btw, I highly appreciate your patience with me. I understand when I articulate my thoughts online.......it sometimes comes out ugly! Ok, alot of times, I am working on that. I was under the impression human bodies do well in high humidity. Now low humidity allows you to keep your thermostat a bit higher and feel just as cool, but I don't believe low humidity is "comfortable". 60%+ is mold breeding, I was taught for comfort you get as close to 60% as possible, for mold you stay below. Am I wrong?
Between the foam, high efficiency units, dehumidifier, rigid foam, low E roof, Solar, is that about 40k+ extra(beyond code) worth of stuff? Or 200$/month for the avg. mortgage. 100$/month from a 3% compounding investment. Isn't the avg heating and cooling < 100$/month here. Why the cheapest duct known to man? Why in the attic? KS it is rare to have duct in attics, almost all duct is metal w/in the home.(best duct) Have you figured out a bulletproof, dummy proof, lifetime fresh air system yet?
@HomeEnergyNow: Our cooling costs are much higher than that, I would guess the average 3000 sf house in Austin has a summertime electric bill above $400/month. We didn't spend $40k on those upgrades and they WILL pay for themselves. Those are rigid metal trunk lines with exterior insulation. We drop the last 10' or less in flex duct to quiet down the air stream. Remember that we already agreed to disagree on the fresh air system. -Matt Risinger
@MattRisinger About 30k extra? 10k roof, 5k HVAC+dehumidifier, 5k all the foams, @10k for solar. If somebody did have a 6% mortgage, that is 150$/month in COST. 900SQFT/ton means you are 30-50% more efficient than code. Bills may PEAK in the summer 400$, but AVG. would be a @ 200$ for a 3000sqft house. That makes @ 100/month for base load 100/month HVAC. Even putting you at 50% more efficient, saves an AVG. of @ 50$/month. If you have a mortgage or invest you would be losing money every month.
@HomeEnergyNow So, couple things don't add for me here. You're assuming energy costs will be constant in the future. I have no idea what electricity will cost in 5-10-30 years and that roof & insulation will still be going strong. Solar pencils out easily with Austin Energy rebates and Federal rebates, our 5Kw system was under $10k. The other factor you're not accounting for is comfort, this house will be much more comfortable for the owners than if I had built it to standard code. -Matt
Mr. Risinger, PLEASE tell me you are not one of those people that "forgets" where all that rebate and credit money comes from? It ain't free. Austin now has one of the highest KWH rates around thanks to this way of thinking. They will offer 1000$ rebate, then add 1200$ on your KWH charge. Energy costs rise close to the same amount as inflation, they are close to cancelling each other out. 400,000 "owners" get to donate to a rich dudes panels! I had to stop offering rebates, moral confliction
@clintsmith96 We sprayed 7.5" of open cell on the underside and we used 3/4" of rigid polyiso on top of the roof. Closed cell is certainly an option but it's more expensive and I don't think it's worth the cost for this application. I also like open cell foam for roofs as it's pourous. If you ever had a roof leak the water would drain through the foam. Closed cell foam would trap the water and rot the roof before you knew you had trouble. -Matt Risinger
btw, I highly appreciate your patience with me. I understand when I articulate my thoughts online.......it sometimes comes out ugly! Ok, alot of times, I am working on that. I was under the impression human bodies do well in high humidity. Now low humidity allows you to keep your thermostat a bit higher and feel just as cool, but I don't believe low humidity is "comfortable". 60%+ is mold breeding, I was taught for comfort you get as close to 60% as possible, for mold you stay below. Am I wrong?
HomeEnergyNow 5 months ago
Between the foam, high efficiency units, dehumidifier, rigid foam, low E roof, Solar, is that about 40k+ extra(beyond code) worth of stuff? Or 200$/month for the avg. mortgage. 100$/month from a 3% compounding investment. Isn't the avg heating and cooling < 100$/month here. Why the cheapest duct known to man? Why in the attic? KS it is rare to have duct in attics, almost all duct is metal w/in the home.(best duct) Have you figured out a bulletproof, dummy proof, lifetime fresh air system yet?
HomeEnergyNow 5 months ago
@HomeEnergyNow: Our cooling costs are much higher than that, I would guess the average 3000 sf house in Austin has a summertime electric bill above $400/month. We didn't spend $40k on those upgrades and they WILL pay for themselves. Those are rigid metal trunk lines with exterior insulation. We drop the last 10' or less in flex duct to quiet down the air stream. Remember that we already agreed to disagree on the fresh air system. -Matt Risinger
MattRisinger 5 months ago
@MattRisinger About 30k extra? 10k roof, 5k HVAC+dehumidifier, 5k all the foams, @10k for solar. If somebody did have a 6% mortgage, that is 150$/month in COST. 900SQFT/ton means you are 30-50% more efficient than code. Bills may PEAK in the summer 400$, but AVG. would be a @ 200$ for a 3000sqft house. That makes @ 100/month for base load 100/month HVAC. Even putting you at 50% more efficient, saves an AVG. of @ 50$/month. If you have a mortgage or invest you would be losing money every month.
HomeEnergyNow 5 months ago
@HomeEnergyNow So, couple things don't add for me here. You're assuming energy costs will be constant in the future. I have no idea what electricity will cost in 5-10-30 years and that roof & insulation will still be going strong. Solar pencils out easily with Austin Energy rebates and Federal rebates, our 5Kw system was under $10k. The other factor you're not accounting for is comfort, this house will be much more comfortable for the owners than if I had built it to standard code. -Matt
MattRisinger 5 months ago
Mr. Risinger, PLEASE tell me you are not one of those people that "forgets" where all that rebate and credit money comes from? It ain't free. Austin now has one of the highest KWH rates around thanks to this way of thinking. They will offer 1000$ rebate, then add 1200$ on your KWH charge. Energy costs rise close to the same amount as inflation, they are close to cancelling each other out. 400,000 "owners" get to donate to a rich dudes panels! I had to stop offering rebates, moral confliction
HomeEnergyNow 5 months ago
Comment removed
HomeEnergyNow 5 months ago
@HomeEnergyNow That's rude.
MattRisinger 5 months ago
What R value & inches are sprayed on the underside of the roof?
Why not closed cell foam?
Thanks
clintsmith96 6 months ago
@clintsmith96 We sprayed 7.5" of open cell on the underside and we used 3/4" of rigid polyiso on top of the roof. Closed cell is certainly an option but it's more expensive and I don't think it's worth the cost for this application. I also like open cell foam for roofs as it's pourous. If you ever had a roof leak the water would drain through the foam. Closed cell foam would trap the water and rot the roof before you knew you had trouble. -Matt Risinger
MattRisinger 6 months ago