Livin' off THE GRID

[EthanAllen]

The key is to get the heat loss down as far as possible.

Then you can heat it with the sun (passive) and/or warm bodies, lights, candles, etc.

Absolute Fact. 'Stress skin' panels @ walls & roof= super high R value...Prob. is, most people don't/won't spend xtra$$ up front for added R value.- Just the req'd minimum. This is actually where, like it or not, MORE govt. regulation would be in order. Although I'm certain some on this forum will argue w/ me about that.....any takers?

That is because not all of the costs for a gallon of oil are included in the price. You can thank the neo-classical revolution for that one.

The other thing that isn't realized by most is the air infiltration factor. Wind blowing thru fiberglass (wind washing) seriously degrades effective r-value as well as the number of studs in a wall (vs. not with stress skin).

Have you ever seen an 'underground' house? Typically, 3 sides are sub-terranian; 4th sid So. facing- mostly glass. Super efficient, but 1/2 the house= not so much of a view.

yes

[Riddler]

The key is to get the heat loss down as far as possible.

Then you can heat it with the sun (passive) and/or warm bodies, lights, candles, etc.

Absolute Fact. 'Stress skin' panels @ walls & roof= super high R value...Prob. is, most people don't/won't spend xtra$$ up front for added R value.- Just the req'd minimum. This is actually where, like it or not, MORE govt. regulation would be in order. Although I'm certain some on this forum will argue w/ me about that.....any takers?

That is because not all of the costs for a gallon of oil are included in the price. You can thank the neo-classical revolution for that one.

The other thing that isn't realized by most is the air infiltration factor. Wind blowing thru fiberglass (wind washing) seriously degrades effective r-value as well as the number of studs in a wall (vs. not with stress skin).

Have you ever seen an 'underground' house? Typically, 3 sides are sub-terranian; 4th sid So. facing- mostly glass. Super efficient, but 1/2 the house= not so much of a view.

yes

Well, well...you must be in someone's good graces...what w/ your decreasing smite value, and all....

[EthanAllen]

My Dad was an architect and I spent 20 years in the energy conservation industry.

[Riddler]

My Dad was an architect and I spent 20 years in the energy conservation industry.

Excellent, but does THAT decrease smite?

[miamiballoonguy]

a stupid question...  Do you get enough sun out there in the winter for solar power to work effectively?

Anthony

[Roycerson]

I heated a 2500 sq ft house with nothing but wood for a winter once.  I had a plentiful supply of free wood, only had to cut it up load it in the truck, unload it, cut it some more, stack it, wait, split it, move it inside, stack it and fill the stove several times a day.  Piece of cake.  Really, it was a LOT of work.  If you compared man/hours spent with what I saved over using conventional heating methods I probably earned about 2 dollars an hour.  Could have delivered pizza's one night a week and made more money in less time and brought home free food too.  Got a good workout though.  I enjoyed it mostly, except for the times I didn't.

If I'd had to purchase the wood or resort to cutting down trees that weren't scheduled to be cleared anyway it would have been prohibitive. 
The fire would go for a full 8 hours but not much longer without some tending.  It heated the house quite well. 

I have serious concern about the indoor air quality.  Sure there were filters and ventilation but that's a LOT of smoke.  Who cares about smoking a pack a day when you're smoking 2 trees a week.

[Lloyd Danforth]

You didn't have a chimney?

[Roycerson]

Of course there was a chimney.  It was proffessionally installed when I moved in with a supplementary gas furnace that I never had to use (I think the wood stove was originally the "supplementary" part)

Still, the house smelled like a campfire (not a negative for me), so did all my clothes and sometimes you could tell the air was a little thick.  I don't think there was anything wrong with equipment.  You just can't burn that much wood w/o making a whole lot of smoke.

[Lloyd Danforth]

I was just busting your stones.  One of those air exchange thingys would probably lessen the smoke in the house.

[Roycerson]

One of those air exchange thingys

HVAC isn't my strong point either

[Riddler]

a stupid question...  Do you get enough sun out there in the winter for solar power to work effectively?

Anthony

Yes we do, but solar has the lowest efficiency in the N.East & West. Also, we lose efficiency by running glycol in a hydronic loop for the panels, and heat loos in piping between roof & heat exchanger/tank. Still, It's cheap for me cuz i'm doing the install, found used panels, parts & mat'l @ wholesale,etc.

[Riddler]

Of course there was a chimney.  It was proffessionally installed when I moved in with a supplementary gas furnace that I never had to use (I think the wood stove was originally the "supplementary" part)

Still, the house smelled like a campfire (not a negative for me), so did all my clothes and sometimes you could tell the air was a little thick.  I don't think there was anything wrong with equipment.  You just can't burn that much wood w/o making a whole lot of smoke.

You either had a leaky stove and/or poor draft. Makes a big. dif. Also any exhaust fans play havoc on draft. This is why I have (& sell) outdoor wood boilers. All the mess & smoke is outside, and it takes 3' logs, unsplit up to 6-8"; none of that stove length cutting/splitting. heats house & hot water....

[EthanAllen]

a stupid question...  Do you get enough sun out there in the winter for solar power to work effectively?

Anthony

Yes we do, but solar has the lowest efficiency in the N.East & West. Also, we lose efficiency by running glycol in a hydronic loop for the panels, and heat loos in piping between roof & heat exchanger/tank. Still, It's cheap for me cuz i'm doing the install, found used panels, parts & mat'l @ wholesale,etc.

You are making an assumption he is talking about active solar hot water rather than photovoltaics or passive solar.

[Riddler]

Yes, I suppose I did. I orig. was talking about hot water. PV is too expensive to justify the benefits here in N.E. Passive hot water doesn't work here either in winter

[EthanAllen]

Yes, I suppose I did. I orig. was talking about hot water. PV is too expensive to justify the benefits here in N.E. Passive hot water doesn't work here either in winter

Passive solar meaning to heat a building via the sun coming into windows on the south side...