# Passive solar house in Maine



## begreen (Dec 14, 2012)

This is a cool set of blogs on a dorm/house built on the campus of Unity College. The house uses 90% less energy than a code compliant house of the same size. 90%! There are great tips in this design for anyone considering building new in a northern environment.

http://terrahaus.wordpress.com/2012...ericas-first-passive-house-college-residence/


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## Jags (Dec 14, 2012)

That is interesting. I wished I knew more about passive design.

I would love to build my retirement home.  Passive engineering would definitely be incorporated, along with PV and of course...some sort of wood burning appliance.  I'm thinking about 1600 sqft.


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## begreen (Dec 14, 2012)

You and me both.


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## Chain (Dec 14, 2012)

The two of you and me.......I'd build a passive solar with PV, geothermal, micro-wind turbine, and a pellet stove with radiant floor heated by a natural gas or propane boiler).  In a perfect world of course.  Overkill I know, but it'd be cool to have all these systems incorporated into a retirement home of about 1800 sq. ft with 1,000 ft. of mostly private lake front on a lake in the Adirondacks (preferably 4th Lake in Eagle Bay, NY).  Now I just need to win the lottery to make it all a reality.


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## Grisu (Dec 14, 2012)

Chain said:


> The two of you and me...... Now I just need to win the lottery to make it all a reality.


 
Me, too. When I was dreaming of winning the Powerball lottery (hard to do without a ticket, though) that would be one of the first things on my wish list.


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## peakbagger (Dec 14, 2012)

There is lot of design info on near net zero energy homes. Add in cheap solar PV and grid tie net metering and its within reach of most homes. I would probably opt for a somewhat less expensive build but make darn sure its detailed right and put in a ground source heat pump with a wood stove. When a modern wood boiler with storage is installed by a contractor, I would expect tis getting in the range of a professionally installed ground source.

If I had only known then what I know now I could have put pex in all my utility trenchs and I probably have enough that transfer for at least a ton or two.


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## jebatty (Dec 15, 2012)

Chain said:


> The two of you and me.......I'd build a passive solar with PV, geothermal, micro-wind turbine, and a pellet stove with radiant floor heated by a natural gas or propane boiler). In a perfect world of course. Overkill I know, but it'd be cool to have all these systems incorporated into a retirement home of about 1800 sq. ft with 1,000 ft. of mostly private lake front on a lake in the Adirondacks (preferably 4th Lake in Eagle Bay, NY). Now I just need to win the lottery to make it all a reality.


 
Christmas makes a person think of how fortunate we are even if not having that ultimate dream home. We have excellent passive solar with our 1956 single story lake home 60 ft off the water and facing SW, 1500 sq ft + full basement, but only 430 ft of lake shore + undevelopable lake shore extending in both directions beyond that, and no development behind the house and the access road. Our lot itself is moderately cleared for only about 40 ft in front of the house, but well occupied with trees and shrubs in that space so that the house is barely visible from the water while still providing us with a great view. The rest of the property is heavily wooded and shrubbed.

A single wood stove in the living room heats the entire house, even when the temps drop well into the -30'sF and the northwest winds roar down from our friendly Canada neighbor. 100% wood heat and gravity septic system means that power outages are of little concern. During outages we have a small generator to kick in the well pump as needed and if the outage is long enough the generator can maintain the refrigerator, freezer, a few lights, and for luxury the circuit that powers the computer, TV, satellite system, and surround sound audio. I don't think we would change a thing even if we won the lottery, which isn't likely to happen because we don't buy lottery tickets. Instead we have invested the money that we would have used to buy lottery tickets, and that account now is in the $$$ millions. LOL.

I hope you win the lottery or even better, live your dream now as best you can. Happy Holidays!


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## Douglas Fox (Jan 2, 2013)

Happy you like the site! Here's a preview of a post upcoming: On Dec 21 we turned off all heat to the building. Last night (1/1/2013) it was minus 14 F here. No room in TerraHaus dropped below 50 degrees. The main room has not dropped below 60.  Incidentally, I have to throw out 10 days of data because yesterday morning I found out that a student left a window tilted open four inches! (Thus explaining the 45 degree lows in that room that I couldn't figure out.)


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## Jags (Jan 2, 2013)

Welcome to the site, Douglas.  Keep the info coming.  This is good stuff.


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## begreen (Jan 7, 2013)

Indeed, welcome. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this facility.


