skillion roof, as they will receive winter sunshine. As for western windows. All western windows are a problem in summer (& won't receive as much sun in winter as northern windows). Clerestories will be shaded for much of the day, but will still receive sunshine in the late afternoon. So I wouldn't be including them. You obviously want some windows facing your western yard. But I'd be reducing them, shading them with a western covered alfresco & using low-e glass to reduce radiant heat transmission. Southern clerestories. These receive no sunshine in winter, & leak heat. So I wouldn't be having these either. Maybe a case of form over function. You want form to follow function (as is the case with north facing clerestories with a skillion roof in the below example)....See MoreNeed help with design of 5 bedbroom off the grid/solar passive house
Comments (36)My house is also built at the top of a hill, the summit and is cut into a cliff. We bought it, it was built in the 90s and the orientation is entirely wrong. The living areas face west and all bedrooms are in the east. The master is exposed to the western and the northern sunshine. It’s nice in the winter and entirely unbearable in the summer. The same goes for my living room. We take extra long holidays in the summer to avoid being at home. The home had no insulation in ceilings, and raked ceilings. So the first thing we did was remove the roof sheeting install battens to create a cavity and installed R3.5 insulation. We are also upgrading installing new windows to upgrade the glazing on the western windows and looking to put insulation in all the walls It also gets really windy, so windy. So I understand your concerns. When it gets windy the entire house shakes. So the next thing will be to improve the bracing. There is a 3-4metre clearance under our home for storage. We could do a build in under. Even with the positioning of our shed and close proximity to the home it does little to shelter from the wind. We are considered the building an “outdoor room” which would act as an alfresco with skylights, lounge, pool and kitchenette that could act as an outdoor entertainment area when weather permits. I just did a sustainable design for a client nearby. I am so jealous of her amazing home. Her land is smaller then my land and her land cost the same price as my house and land. So I am grateful for what I have....See Moreoklouise
5 years agoKate
5 years agoKate
5 years agoKate
5 years agoKate
5 years agoKate
5 years agoKate
5 years agooklouise
5 years agooklouise
5 years agoWiz Zle
5 years agoLynette Ludbrook
5 years agoKate
3 years ago
Sara Graham