If you were building your own house...

[j00fek]

i would spend the extra, it would pay it self off in the years to come

 

[Dr. Detroit]

If I lived in a predominantly sunny area where solar panels made sense than yes. I think the $10K investment while having the house built is huge. While it may take 20yrs to pay off at current energy prices, it would be awesome if prices went up further.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: desy
I look at my hot water heater as an emergency source of 40 gallons of potable water.

Don't forget to flush your tank regualrly, or the first few gallons won't look to potable 😛

 

[waggy]

IF i was buildinga new house i would make sure i spent the extra to make it as efficiant as we could.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Howard
I'd try to get a pond inside my house, too. 🙂

Say, that's a fantastic idea for my dome house. I'll have to do that.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Howard
I'd try to get a pond inside my house, too. 🙂

Say, that's a fantastic idea for my dome house. I'll have to do that.

Gotta build well, or else you'll have a crazy time with water damage.

 

[everman]

Insulation is a good place to invest more in, including the windows. Stay cooler in summer, warmer in winter. But solar panels for energy isn't worth it yet, solar water heating might be.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Oh, and if I were building my own house there would be cable drops everywhere & stereo wire for surround speakers pre-run 😀

Oh God yes!

Fishing wire through a house is such a pain in the ass.

QFT - I helped my dad a few months ago. It sucks crawling through a 120 degree attic.

 

[JinLien]

Depends on where I live & how much energy cost compare to the recovery cost time to initial installation, another thing to consider is the maintenance cost.

I would do it in a heart beat if the TCO is recover in 10 or less years, 15 years is about the threshold that I would go because lost of revenues or increase of mortgage interest may be more than offset the cost of energy saving.

I would go with a solar if the environment is suitable and design isn?t an eye sore. Other wise a geothermal if I have a lake/pond or easy excavate able ground.

For my region I will install my own geothermal system for my home with in floor heating/cooling/domestic hot water heating that would cost around $30K CAD if hire a contractor to do it. However, I have the skill to install my own system and the cost for materials will be $5-10K CAD if I do it myself.

 

[JinLien]

Originally posted by: Armitage

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Armitage
I'm building a large addition onto my house - I sprung for good windows and 2x6 construction for additional insulation. ICF is pretty expensive and difficult, particularly for a 2 story building. I did use it for my foundation though.

I plan on making some provisions for solar-electric in case they ever become economically viable.

Initial cost does seem to be higher for ICF, but the costs will recoup themselves in a few years.

Difficult? If you get somebody experienced with it, you shouldn't have any problems. Just stack, fill, and vibrate (as far as the wall-building goes).

Well, I'm doing all the work myself and don't have alot of help available, so that factors into it. And I do have a good bit of experience in traditional framing. As I said, I did do the foundation myself with ICF, and that went well. But that was very simple compared to 2 story walls with windows, doors, various cutouts, wiring & plumbing runs, etc.

Plus, you need to have a good idea how and what you intend to run through the walls before you pour. Again, since this is primarily just me and I'm learning as I go along I wanted to have a bit more flexibility in my plumbing and wiring runs.

If I was building the addition that *I* wanted, and it was only one story, I might have made a different decision. But that's a long story.

I'm not sure the cost would recoup in just "a few years". This addition will be about the same size as my existing house - but better insulated. I probably spent about $900 heating the existing house last year. The addition should be less then that - less roof area for the square footage, 2x6 vs 2x4 walls, more efficient furnace, etc. Call it $750 per year.

A 2x6 wall will be about R19, the numbers I've seen for ICF are on the order of R22 - R28 or 16% to 47% better - but only for the heat you lose through the walls. Considering that alot of the heat you lose is through windows &the roof where ICF can't help you, I'm not sure the difference between 2x6 walls and ICF will save a alot of that $750/year.

IIRC, the ICF just for the foundation cost about $2500 - not counting the concrete and the cost of a pumper. I did a spreadsheet cost comparison between stick framing and ICF when I was planning this, and the difference was significant, though I don't recall what it was specifically.

As far as the joists go:

http://www.icfweb.com/Manual/floordeck.asp
http://www.icfaccessories.com/watkinhanger.html
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0513444125855.html?6
http://x.kippercat.net/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=9&pos=10

etc.

2x6" exterior walls is standard in most regions. Extra insulation is great in the winter however it will hold the heat in be house better in the summer which may increases cooling cost in the summer. In ground building might be a consideration if natural insulation & climate control is a requirement.

2x4" constructions is more than adequate if you need to have 3? piping run inside it, but most sewage piping for such things as toilets that need large piping are vertical directly to the building drain below the ground floors. Most if not all other fixtures should be able to tack onto one 2" pipes that are small enough to squeeze between 2x4" lumber & till have rooms for 3/4" water service pipes & wirings,.

Most water service piping & DWV (drain/waste/vent) are run inside interior walls because it protect the piping from freezing & leaving the extra room in the exterior walls for insulation.

An additional thing that I would like to have is double stager studs on the exterior walls for increase in sound proofing, internal walls would be insulated so there wouldn?t be noises between rooms such as toilet flushing. Solid doors to cut down transfer noises between rooms. And there never enough electrical receptacle boxes for plug ins where you need them. Double Ethernet cables is a must in every room, and double coaxial cables would be nice also.

I would spring for a geothermal for infloor heating/cooling/hot water service if I have to excavate the land to built, because the cost is mostly in labour & excavating.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: gigapet
i wouldnt bother building a home if I could not afford to build it precisely how i wanted it to be.

