A Net Zero Energy Home at Conventional Cost
We are continually monitoring the home’s energy use, temperature, and relative humidity. All posts on the monitoring, data, and results are collected here.
Over the past three years of operation, the home’s baseline energy use has remained remarkably consistent — and remarkably low. The typical baseline energy use for the entire home is a mere 400W — less than many refrigerators. This includes all equipment that is always running: the Energy Recovery Ventilator, refrigerator, radon fan, and Internet equipment.
Continue reading “Baseline Energy Use: Running a House on $10 a Month”
As of August 2022, we have been monitoring energy use at the Iowa Nest Residence for three years post-occupancy. How is the home doing? How does it compare with our predictions and energy models? What lessons can we learn to apply to future ultra-low-energy designs? This post reviews the data and shares some observations and lessons learned.
Continue reading “Assessing Performance After Three Years of Operation”
As of March 2021, the Nest Residence has already been through not one, but TWO polar vortex events — extended periods of extreme cold temperatures brought about by arctic air migrating unusually far south. In both cases, the home was operating without any mechanical systems running — presenting a unique opportunity to see how the home performs with passive strategies only. Here is how it did.
It’s now been a little over a month since we’ve been gathering temperature and humidity data from the still-not-complete and still-unconditioned house. I previously wrote that the early data seemed to show more stable, and generally warmer, indoor temperatures. That story is now even clearer.
We’ve added temperature and humidity sensors to the house in three locations, so we can start to track the home’s actual measured performance. While these sensors will be most useful once the house is complete, the data that’s coming back now is already interesting, and is already showing the effectiveness of the passive design measures.
For those interested, you can track the live data here: http://www.iowanest.com/monitor/
Continue reading “A House That Maintains Its Own Temperature”