Queens County, PEI
Covehead
Keywords: active, Earth Bermed, ICF (Insulated concrete Forms), Passive Solar House
To reduce energy usage and costs moving towards retirement and sustainable living.
We love this house and say it practically everyday. With no wood the lowest temperature was 10°C after several cloudy days in a row the highest without wood. It reached over 32°C before we opened windows. The sun was so hot coming into the house in February that we actually had to open windows to reduce the heat. We have found the shoulder seasons are the hardest to heat, however, only when there are a number of cloudy days in a row. Keeping the heat in is the most important thing to do.
Energy Use: we expect this to go lower when we implement a solar hot water heater this summer and LED lights. Then we hope to add solar panels etc.
4 acres, 1.5 treed, house situated at ideally for passive solar gains.
Here is a video house tour on youtube. Bungalow style, - Earth berming on West/North sides or winter wind sides, Bulk of windows on South side with door only on east side. Insulated concrete forms were used to create a sealed house to keep the heat generated from the sun inside. Very tight seal, HRV to help circulate air, electric hot water heat (moving to solar hot water summer 2013), small wood stove (used 2 cords as of April 4th, 2013), triple pane windows, We used solartubes to add light in locations that don't have natural window light (bathroom and back hall.) They are better than skylights as they don't have any heat loss. We don't have in-floor heating and are very happy with that decision; our goal was the fewest mechanical systems as this would mean less replacements, less repairs and the result would be less money needed for maintenance and start up costs.
ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) Nudura , Windows: Trio, Solatubes, Greenteck for HRV
See www.simplifyandsave.ca look under tab Sustainable Living for resources and the blog for additional information re: adding solar panels, solar hot water etc., More building pictures https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150767717997268.427640.766997267&type=3
Email Tracey tallenpei@gmail.com
Initially we had planned a greenhouse on front or south side and a carport on the east side and removed both when we looked at budget costs. What we lost and didn't think of was our airlocks or ways to keep our heat in. With a dog going in and out and a son at home, this was a problem. This summer we plan to add a small porch to the east side and are working on a solution for the front or south side. We expect this to reduce our wood usage.