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## nate379 (Jan 7, 2013)

The ZIP OSB sheathing is made by the mill my Dad works at.  J.M. Huber in Easton, Maine.

The state of Alaska has pushed hard for energy efficient design in new construction (and upgrading old construction).  A good deal of the basic construction on that house is similar to construction here.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 21, 2013)

nate379 said:


> The ZIP OSB sheathing is made by the mill my Dad works at. J.M. Huber in Easton, Maine.
> 
> The state of Alaska has pushed hard for energy efficient design in new construction (and upgrading old construction). A good deal of the basic construction on that house is similar to construction here.


 
The state of Maine has pushed "energy efficiency" to the point of idiocy in the new statewide code that went into effect two years ago.  To the point where it would take somewhere around a century to even consider recouping the additional costs, never mind that now, because the buildings are so buttoned up, you are blowing a ton of heat outside to get code required air changes...


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## Grisu (Jan 21, 2013)

Bret Chase said:


> The state of Maine has pushed "energy efficiency" to the point of idiocy in the new statewide code that went into effect two years ago. To the point where it would take somewhere around a century to even consider recouping the additional costs, never mind that now, because the buildings are so buttoned up, you are blowing a ton of heat outside to get code required air changes...


 
Is that supposed to be a serious discussion point or just a rant?
Your last statement does not make any sense whatsoever. A house that is not "buttoned up" will at least lose the same amount of heat and probably more to exchange its air. The amount of heat loss will be determined by the difference in temperatures. Plus, modern air-tight houses usually have an active air-exchange system that recovers the heat that would otherwise be lost.


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## Frozen Canuck (Jan 21, 2013)

Yep, Grisu I was gonna ask if they forbid HRV's in Maine? That's really the only way you can dump "a ton of heat". Pretty standard up here that all new homes have an HRV. Heck I install one on a major reno. Not code required but smart from an energy usage pov.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 21, 2013)

Grisu said:


> Is that supposed to be a serious discussion point or just a rant?
> Your last statement does not make any sense whatsoever. A house that is not "buttoned up" will at least lose the same amount of heat and probably more to exchange its air. The amount of heat loss will be determined by the difference in temperatures. Plus, modern air-tight houses usually have an active air-exchange system that recovers the heat that would otherwise be lost.


 

What I am saying is, that under the new code I have to build to, I have seen the average project cost rise 10-15% easily. If it's LEEDS certified, add 20%. any energy savings that these buildings accrue will never be recovered during their service life.

You misunderstand what I am saying... Under this particular code, you spend an inordinate amount of time and $ to keep the heat in the building... and then you take and blow outside a large chunk of that saved heat via the ERV's, which, in maine have to exhaust at 50F or so to keep from freezing the coils when it's -25F.

Since the adoption of the MUBEC... In a commercial setting has meant upsizing the boiler(s)... in a pre-MUBEC building that would require 350k btu/hr.... the post MUBEC version would get a 450K boiler... Seems rather counter-intuitive to me.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 21, 2013)

I am all about saving energy, but this *particular* code has some big problems that basically just massively drive up costs and you don't really gain anything.


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## begreen (Jan 21, 2013)

Bret Chase said:


> What I am saying is, that under the new code I have to build to, I have seen the average project cost rise 10-15% easily. If it's LEEDS certified, add 20%. any energy savings that these buildings accrue will never be recovered during their service life.
> 
> You misunderstand what I am saying... Under this particular code, you spend an inordinate amount of time and $ to keep the heat in the building... and then you take and blow outside a large chunk of that saved heat via the ERV's, which, in maine have to exhaust at 50F or so to keep from freezing the coils when it's -25F.
> 
> Since the adoption of the MUBEC... In a commercial setting has meant upsizing the boiler(s)... in a pre-MUBEC building that would require 350k btu/hr.... the post MUBEC version would get a 450K boiler... Seems rather counter-intuitive to me.


 
Where is the math for this? The service life of a house can and should be at least 50 years and preferably 100 years. If it costs $200K to build, or $240K LEEDS certified, but saves $2K/yr in heating costs (which will certainly go up) then over 20 yrs the additional insulation is paid for. This doesn't cover cooling benefits, noise reduction or resale value which come with this certification.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 21, 2013)

a modern house sheathed with OSB and vinyl siding won't last 50 years... it's not gonna happen. 

