ᐅ Designing a Living Room Gallery with Energy Efficiency in Mind
Created on: 24 Oct 2016 21:45
S
Schluffi0815
Hello,
we are planning to build a house that will feature a gallery opening over the living room (open up to the roof, about 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) high). We designed and planned the house ourselves based on a reference project.
Now we have a question that’s troubling us:
Could heating the open living room be problematic, since warm air naturally rises?
We think we need to consider the following:
- good roof insulation
- high thermal performance of the masonry
- glazing
- air circulation (the roof must be airtight, no cold air intake from the basement or ground floor)
Additionally, we want to integrate a garage in the basement under the living area (on a slope). We plan to insulate the garage ceiling accordingly but still fear there could be additional heat loss.
Planned heating: underfloor heating and a fireplace in the open living and dining area.
Specifically, we are wondering if we have considered everything or if there are important points we might have missed. Is this approach energy-efficient and cost-effective to implement?
We still plan to consult with an energy advisor and an architect. Since we are planning everything ourselves in advance, we would be grateful for your opinions and experiences.
Here are 2 images illustrating our design (preliminary draft without furniture, railings, etc.):
we are planning to build a house that will feature a gallery opening over the living room (open up to the roof, about 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) high). We designed and planned the house ourselves based on a reference project.
Now we have a question that’s troubling us:
Could heating the open living room be problematic, since warm air naturally rises?
We think we need to consider the following:
- good roof insulation
- high thermal performance of the masonry
- glazing
- air circulation (the roof must be airtight, no cold air intake from the basement or ground floor)
Additionally, we want to integrate a garage in the basement under the living area (on a slope). We plan to insulate the garage ceiling accordingly but still fear there could be additional heat loss.
Planned heating: underfloor heating and a fireplace in the open living and dining area.
Specifically, we are wondering if we have considered everything or if there are important points we might have missed. Is this approach energy-efficient and cost-effective to implement?
We still plan to consult with an energy advisor and an architect. Since we are planning everything ourselves in advance, we would be grateful for your opinions and experiences.
Here are 2 images illustrating our design (preliminary draft without furniture, railings, etc.):
Schluffi0815 schrieb:
Certainly, it’s clear that every feature has its cost.
Unfortunately, we are unclear about the proportionality.
How much higher could the monthly heating costs be that such a gallery causes,
or how much higher is the energy demand—10 / 20 / 50 %?Since I mentioned that we have an open space, I’ll chime in. Unfortunately, I can’t answer your question either because our house is unique in its living conditions, so there’s no real basis for comparison.
I can only add that we are very satisfied with our heating consumption.
Ultimately, we are all now required to build according to energy-saving regulations—and to speak of exorbitant heating costs or disproportionality for certain features... the building expert already addressed some of this.
Schluffi0815 schrieb:
It is also important to us to build in an energy-efficient way.
Unfortunately, these goals don’t really align.If you want to build energy-efficiently, I would question the heated basement double garage, the roof terrace above the living room, the open roof, and the roof shape. Also, the building’s exterior footprint is disproportionate to the living and usable space.
I would reduce every room by at least 10% of the floor area, minimize the window sizes, and omit the skylights in the roof altogether.
And back to the question: you should compare a compact house with a simple gable roof on a rectangular footprint to your very angular house with unnecessary corners and a third roof gable (shed roof)—then maybe you’ll understand the obscurity of your question regarding your desired home.
Nothing against your house: I like it a lot, and ours also has too many corners...
So if you want to explore basic proportionality, ask yourself what these features bring you, how often you will use your roof terrace, and how expensive the window cleaner will be for a) large window sizes b) unnecessary windows c) windows installed too high.
S
Schluffi081525 Oct 2016 14:08I understand your point! It’s hardly possible to call this an energy-optimized building project.
My concern is the proportionality of our wishes (garage in the basement/gallery, etc.) and the resulting operating costs.
But I believe we have already received great help in this regard. Thank you very much for that! At least we won’t ruin ourselves trying to pay the heating costs.
My concern is the proportionality of our wishes (garage in the basement/gallery, etc.) and the resulting operating costs.
But I believe we have already received great help in this regard. Thank you very much for that! At least we won’t ruin ourselves trying to pay the heating costs.
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