Priority Air Sealing Locations for Energy Efficient Home

In order for a building to be energy-efficient, it must be air-sealed. It is vital for energy efficiency, occupant comfort, and durability of buildings to reduce air leakage. The framing of a building is crucial for airtightness. Joints and openings must be properly sealed to ensure proper air sealing of building enclosures. The extent to which each joint or leak contributes to air leakage is not always the same. Using some airtight tapes wraps is only recommended where there is sufficient provision for sealing. 

Stack Effect Is The Starting Point

There are some leakage points that are riskier than others. A good air sealing strategy must take account of these. The stack effect is directly responsible for many of these leakage points. Due to stack effect, the process of warm air rises from the lower level and gets out through the upper-level leakage points. Through the lower-level windows or openings, it sucks air into the building. 

Sealing these entry points in lower levels and exit points of upper level will make sure that the building resistant of stack point. These openings come in different sizes, that is why it is important to seal every small opening in wall or other places. Air tight wraps are especially suitable for this kind of air-sealing.

Most Convenient Locations For Air Sealing

To make your house totally air sealed house, you need proper planning and strategy to put sealings on leakage points. According to the needs of the buildings, builders use different sealing material like high grade caulk, canned foam sealing tape or a gasket tape to prevent air from flowing out where it’s need is paramount. It’s better to list down the points where you need air sealing immediately. Passive house builders in Melbourne

can help you plan and budget better as they have great knowledge about air-sealing.

Researchers have identified the leakage points on a simple single-family home's thermal envelope and analyzed them with an estimate of the total expenditure required. Among the most important air sealing locations, the following five have been identified as the most likely to reduce air leakage:

1. Top plate to attic drywall: - According to research, an important source of air flow happens through gaps in attic walls. This is the most significant source of leakage, which contributes to great stack effect.
2. Recessed lights to finished surface: - Although recessed lights are branded to be air-tight, a considerable amount of air passed through gaps of the light. Air tights wrapped around the light will solve the problem.

• Duct boot to finished surface: - In areas below the basement that are not maintained well, air sealing is especially important. When placed in an unconditioned area, the duct, boot, and underfloor have to be airtight.

• Band joist (top and bottom: - Band joists should be properly insulated because they can crack. Band joists are also placed above the foundation wall, which means air can enter from the low level.

1. Between house and garage wall: When you build your house and garage, it is important to ensure that the spaces between them are airtight. As well as reducing the stack effect, this prevents contaminants from entering your living space.

These are some of the highlighting factors to be aware of while you're sealing a deal with any passive house builders in Melbourne.

Use These Popular Options to Heat a Passive House This Winter

A misconception about passive houses is that they can generate heat on their own. In the real world, they are created to guarantee maximum retention of any generated heat – but the heat still must come from somewhere. A passive house needs 15kWh of space heating energy per square meter of living space per year, which can pose a challenge as seen after predicting the demand of all other building aspects. So, you must choose a product from the Melbourne house builders that can provide the necessary heat, without compromising the energy efficiency standard. Scroll down and take a look at the most popular options that can heat a passive house this winter.

Electric post-heater

An electric post heater, which is typically duct mounted, is used in combination with a heat recovery ventilation system (MVHR) to heat the supply air as it exits the unit.

Hot water post-heater

The hot water post-heater, like its electric counterpart, is fitted within the supply duct. The main benefit of it includes a steady integration with domestic hot water heating systems, as well as using limited space and reacting the MVHR temperature changes.

Solar heating

Solar heating is another option worth considering. Solar heating accumulates heat from the sun and transfers it to stored water in a hot water cylinder using fitted panels known as collectors. This roof-mounted solution has low operating costs and is versatile.This is a must-have option for an energy efficient home.

Electric panel heaters

Electric panel heaters offer instant heat to a room and are a "plug-and-play" heating solution, which has proven pretty important when it comes to refurbishment projects. Electric panel heaters could also be used as towel heaters in the bathroom.

Gas boiler

Gas boilers, which most passive house builders in Melbourne are familiar with, are a conventional and user-friendly solution both for heating and domestic hot water. With a limited initial investment, gas boilers include a wide range of heat distribution choices, from designer radiators to underfloor heating and towel racks.

Ground source heat pump (GSHP)

It is a low-cost heating and cooling system with high thermal efficiency. In the winter, GSHPs use the relatively constant earth's temperature as a heat source.

These are the most popular options to heat a passive house during the winter season. If you find the content of this blog useful, don’t forget to share it with your friends, and get back to us for more exciting content!

Telltale Signs That Give You a Clear Idea About Hiring Passive House Builders

In the current scenario, the quality of living is affected to a great extent by the choice of homes where people reside. Transforming your home into a passive house can be an excellent idea in terms of upgrading your quality of living in the best possible manner. There are certain signs that your house provides you with to make sure that you are in dire need of hiring passive house builders and transforming your house in the right manner.

Here is a look at a few of the most important signs that provide you with a clear idea about hiring the right house builders for the job of transforming your home into a passive house. So if you are confused about upgrading your quality of living via the construction of a passive house, make sure to keep these points in the back of your mind.

