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Old 10-18-10, 07:14 PM   #11
Ryland
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The advantage of a long narrow house is that you can have alot of south facing windows, but the disadvantage of of that shape is that you have alot of surface area plus with all those south widows you need to cover them at night or they let heat out and according to an engineer I worked for for a short time, if you want the most solar gain you don't want low-e glass because it not only stops heat loss at night but also stops heat gain in the day time.
My point with this topic and having light tubes in a house that has only a few widows is that you can then make your house a cube for less surface area and cut out the north facing windows, where normally you can't do that because your north rooms would then be rather dark.

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Old 10-18-10, 08:04 PM   #12
Xringer
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We make sure our shades and curtains are all down on cold nights, but of course the heat loss is still pretty high.

We have looked at some thermal shades that seal around the sides and bottom.
But, since we can heat the house so cheaply with the mini-split, it's a hard-sell to the wife.
Federal Tax Credit ? Comfortex Honeycomb Shades with Energy Saving Sidetrack System


I would love to install these in all the windows!

~~
We get pretty good light during the day. Only the kitchen area light is regularly used during the day.
It's a ceiling fixture with two 27w CFLs, so it's not too hard on the wallet.

I think piping some sunlight down might be a problem, since it's on the north slope of the roof..
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Old 10-18-10, 09:32 PM   #13
NeilBlanchard
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How much do those cost? If they have simple cords to move them open and closed, then great. We bought some with fancy mechanisms (so the cord stays one length) and most of 'em are now broken. We paid a fortune for 'em. Home Depot has some foil lined double and triple thick hex-tube units for a fraction of the cost... with simple cords.
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Old 10-19-10, 12:03 AM   #14
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There's a place in Andover that sells them..
North Solar Screen: Energy Saving Insulated Shades-Comfortex Insulator Symphony Blackout Cellular Shades
The price calculator is at the bottom of the page.

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