Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiv
The house will be built in Coogee (near Fremantle), in Western Australia, Zip code 6166 (if it can help).
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This is helpful information.
I did find a
Google Map of your location.
I am trying to find more precise Degree Day information, as it will make design suggestions more accurate.
Can you tell me, in order of distance (closest first) where the nearest airports are?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiv
The long term averages are Max 23c (72F), Min 12.5c (54F)
with highs of 42c (107F) and lows of 3c (37F).
Humidity is low and and average 125 days of clear skies
One of the best climates in the world....
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This information is very useful, already.
Radiant floor heating is very comfortable, quiet, unobtrusive, and reliable. On a new-build, the cost of installing PEX is very low. The biggest problem with high-mass radiant floor (PEX in concrete) is that it responds very poorly to sudden fluctuations in temperature, since the slab can hold perhaps a three-day charge of heat. So high-mass radiant floors are the greatest for locations that get cold and stay that way through the winter.
Knowing as little as I do at this point, I would guess that your location has many short-term temperature fluctuations. Correct?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiv
However, we do need to warm the house in winter.
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If I can get more info on the extent of fluctuations and the frequency of the fluctuations, it might be possible to use high-mass radiant to supply a basic lower-temp thermal component to your winter heating needs and use secondary heating to fill in the gaps. This way, when an unexpected warm period comes your way, you can suspend the secondary source, and the high-mass contribution would still be there, for comfort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiv
I the summer we tend to just open the windows and let the breeze in, but some days we get no wind and it gets hot.
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Here again, detailed degree-day info will be very helpful. So far, it sounds like you wouldn't need central air.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiv
The house has been designed with the best R rating in mind, double glazing and insulation in both walls and ceilings.
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OK, it's time to get down to the hard core facts. "...best R rating in mind..." is insufficiently precise to be useful in a careful analysis. You will have to do better than that. If we are going to calculate thermal loss and gain, "best" has no meaning.
The rest of your information looks useful, too. but we need specifics.
Best,
-AC_Hacker