subject: Want To Buy An Energy Efficient Home? Here Are 3 Of The Best Architectural Features To Look For [print this page] Want To Buy An Energy Efficient Home? Here Are 3 Of The Best Architectural Features To Look For
For those of us who don't like to get high utility bills there are characteristics we look for in a home. It's all about saving money through better science.
There are some homes that just suck up power and money in utility bills and there are homes that don't. Who wants to pay for 30 or 40 solar panels when it might not be necessary to run a comfortable home off the grid, or on it?
Here are 3 things to look for in houses based on better science.
Earth sheltering is one of the best ways to save money on utility bills. Who knew? Basements are good science for saving money on heating and cooling. Basements that have main rooms instead of just home theaters are even better. The daylight basement of our mountain house has an open floor plan kitchen dining den, plus a bedroom bath and laundry room. The adjacent garage is also earth sheltered. Nothing has ever frozen in our unheated garage even though winter nights in out mountain location can reach lows around 20 below zero. Our heating bills are reasonable and we don't need air conditioning at all.
Get good insulation and double pane windows. Find the right stuff for your climate. You may or may not want the heat gain you will get through the windows you put in a house. In some climates you could cook in rooms that are exposed to too much sun. Air conditioning is really expensive in Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Southern California or New Orleans. A south-facing wall of windows WILL cost you $$$! And heating is an issue for other areas. The good science of a well-designed building can save you lots of money.
Passive solar is a great way to save on heating in cold climates. When we go home shopping we always carry a compass with us to see where the solar heat gain will be for a specific house. Our house gets excellent passive solar heat gain in winter on sunny days. One long side of our house faces southwest, while the short front of the house faces southeast. Then in summer the plentiful hardwood trees around us shade us from heat gain and keep us comfortably cool. It's a good science money savings that we discovered with a compass. Nerds win!
Find an architect or builder who cares about these issues and can advise you about good building science that can save you money.
