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Building a better home

Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
I'd really like to get a home custom-built in the future. Just for fun I've been looking into building materials, HVAC, and so on. First off, what about water heaters? Is it possible to run 2 water heaters so you never run out of hot water? Or get multiple on-demand heaters? (heard they don't have great flow)
 
If you can get it (and afford it), get a Geothermal system. All the heat/cooling you want and hot water to boot (about 70% of hot water heated from geothermal system), especially during the summer. A friend has one and the heating/cooling is fantastic and his electricity bill is so darn cheap!
 
Originally posted by: Engineer
If you can get it (and afford it), get a Geothermal system. All the heat/cooling you want and hot water to boot (about 70% of hot water heated from geothermal system), especially during the summer. A friend has one and the heating/cooling is fantastic and his electricity bill is so darn cheap!
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Whoa neat, never heard of that. Looks sweet!

http://www.alliantenergy.com/docs/groups/public/documents/pub/p012389.hcsp
 
The electronics will definitely be a fun aspect...I've heard about people putting pipes in so they can run wires easily. I'd like to do some fun projects like an intercom system, interior/exterior webcam-based security system, whole-house audio system, etc. Any thoughts on that?
 
I tried to start a thread like this, it did not go far. I am putting old school pencil to paper right now on a few floor plans.
I will be putting flex or 'smurf' tube into the walls for low voltage wiring. Some of the locations will be left covered over with sheetrock, but I will have as-builts, or drawings and notations of those locations. It is easy to cut in an 'old work' low voltage plate like these caddy brand plates later on, providing the tube is in the wall and you know where.
This way you don't have to commit to locations of TV's or other things, nor do you have to accept a bunch of blank plates in your finished walls.
The smurf tubes will run to either the crawl or the attic, and will be tagged. This way a wire can be fed in as needed.
There will be finished runs to areas we are certain of, like offices and logical phone locations.
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
I'd really like to get a home custom-built in the future. Just for fun I've been looking into building materials, HVAC, and so on. First off, what about water heaters? Is it possible to run 2 water heaters so you never run out of hot water? Or get multiple on-demand heaters? (heard they don't have great flow)
Click to expand...

If gas is an option, that is a good way to go.
Get a recirculating system on a timer. It uses a small grundfos or similar pump to circulate hot water out to the bathrooms and kitchen in a loop of insulated pipe, so it does not cost much in loss.
This will mean near-instant hot water in the mornings or whenever you need it.
My boss owns a plumbing contractor business, and he has that and all the plumbing bells and whistles in his home, as well as at the new office.
 
Originally posted by: skyking
Originally posted by: Kaido
I'd really like to get a home custom-built in the future. Just for fun I've been looking into building materials, HVAC, and so on. First off, what about water heaters? Is it possible to run 2 water heaters so you never run out of hot water? Or get multiple on-demand heaters? (heard they don't have great flow)
Click to expand...

If gas is an option, that is a good way to go.
Get a recirculating system on a timer. It uses a small grundfos or similar pump to circulate hot water out to the bathrooms and kitchen in a loop of insulated pipe, so it does not cost much in loss.
This will mean near-instant hot water in the mornings or whenever you need it.
My boss owns a plumbing contractor business, and he has that and all the plumbing bells and whistles in his home, as well as at the new office.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I have a lot of reading ahead of me - electrical, plumbing, building, etc. I am really interested in building a low-maintenance home as well. Long-lasting materials that require little maintenance, good design that doesn't require a lot of attention, etc.
 
Geothermal + Solar panels + good insulation + good windows + good doors + fiber optic redirection/LED lights= goodness
 
ICFs, radiant heating, hybrid solar lighting

"Combined-cycle" greenhouse (fish pond feeds plants which remove waste nitrate from the water)
 
One of the most important features of your home is it's thermal axis. Make sure you orientate your home to maximize the solar gains in summer and thermal mass in winter.

Don't just rely on the crappy 2x6 stud walls and manufactured orientation of windows and overhang.

Greenhomebuilding.com and mother earth news are your friend.

