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Looking for all suggestions on what one could do today in a brand new construction to keep down energy costs, figuring I'll live in the house for at least 20 years. Are certain insulation brands better? Windows? Construction techniques? Do I want to heat with oil, gas, etc?
Looking for all suggestions on what one could do today in a brand new construction to keep down energy costs, figuring I'll live in the house for at least 20 years. Are certain insulation brands better? Windows? Construction techniques? Do I want to heat with oil, gas, etc?
it is going to depend on where in the nation you are located. There are soo many ways you can go about this, your best bet is to talk with a Designer in your area that is well versed with "green" builds.
You can start your search on SIP panels, or "green block" building techniques. Solar arrays, or Residential Wind generators depending on sun, and wind availability. high quality, low U-factor windows. ect.
My geo heats/cools and provides hot water. Love it!!!!!
Geothermal sounds great. How much does it save you in energy costs? Also, doesn't it require forced hot air, which is not as good as forced hot water heat? My understanding is that forced hot air blows a lot of dust around and is dryer heat, compared to hot water. Thoughts?
My geo heats/cools and provides hot water. Love it!!!!!
I take it you mean geothermal heat pump, in which case, yeah that would be a great system to use if you are not in extreme climate areas.
Yes, you want to insulate everywhere you can, but as far as windows go, as far as U-factor, etc... you can also install either "sound reduction" windows or internal "soundproofing" windows on the inside of the sill. You get two layers of window to improve the U-factor. A sound reduction window will have two sets of glass panes in the frame with an air gap. The gap, along with the sealing, is a large part of the insulating from windows. Normal 2 or 3 pane windows have a 1/4" or 1/2" air gap (maybe larger), but the double windows can have a few inch gap.
Gas is generally the most efficient if you need higher heat levels than a heat pump can do (I believe some heat pumps are available in hybrid with additional heating elements). Of course that's if you get a high efficiency gas heater. In any case, most of these items have tax credits but that may be for existing homes, I'm not sure.
Geo thermal is the way to go, especially in New England if your main choice for fuel is oil or some other fossil fuel.
The basis for it is a heat pump but not like stated above. The Earth is the heat sink / heat source for most of the energy required. Example - The Earth is somewhere around ~56 F at depth as a constant. Drill a well, 300 - 600 feet deep, put in piping with water, backfill the well with a sandy goop.
You now can pump water down into the Earth and have it come back up at 56F. The heat pump loves this situation and is able to use wee amounts of electricity to compress air to get any final result temp needed for heating. Both forced hot water or forced hot air systems are possible. The same equipment can be used for heating and cooling, works extremely efficient both ways.
Your energy bills will be at least 50% less than most other systems using a fossil fuel. In some situations up to 80% less. My county finally passed a bond issue to build what will be essentially all new schools. One of the prime selling points was that all the energy systems will be modern state of the art geo-thermal. That savings alone sort of justified many voters voting in favor. The State picked up a major percentage of the construction but the operating costs will be far, far less. The general need was due and geo-thermal is recognized as state of the art, plus it provides a form of energy security against major price hikes in future in energy costs. Hot water is essentially free as an operations cost.
By building some emergency electrical generation capacity on the house site you also gain pretty much complete ability to withstand any loss of heat / cooling / hot water independent of outside normal fuel sources. Devil in the details.
I can tell you about my geo system. It is my heat, cooling and hot water. I have a propane back up. It came on maybe four times last year. A high light bill would be $175. Low in the spring and fall $80. Remember I also pump huge amounts of water to drill and that also on the bill.
Basically, I think your first move would be to at least spec out the shack to meet "Energy Star" levels of insulation, that and go with the smallest square footage that meets your needs, from there you could go on to extra-thick walls to accomodate more insulation, extra tight doors/windows (you may need a heat-recovery ventilator unit if it's tight enough). A basement tends to stay warm in winter and cool in summer.
Then you can go on to a groundwater-sourced heat pump, which AFIK is the most cost-efficient heating/cooling device you can get. You need to figure out if you can go open loop (most efficient and cheaper to build too) using well water as your heat sink, or if you need to go to a closed-loop system due to no place to go with the water or inadequate well flow. These systems can be set up to provide hot water at a discount in the winter and practially free in the summer (comes with the air conditioning)
You will need a backup, maybe propane, propane is generally not cost-competitive but for a backup it's OK. Me, I would go with a good woodstove if I were in your area. Both as a failsafe backup and as a cheery thing on a cold day.
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Look at geo thermal
