I'm looking to build a 1500 sq foot 1 story house. Here's some information
about a house I'm currently in.
It is about 1280 sq feet. It has standard 2x4 walls with fiberglass bats. The
windows are single panes in aluminum frames. The doors are insulated metal. The
attic has standard bats, but on top of this, there is blown insulation. I think
it's about r38 in total. I keep the ac at 78 during the day, 75 during the
night. In the dead of summer, my bill is between $150 and $160.
My goal in building a house is to decrease the amount I pay for electricity by
a decent amount. The last thing I want is to have to pay $200 to cool a house.
In doing research, I've seen people say they have big houses and are paying
about what I pay. One article I remember seeing indicated that the writer paid
about $168 in the middle of summer for a 3400 sq foot, 2 story house.
According to the writer, it is all electric. His wife likes to cook. The kicker
is that he keeps his ac at 75 day and night. It is noteworthy to mention he
built with icf.
If I could build a 1500 sq foot house and have a bill at about $80, or even
$100 in the middle of summer, that would be great. It is my opinion that I'd be
a fool to not do everything I could to save energy within reason.
Shane
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Rossi
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 9:08 AM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
Hmm, so many possibilities for building a house from scratch these days.
I think that radiant under floor heating and heavy walls are probably a
good start, either masonry or rammed earth walls. Air tight but with
good air exchange. There is a company in Germany, can't remember the
name, but they make windows that are the most efficient in the world.
They have triple seals or something and have a lever that pulls them
closed and seals them. Plus they are triple pained and low E and all that.
However, you can probably spend the better part of your 80 grand just on
the windows.
Is your goal to make a house that costs nothing to run, or do you want to
build the largest house you can get for the money even though it might
cost a bit more to heat and cool? They are kind of mutually exclusive.
In either case, I envy you as I think it would be quite a lot of fun to
design and build a house from scratch.
--
Blue skies.
Dan Rossi
Carnegie Mellon University.
E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu
Tel: (412) 268-9081
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