Wood stove and coal furnace heating

[sendler]

I wonder if they were wise enough to mandate the building code such that the major roof section must face south.

[freebeard]

I don't want to hijack the thread (more that now already) so I'll keep it short not overly long:

I gave it my best shot, but nobody cares about free energy.

I hadn't noticed you're talking about Europe, they build them stout over there. Switzerland and everywhere. How much do they weigh? How do they heat that municipal pool?

Heat pumps, solar collectors/boiler/preheaters and PV panels to compensate for the pump electricity usage, induction cooking and extreme heat isolation with controlled heat exchanger ventilation are the norm for new buildings.

Do the ventilation systems include these: Enthalpy wheel

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I gave it my best shot, but nobody cares about free energy.

I hadn't noticed you're talking about Europe, they build them stout over there. Switzerland and everywhere. How much do they weigh? How do they heat that municipal pool?



Do the ventilation systems include these: Enthalpy wheel

I wouldn't know about weight. Double layer (glass and walls) was mandatory since the 70's oil crisis, foaming the gap between walls since the 90's, we now move into floating floors, special coatings and radiation screens and specially designed doors and window frames.
I don't think the weight increased much since. The foam got thicker and denser, maybe.

I did not know about the thermal wheel. Makes me think about Stirling engines, it could be useful there to optimize performance at different RPM by controlling the rotation speed. Our heat exchangers are typically fixed with fans, controlled by an ECU to optimize comfort at minimal energy use.

[freebeard]

In 1927, visionary Buckminster Fuller asked the question, “How much does your house weigh?” He was defending his prefab Dymaxion House against his critics–probably the same folks who would one day bring us the McMansion. His house weighed an amazing 3.75 lbs/sq ft, which made the 1600 sq ft home only 3 tons; compare that to the approximately 60 lbs/sq ft for most homes. At ~2K sq ft, the average American home weighs around 60 tons–20 times heavier than the Dymaxion!
....
Do you want a better life, more money and a cleaner environment? If so, imagine your life in terms of its weight. In general, compact, lightweight homes use less energy to maintain and heat; lighter cars use less fuel; fewer possessions weigh less, cost less and use up less physical and mental space.

Fat Pad!!! How Much Does it Weigh? - LifeEdited

The source of that question (in 1927).

I should have said desiccant instead of enthalpy. I just like that word. Recovering heat is standard practice but recovering humidity (or it's lack) is not.

[RedDevil]

Weight is only relevant if you let the house cool down.
A colleague of mine has a modern house (built 2 years ago) and said it would not cool down noticeably in a week. Its heating is an air2air heat pump (inverse A/C).

[freebeard]

Weight is only relevant if you let the house cool down pay for it by the pound?

Thermal mass is like a flywheel, if it does cool down it takes a bit to heat it back up.

I'm not disagreeing that performant housing isn't a good thing, just that there're different ways of getting there.

[RedDevil]

One great advantage of high thermal mass, combined with smart venting, is a fairly constant temperature in the house using afternoon heat and early morning cool without any heating or cooling cost.
My parents house is a century old. It is built from Belgian bricks that contain a core of solid rock(!) which has high thermal mass. They can sit through hot summer days without A/C no problem.

[freebeard]

Once you get the heat/cool cycle to 12 months, you're good to go.

[oil pan 4]

I have been starting to use the anthracite coal.
It burns very cleanly, no smoke as compared to burning wood, almost no sulfur.
The main problem is just getting it started.

Most types of wood appear to smoke and burn dirtier than this type of high quality coal.
I'm sure the cheap stuff burns pretty dirty but this isn't the cheap stuff.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by sendler

I wonder if they were wise enough to mandate the building code such that the major roof section must face south.

Use flat (or slightly angled "schoolbench") roofs and orientation becomes largely irrelevant
Then, put a green roof on it