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Thermally Efficient Home


Maine farmer

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It is a frustrating problem because everything is fine 95% of the time, but now and again we get these heat waves which make life difficult for maybe a total of two weeks of the year. The various solutions all involve a considerable expense and a lot of labour, and the thick insulation between the beams would alter the character of the place. All this just to solve a short-term discomfort in summer.

If your situation is adequate 95% of the time, then I'd think the appropriate answer would be to get a larger window unit.  There's no way any of the recommendations I offered would be cost effective.

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If your situation is adequate 95% of the time, then I'd think the appropriate answer would be to get a larger window unit.  There's no way any of the recommendations I offered would be cost effective.

 

Yes - the cost is really not justified, which is frustrating, because it would be nice to implement some cunning system.

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I guess it depends on your definition of cunning.  From what I understand, if you've got a heat problem in a bedroom area of your house for two weeks out of the year, then the cunning solution is to not use that bedroom for two weeks out of the year.  I know this sounds condescending, but when you compare the return on investment to other solutions, this isn't a joke.

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I guess it depends on your definition of cunning.  From what I understand, if you've got a heat problem in a bedroom area of your house for two weeks out of the year, then the cunning solution is to not use that bedroom for two weeks out of the year.  I know this sounds condescending, but when you compare the return on investment to other solutions, this isn't a joke.

 

Quite right. The obvious solution is to sleep in the cave when necessary, but we are hopelessly set in our ways and conservative about beds. 

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You could at least fit a ceiling fan - if you don't already have one. I found they helped quite significantly if I slept with no bedclothes. 

 

I have installed a large fan to blow horizontally into the bedroom - it was so powerful on its lowest setting that I had to install a transformer to reduce the voltage to 110 volts. I removed the safety grills and it gives a nice quiet breeze which I can step up to hurricane mode if need be.

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I have installed a large fan to blow horizontally into the bedroom - it was so powerful on its lowest setting that I had to install a transformer to reduce the voltage to 110 volts. I removed the safety grills and it gives a nice quiet breeze which I can step up to hurricane mode if need be.

OK. My only other tip for sleeping in the heat is to have a cold shower immediately before bed and NOT to dry yourself, i.e. lie down wet. Sometimes, esp. with a fan, that cools enough to enable you to get off to sleep, which is half the battle. But you may know all this, I realise.....

 

P.S. On the .net site, Scherado's "community reputation has sunk a further 2 points, to -9. Also that tiresome twit Bantering Boson, who I gave up on here, is now starting to exhaust the (considerable) patience of the people on that site. He has a reputation of zero, so not so bad. Yet. :) 

Edited by exchemist
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Quite right. The obvious solution is to sleep in the cave when necessary, but we are hopelessly set in our ways and conservative about beds. 

When I was a child, I could go sleep outside on the lawn.  We never worried about ticks in those days, and I don't think Lyme disease existed yet.  I could still sleep on the ground, I'm sure, but  my body would hate me for it, and punish me severely with aches and pains upon awakening.  As it is, some nights I spend too much time trying to find the one position that doesn't cause pain, even in a bed.

 

Fortunately, where I live, heat is rarely a problem.  We didn't even get a single official heat wave this year.

 

I really hate the coldest weather where my oil furnace ends up running almost non-stop at night.  I cut some hemlock trees down on the south side of the house, so now we at least get some passive solar warming during the day.

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OK. My only other tip for sleeping in the heat is to have a cold shower immediately before bed and NOT to dry yourself, i.e. lie down wet. Sometimes, esp. with a fan, that cools enough to enable you to get off to sleep, which is half the battle. But you may know all this, I realise.....

 

P.S. On the .net site, Scherado's "community reputation has sunk a further 2 points, to -9. Also that tiresome twit Bantering Boson, who I gave up on here, is now starting to exhaust the (considerable) patience of the people on that site. He has a reputation of zero, so not so bad. Yet. :)

Scherado has now racked up a community rating of -23, I see.

Meanwhile BanteringBerkshire has bgugered off, in a classic Grand Trampling Exit, rather as he did from here. :) 

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Scherado has now racked up a community rating of -23, I see.

Meanwhile BanteringBerkshire has bgugered off, in a classic Grand Trampling Exit, rather as he did from here. :)

Well, I suppose anyone can find an audience if they keep looking.

 

Anyway, unless you consider outrage a source of energy, it doesn't have much to do with keeping warm or cool.

 

Now that Orion is fairly high in the sky when I start my morning chores, I find myself wearing gloves for the first hour or so of chores, so I best get busy stopping the cold drafts from entering my home.  I built a new cellar door yesterday.

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Well, I suppose anyone can find an audience if they keep looking.

 

Anyway, unless you consider outrage a source of energy, it doesn't have much to do with keeping warm or cool.

 

Now that Orion is fairly high in the sky when I start my morning chores, I find myself wearing gloves for the first hour or so of chores, so I best get busy stopping the cold drafts from entering my home.  I built a new cellar door yesterday.

Not so much outrage, more amusement. But you are right it is off-topic, though of some passing interest to the starter of this thread.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It looks like the more practical method for you would be to use a heat pump.  In my area there are companies advertising heat pumps for both heating and cooling, although I am skeptical about their effectiveness under more extreme weather conditions.

Unless heat pumps have been drastically improved in the past few years, you won't do well with one in the northeast which gets very cold.  I lived in a building in Kansas that was using heat pumps and we never heated up well.  Heat pumps - a maintenance man told me - are meant for warmer climates.

 

Don't take my word for it.  I'm just saying they didn't work well in Kansas and I've been  told they are not satisfactory where winters get really cold.  You'll want to check it out with the experts.

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Unless heat pumps have been drastically improved in the past few years, you won't do well with one in the northeast which gets very cold.  I lived in a building in Kansas that was using heat pumps and we never heated up well.  Heat pumps - a maintenance man told me - are meant for warmer climates.

 

Don't take my word for it.  I'm just saying they didn't work well in Kansas and I've been  told they are not satisfactory where winters get really cold.  You'll want to check it out with the experts.

Oh, I believe you!  I think that in my climate, I would want to use a heat pump in conjunction with either a greenhouse or a compost pile as a source of heat to pump.  Perhaps one day we will sell the cows and I can build myself a nice workshop/laboratory and play around with some of my ideas.  Our dairy equipment sales and service person has a workshop/storage area he heats with just a heat pump, but he only wants to keep the building above freezing, so it's workable for him.

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I am thinking about building an earthship. I think that is super cool and very environmental friendly.

Is anybody actually living in one continuously as their main home, yet?

 

Or are they all so bloody uncomfortable and unhealthy that they only exist as technology demonstrators?  

Edited by exchemist
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