/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1637961

You didn't ask about shape, but the most efficient (meaning the worst radiator) is a sphere, then a cube, then a rectangular box. A long narrow house is the worst. And as far as materials go, thick stone walls (like they never use any more), followed by brick, and then ordinary siding. If it's framed like american houses, you can specify 2x6 framing instead of 2x4, just keep an eye on the job: the architect I work with was contracted to do that, and it was on all the drawings, but it's so odd they ordered 2x4s and built it with 2x4s. Instead of tearing it down and starting over, he refunded about 30 grand (it was a huge house with long assed wings, so that's why they wanted thick insulation).

>>1637966
Good point, completely forgot about that since i only thought it's just up to however you feel like your house should be shaped. Particularly discussed this with the wife.

> A long narrow house is the worst.

How come? I don't know why but for some reason i like cubic design houses. To my mind it just looked efficient, but never knew the actual arguments of why, up until you brought that up. The wife specifically hates the cubic design and instead opts for more rectangular to long narrow type.

In this case, how do the shape of the two reflect energy/heat efficiency?

>>1637966
>>1637969
Also wouldn't stone walls take like forever to heat if walls are to be properly made from them, requiring a lot of energy input? If not then what type of stone would actually achieve this?

>>1637969
>How come?

think of the fins on a radiator or a computer cooler. the same amount of aluminum in a ball has much less surface area to radiate or convect or conduct heat away.

and as for thermal mass (stone walls, etc), they don't actually sound comfy, but once a large thermal mass is cool or warm, it's hard for a cold night or a hot afternoon to make a huge difference. thermal mass is like a filter that opposes quick changes; you still have to heat it and cool it, it just doesn't heat or cool quickly, which helps and hurts. Helps when it's what you want, hurts when it's not what you want. That didn't really answer your question, because I'm just thinking here. Other opinions will show up, I guarantee, and probably some solid information as well.

>>1637961
Insulated concrete forms can combine high R value with thermal mass.

>>1637961
It could help if the basement was finished, livable space.
I like my one-level house. The temperature is more consistent and manageable. Much cheaper than my old two story ( which had 6” walls and brick front )

So how would a rectangular shape be any different from a square shape given it's the exact same surface but different positioning?

By that logic, wouldn't the rectangular/narrow house be more efficient since there's only two large walls to heat, instead of equally 4 big walls that form a larger empty space?

>>1638048
Do tell. What made you think it'd be more efficient?

>>1638008

So how would a rectangular shape be any different from a square shape given it's the exact same surface but different positioning?

By that logic, wouldn't the rectangular/narrow house be more efficient since there's only two large walls to heat, instead of equally 4 big walls that form a larger empty space?

>>1638048
Do tell. What made you think it'd be more efficient?

>>1638298
Rectangular is less efficient because of the surface area to volume ratio

>>1638315
>surface area to volume ratio

Explain as if i'm severely handicapped pls

>>1638490

one extreme: a cube of aluminum.

the other extreme: flatten that cube out into a long sheet of thin aluminum. this sheet will have many times more surface area than the cube did, and if attached appropriately it can get rid of much more heat than the cube. Or absorb more heat. In the summer, your long thin house is harder to cool, and in the winter it is harder to keep warm.

It's why coolers and radiators have fins instead of smooth surfaces.

>>1637966
>>1638008

Holy shit this is so true. My apartment is in an old stone-and-brick chicago 3 flat like pic related, and from the end of april until the middle of november I don't really need heat or AC unless it gets down to the 40s or up into the 90s. The inside almost always stays between 72 and 78. And my landlord is a cheap fuck who still has original windows in most of the place.

>>1638580
Thats like a Boston build

>>1638580
Probably also due to the fact that the windows are facing the sun so it gets warmed up naturally

>>1638591
Open a window kek

>>1638595
After you're done opening it, close it.

>>1638609
Zoomers eh ,
I had one asked me after doing a ground floor wet room , will the electrics be ok after using it ? Its Ground floor an near the meter cupboard !

>>1638048

But how does a basement improve energy efficiency?

>>1637966
You could have taken one look while the framing was going on and been all over the framing crew and GC's ass. Even if you hadn't, Furring in an extra 1.5 inch on the exterior walls would have gotten 90% of your 5.5".

>>1638853
Basement walls are surrounded by dirt, a natural insulator from exterior surface temps.

>>1639138
Isn't that an additional headache with exposing the house to moisture tho?

>>1639290
I depends on the location and the quality of the house.

>>1637961
Look into Near Zero Energy houses

>>1641092
Just be aware these very much need to be tailored to the building site. You can't just go out, buy some Earthship plans and slap the thing together. Everything from local weather to sun exposure to what kind of trees are on the site needs to be taken into account. They are very finicky.

