Quote:
Originally Posted by JRMichler
I toured an earth sheltered home in Illinois a few years ago. The builder claimed low heating bills. The home was originally built with hot water radiant heat in the floor, with the heat provided by a gas hot water heater rated at 40,000 BTUH. That was not enough, so they had to add a second hot water heater.
For comparison, my own above ground house is located in Northern Wisconsin. It only needs 13,000 BTUH to heat it in colder weather than is experienced down in Illinois.
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Yes you have the giant freezer known as Lake Superior to deal with lol. But maybe it also helps keep you cool in the summer months to??
Kind of surprised there isn't more first hand response to this thread. I understand not everyone likes the looks of a home buried in earth but in theory if built correctly, the energy savings could be much greater (and worth it financially) than a regular stick house.
In an aside, my great grandfather was in construction years ago. He built most of his houses with poured concrete walls. My grandparents lived in one of those houses and they never had air conditioning ever, didn't need it. I remember as a kid we'd go into the basement to cool off where it was always cool even when it was really hot and humid outside. That type of construction is rarely used anymore in my area but the energy savings potential seems to really be there.