Designing a Warm Home
To set you new home up for success, Eco Geek recommends that you and your Architect or Designer explore passive solar design. In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are designed to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat through the winter. Passive solar design will also protect the internal environment from overheating in the summer.
Passive Solar Design 101
Good passive solar performance can come at minimal cost if the site that you are building on has the right characteristics. Where possible, choose a site that can accommodate north-facing daytime living areas that flow to outdoor spaces with similar orientation. The better that you are able to orientate your home for sun in the main living areas, the more you will be able to make the most of stored FREE heat. Passive heating, done well, should be able to maintain stable temperatures year-round without a large amount of additional heating in winter – this supplementary heating will be far more effective in a home that uses passive heating principles.
Along with building location and orientation on the site; other key elements of passive solar design include: house layout; window design and insulation; insulation; thermal mass; shading; and ventilation.
Ask the experts
When working with your designer or architect it is vital discuss how your build will make the most of the sun and how you will heat the home in winter or those chilly autumn nights when you need a top up of warmth.
One of the many free tools available to determine the estimated heating load required to keep the rooms of your new home at a comfortable 18 degrees Celsius is the Annual Loss Factor Calculator (ALF) by BRANZ. ALF allows you to compare up to 30 different house designs for heating energy efficiency. Different features such as insulation levels, window types and building orientation can be entered into the tools input and evaluated.
How Eco Geek can help
At Eco Geek we can work alongside designers and architects to plan where our LHZ radiators can be positioned for optimal comfort and efficiency. You, or your designer/architect can use our LHZ electric radiator sizing guide to find out how many heaters you will need and at what size to maintain a comfortable temperature in your new home throughout the year.
When choosing the type of heating for different spaces in your home, make sure you factor in these key requirements:
Size of the space you are heating
Length of use
Low noise levels
Variable occupancy levels
Controllability
Connectivity to other heat or ventilation sources
Quick response times
These helpful websites can give you more information to help build a healthy, comfortable home in a sustainable way: