Energy requirement reduction

lucerne96 · 05-03-12, 02:00 PM

All the post seem to be about alternative energy generation.

What about energy REDUCTION?

Anyone interested in improving the building envelope to reduce energy requirements for heating & cooling?

Daox · 05-03-12, 02:23 PM

Welcome to the site lucerne96.

If you take a minute you'll notice that the conservation sub-forum is nearly the most popular section of the forum. There are many great ideas there, but feel free to add to them!

Did you have any specific interests you wanted to discuss?

lucerne96 · 05-03-12, 06:30 PM

Getting rid of thermal bridges in building renovation.

gasstingy · 05-04-12, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucerne96

Getting rid of thermal bridges in building renovation.

For the really serious, hard-core renovators, consider the "Larsen Truss" wall retrofit. It is explained pretty well at: Retrofit Larsen Truss. You'd have to be willing to give up a small portion of the interior space in your home, but energy wise you could reap great rewards.

Welcome to the site!

Daox · 05-04-12, 12:33 PM

The larsen truss is really the ideal wall to fill up with insulation. However, if you're remodeling a room and don't have much space to eat up there is also the mooney wall to consider.

strider3700 · 05-04-12, 01:12 PM

I'm curious how the mooney wall and vapor barrier works?

Say I have a place with 2x4 studding. Adding a mooney with 2" wood to the inside gets it up to near a R18. At the same time I could vapor barrier the inside and technically may need to due to code but to get a really impressive wall adding 3 inch's of rigid to the outside is better. At that point though you don't want vapor barrier on the inside.

I don't see vapor barrier being used on any of the mooney pages I've seen.

Daox · 05-04-12, 01:25 PM

Yeah, if you have foam on the exterior you can't use an interior vapor barrier. If you use an interior vapor barrier you can't add foam to the exterior. IMO exterior vapor barrier is the way to go (and the way I'm going with my renovations).

Daox · 05-04-12, 03:12 PM

Lucerne, would you care to tell us a bit more about yourself and your current living space?

Also, if you could at least update your info to include your state (US) or country it really helps us put things in perspective when we hear you talk about your own experiences. We don't need nor really want to know the exact locaiton, just basically the climate you're in and the location is the easiest way to do that.

lucerne96 · 05-04-12, 03:51 PM

I am on the US East Coast, but also spend time in German speaking Europe.

I have been studying, renovating, restoring & constructing buildings to ultra-low energy standards since the 1980's.

I live in a an old house; built in 2 installments. Original house ~ 1,200 sq ft built about 1750. new part, built 1880 ~ 2,400 sq ft. Average utility bill (heating +cooling + lighting = $78 month). Restricted solar access.

S-F · 05-05-12, 05:14 PM

I agree with you whole heartedly. I guess that the engineering involved in conservation isn't as cool for some as clever equipment. I myself love equipment and tinkering but I find more benefit (both logically and for a hobby) in conservation.

I plan to write up a bit about this in my thread soon before I embark on the next phase of renovating my house.

05-03-12, 02:00 PM	#1
lucerne96 Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2012 Location: house Posts: 50 Thanks: 3 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	Energy requirement reduction All the post seem to be about alternative energy generation. What about energy REDUCTION? Anyone interested in improving the building envelope to reduce energy requirements for heating & cooling?

05-03-12, 02:23 PM	#2
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Welcome to the site lucerne96. If you take a minute you'll notice that the conservation sub-forum is nearly the most popular section of the forum. There are many great ideas there, but feel free to add to them! Did you have any specific interests you wanted to discuss? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by Daox; 05-03-12 at 02:38 PM..

05-04-12, 12:33 PM	#5
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	The larsen truss is really the ideal wall to fill up with insulation. However, if you're remodeling a room and don't have much space to eat up there is also the mooney wall to consider. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-04-12, 01:25 PM	#7
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Yeah, if you have foam on the exterior you can't use an interior vapor barrier. If you use an interior vapor barrier you can't add foam to the exterior. IMO exterior vapor barrier is the way to go (and the way I'm going with my renovations). __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-04-12, 03:12 PM	#8
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Lucerne, would you care to tell us a bit more about yourself and your current living space? Also, if you could at least update your info to include your state (US) or country it really helps us put things in perspective when we hear you talk about your own experiences. We don't need nor really want to know the exact locaiton, just basically the climate you're in and the location is the easiest way to do that. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-03-12, 06:30 PM	#3
lucerne96 Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2012 Location: house Posts: 50 Thanks: 3 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	Getting rid of thermal bridges in building renovation.

05-04-12, 01:12 PM	#6
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I'm curious how the mooney wall and vapor barrier works? Say I have a place with 2x4 studding. Adding a mooney with 2" wood to the inside gets it up to near a R18. At the same time I could vapor barrier the inside and technically may need to due to code but to get a really impressive wall adding 3 inch's of rigid to the outside is better. At that point though you don't want vapor barrier on the inside. I don't see vapor barrier being used on any of the mooney pages I've seen.

05-04-12, 03:51 PM	#9
lucerne96 Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2012 Location: house Posts: 50 Thanks: 3 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	I am on the US East Coast, but also spend time in German speaking Europe. I have been studying, renovating, restoring & constructing buildings to ultra-low energy standards since the 1980's. I live in a an old house; built in 2 installments. Original house ~ 1,200 sq ft built about 1750. new part, built 1880 ~ 2,400 sq ft. Average utility bill (heating +cooling + lighting = $78 month). Restricted solar access. Last edited by lucerne96; 05-04-12 at 08:39 PM..