Unconventional Houses

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

Just curious, does anyone else live in or perhaps plan to live in an unconventional house?

Ours is a "Double envelope house" that uses passive solar energy to help heat in the winter. There are lots of little extra pieces that the original owner and designer put in and never brought to their full potential (active solar, geothermal heating, solar for summer and rad on the wood stove to preheat our water and contribute to the geothermal system etc....). We a still learning the ins and outs of it all but it really has made us wonder why the housing industry isn't latching onto some of the simple concepts to make the house work efficiently within it's environment.

Passive solar building design - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

paigew · Jan 23, 2013

Awesome! We are planning to build a passive solar barndominium

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

Very cool! It is amazing how much heat this place generates all on it's own when we have even partly sunny days in the winter.

paigew · Jan 23, 2013

PixelRabbit said:
Very cool! It is amazing how much heat this place generates all on it's own when we have even partly sunny days in the winter.

that is awesome! We aren't doing it so much for the heat (high of 75 yesterday) as for the cool during summer (up to 113+!)

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

Ah see I didn't even think of it backwards

In the summertime grapevines grow on the south windows to shade the rooms, I don't think there has been a time summer or winter that this place has been uncomfortable yet.

Demers18 · Jan 23, 2013

Well there are few reasons why there isn't more, although I do believe we'll be seeing a lot more in the future.

1. Builders: A lot of communities are built by a select couple of builders who want to have the same curb appeal (cookie cutter) homes that they can build at a lowest possible cost to make the most amount of money. And yes, it's like this in the newly developed "nice" communities as well. Where this can differ is when you have a builder who will do less homes but they will cost a lot more because of the materials used and systems that are implemented. I've done a lot of work on new homes with a variety of builders, I'm a licensed Plumber & Gasfitter.

2. Cost: It simply costs more money to have a house designed that isn't a "normal" house. If it's "green" they can charge a premium. And if you want to start going geothermal, well I hope your pockets are deep because it is very, very expensive. Although, solar is starting to come down in price, our Canadian winters are not very friendly to the pipes exposed. If I'm not mistaken, in the US, solar has become quite popular. Another heating alternative that is an upgrade over a standard furnace would be to install a boiler with in floor radiant heat. Those are definitely the most efficient ways to heat your home but if you don't implement these systems during the build they become a very expensive project to implement after the fact.

All this to say that I do hope that builders will become more aware of these designs and offer them in their options.

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

Hey Lee, sad but great insight.
The gross (but gratuitous for us) part of this is this house sat on the market for years, I guess it was just too different. It started out priced @ 600K, by the time we showed up we got it for just over half that WITH 20 acres on the riverfront. To replace the house now it is 750K.

runnah · Jan 23, 2013

I just want a lot of property and a large fence with roaming packs of wolves to discourage intruders.

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

We have roaming packs of Coyotes does that count? lol

Demers18 · Jan 23, 2013

PixelRabbit said:
Hey Lee, sad but great insight.
The gross (but gratuitous for us) part of this is this house sat on the market for years, I guess it was just too different. It started out priced @ 600K, by the time we showed up we got it for just over half that WITH 20 acres on the riverfront. To replace the house now it is 750K.

Good for you guys! Especially with all that land. A lot of people are intimidated by those new technologies and it looks like you really benefitted from it.

I'm curious, what part of Ontario are you in?

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

Thanks Lee, yes we lucked out HUGE, it helps to have an open mind. We are near Walkerton/Hanover.

Demers18 · Jan 23, 2013

That it does for sure.

That seem like a nice area. We might actually be heading to Owen Sound in a year or so with my wife's studies. She studying to become a Midwife at Laurentian University and will have placements all over Ontario and one of our selections was Owen Sound. Not that it makes mucha of a difference since it's a draft lottery, but you never know.

Designer · Jan 23, 2013

Good morning, Pixel. Mine is an old "Victorian" style house that I have added to, remodeled, repurposed, and continue to remodel. Some years ago the gas furnace was due to be replaced, but I chose to install a ground-source heat pump instead.

I do have hopes of building a house of my own design, but don't know when that might occur.

The main reason why more houses are not designed with energy use uppermost in mind is due to the higher cost of "doing it right". The reason you were able to purchase your home at a reduced price is because all the earlier shoppers did not want to pay a premium for better efficiency.

Lucky you.

PixelRabbit · Jan 23, 2013

Nice! It is a gorgeous area, Owen Sound is beautiful, if you land there we will have to get together for coffee! Heck, even with you guys up in Sudbury it's a nice day trip