Insulation
A vital feature of a low energy solar home is good insulation. You can get the most
bang for your buck by minimizing heat loss in the first place, before you spend good
money on high-
According to the New York Times, there are passive solar homes in Germany which are so well insulated that they don’t need any heating or cooling systems at all. Unfortunately the materials to do this are not yet available in the US. In the meantime, we can still insulate our homes as best we can.
What we did
- We used glass fiber to insulate our walls. Horizontal strapping on the inside ensured
that the drywall was not in direct contact with the framing. Doing this further increases
the R-
value of the walls.
- We used spray foam insulation on the undersides of the roof.
- Windows can be a key source of heat loss, so we used Loewen windows, with low E2 insulated glazing. The windows are designed to minimize heat loss in winter, and to provide moderate heat gain, to prevent the house from overheating in strong sunshine.
Our builders made sure the house was tight, as drafts can be a major cause of heat loss in winter.
Sprayed foam insulation was used under the roof.