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Passive solar house build


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A black roof in a hot town in the Pilbara.

 

attachicon.gifblack roof Karratha.jpg

 

Legal.    Insane, but legal.

 

I see new homes going up all the time with what like seems absolutely no regard for the effects of the natural world they're built in and I wonder what goes on in people's heads.

Not very much I suspect.

Some people aren't 'Natural born thinkers', which is where the Fascisti Verde laws come in.

 

It's always the Efwits and idjits that make it harder for the rest of us.  (That's those of us 'gifted and brilliant' types, yeah? , hahaha.  Stratched my own car by parking it under a bush on a windy day recently and somehow the aerial is bent down too !?)

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Yes its going to be "rather" comfortable ;)

 

Got a thermal break insulation between the studs and cladding, so hopefully that'll help. Once the lining and more insulation is in we should be right......steel is cheap, buts its not exactly good from a passive perspective - conducts cold/heat too well

Yeah, I could afford a shed *or* a house.  Since I was single and sick I just stayed put and slowly got a house.  $50K from start to finish. Happy to have a house :)

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Price of vanity for the black roof is for Trades is we will avoid them in Summer like the plague.

 

Hot days access in and out of the roof cavity is dangerous to the point of only short duration's of work in cavity.

On roof is so hot that any exposed skin that comes in contact with it will receive burns.

Excess heat can damage or reduce output of solar panels fixed to the black roof.

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Some people aren't 'Natural born thinkers', which is where the Fascisti Verde laws come in.

 

 

People won't spontaneously think useful thoughts unless they're unusually blessed so this is where education is required and possibly some guidance by a kindly and ruthless hand.

We learn a load of stuff at skool - some useful but a lot of  fluff as well. Apart from being taught how to find out more about things we are interested in, some basic 'the natural world works like this and it's better to work with it rather than try to beat it' education would be very useful.

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There's some *very* good 'Shed houses' around. 

 

The big farm sheds advertised in the weekly farmer newspapers can be very good value for money.  Throw one of those up and then build a dwelling in one corner that has the basics and the rest of the shed can be used for storage and tinkering.  Very cave-like.

 

My house is a cave on top of the ground and is a substitute for the underground house I'd really like to build - find the right hill, push the top off, build the concrete box, apply the waterproof membrane and push the top of the hill back over it and stick a shed on top to collect rainwater off the roof. 

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The big farm sheds advertised in the weekly farmer newspapers can be very good value for money.  Throw one of those up and then build a dwelling in one corner that has the basics and the rest of the shed can be used for storage and tinkering.  Very cave-like.

 

My house is a cave on top of the ground and is a substitute for the underground house I'd really like to build - find the right hill, push the top off, build the concrete box, apply the waterproof membrane and push the top of the hill back over it and stick a shed on top to collect rainwater off the roof. 

I've got your perfect block  :thumb:

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I've got your perfect block  :thumb:

 

Need a project manager ? Got lotsa cash ?

 

Or just need some weirdo to work for nothing .....        :)

 

The perfect hill won't need a shed on top as it has two springs nearby - one hot water, one cold.  And a nice little seam of platinum for pocketmoney.

Edited by lencolad
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Need a project manager ? Got lotsa cash ?

 

Or just need some weirdo to work for nothing .....        :)

 

The perfect hill won't need a shed on top as it has two springs nearby - one hot water, one cold.  And a nice little seam of platinum for pocketmoney.

Going to try build over 3 years from my pocket and work (sound familiar ?)

Starting with 2 x 40" shipping containers, for water collection, housing energy related storage/control/generation. Electric Fire Fighting pump, home water reticulation, sound lounge. Block is 3500 square meters so plenty of room to grow.

:D

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I'd love to be able to swan about the country helping folk build but I'd starve to death.

 

The lotto dream is a good one - pay off mates' mortgages, fund some suitable subversion, do a bit of travelling and so on.

So I write to Santa and hang up the stocking every year.

And every year it's the same stocking in the morning - a lump of coal and some tiresome note saying 'you can do better, be nice to people, don't blow your nose on your sleeve' etc etc. 

