Between the inner and outer walls of the north and south side of the house, through the basement and between the inner and outer roofs, air circulates, providing temperature regulation with no forced air, no gas or electricity, and no pollution.
Imagine the entire southern side of your home is a large sunroom with a distance from inner to outer walls that creates a comfortable sitting area, while the northern side’s inner and outer wall space provides a gap of about 7 ½ inches. The air envelope encircles the house top and bottom and on these two sides. The east and west sides of the house do not have dual walls or an air envelope.
Sunlight pours through the southern windows and its heat is soaked up by the radiant floors and walls. The post and beam construction of thick, solid wood is an essential element to the design, as the wood stores up heat during the day and slowly releases it into the inner sanctum throughout the night. Floor vents allow the air to circulate to and from the basement.
This air circulation system, which is closed during the winter, is opened during the summer through basement windows and roof vents to allow the same system to become a heat sink. In essence, the entire house performs as a heat pump.
After reading a blog that suggested some of the homes may get too warm in the summer (like 80° F), I found a video from a very happy Enertia® home owner (next page) who said his house stayed in the comfort zone (and the video shows how the house works). His typical indoor temperature in the winter was 70° when it was 30° outside. He said the lowest temperature for a few days was 67-68°. In the summer when they had a stretch of very hot weather, mid-nineties for weeks, their indoor temperature was “about” 74°.
“The efficiency of the system is dependent on your site and where you are in the country,” says Emily Will, of Enertia®. If trees shade the house’s south windows or the sky remains overcast, the house will not
Enertia Homes Company Highlight
Issue 2 | October 2009