Your home doesn’t have a good ventilation system

This is the first and foremost sign that tells you to hire passive house builders in Melbourne to transform your home into a passive house. Proper ventilation in a house is highly necessary for sustainable living and if there is lack of the same in the house where you live with your family, you should definitely opt for passive house builders to get the job done.

The insulation system of your house is faulty

Another obvious sign that tells you to hire passive house builders in Melbourne for your home transformation is the presence of a faulty insulation system. In a passive house, the insulation needs to be of high quality. So make sure to hire a company for the job of transforming your house into a passive one if you see this particular sign in your home.

Your electric bill is very high

When you live in a normal house, you might find that the electricity consumption is very high, which eventually affects your electric bill in an adverse manner. This is why it is extremely important for you to make sure that you opt for transforming your home into a passive house, which will help you to get proper heating and cooling in your home without burning a hole in your pocket.

From the above lines, we get a clear idea of the various signs that tell you to hire passive house suppliers to get all the materials that are required to build a passive house in the best possible manner. So make sure to keep these points in your mind and upgrade your quality of living.

How to Look for the Best Passive House Supplies?

Passive house is dedicated to providing you a better living. To provide that, this system needs some tools. Now, these tools are available in several stores but choosing the best one among them is challenging. Let's find out how to choose the best quality passive house supplies. If you want to make a difference in your lifestyle, you have to come under the system of passive living. So, make it clear how to choose these materials from a leading service provider.

Super-insulating Window Frames

Insulation increases the energy efficiency of your home. Super-insulating gazing or high-efficiency gazing is replacing traditional double gazing. Its insulation capability is twice greater. There is a layer of gas between two glass panes and a film of iron oxide.

Triple glazing is even more efficient but often avoided for its expenses. As this is more expensive, it's a great investment. But, people often avoid this as it's very costly. 

So, look for a super-insulated window to a service provider that provides all these services together. Buying from such a service will make the frame last for a long time as the provider deals with only these things. 

Highly Efficient Ventilation Units

The passive house's one of the specialties is its ventilation system. The house is more airy and fresh air is one of the primary reasons that people are going for such houses. Therefore, highly efficient ventilation units must be bought from an expert that knows how frequent air circulation makes your house a comfortable area. Besides, you must be sure of the tool's warranty. So these components come with a warranty. 

Thermal Bridge Free Connection Details

Thermal bridges are also known as cold bridges or hot bridges. This is what completes a passive house. As you know passive house controls temperature and keeps you soothing. If the exterior is too hot, it cools your house and vice versa. So, make sure that you choose a professional expert for that. Thermal bridges curtail the temperature up to 30%. So, make sure that your service provider is aware of that. 

Glazing That Allows Solar Gains

The glazing window's sole purpose is to let the sunlight peeping through the window and make the room full of light. During the summertime, these windows' glazing power is increased to make 10% less light come.

Siga airtightness is the best option when you're going for passive house supplies. They are better than other products in terms of service and price. Purchase cost-effective products and improve living today. 

Installing a Heat Pump in A New Bilding Project – An Overview

A heat pump is perhaps one of the finest innovations or tools of this modern age, used for cooling or heating a building, residential or otherwise. One might think of a heat pump as an air conditioner, but the function it performs is far more technologically advanced than a simple AC. Heat pumps, like the Stiebel Eltron heat pump, pumps out the heat from a cold area to make it even cooler, or to another area to make it hotter. It all depends on the season outside, and the temperature you want inside. A similar kind of technology is used in a refrigerator, but regarding technology, a heat pump is far more advanced.  

There is a huge advantage of using heat pumps. An air conditioner or refrigerator emits harmful greenhouse gases that damage our ozone layer and overall atmospheric condition. But when you use a heat pump, no such gases are emitted, and you can contribute towards a zero emission planet, healthy enough to sustain human life for centuries to come. Other uses of heat pumps include heating water up to a temperature of 80 degrees. But the water heating feature is one of the least used features of a heat pump. Its primary function lies in its ability to heat or cool a room or area.

Let us now take a look at a few features of a heat pump and try and understand how it is beneficial:

• In the summer months, the pump extracts heat from a warm area to cool it down, or extracts cold air from a cooler area and pumps it out to a warm area with the same purpose.

• In the winter months, it pumps in hot air from the outside or a heated area and pumps it out into a cold area to warm it up and provide comfort to the inhabitants of a home or office.

• The pump can only work when the temperatures are within a positive range. The functions start to decrease in potency when the temperature goes below the freezing point. Some pumps have the ability to work in extremely cold conditions, but these still require the temperature to be above the freezing point.

• The main components of a heat pump are two coils – one on the inside, the other on the outside. The outer coil extracts heat from the outside or an already heated area. The inner coil pumps the hot air out into a heating system. 

• Both the coils mentioned above have a refrigerant, which helps in the absorption or the release of heat from or into the air inside the coils.

• The durability of heat pumps is off the charts. While air conditioners only last for five to six years, some heat pump models have been known to function accurately for well over twenty to twenty-five years. 

• A heat pump’s efficiency is measured by units of heat produced for every unit of electricity. The higher the heat units, the better will be the heat pumps performance and energy efficiency.

• The refrigerant being used in the heat pumps is isobutane. Isobutane is not harmful to the ecosystem as it does not produce any greenhouse gases.

So, if you are convinced after reading about the features, get a heat pump for your home or office today.