I don't build houses anymore... There hasn't been any money in it for the last 5 years.  Every commercial property I have built since the adoption of the code has been LEEDS certified.... the largest project was 17 million... LEEDS added 1.5 million to the cost, required an additional 50hp added to the boilers, and an additional 200 amps of 480V 3 phase service... with a design life of 35 years.

With the onset of these codes I fear a repeat of the late 1970's... where "the latest and greatest" created a lot of toxic buildings...


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## Frozen Canuck (Jan 22, 2013)

Actually I can see Bret's point (partially), increasing eff does increase costs to a point. Dependant upon code & other variables. However these are offset by increased fuel savings & are in most cases paid for over time to say nothing of the value of decreased emissions or the value of increased occupant comfort.

Where our huge downfall in north america comes from is our throw away attitude when it comes to structures. As in Bret's post above where the building has a design life of 35 years. This is where we & the construction industries fall flat on our faces. Why build when the intent is to tear it down in 35 years? Where is the forward thinking & planning in that? Was any thought given in that situation to designing a building envelope that would be easy & practical to renovate for future use? Or in simple terms being a little more open ended in our building planning process, trying to imagine future uses for that structure if we only intend to occupy it for 35 years?

What has really rubbed me the wrong way about all of this for a long while is the fact that we seldom take the time to do any of this. As an example my ready mixed concrete association tells me that I can expect a service life of 500 - 700 years from modern concrete mixes when used in building foundations where they are protected to a large degree from the elements, no or little acid rain here. Why the heck dont we attempt at the very least to design & build structures capable of at least half of that on a regular basis? Buildings that have a solid foundation & envelope but that are easily (as it was planned for) renovated at a later date.

Ok time for me to get off my soapbox or this is going to becme a book. My basic point is that we often build with the intent of throwing it away, that's gotta change. Tough to justify an ROI on anything if you intend to trash it in relatively short order.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 22, 2013)

I kind of like the ones built into the hillside with earth berm sides and back and 95% of the glass in the front south side.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 22, 2013)

FC... it all boils down to cost... when I started in this industry in 1989.... the standard sheathing was 5/8 plywood on the walls and 3/4 plywood on the roof.... now it's 7/16 OSB everywhere... 5/8 OSB on the roof if you're lucky. these buildings will not make it 150 years like my house has...

The only place I get to "build for the ages" is when we do work for the local water dept... the last building I swear I could touch off a grenade inside it and all it would do is blow out a couple of windows...

I love to do work in the old mills (well except for that whole lead/asbestos/god knows what else "thing").... massive old structures... no construction joints... and hardly a crack anywhere.. on a granite foundation.

My irritation with LEEDS is "if this building is so efficient, why are we increasing it's energy input?"


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## Frozen Canuck (Jan 22, 2013)

Yes I hear you Bret. Been in the industry since the 70's & yes a standard home of say the 50's is so much better built than todays "developer special" which as you say focuses on cost as well as being rapidly repeatable. It does seem counter intuative but sometimes (most times) increased energy is needed upfront to realize energy savings over the life of the structure. SIPS would be a good example for the residential market, more expensive & energy intensive upfront but with a 6" SIP that performs at R44 in my climate the extra costs are recovered. Same goes for most/all of the energy savers in modern construction. You pay up front to save over time. With energy costs that are likely to only go up it should be a positive ROI choice. Yes I hear & understand this stuff can be a real PITA for folks who were taught to just build it right in the first place. FWIW I think we will eventually get to what Germany has, where a structure based on classification, usage & location can consume X btu's sq/ft. How you get there is more open ended & that's good but you must get there. LEEDS & other systems can box one in rather than encouraging them to open endedly problem solve with a firm goal in mind. Such as X btu's sq/ft. One thing is for sure you cant get bored in our industry as the landscape changes pretty fast.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 22, 2013)

Under the 2 year old MUBEC... R50 is the minimum for the roof and R23 for the walls.... R50 is a nightmare to achieve in a commercial building... architects have it in their head that pre-insulated panels (with poly-iso) are the answer... UGH...

I built a 17 million dollar 25,000 sq-ft LEEDS building that looked like an Agway building had sex with a Frigidaire.... I felt sick every time I pulled into the driveway...


