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Originally Posted by Daox
Excellent question and the answer is it can absolutely be done. In fact, that is my same dream (but different house obviously).
First, you'll need to figure out about how much heat you'll need. Or you can calculate the heat loss of the house. Previous utility bills would be a great indicator of how many BTUs you'd need to have to heat in winter. From there, you can look at a solar map like this one to see how much panel area you'd need to collect that much heat. Also, you'd probably want to oversize the system so you can sustain heat over a few cloudy days.
I highly recommend looking over BuildItSolar.com. It has tons of DIY info on exactly this subject. The owner of the site has the same setup as you describe and gives great detail on how he made his system. |
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out later tonite, when I have more me-time.
As far as previous utility bills, there aren't any, since the house is new construction (I don't even have the permit yet.. LOL)
Once the floor plan is laid out and finalized, I'll be digging the giant hole in the hill that I'll need, and laying the foundation slab, upon which will be laid the floor slab, with some form of thermal/moisture barrier between them. The heating pipes will be run in the floor slab, based on the floor plan, with all the valves being external, if the individual climate control is indeed the way I go with it.
I'm not really sure how to calculate heat loss values for homes... do you have a program or a link that will give me some idea of how to do so with cinderblock construction and a cinderblock/living roof, with at least 50% of the surface area of the walls buried in the hill?
Ideally, I'd like to remain off-grid with this house, even though it will be connected to the grid for "emergency" sake.
The only utilities in the area are electricity and phone... water is well-drawn, and septic systems are in use, although I'm looking into ways to not have a septic tank buried in the ground.