Skeletons, Soft Water, and Direct Venting

As we are nearing the end of October, skeletons might just be on your mind.  The skeleton of our energy efficiency new construction home is nearing completion and we begin installing the guts -- the  stuff deep inside that makes it function efficiently.

One often overlooked detail when planning a home and considering it's energy efficiency is the roof truss design.  In cold climates like ours, roof trusses should allow for the full depth of insulation across the entire ceiling area, which often isn't the case.  Trusses should have a heel height of at least 12" to prevent heat loss near the eaves.  If you can't get enough insulation near the eaves, you will have snowmelt, ice damming, and eventual roof damage.  If you have living space built into attic space, as we do in this plan, you will have to include extra care in your insulation plan to achieve the goal of R60 values in the ceilings.

Another overlooked detail is soft water.  Soft water for energy efficiency, you ask?  Yes.  Especially if you are installing a tankless water heater.  Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit applied science and technology company, performed a test on the effects of hard water vs. soft water on tankless water heaters.  The report, released in March 2010, showed that the use of soft water to reduce the scale forming compounds naturally present in hard water, resulted in natural gas savings.  It also meant not having to delime or clean the pipes periodically, which equals more economic savings.  That means money left in your pockets.  The cost of a water softener and supplies were recovered in a matter of months in the Battelle Memorial Institute test, and the lower use of natural gas resulted in a smaller carbon footprint, just in case you care about your impact on Mother Earth.

The plumbing is now ready for the water softener and tankless water heater.

One last tidbit:  Make sure your water heaters, HVAC systems, and fireplaces are direct vent/sealed combustion units.  All fuel burning appliances run certain risks of malfunction, which could cause carbon monoxide to spill into the home.  Illness and death can happen unless you take the precautions to install ONLY direct-vent sealed combustion appliances.  While more expensive, they are also more efficient, creating energy savings, and are a safer alternative.  They also eliminate the need for a standard flue, which helps offset the extra cost.