That's not much of an answer, now is it?

Does that mean you WOULD or WOULD NOT include energy saving measures?

 

[IMaN00BieGF]

yes, if i planned on staying there for a while and would get my moneys worth.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: JinLien

Originally posted by: Armitage

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Armitage
I'm building a large addition onto my house - I sprung for good windows and 2x6 construction for additional insulation. ICF is pretty expensive and difficult, particularly for a 2 story building. I did use it for my foundation though.

I plan on making some provisions for solar-electric in case they ever become economically viable.

Initial cost does seem to be higher for ICF, but the costs will recoup themselves in a few years.

Difficult? If you get somebody experienced with it, you shouldn't have any problems. Just stack, fill, and vibrate (as far as the wall-building goes).

Well, I'm doing all the work myself and don't have alot of help available, so that factors into it. And I do have a good bit of experience in traditional framing. As I said, I did do the foundation myself with ICF, and that went well. But that was very simple compared to 2 story walls with windows, doors, various cutouts, wiring & plumbing runs, etc.

Plus, you need to have a good idea how and what you intend to run through the walls before you pour. Again, since this is primarily just me and I'm learning as I go along I wanted to have a bit more flexibility in my plumbing and wiring runs.

If I was building the addition that *I* wanted, and it was only one story, I might have made a different decision. But that's a long story.

I'm not sure the cost would recoup in just "a few years". This addition will be about the same size as my existing house - but better insulated. I probably spent about $900 heating the existing house last year. The addition should be less then that - less roof area for the square footage, 2x6 vs 2x4 walls, more efficient furnace, etc. Call it $750 per year.

A 2x6 wall will be about R19, the numbers I've seen for ICF are on the order of R22 - R28 or 16% to 47% better - but only for the heat you lose through the walls. Considering that alot of the heat you lose is through windows &the roof where ICF can't help you, I'm not sure the difference between 2x6 walls and ICF will save a alot of that $750/year.

IIRC, the ICF just for the foundation cost about $2500 - not counting the concrete and the cost of a pumper. I did a spreadsheet cost comparison between stick framing and ICF when I was planning this, and the difference was significant, though I don't recall what it was specifically.

As far as the joists go:

http://www.icfweb.com/Manual/floordeck.asp
http://www.icfaccessories.com/watkinhanger.html
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0513444125855.html?6
http://x.kippercat.net/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=9&pos=10

etc.

2x6" exterior walls is standard in most regions. Extra insulation is great in the winter however it will hold the heat in be house better in the summer which may increases cooling cost in the summer. In ground building might be a consideration if natural insulation & climate control is a requirement.

Where is 2x6 construction standard? I've seen it only very rarely. And insulation isn't directional - in the summer having more insulation will reduce your cooling costs, not raise them.

2x4" constructions is more than adequate if you need to have 3? piping run inside it, but most sewage piping for such things as toilets that need large piping are vertical directly to the building drain below the ground floors. Most if not all other fixtures should be able to tack onto one 2" pipes that are small enough to squeeze between 2x4" lumber & till have rooms for 3/4" water service pipes & wirings,

Most water service piping & DWV (drain/waste/vent) are run inside interior walls because it protect the piping from freezing & leaving the extra room in the exterior walls for insulation.

You ussually run a 2x6 interior "wet wall" where your main drain & vent pipes go through.

An additional thing that I would like to have is double stager studs on the exterior walls for increase in sound proofing, internal walls would be insulated so there wouldn?t be noises between rooms such as toilet flushing. Solid doors to cut down transfer noises between rooms. And there never enough electrical receptacle boxes for plug ins where you need them. Double Ethernet cables is a must in every room, and double coaxial cables would be nice also.

I ran about 1000' of CAT6 in the addition & the rest of the house. Alot of coax as well. it's gonna be a bear to put in the patch panel to tie it all together.

I would spring for a geothermal for infloor heating/cooling/hot water service if I have to excavate the land to built, because the cost is mostly in labour & excavating.

 

[Sluggo]

I am building my own house. We did spring for some energy saving things.

Roof sheathing, we got the OSB with a radiant barrier (foil facing) on it, about a $800 upgrade

Thermally broken aluminum windows with LOW-E glass. About $3000 upgrade

Housewrap. probably a waste, but materials were $800, and installed it ourselves.

90% furnace / 13SEER HVAC system. About a $5000 upgrade for the 3 zones we have

Blown in batt wall insulation on 2x6 walls. Havent gotten the bill for this yet, I think it will be about $1000 upgrade.

I hope these few items will result in a decent savings on heating and cooling bills. I am most certainly NOT looking forward to paying the utility bills on the new house. 🙁

 

[JinLien]

2x6 is standard here in Canada. Cooking and body heat does heat up the house quite a bit added with the high out side ambient temperature is going to be unbearable in the summer (unless you have air-con). A sliver or lighter colour roof is one of the best method to cut down the sun radiant temperature on the house.

It would be nice to have 2x6 wet wall but not necessary, because cast iron DWV pipe greatly reduce water sound therefore piping insulation isn?t require (however it is still nice to have 2x6 wet wall to work with), PEX is much more quiet than copper therefore water pressure/speed isn?t a problem.

1000? of network cable is about right for a house. I uses a 1000? for network/phone cable when I renovated 1/2 of my house last year. And, now it is the better 1/2 of the house with all the wirrings, plug-ins and lightings that I ever wanted.

 

[SagaLore]

Yes. My house would be so self-sufficient, the power company would be paying me for the surplus.