>>1641121
But that thing woulnd't require a foundation tho right so it should be in theory pretty easy

>>1637961
>The climate of my future house is generally quite hot and dry during summer and very cold during winters, but in between these two seasons there can happen temperature swings like sunny outside for a week and heavy rain the next whether it's autumn or spring.

thermal mass and non (((air-tightness))) are your friends. whatever you do dont buy an Amerimutt OSB shitshack that rellies on HVAC and AC for remperature and air control if you are looking for a good build.

>>1637966
>You didn't ask about shape, but the most efficient (meaning the worst radiator) is a sphere, then a cube, then a rectangular box. A long narrow house is the worst.

not so fast! while in terms of radiatins long and narrow is best radiator (=worst temperature keeper) you can play with that shape by placing it according to sun movement but that is very complex and high risk high reward project so I wouldnt recommend it.

>And as far as materials go, thick stone walls (like they never use any more), followed by brick, and then ordinary siding.

stone is complex as well since it has a lot of thermal mass and not a particually good isolator, wood and brick are more striaghforward and less risk.

>>1642260
What material would you recommend for worst temperature keeper in summer and best temperature keeper in winter?

>>1642264
>worst temperature keeper in summer and best temperature keeper in winter

for winter its wood hands down (as Amerifats say), I mean wood-wood, not glue-wood like OSB crap, for summer its best to go all stone with basement since you use huge thermal mass of rock that way...so for your situation, it would be ideal to go stone or concrete basement with wood upper like Alpine Swiss houses do. Pay attention to the roof as well since its exposed to the sun - NEVER go for shingles since they are horrible isolator, go terra or steel roof.

Also, its quite hard to do a log house so consider alternative like brick which arent even close to wood in terms of isolation...more importantly what materials do you have, where do you live?

For the op, or anyone else, who is genuinely interested in how these sort of climate and site based strategies work in architecture there is a really fantastic book to pick up called "Sun, Wind and Light":

https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Wind-Light-Architectural-Strategies/dp/0470945788

Get the latest edition if you can, it has a lot more info than the earlier editions. Its a very in-depth and technical guide, and goes way beyond the sorts of unscientific hippy dippy language this subject is normally presented in.

rectangular homes, especially vertical ones with 2-3 floors, are the worst. i live in a 3 story condo and it's extremely hot in the summer, extremely cold in the winter. this is true even if outside temperature moderates due to wind. the problem is mainly circulation. it's easier to circulate air in a round or tubular shaped home. but once you have fucking angles like in the standard rectangular home, suddenly it becomes difficult to get air circulating. think about it logically and also do experiments. before the romans shitted up northern europe, all nordic houses were round huts with ventilation opening at the very top nipple. now we live in boxes like roaches.

pic rel is a dome style house. it survived multiple hurricanes. round spherical houses are more robust externally, and more efficient from an energy usage standpoint internally.

Look into Rammed Earth. I'm seriously considering using it on my future house. I don't have any links or anything as I'm on mobile but googling it should provide a wealth of information

>>1643120
Why would you want to invest into a literal mudhut they build in africa? Also wouldn't the house literally vanish at first serious rain storm

>>1642282
I live in Moldova. Would it be possible to build the basement + walls + roof out of brick for about 10k euros? Also, what about rectangular shaped house, but with external and internal rounded corners. Would that help air circulation as (>>1642795)(>>1642794) claims?

>>1638004
You don't heat the walls.
You don't have raw stone on the inside.
You have insulation and drywall.

>>1644847
>You don't have raw stone on the inside.

What, why not?

>>1643417
>I live in Moldova. Would it be possible to build the basement + walls + roof out of brick for about 10k euros?

if you do majority of the work I think its doable, but digging for basement is very expensive, keep that in mind and good luck!

>>1645108
Heat transfer. Once stone heats or cools it stays that way for a long time.

>>1647575
Well then if i have raw stones as walls on the inside and i heat them up in winter, doesn't the heat staying inside means it's a good thing?

>>1647710
You can have stone on the inside but you need an insulator between the inner and the outer wall, just like a coffee thermos has air for the best insulation
Heating up big walls is a waste of energy and is not a good way to go about it
think of an igloo, its not warm because the snow walls are warm but because the air is

>>1637961
what an astoundingly shit thread. I don't think I've seen this much bad advice in one place before. Ignore every reply, OP.

>>1648994
He needs to get wood heaters an insulate

>>1648994

As someone who contributed in the early stages of this thread, your comment brings a smile of satisfaction.

>breaking ground
>not using icf
its like you don't want a strong air tight weatherproof house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez-M8wHX4Wk