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I'm also thinking about going down the big shed come house route as an owner builder, expanding foam in the hard to get at area's eg between back of sheet cladding and concrete slab,  line with timber studs, r4 insulation, cd ply, finishing off with 16mm fire check gyprock. I'm a chippy by trade and looking at building in the Tallangatta valley sub alpine,  zero temps are not un common in winter as well as the odd 45 in summer. Any advise would be appreciated if you have been down this road (experience is a great teacher), a solar set up is not really in the budget at this stage.

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... expanding foam in the hard to get at area's eg between back of sheet cladding and concrete slab ....

 

Putting a shed on a slab with dynabolts or chemical anchors fastening the posts onto the concrete is the usual thing. And then there's a gap between the cladding sheets and the slab for mice and rats to use.  And foam is easy to chew through.

 

The mancave I built before the house was done differently (what a surprise ....).

Posts into holes, mucho concrete to anchor them, then clad the walls, paint bituminous paint around the bottom of the sheets to prevent corrosion, then pour the slab.

The slab guy didn't like doing it that way but too bad.

Edited by lencolad
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....  line with timber studs ....

 

I've done a fair bit of nailing in my time so now I like steel stud frames. Not dearer than timber these days, consistent size, the noggins fit inside the studs and the studs fit inside the plates, never warps, easy to screw, rivet or spot weld.   And those thin 125mm cutting discs are fantastic as long as you know how to avoid breaking them.

But I guess you're set up with nail guns and so on and are used to timber.

Edited by lencolad
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Don't get me started on people building new homes totally WRONG !

 

We are in a rural area, someone has just started to build a new home on 5 acres, read that as can face and design the home to be totally correct, ie passive solar etc.

 

But no !....the road is on the west of the block, so where does this twit face the master bedroom and lounge, yup.. you guessed it WEST !

 

Around the North side is a toilet and laundry window ....I am just staggered this was allowed and passed by council.

 

To add insult to injury....the bloody roof is BLACK !

 

Give me the strength....no surprise the house is a "project" builders cookie cutter design !

 

Another I should have mentioned is a place built some 18 months ago, road is on the east of the block.

The house is some 8 metres wide and approx 20 mtrs long.

 

Yes you guessed right ...20 metres of house with wide verandah facing east (the road) and 20 metres of house facing west with a 450mm eave.

The best part 'till last....the 8 metres that face north....NOT ONE WINDOW !!

 

If global warming is such a REAL issue...... why do "authorities" allow energy sucking designs like this to be built ?

Edited by Mr 57
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Don't get me started on people building new homes totally WRONG !

 

 

There's people you'd share a lifeboat with and there's people you'd just toss over the side straight away as they're just gunna be trouble.

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mmmmmmm ..........   steel -

 

post-140008-0-90477800-1468545236_thumb.

 

The cabling wasn't yet secured.

 

post-140008-0-61872200-1468545254_thumb.

 

Note the obsessively sheathed-with-aircell flue ^ (it's a thermal bridge between the summer heat and the interior ...).

Sometimes I worry about me. But not often and not for long.

Edited by lencolad
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I'd love to be able to swan about the country helping folk build but I'd starve to death.

 

The lotto dream is a good one - pay off mates' mortgages, fund some suitable subversion, do a bit of travelling and so on.

So I write to Santa and hang up the stocking every year.

And every year it's the same stocking in the morning - a lump of coal and some tiresome note saying 'you can do better, be nice to people, don't blow your nose on your sleeve' etc etc. 

You wouldn't starve around here, there is well enough calories in the beer to sustain life, before eating. Have a good solid breakfast though.

post-149865-0-82268200-1468548270_thumb.

Edited by Guest
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Don't get me started on people building new homes totally WRONG !

 

We are in a rural area, someone has just started to build a new home on 5 acres, read that as can face and design the home to be totally correct, ie passive solar etc.

 

But no !....the road is on the west of the block, so where does this twit face the master bedroom and lounge, yup.. you guessed it WEST !

 

Around the North side is a toilet and laundry window ....I am just staggered this was allowed and passed by council.

 

To add insult to injury....the bloody roof is BLACK !

 

Give me the strength....no surprise the house is a "project" builders cooky cutter design !

