Vermont House Uses Only Half a Cord of Firewood

[isipwater]

Wow, it is hard to believe but true. Click on link to see house and read story:

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/vermont-house-uses-only-half-cord-firewood

 

[NordicSplitter]

Don't go running out and get one. The home in the article cost $208000 to build plus another $8500 or so for the solar panels. Add in the cost of the land...another $25-40 K & your looking at one expensive home that is SUPPOSEDLY AIR TIGHT. Lets come back in 15 yrs after 15 brutal winter of contracting and expanding and see how its doing. Besides... What fun is there in burning only half a cord of wood?

 

[SawdustSA]

LOL I agree. In my area I don't need very good heating due to the mild winters but I do it because I can and I like it. It is a case of keeping ahead of the Jones's. I kind of like it in a strange way when people point and ask: What are you going to do with all that wood!!??

 

[lindnova]

Those are large pallets - look like they hold about a cord each.

 

[Bret Chase]

Those are large pallets - look like they hold about a cord each.

from the look of those pallets, they look like standard 48LX40W ones. , so the way they're set up would be a half a cord in each crib if I stacked it with 3 rows of 16". with 3 rows of 12" it would be 1/3 of a cord.

 

[Bret Chase]

after looking at the interior framing, and how it was sheetrocked, I wouldn't want that house. it is going to crack all to hell, esp in the corners in the bathroom.

 

[peakbagger]

They mentioned Passive house certification and that the designer was paying out of his pocket. My understanding is that in order to get certified all the materials used to make the structure needs to be certified. Of know someone who is building a similar house and they had to special order many materials as the locally available stuff wasn't certified. For example they needs a pile of foam under the slab and around the edges, instead of calling Tom in Maine and getting perfectly good "seconds" close by in Maine, they had to special order from Canada.

The "pretty good house" concept is far more interesting to me http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/pretty-good-house , get most of the bag for less bucks.

 

[Christopix]

Wow, it is hard to believe but true. Click on link to see house and read story:

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/vermont-house-uses-only-half-cord-firewood

Very cool!

 

[Ashful]

I know, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and that this was done to prove a point, but... that is one of the ugliest houses I have ever set eyes upon. I would be very depressed seeing that mess at the end of my driveway, coming home from work at the end of every day.

 

[Jags]

I would be very depressed seeing that mess at the end of my driveway,

The first thing I thought of was "old west ghost town building with fake facade"

 

[isipwater]

Oooh, do I detect a little jealousy on this thread.....?

 

[tsquini]

In an air tight house make sure not to take a shower. Your Windows will fog up for weeks.

 

[isipwater]

In an air tight house make sure not to take a shower. Your Windows will fog up for weeks.

And be sure not cut the cheese, the smell will stay in the house for at least 10 years

And be sure to have an oxygen tank handy as you won't be able to breath after 10 minutes.

And be careful because...

 

[Free BTUs]

I know, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and that this was done to prove a point, but... that is one of the ugliest houses I have ever set eyes upon. I would be very depressed seeing that mess at the end of my driveway, coming home from work at the end of every day.

Agree, butt ugly. I'd rather burn 3 cords and live in a nice looking house.

 

[NordicSplitter]

MAJOR DISADVANTAGE TO AN AIR TIGHT HOME:
The more you ventilate a home the more its heating and cooling efficiency is reduced. When you bring in the exterior air you increase the workload for your HVAC system. However, you can install heat recovery ventilators (HRV) to recover the energy lost through ventilation. Another disadvantage of mechanical ventilators is that they can depressurize a home. The modern home is so airtight that when you force air to the exterior it can lower the interior pressure. This can cause problems for natural vent appliances like furnaces and hot water heaters that need positive pressure to exhaust their combustion products out of the home. The negative pressure pulls these gasses into the living environment and are potentially very dangerous for the occupants.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8602703_advantages-disadvantages-mechanical-ventilation-systems.html