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Elcam84 · 06-08-16, 08:22 AM

The two items I would do differently one just mentioned above....

I would not do a GSHP. In a super insulated and sealed house like you are building it isn't worth the extra cost. You will never recover even half of the install cost over the life of the system. In fast the best choice is actually just a plain old 94% ish furnace and a 13 seer ac. With that insulation the systems will run so little that the cost of the system is a bigger factor than the energy used by them.

In fact it's very common practice to put low efficiency units in super tight houses because of this.

The other thing I noticed I would change would be your floor trusses. 16" for that span is adequate but I'd go taller and make the floor stiffer. A floor can never be too stiff specially if you decide to install tile floors and natural tile needs a very stiff floor to keep from cracking. There is a deflection calculator over at the John bridge tile site that is very handy.

06-08-16, 08:22 AM	#23
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	The two items I would do differently one just mentioned above.... I would not do a GSHP. In a super insulated and sealed house like you are building it isn't worth the extra cost. You will never recover even half of the install cost over the life of the system. In fast the best choice is actually just a plain old 94% ish furnace and a 13 seer ac. With that insulation the systems will run so little that the cost of the system is a bigger factor than the energy used by them. In fact it's very common practice to put low efficiency units in super tight houses because of this. The other thing I noticed I would change would be your floor trusses. 16" for that span is adequate but I'd go taller and make the floor stiffer. A floor can never be too stiff specially if you decide to install tile floors and natural tile needs a very stiff floor to keep from cracking. There is a deflection calculator over at the John bridge tile site that is very handy.