Passive total heating old houses.

What if you could design a house that on a cold day in January would stay at 70 degrees inside — without running the furnace? Or even having a furnace?

It's already being done, using the "passivhaus" concept.

https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-01-25/this-maine-home-can-stay-70-degrees-without-a-furnace-even-when-its-freezing-outside

Pretentious* but a good read. (History always restarts* whenever the wheel is reinvented.) If you have the where-with-all, you might critique this article like the crazy nutjob of a person you aspire to be.

Reset the clock, and have fun!

Lummy wrote:

What if you could design a house that on a cold day in January would stay at 70 degrees inside — without running the furnace? Or even having a furnace?

It's already being done, using the "passivhaus" concept.

https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-01-25/this-maine-home-can-stay-70-degrees-without-a-furnace-even-when-its-freezing-outside

Pretentious* but a good read. (History always restarts* whenever the wheel is reinvented.) If you have the where-with-all, you might critique this article like the crazy nutjob of a person you aspire to be.

Reset the clock, and have fun!

I agree that it's totally doable, but it takes money and space.  The air brought into the house is preheated/cooled by the Earth by drawing it in through long underground ductwork.  The insulation and high efficiency doors and windows aren't cheap.  He designed his home with most glass facing South, minimal roof overhangs, and a black exterior to maximize natural heating from the Sun.  His home would look totally different in a hotter, Southern climate.  The use of air conditioning in the South would dictate a little more energy usage unless you offset it with the abundance of solar power that isn't as available up North.(another expense)  Earth bermed homes are another option and maybe cheaper in some cases.

When I was a teenager, my dad framed the insides of a concrete Earth bermed home. Only 1 side of the house was at ground level and it faced away from the street. From the street, all you could see was a 6x10 "shed". That shed was the housing for a clerestory window above the living room. I'd like to know their energy costs. It's 3 miles from where I now live, in Forney TX.

There may be ways to make home heating more efficient and effective however, I'm not sure that it will make any difference for pre-existing homes that aren't gutted and re-insulated.

One of the issues is that homes heated with natural gas are not as insulated as electric homes. This among other things, needs to be changed drastically.

RV wrote:There may be ways to make home heating more efficient and effective however, I'm not sure that it will make any difference for pre-existing homes that aren't gutted and re-insulated.

One of the issues is that homes heated with natural gas are not as insulated as electric homes. This among other things, needs to be changed drastically.

You won't see homes super insulated unless the customer asks for it before the home is built and is willing to pay for it.  I'm planning on about 4 inches of open cell foam in the walls plus rolled or bat insulation and 2 inches of closed cell foam on the ceiling.  Windows will be minimal and efficient.  The only exception may be a glass roll up door between the living room and screened patio.  

I'm more concerned with cooling.  I may open the 2nd story windows in the front of the house and put a fan in the open doors between the house and the shop with a 4 foot fan to force air into the house.  The air from the shop will be cooler than outside because the shop is also insulated and can be air conditioned if I want.  I'll try to minimize the use of air conditioning, even though I am looking at 21-22 SEER systems.

Have any of you here been through an old house...in the Northeast? One that had a coal or wood furnace, or an early gas furnace?

That is quite close to passive. No fan. Huge plenums, and convection, carry the hot air upstairs.

I don't recommend coal as a heat source, but if you could afford or cut your own wood...it would work a lot better than a fireplace.