Passive Solar heating

Keeks

Anybody know of anything done on this in Ireland. I'm looking to build next year and anything that will keep the heating bills down I'm looking into. I like the idea of passive solar as it is free. And anything that adds heat to the system is good. Add in solar tubes and a wood pellet burner for back up.

But has anybody know of any passive solar homes in Ireland?

Also what about heat recovery units?

AJL

There is a house in thomastown that is a passive house. If you buy the self build magazine one of them has a good article on passive houses. Look up the SEI website it should have info. HRV I have heard is great in countires like scandanavia where there is an extreme difference between the temp of the exhaust air and the incoming air. It maakes economical sense there. In this country it may not.
I do think building an airtight house is key to saving costs. With this you need a ventialtion system. I am building a superwarm with about 8-10 kW requirement of heat. So putting in hi-velocitty air conditioning system with air to air heat pump.
Passive solar I understand you need to make the windows to the north smaller and the ones to the south large to get the solar gain. the house must be orientated correctly, triple glazing etc. To me not willing to take the risk and needed some sort of primary heating, be it an air to air heat pump.

CJhaughey

I have designed our house around the principle of passive solar heating.
To the S. side we have 5 large windows 2x1 which are fixed, and 1 door same size.
These windows are all triple glazed and low emission argon fill.
the N. side has 2 windows, 90x 140 both opening for fire reasons.
Our house also has a HRV system and has upgraded insulation in the roof with 400mm of blown cellulose in the apex and 200mm down the slope.
I would recommend that you make your house as airtight as possible and fit a HRV system, as it makes the house comfortable as well as economic.
It is amazing to do a bit of cooking and find the temperature rising significantly even with the normal cooking extractor running.
It just shows how efficient the system is.
average daily temp is around 22 deg c and drops overnight to about 19 c this is without any kind of heating at all yet.
Our last ESB bill was 52 euro as we also have solar DHW the DHW tankk is located in the utility room right next to the HRV unit and there is an extract duct immediately above the tank so that any heat lost from the HW tank is also utilised by the HRV to heat the incoming air.

AJL

Well done CJ. You look like you have done a great job. What air system did you use. What's your primary heat source when you do use it.

CJhaughey

The HRV was supplied with the house, Its a Temovex 480S
supplied by Scanhome.ie
We have a variety of heat sources.
UFH heating dry type 2 x 5kw cables from Devi for whole house.
+ 2 backup cables in case of problems.
Also fitted 3 loops of Qualpex in black sleeve in case of alternate heating source becoming available, but at present not used.
HRV has a 900w duct heater installed for instant heating if cold snap occurs.
Morso wood burner which is not fully commissioned yet still need flue brought out through roof.

Oldtree

Very impressive and bave, I'm in awe.
What brand of triple glazeing do you have and did it come with the house?
ditto the 400mm of blown cellulose
what brand and type of solar DHW and DHW tank do you have.
what were the costs of the units and installation costs.
how much was the Morso wood burner?
I am trying to balance insulation, heat, hot water and light without a HR system as i don't want to use elec all year round.
So far a stanley erin stove, backboiler for hot water and space heating in winter, and vaccum tubes for solar hot water in the summer, with a 300lt insulated steel tank. large windows to the south and south west and no windows to the north. 400 ml insulation in the roof and 200ml in the walls. Closeable vents in the windows and walls are for ventilation.
Would be grateful for any advice.

SolMate

Couple of links here to passive solar building - I'm not too well up on this so I can't vouch for how good they are but fwiw...http://www.builditsolar.com/

S

CJhaughey

Oldtree wrote:

Very impressive and bave, I'm in awe.
What brand of triple glazeing do you have and did it come with the house?
ditto the 400mm of blown cellulose

Windows are Elitfonster and came installed!
Blown cellulose by Ecocel 0214774740

Oldtree wrote:

what brand and type of solar DHW and DHW tank do you have.

Oldtree wrote:

what were the costs of the units and installation costs?

Solar Tank and panels from Solaris Macroom Co cork, Can't remember what the make was at present , all documents at home We paid 6600 fitted and did it before the grant

Oldtree wrote:

how much was the Morso wood burner?

I think the whole lot including stainless twinwall pougoulat flue was 2200

Oldtree wrote:

I am trying to balance insulation, heat, hot water and light without a HR system as i don't want to use elec all year round.

The HRV is key to having a comfortable house in our experience so far.
The running costs of the unit on supply air at normal speed is I think 60w or thereabouts.
There is a summer mode that bypasses the heat recovery feature , and just supplies fresh air.
also a turbo mode that cranks the throughput to about 5 changes an hour :eek:

Oldtree wrote:

So far a stanley erin stove, backboiler for hot water and space heating in winter, and vaccum tubes for solar hot water in the summer, with a 300lt insulated steel tank. large windows to the south and south west and no windows to the north. 400 ml insulation in the roof and 200ml in the walls. Closeable vents in the windows and walls are for ventilation.
Would be grateful for any advice.

Sounds like you are well on the way to having an affordable house that is easy to heat.
I would definately look at a HRV unit it is perhaps the single biggest thing in the house that helps hold on to your heat without the house being unbearably stuffy and damp from condensation.

Oldtree

CJH Thank you for all that info.
I have been looking into this for over two years and can see that a HRV unit is the way to go. I still dislike the idea of being reliant on electricity for fresh air, and am intent on trying to find a way round it. If I can't find a way before the build, a HRV it will be.

Jambo

AJL ,

You dont happen to know where abouts in thomastown thats passive house is ? Im planning on going down that route myself very soon but I still have to find an architect with relative experience in the south east. So if I had an idea where it was I could maybe find their name from the KK e-plan site , Plus I wouldnt mind having a quick glance from the road at it as I pass through there 6-8 times a month.

AJL wrote:

There is a house in thomastown that is a passive house. If you buy the self build magazine one of them has a good article on passive houses. Look up the SEI website it should have info. HRV I have heard is great in countires like scandanavia where there is an extreme difference between the temp of the exhaust air and the incoming air. It maakes economical sense there. In this country it may not.
I do think building an airtight house is key to saving costs. With this you need a ventialtion system. I am building a superwarm with about 8-10 kW requirement of heat. So putting in hi-velocitty air conditioning system with air to air heat pump.
Passive solar I understand you need to make the windows to the north smaller and the ones to the south large to get the solar gain. the house must be orientated correctly, triple glazing etc. To me not willing to take the risk and needed some sort of primary heating, be it an air to air heat pump.

silverharp

One tip that maybe useful is too have trees that would create a shade in the summer and would let the light though in the winter.


The wildest idea I saw in Germany was a house that was on a turntable so it turned with the Sun during the day, it would get you a spot on "about the house" ;-)

air

Just on the triple glazing, I read recently that triple wasnt worth it in economic terms for the increase in insulation value over double. Obviously it was a subjective statement & I've nothing to back it up, just read it on some forum.
On passive solar, the following site might be of some help: http://www.builditsolar.com