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Home as a System
Energy Efficiency, Comfort, and Health | Components and Options | Thermostat and Controls | Forced Air | Radiant Heat | Water Heating | Cooling and Air Conditioning | Ventilation and Air CleaningQuick Facts
The home is a system made up of interdependent subsystems, ideally functioning together to make the home an enjoyable and healthy place to live.
The major systems in a home (heating , cooling, renewables) are most effective when they are designed to work with the building basics (insulation, air sealing).
Building Basics
- The roof, walls, doors, windows, and floors form an envelope which separates the home from the outdoors and can protect it from hot, cold, or dirty air.
- A protective envelope and proper ventilation will stop dust, mold, and allergens from accumulating in the first place, meaning cleaner, healthier air.
- A functional envelope means air is cleaner and that less heating and cooling are needed in the first place.
Major Systems
- Heating and cooling systems use energy to keep the home at a comfortable temperature.
- Well built air ducts help air conditioners and furnaces get the right amount of warm or cool air to the right places. When ducts and furnace are connected to a high efficiency whole house air filtration system, they can actually deliver cleaner air through out the house.
- Heating or cooling systems which get cold air or heat to where it’s needed will use less energy and feel more comfortable.
How everything comes together
Common experiences with inefficient and poorly designed and installed systems (such as those in houses either built before modern energy efficiency standards or without an understanding of building science) can give the impression that the problem must be with the technology itself. For example, forced air systems are sometimes viewed as loud, unclean, and inefficient systems. However, these perceptions are more a reflection of the failure to correctly implement and coordinate all the components which come together to make the home a system.
When designed, installed and commissioned properly (with furnace, air filtration, air conditioner, ducts, and registers), forced air can be a system which is comfortable, energy efficient, and provides healthy indoor air quality. If such a system is installed within an efficient building envelope, it creates a package which works better than the sum of its parts. Adding renewables to such a home can produce a healthy, zero net energy home.