How to heat a passive solar house? Besides the sun! Lol

[Exeric]

Hi, I think MN made a lot of good points, and I think he's right about trying to use windows for passive solar heating and creating a real problem in summer. But if you like windows, (I do), then consider building a porch on the south side of the house. I did and boy do I ever love it. It kind of brings the outdoors in and the indoors out. Besides that, its a real architectural feature if you like the traditional type of house even a little. My biggest bugaboo about almost all the Passivhaus homes that that I've seen is that they can end up being a real public eyesore in a neighborhood of more traditional homes. However, if you build a porch instead of using wide roof overhangs you will probably have to give up on the idea of using windows for passive heating. For a decent size porch they usually just extend too far out, even in winter, for the sun to give good heating effect.

Edit: I should add that where porches taketh away they also giveth. That extra roof area on a sizeable porch can be used for all kinds of things like PV or solar panels. On my house that is located in a moderate climate my 'L' shaped porch adds enough roof area that I expect to be able to use passive solar from air coming thru the soffits at the eaves to heat the home in winter. Project is not yet done so don't quote me just yet. I wouldn't expect that idea to work in Indiana though.

[evel_knievel]

Geesh, just checked my electric bill and I'm at the end of my budget billing year. I owe them $714.84. Somehow there has been a significant increase in usage that I can't put my finger on. The budget payment has been $241 per month year round. Now they are saying it will be raised to $338!!! HUH?????? If they would report those kind of payments to the 3 credit agencies my credit score could jump. Ouch!!
So last month from Sept 3rd to Oct 2nd i used 1,217 kwh divided by the monthly charges of $136.85 before taxes makes our cost .1124 per kwh.
Don't want to get into why it went up here, that's a soon to be gone topic!

Thanks again MN Renovator.
That's a lot of info to digest and I understand a good portion of it. After talking with the lady of the house, she is partial to all tile floors. 1. Because they are easier to clean than carpet. 2. I have terrible allergies and she thinks this is the best option by heating the slab with hydronic. BUT, I can medicate myself to get the best reasonable efficiency. I certainly would DIY the piping for the slab since there's a lot of good online suppliers and a wealth of information on zones, manifolds and all that stuff.

After a week of waiting, a local geothermal contractor called me back. We talked quite a bit about various systems and although he offered advice, he said once he ran the calculations he could get more detailed.

He was a little impressed by my research compared to most customers they deal with. After explaining the general design as I explained here, he agrees that this will require a fairly light heating load. Although they have installed several mini splits, he explained that an open loop geo "may" be the way to go and he liked the idea of solar assist.
An analogy he used was "If you hand a mini split $1 it may give you back $2-3. If you hand a geothermal unit $1 it may hand you back $5. Sounds fairly dumbed down to make sense or cents.

The reason he suggested open loop geo is we have excellent well conditions here and the water quality is so good that we can go without softener salt for months on end before we notice any yellowing. The last time an element went out in the tank water heater there was next to nothing in sediments when I drained it. In fact it was the 1st time it's been drained since new in 1998.

Also he said the upfront cost for open loop is less costly since we already have a good performing well(I'm sure more tests to support it's performance are required).
During any future conversation with him I'll be sure to mention your suggestions and ideas. You have some very good info and I can't thank you enough.

Exeric you hit a nail right on the head!
The lack of porches is the single biggest turn off with this design. We talked and talked about how nice it would be to have that porch or screened in porch outside the master bedroom and or over the frenchies in the livingroom. The back of the house faces south so all the glazing isn't an issue with privacy, but it sure puts a damper on the outdoor living space.

It seems that if the solar gain from the glazing is going to be minimal then why not build all the porch we so desire? Which is kind of what I meant when i stated that maybe I over estimated the effectiveness of solar gain. Which I'm sure it's substantial but is it enough with this type of construction that it can be easily compensated for?

On a side note to the large glazing: I did see that overhang calculator a few weeks ago and figured we could effectively use that technique.

Also, I have already been brainstorming a design in which I laminate say 1" extruded foam sheets with 1/4" plywood and cover it with say a beautiful laminate for looks. This could be used as window covering when needed and the method of storage would be similiar to a pocket door built into a small enclosure built on the inside of the room. When needed we would slide it out of the pocket across the window. Just an idea for now.

So much to consider and thank you all for your wealth of information and ideas. I wish I had the time to learn all the DIY heat pump information going on here but it seems like a lot to digest before building this spring.

[Exeric]

Here's a good reference for the exact questions you have if you decide to go ahead with passive solar as the main ingredient. Good luck with whatever route you decide to go.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...e-solar-design

Edit:
Oh, and here's one more article that gets right at the crux of your dilemma. A lot of food for thought here.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...ear-old-debate