With the current cold spell I was not overly surprised to learn that up to 50% of an average homes energy consumption goes to heating. However it was a bit of a surprise to learn that that a fifth of your heating bill may just be going right out the window!
Among the long list that make up ones bi-monthly energy bills, low energy efficient doors and windows can account for a fifth your homes heat loss. Wouldn’t it be great not to have to think about your heating bill anymore or even to get rid of it altogether? Dr. Wolfgang Feist could be our saviour with his passive house.
The passive house requires about four times less energy to heat than a house built to Irish building regulations! The house is practically independent of imported energy and the energy consumption is so small that you will no longer be concerned with energy price increases.
The passive house maintains an optimal interior temperature, summer and winter without the need the use of traditional heating system. This is achieved by:
- The use of an extremely high level of insulation with minimal thermal bridges, low infiltration and utilises passive solar gains and heat recovery to accomplish it’s ‘comfortable interior climate’.
- (Most brilliantly) the passive house uses heat from the sunlight and the heat radiated by the occupants and household equipment to keep the inside temperature at a constant level.
With your passive house there will never be a need to worry about mouldy walls, drafts or even cold feet. Fresh air is delivered continuously, minimizing indoor air pollution.
Like all things there are some downsides to the passive house:
- You can't build this sort of house on a north-facing hillside or in a city street with a skyscraper shading your property
- Condensation can occur on the outside of the super energy triple glazed windows in the morning
- The silence may drive you batty. There are so many layers of insulations that no noise from the outside world can penetrate through! – My opinion; a yoga factices heaven, no more noisy neighbours & a great night’s kip.