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## woodgeek (Jan 23, 2013)

I'm not a builder, but it appears that LEED is a joke that is doing more harm than good.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com...-v-energy-efficiency-finds-its-way-litigation

Bret, if your (municipal/commercial) customers demand LEED certs but not performance metrics, then I would be frustrated too.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 23, 2013)

frustration doesn't even begin to describe it...


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## slowzuki (Jan 25, 2013)

Bret, just over the border in NB, I don't quite follow your sheathing discussion above.  Most houses here of the 70's/80's had much lighter roof sheathing than now.  The roofs used to use H clips at the joints vs T&G.  Nowadays due to cost we're seeing a return to 1" board sheathing of roofs and I even saw a recently framed house with diagonal board sheathing!

I'm not a LEEDS person but have seen local projects source LEEDS certified lumber from 3000 miles away when the site was located next to a mill producing lumber from local sustainably grown trees.  Nonsense to me.

We don't have exactly the same energy codes but in general the codes here have dramatically cut energy consumption in residential homes.  Contractors building spec homes always built to the minimum, 2x4 walls, min insulation in ceiling, no insulation on rim joists, uninsulated basements, vapor barrier all punched to pieces etc while they put money into fancy cabinets.  Now have min requirements in walls and ceilings.

Related to the increase in heat requirement, I worked 10 years in an early 1980's 4 story building that was extremely tightly built, foot print about 100x100, tilt-up precast, caulked joints, fixed windows caulked in place etc.  It had won all kinds of design awards and efficiency awards but I constantly had headaches.  When we remodelled our office a friend who was an engineer with the designer was in doing some testing.  Got talking, the only fresh air in the building was from leakage induced by the 2 bathroom fans on each floor that were automatically shut down at night.  They were little tiny home style fans.  Each suite had a dehumidification function built into the heat pump to remove the excess moisture.  If someone laid carpet in the building, the solvent would stink for better than a week in the whole building.

I'm sure this building would use more power if brought up to a minimum air change standard.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 25, 2013)

Here, in Maine, and NH.... when I started in '89... 24 years ago on every wood building we built, it was 5/8 plywood on the walls and 3/4 on the roof with 2X6 walls... the only time I can ever remember framing with 2x4's in an exterior wall was in uninsulated garages.  As time progressed it became 1/2" plywood in the walls and 5/8's on the roof... then 7/16 OSB in the walls... I don't even like *walking* on a roof sheathed with 7/16 OSB...

Pine board sheathing has no hope of meeting the MUBEC... though it will outlast any laminated product by at least a factor of 2... In my house, I have boards that are 18"+ wide and 1 1/8" thick that were nailed on in 1865...

IMHO, LEEDS is a misguided joke... an "energy efficient" building should end up with it's fuel and electrical requirements reduced... not increased...


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## BoilerMan (Jan 26, 2013)

This is an interesting conversation indeed!  Having just built my own super-insulated house in 2009.  14 btu/ square foot at -45F.  Useing #3 rough 1x8 pine boards for roof sheathing over manufactured trusses standard 24" OC.  I was told by more than one contractor that the pine was way too weak for roof sheathing on my 5/12 roof.  My responce was that we put way too much trust in glue and OSB is not going on my roof unless it's Advantec (Huber) and 3/4" T&G.  Then the price of the pine was even more attractive.    More labor to install but that was cheap (me). 
The air exchange is an interesting thing as well, HRV are 50% (if that in the real world) efficient and we need something like 3.5 air changes per hour?  For what?  If there are three people living an a house with X number of cubic feet of interior air volume and those people consume X amount of oxygen fer hour, who says we need a standard air change per hour?  A small house would need so many CFM to meet this with the same number of people in it, as well as a large house needs 3times the ACH to meet the code.  All of this assumes a tupperware container for a house, which is rarely the case with ANY contractor-built building.  I have enough air leakage from my range hood to make up for something.  Bottom line, ventelation that is mandated should be based on expected occupancy not just some ACH number.

It's supposed to be a free country, if you want to live in a cardboard house and burn 6,000 gallons of oil/ year you should be free to do that, just don't expect me to pay for it. 
If I want to build to my own standards baded on information and true vapor barrior placed where I want it (aluminum foil behind the strapping which sheetrock is attached) then I should be free to do so.  I pay for my heating, and I don't expect anyone else to. 
People who buy those spec houses with shoddy envelopes and beautiful finish work, get what they pay for, a nice paint-job on a bondo'd up rust bucket.  People who do not have enough wear-with-all to research or hire someone knowledeable have it coming to them, it's not my fault they are in sick houses, and the gov't shouldn't be doing something to "save-them-from-themselves".

Off my soapbox now.

TS


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## Bret Chase (Jan 26, 2013)

Advantek is good stuff... I am still unconvinced about Huber's ZIP system and their $80 a roll tape, however....


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## BoilerMan (Jan 26, 2013)

Bret Chase said:


> Advantek is good stuff... I am still unconvinced about Huber's ZIP system and their $80 a roll tape, however....


 
Me as well, it still swells at the nail penitrations.

I've seen Advantec that was installed in 1999 as a subfloor, flake away just like regular OSB when we replaced a sliding glass door.  Not convinced yet, time will tell.  FWIW I did use it for subfloor on my second level.

TS


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## woodgeek (Jan 27, 2013)

Taylor Sutherland said:


> The air exchange is an interesting thing as well, HRV are 50% (if that in the real world) efficient and we need something like 3.5 air changes per hour? For what? If there are three people living an a house with X number of cubic feet of interior air volume and those people consume X amount of oxygen fer hour, who says we need a standard air change per hour? A small house would need so many CFM to meet this with the same number of people in it, as well as a large house needs 3times the ACH to meet the code. All of this assumes a tupperware container for a house, which is rarely the case with ANY contractor-built building. I have enough air leakage from my range hood to make up for something. Bottom line, ventelation that is mandated should be based on expected occupancy not just some ACH number.
> 
> TS


 
3.5 ACH sounds way too high even when using an HRV. AS I understand it, the recommended residential ventilation standard from ASHRAE is more like 0.3 ACH. Basically they figure the occupancy is # of bedrooms+1, and want something like 15 cfm per person. A 3 bdrm house works out to be ~60 cfm. If there are no smokers or gas ranges most folks think that is still excessive, but the standard is set by the worse case (for indoor pollutants).

And even at that level if you have a party you will want to crack a window.


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## jebatty (Jan 27, 2013)

> It's supposed to be a free country, if you want to live in a cardboard house and burn 6,000 gallons of oil/ year you should be free to do that, just don't expect me to pay for it.
> If I want to build to my own standards baded on information and true vapor barrior placed where I want it (aluminum foil behind the strapping which sheetrock is attached) then I should be free to do so. I pay for my heating, and I don't expect anyone else to.


 
I get your point and am sympathetic. And I might be able to agree if you want to bear the full cost of each of your choices, including for example the air, ground and water pollution resulting from providing you with the 6,000 gallons of oil and from burning the 6,000 gallons. Seal your cardboard home in a bubble, fill the bubble with the emissions from the oil field, from the refineries, from the trucks that brought you the oil; eat the food produced on the polluted ground, drink the polluted water, and breath the polluted air; capture in your bubble for your ingestion all of your emissions from the 6,000 gallons of oil your have burned -- all yours from your free choices -- and then endure all the suffering and all the medical costs from these choices, no one else pays anything for you, its all the result of your free choices. Oh, and you then also pay the governmental tax subsidies to the oil companies and for all the infrastructure to bring you that oil. I think you get the point.

Of course, this is ridiculous. But I think you likely may agree, unless the bubble is also your choice, that many things over which a person makes a free choice impacts everyone else. I'm not suggesting that all of the regulations and rules are sound or justified; many are in fact controlled by industry that profits from these rules -- but I am suggesting that we all can do better for the better of all.


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## Bret Chase (Jan 27, 2013)

Taylor Sutherland said:


> Me as well, it still swells at the nail penitrations.
> 
> I've seen Advantec that was installed in 1999 as a subfloor, flake away just like regular OSB when we replaced a sliding glass door. Not convinced yet, time will tell. FWIW I did use it for subfloor on my second level.
> 
> TS


I've seen Advantek *outside* for over 5 years... hasn't swelled at all... In my experience, Advantek is the real deal... better than OSB, better than particle board, better than MDF, better than UL and definitely better than pine boards for it's prescribed purpose... i.e. subfloor decking...


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 28, 2013)

Nothin wrong with good old plywood as long as you dont skimp on the thickness.Like when people think they can use 1/2 inch on a roof with 24" truss spacing ,and it looks like a roller coaster in a very short time.


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## slowzuki (Jan 29, 2013)

Re the ACH, modern furnishings foams and plastics produce a huge amount of off-gassing to the interior.  Lots of people are becoming sensitive to this and it takes lots of air flow to remove them on top of the basic moisture removal needs.


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## BoilerMan (Jan 29, 2013)

Yes but they do not offgas for ever.  Love the fresh OSB and the wood/glue smell for a few weeks after installation. 

Jim, I have to say, I have been thinking of your post for these past few days.  Great points, but when I go by the neighbor's house and see his two chimneys with the tell-tale blue wood smoke going all winter, I just think to myself, he can waste wood if he wants to.  I wish I could pipe that smoke into my gasser LOL.  People's own lack of knowledge, and some times plain ignorance is not something I think we should "save themselves from".  Now if someone complains about his smoke (we are all far apart) and it is choking, there is a problem.  Personally I do not think the pollutants we emit today have as much effect on the enviroment as we are led to believe.  That said this does not give us free license to ruin the enviroment, but there more important things people ignore totally like the deficit.  We will not need to worry about any pollution if we continue on the path we are on.  Oil is traded in US dollars world wide, that is the only thing keeping our paper money worth something, at least thats how I see it. 

TS


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## Bret Chase (Jan 30, 2013)

Taylor Sutherland said:


> Yes but they do not offgas for ever. Love the fresh OSB and the wood/glue smell for a few weeks after installation.
> 
> Jim, I have to say, I have been thinking of your post for these past few days. Great points, but when I go by the neighbor's house and see his two chimneys with the tell-tale blue wood smoke going all winter, I just think to myself, he can waste wood if he wants to. I wish I could pipe that smoke into my gasser LOL. People's own lack of knowledge, and some times plain ignorance is not something I think we should "save themselves from". Now if someone complains about his smoke (we are all far apart) and it is choking, there is a problem. Personally I do not think the pollutants we emit today have as much effect on the enviroment as we are led to believe. That said this does not give us free license to ruin the enviroment, but there more important things people ignore totally like the deficit. We will not need to worry about any pollution if we continue on the path we are on. Oil is traded in US dollars world wide, that is the only thing keeping our paper money worth something, at least thats how I see it.
> 
> TS


 Where I live in Southern Maine (my house is 3 miles from the beach) easily 50% of the people heat with wood, and it seems most of them, including myself use a smoke dragon... My stove only smokes for about 10 minutes after reloading...


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## macmaine (Feb 2, 2013)

Bret Chase said:


> The state of Maine has pushed "energy efficiency" to the point of idiocy in the new statewide code that went into effect two years ago. To the point where it would take somewhere around a century to even consider recouping the additional costs, never mind that now, because the buildings are so buttoned up, you are blowing a ton of heat outside to get code required air changes...


 

There were some Passive Houses built in Belfast Maine that were so efficient that a hair dryer could heat them !

I think the point you are missing is that one does not need to invest in a boiler or even a wood stove.
So not only do you have the fuel savings but you also do not have the capital costs.
Think of the insulation as a way to avoid buying a $10,000 boiler
http://www.mpbn.net/DesktopModules/...53&PDGNewsMediaID=1352&TabID=36&ModuleID=3478


This is a friend of mine in Portland who has very very low operating costs to heat his apartment building


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## Bret Chase (Feb 2, 2013)

macmaine said:


> I think the point you are missing is that one does not need to invest in a boiler or even a wood stove.
> So not only do you have the fuel savings but you also do not have the capital costs.
> Think of the insulation as a way to avoid buying a $10,000 boiler


 
I've heard that before... by an architectural firm... that an outbuilding was so insulated that it didn't even need a heater... the motors would keep it warm they said... funny how that thought almost cost the client a $350,000 water treatment system...

insulation only slows the transfer of heat.... nature will always seek equilibrium.


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## woodgeek (Feb 3, 2013)

Of course, a $200 baseboard or space heater would seem to be cheap insurance against someone leaving a door open and freezing $350k of equipment.


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## Bret Chase (Feb 3, 2013)

woodgeek said:


> Of course, a $200 baseboard or space heater would seem to be cheap insurance against someone leaving a door open and freezing $350k of equipment.


 
It wasn't a matter of a door being left open... it was that the treatment system as a whole was endothermic..

The owner finally ignored the architect and installed an electric unit heater in the building themselves.  The inherent problem there was the architect fighting *against* them putting a heater in there


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