Amazes me the amount of folks that have a block like this will always build the home to face the road, even if that is south of the house.

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A challenge there.

Winter - if there's nothing under the tiles there should be.  At a minimum Sisalation (reflective foil) or preferably Anticon (foil plus fibreglass batt stuff).

There'll be a fair bit of hot air in the roof space - see if you can suck it down into the house's interior. There are commercial systems for that.

Windows - curtains plus pelmets.  

Mass - if you're a bachelor who's handy with tools you could screw some thick steel plates onto the internal walls to add mass. If you're not, forget it, or suddenly develop an enthusiasm for enormous fish tanks - they have a lot of mass. Note - not a serious recommendation.

Airflow - if your extractor fans in the bathroom and toilet are ducted through the roof to the outside maybe replace them with fans that open and close like this 

And seal the external doors.

 

Summer - if there's nothing under the tiles etc etc.

Vent the roof space by having inlet vents on the underside of the eaves and solar or electric extractor fans sucking out hot air. Whirlies are useless imho - you need significant airflow using some active system.

The external blinds you have over the windows are a good start but you could do better with insulated shutters over them in summer. 

It might be possible to blow in some insulation between the brick veneer and the internal stud frames.

I'd paint the whole thing white but management may not approve. 

Mass - if you're etc etc.

Windows - some of those reflective heat barrier films are pretty good apparently but you don't want to reflect heat off the northernish windows in winter.

The fridge - adds a lot of heat in summer so make sure it has plenty of airflow around it to allow efficient operation and stop it heating the house so much.

Hopefully others here will have some more good ideas.

 

Thanks for that!

 

Winter:

- The roof space has already been instulated with some sort of loose material (about 8cm thick)

- Sucking hot air from room - interesting will look at it

- Windows have curtains already

- Bathroom and toilet doors are automatically shut. I tried to minimise space and avoid losses from permanent ventilation there

- External doors, windows have been sealed and little draught. I used one of those laser thermometer to find out cold spots

 

Summer:

- Venting eaves: interesting, will look at it

- There is no insulation on the walls, so will look at it

- Painting white is a non-option :)

- I wonder if it's too expensive to install double glazing?... will find out

- Fridge.. I have two in the kitchen as mrs is running a business. Might take one out

 

 

You can't change the orientation short of a rebuild but you can do almost anything else. I'd always start with draught-proofing, it's amazing how leaky Australian houses are. Then I'd insulate the roof to R4 and the floor if possible. You can insulate walls relatively inexpensively by blowing wool, paper or fibre fill in to the wall cavities through a small hole. You can double glaze without having to replace the whole window, not as effective but more effective than single glazing, even a DIY added cling film window pane is better than single glazing. Curtains with pelmets add to the insulation although make sure curtains fall to the floor otherwise you get a wind chimney effect.

 

Yes, when I first got into the house I could 'peek' from the front door :). I am interested to fill in the walls now.

 

And yes, double glazing interests me.

 

Thanks!

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- The roof space has already been instulated with some sort of loose material (about 8cm thick)

 

 

- Fridge.. I have two in the kitchen as mrs is running a business. Might take one out

 

 

 

Eighty mm of insulation is a good start but go hard and go thick.  A mate scored a heap of batts at Bunnings very cheap because they'd been outside for a while and the plastic wrapping had started to decay. A total scrooge might score free polystyrene broccoli boxes from the supermarket and fill the roof space with them.

 

Fridge - make sure you're not the one who's taken out.

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depending on the ago of your house, Victoria and Edwardian houses usually were made with gas vents near the ceilings in most rooms as the houses. It's always a good idea to seal them too

 

Unless there's a legal requirement to retain them because you have gas heaters.

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When looking at refrigeration, buy something with a inverter driven compressor.

In off grid we have found these to be reliable, economical and dead easy to run from 230ac Mains volts, there is one at work for ongoing evaluation runs from a 300w inverter. 240 liter fridge/freezer uses less than 0.7Kwh on average per day for 2 years or less in Winter months.

 

These have well and truly taken over the exorbitantly expensive DC Fridge or gas Fridge market for housing.

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