Building a house with 3" EXTERIOR insulation AND 2x6 walls!

[Drewintoledo]

Triple pane windows. Southern facing house with higher solar heat gain coefficent glazing. Hope to heat with a candle!
Will have fresh air exchange system.

If you like this kind of thing follow along if you wish.. check out the last few videos of mine if ya'll like it!

 

[Drewintoledo]

 

[sandman2234]

I helped a friend do that in the mid 70's. I later asked him if the 6 inch walls were worth the extra expense. He said no, but he lives in the panhandle of Florida. Good luck with yours!
David from jax

 

[Drewintoledo]

I helped a friend do that in the mid 70's. I later asked him if the 6 inch walls were worth the extra expense. He said no, but he lives in the panhandle of Florida. Good luck with yours!
David from jax

Ahh yes, makes sense. I could see that in Florida where the goal is to keep it cool. I am up in the 41st parallel where if it gets too cold ya freeze your knickers off. The way I see it is that when you put a coat on, you don't stick the coat between your ribs, you wrap it around them. Just like the studs in a wall I am wrapping around the studs (and between). This should reduce the thermal conductance through the studs and hence into the house considerably.

 

[metalbender]

Years ago in Mother Earth News they showcased a double envelope house. Like a house with an overcoat. Lots of solar gain, air space for less thermal loss, and featured greenhouse space for self sufficiency.

 

[3Ts]

I live in the south, but I built our 900 sq ft cabin with 2x6 studs and spray foam, and 3/4" foil backed foam insulation on that, then a 3/8" air gap which also serves as a rain screen, then hardie plank siding on top of that. The HVAC guys wanted to put a 24,000 btu unit in (without doing any calculations). I don't have access to the software to do a proper manual J calculation, but what I did come up with was around 12,000. I chickened out and put in 18,000. now after having it for a few years, my 12,000 was correct. We use very little energy there. One of my reasonings was that even though it cost a little more now, energy costs are only going to go up, and it'll be much more expensive to do it later.

 

[CalG]

I really like fresh air movement through any space I live in.

Smells and the feeling of "closeness" are nothing I care to entertain.

I keep the window over my bed cracked open year round.

Winters in Vermont can get cold.. ;-)

 

[EddieWalker]

Fun build. I always enjoy seeing what people are doing around the country.

From what I've learned, sealing air from getting through the walls is more important then R value. Foam works great for this, but so does the newer polymer coatings, or ZIP System and Tape. Once you seal the walls, then R-Value matters the most in the ceiling where heat and cold travel through a house.

Something else that I find really interesting is that a lot of people up North rely on snow on their roof to create a thermal layer to keep the heat inside the house. This might be why the focus on the walls so much.

I haven't ready anywhere that you can increase energy efficiency by adding R-Value to a wall over R20 if you have the walls air tight. Wind is the biggest challenge in sealing the walls. Especially around windows and doors.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Does that porch overhang only have 1 2x4 holding it up? Scary!

Cool looking house, love the concept.

 

[hcallaway]

Thanks for sharing!