08-25-2007, 04:34 AM
I am advocating being aware of the way the will interact with your home so you can design to take advantage of it or compensate for its efffects. It is after all the biggest, by far, energy source in our solar system.
There are things that you can do during the design/build phase that can make the home more comfortable without adding a great deal of cost. One example is to use foil faced insulation or sheathing on the south and west facing walls. Knowing which walls will have the hot sun beating on it allows you to be selective instead of brute forcing it on all walls.
I look at a lanai on its own merits of combining indoor and outdoor living space. I also adds to roof sf for catchment. Best of all it is not counted as indoor sf for tax purposes.
I prefer using roof overhang selectively because in cuts off light from entering glazing. I like the added openess when I can look out a big glass window without the sky being cut off by a roof or deck overhang.
One other feature I like is celestory windows. My present home has a 8/12 pitch on half and 4/12 on the other half. Where they join is a wall that I filled with awning windows (facing north for heat control). The windows let lots of natural light in. The top of the 8/12 roof section is the high point in the house so the windows naturally exhaust hot air from the house with an extra boost from ceiling fans if needed.
Larry
There are things that you can do during the design/build phase that can make the home more comfortable without adding a great deal of cost. One example is to use foil faced insulation or sheathing on the south and west facing walls. Knowing which walls will have the hot sun beating on it allows you to be selective instead of brute forcing it on all walls.
I look at a lanai on its own merits of combining indoor and outdoor living space. I also adds to roof sf for catchment. Best of all it is not counted as indoor sf for tax purposes.
I prefer using roof overhang selectively because in cuts off light from entering glazing. I like the added openess when I can look out a big glass window without the sky being cut off by a roof or deck overhang.
One other feature I like is celestory windows. My present home has a 8/12 pitch on half and 4/12 on the other half. Where they join is a wall that I filled with awning windows (facing north for heat control). The windows let lots of natural light in. The top of the 8/12 roof section is the high point in the house so the windows naturally exhaust hot air from the house with an extra boost from ceiling fans if needed.
Larry
Larry