When your pkwh is $3 and you're home is super inefficent I won't be offering help lad.

Godspeed

Rogo
 
Geothermal -- Heat home, cool home, heat domestic water, save 70-80% energy usage of home heating/AC/hot water compare to electric/oil. High initial cost @ 50K (CAD) for an average home.

Heat pump (air-to-air) -- Heat home, cool home, fresh air ventilation. Relatively low initial cost @ 20K (CAD) or less save 50-60% energy usage of home heating compare to electric/oil.

Gas is slightly better than electric heating for energy consumption.

Electric baseboard is second to last at energy consumption.

Worst energy consumption is oil furnace.

Electric HWT is the lowest initial cost solution for domestic water. Gas HWT install cost about 30% more than electric however it consume slightly less energy to operate & heat recovery time is 1/3 of electric.

Instant on-demand hot water heater cost 2-3X more than electric HWT to install, however it is claim to use much less energy pending frequency of usage.

The best solution is to go with 2 systems that your pocket book can afford, because all solutions isn't impervious to down time (power failure/gas interruption).

Geothermal & Air-to-Air heat pump generally use electric coil backup, or electric/gas boiler.

IMHO, one should have a system that uses gas & wood as back up heat source.

PS. Heat loss in the home is generally due to poor insulation & windows, therefore increase your R value, double panel windows is a must (better yet, no window...live in a cave), and install a ventilation system to lower the humidity level (prevent mold).

It is also is nice to have your own water well, water filtration system, UV/filter for air/pollen cleaner.

 
solar powered attic exhaust fans are nice


you can use multiple water heaters, but they're usually for separate zones, not series. the instant ones can suck if you use more hot water than they flow.
 
solar powered attic exhaust fans are nice


you can use multiple water heaters, but they're usually for separate zones, not series. the instant ones can suck if you use more hot water than they flow.
Click to expand...
Gas on-demand water heater deliver very high flow rate with out the power draw of a typical electric on-demand water heater (small - 50 Amps, mid size for the average home 80-90 Amps).

In floor heating
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Why stop there if you can afford it?
In ceiling & wall too, specially in bathroom towel racks.

 
I'm not walking around on the walls and ceilings to often and when I do I have my spidy boots on so my feet stay warm anyway.
 
In floor heating
That is called 'radiant heating'. The mose efficent sysetem I ever saw was one designed by an old man-he worked for nasa when he was young, he was german, he was farming 120 acres of timothy when I went to live on his property-and he was a still a racist.

He built a steam generator (it was tall and thin and used only a few moving parts, at the time I was studying philosophy and didn't realize the importance of what I saw) as well as his 4000sq home. I have lot's of stories about what he created and built but this isn't the thread. What I came away with was a shallow understanding of what it meant to conserve and make efficent.

Rogo
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Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
I'm not walking around on the walls and ceilings to often and when I do I have my spidy boots on so my feet stay warm anyway.
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I put a system in a house that have in floor/wall heating for a granite shower wall/floor bath room and it is an incredible experience to lean against a rock wall that is warm.

 
High quality insulation is great, not only will it keep you cooler in summer and warmer in winter, but it can also reduce noise from outside.

I don't think anyone mentioned wind power, it could be an option depending on your location.
 
Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: NoShangriLa
In floor heating
Click to expand...
Why stop there if you can afford it?
In ceiling & wall too, specially in bathroom towel racks.
Click to expand...
Warm towels are nice, but ceiling and wall heating? You're kidding, right?
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Radiant ceiling heat source is quite common in industrial application.
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Perhaps, but what advantages of ceiling heat would there be in a residence? In a still room, the heat transfer would mostly be via conduction, I should think, which is really slow for air.
 
Everman is spot on.

If you want high insulation values use 3 string straw bales and a lime/cement/sand plaster combo in a post and beam structure. You'll average an R50 exterior wall insulation value, and if you can make a slab foundation with some water mass (in 300-500 gallon water barrels on the interior, you won't have to heat or cool the house with any kind of forced air or radiant.

Rogo
 
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