EXTRA COSTS OF NET-ZERO

[@jett01000010]

I liked your technical description that heat loss in the basement is expensive to control. But the value of added comfort is priceless. Nobody likes cold floors in the basement.

[@gamesnstuff657]

Something to consider is taking the money you save on utility costs and making extra principle payments to your house to offset the increased interest you would accrue by amortizing the cost into your mortgage. Will save you thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage.

[@oldgrowth6365]

Have you considered conditioned crawlspaces? I just visited a build with Faswall block foundation around the perimeter and then just a high end vapor barrier system (no insulation on ground or in joists, just around perimeter). Then most of the HVAC was in the crawlspace and that cut costs a lot, too. A big benefit is concrete use reduction....just a footer and the relatively small amount Faswall requires.

[@MrRbutts511]

Great explanation!

[@rajansandhu5]

Great video, Ill use this info in planning my first home.

[@basilkingsley]

I love the transparency and the detailed information. I am in Canada and in the planning phase of our family's project. So much to learn here. Just one question, for the vapour barrier (vb), why the poly vb - what is your take on the smart vb. Also for the external sheeting, would it have been cheaper to use a Zip system instead of plywood + tyvek. Thanks

[@asb2s]

Also need to consider that after 25 years your mortgage will be paid off whereas the savings from energy efficiency will continue. Furthermore, the costs of utilities will continue to inflate while time will deflate away the upfront costs of your energy efficient investments.

[@88cruzer1]

You need to factor in the interest of the increased payment if you carry a mortgage.

[@SailingCatamaranElement]

I find your estimate for electrical for a code built home very, very high. In BC, I owner built a 3300 sq.ft home including a walkout basement with only one main wall below grade, with 2x6 construction, high efficiency multistage natural gas furnace and 40,000 btu fireplace in the great room with 32 low E2 double pain windows and a natural gas on demand water heater and no HRV. Our utility costs including appliance usage, heating (no AC installed) were approx. $210 per month with approx. $125 for electrical and $85 per month (averaged over the year) for natural gas. I am strongly considering building my final retirement house in Nova Scotia (less than 1800 sq.ft) in the near future and also plan to use double 2x4 stud construction with a 1/2" gap for full width 8" rock wool insulation and is much cheaper than 2x8 studs and the benefit of the thermal break, an insulated slab with rock wool warm board underneath the concrete and potentially an additional 2" warm board on the exterior and a large PV installation as well with Lithium battery bank installation...Nova Scotia power seems to have a limit of 10KW installations in order to qualify for their net metering program, also at $0.30 kwh....after living off-grid on a sailing yacht for the past 10 years, I am going to do my best to be minimally reliant on Nova Scotia power as I can and be setup for potentially strong weather systems in the future....Nice work on your house and thanks for the content!

[@philiplacey5430]

Plus you get to live in a super comfortable house and not burn as many hydrocarbons. You should also consider whether the cost of energy will be higher or lower in the future years. Net zero means you don't pay for electricity regardless of what the price is. Theoretically these benefits will add to the resale value of the house as the next owner inherits them.

[@sumoneskid]

Great video! I hope to tackle a similar project in the next few years. Huge benefit knowing I'll be looking at ~$70k for a slightly smaller home. Question for you on your numbers. Something doesn't quite add up for me. Your build (before solar) is (151-68=) 83 GJ/yr more efficient than the reference house. Your energy savings add up to (7+3+16+4+22+20+6+8+24 = ) 110GJ/yr. Seems to be a 27GJ/yr miss match. Would you be able to check on where the error came from (... including if it's my own math). Cheers.

[@sharonherrin]

Hi Axel I am Particularly interested in the windows you have installed which brand are they,

[@sharonherrin]

Ok Axel I see the windows are Inno-Tech. 🙏 Thanks

[@Mark-id7fq]

Please do an update of utility costs after 3 yr,

[@turab16]

How does triple pane casment windows perform vs triple pane eauropeon windows? Is there that much of a gap?

[@dericgodin6758]

110GJ saved 🤔 I thought it was 83GJ

[@michaelsmithers4900]

Per G/J saved in one year? Most ppl own homes move than 1yr… I’d run the numbers at 5&10 years as those are more realistic than 1yr.

[@wachinpntdry.]

"heat rises" is a falsehood, heat moves to cold... heat will move down towards a floor that is colder than the ambient room temp, just as readily as it will move outward or upward towards relatively colder walls or ceiling or other areas