Category Archives: Energy Efficiency

Heating and Cooling Timber Frame Homes

October 6, 2011

The cost to heat and cool a home is the lion’s share of a utility bill.  Whether you use natural gas, electricity, or propane, the comfort factor is offset by uncomfortable utility bills.  Timber frame homes, wrapped in energy efficient insulated panels, offer relief from high utility bills.

While we do take other steps to keep our power usage at a minimum (we use fluorescent lights throughout and all of our appliances are Energy Star rated), we believe that the tight, well-insulated envelope that encloses our home is key in keeping our utilities in check.

We live in a timber frame home in the mountains of North Carolina.  We’re told that the past winter was the coldest in 35 years and that the past summer was one of the hottest on record.

Our HVAC system is a fully electric heat pump.  We use propane for cooking and for our tankless hot water heater only.   We have more windows than most homes and have high ceilings throughout.   In theory, our costs to heat and cool should be above average.  But…we spend a fraction of the cost of homes of comparable size.    The latest reports indicate that our home uses one third (that’s One Third) of the electricity of a similar home in our area.

Our power bills for the last 24 months are shown in this report…


Our costs actually decreased slightly in the past year instead of rising with the colder/hotter temperatures we’ve experienced.  

Many people ask if vaulted ceilings will result in higher energy usage.  I have to say that we spend much less on heating and cooling than we did when we lived in a conventionally built home of the same size.  And that home had 8′ ceilings throughout. Goshen Timber Frames clients have seen similar costs savings in their own timber frame homes.

So, when you plan your new home, remember that these energy savings will continue to save you money each month and will save you even more money as energy costs rise.  I know that the proof is in the savings.

 

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Comfort in Timber Frames

June 3, 2011

The heat of summer arrived early this year.  With temperatures soaring to the 90′s, we’re seeing days as hot as we’d expect in August.   But it seems timber frames with insulated panels are a good place to be when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

We haven’t had to turn on the air conditioning yet at our house.  The nights are cool, so we open the windows and sleep in the cool night air.   Then, in the morning we close the windows before it gets hot and we head off to work.   The house holds the cool, so when we come home late in the afternoon, with the temperatures hovering around 90, inside is fresh and cool.  We turn on the fans and are comfortable until it’s time to open the windows again.

Timber frames are energy efficient.  That’s a fact.  Most people who build them insulate them well and are concerned about sustainability.   Structural insulated panels (ours are R-24 wall and R-40 roof polyurethane panels) make saving energy easy.

So it’s summer time and the living is easy…in our timber frame.

 

 

 

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Energy Costs for Timber Frame Homes

February 1, 2011

We can all “talk the talk” about energy efficiency and timber frames, but at the end of the day, can we “walk the walk”?  I think so.  I believe that timber frame homes, wrapped in structural insulated panels, exceed all expectations.

Let’s set aside for a minute that the structure is naturally beautiful..that the massive post and beams bring a sense of stability and permanence to the homes.   Let’s forget about all the wonderful windows that bring the outside in and allow us to live comfortably by day without flipping the light switch.  Let’s not even think about the sustainability..that this timber frame home will survive for generations and will shelter each one equally well.

Let’s get down to numbers.  Our home has almost 1700 square feet of living space.  It is considered a “small home”, but there is no wasted space.  The one hall is about four feet long and has a storage closet (under the stairs) and a laundry room (with an energy efficient washer dryer combo) off of it.   The rest of the home is truly lived in.  It lives much, much bigger than a conventionally built home with their necessary bearing walls and hallways.

If the various weather authorities (whoever they are) are to be believed, 2010 was one of the hottest on record and January, February, and December certainly delivered the cold.  Taking all that into account, our energy bills should be soaring.

With far more windows than an average home and vaulted ceilings, you would assume that it would be expensive to both heat and cool.   We were willing to trade off some of the heating and cooling efficiency in order to have natural daylight and the expansive ceilings keep our home from feeling small.

The Creekside is heated and cooled with an electric heat pump.  So, it was with a little trepidation that I sat down to calculate our annual electric costs.  I logged in and downloaded all of our electric bills from Duke Energy’s website (you have to love the electronic age).  They totaled $1,043.97 for the twelve months of 2010.   That averages out at $87.00 per month.  In my humble opinion…that ain’t too bad.Energy Efficient Home

So, I’d have to say, “yes”, timber frame homes with SIPs do “walk the walk”, taking energy efficiency and sustainability to the next level.

Plan your next home carefully (and if you’d like some help with that, we’d be pleased to assist) and save money every day.  You can check out beautiful, energy efficient timber frame plans for every lifestyle at Goshen Timber Frames and work with us to design and build your home or you can purchase our timber frame and hybrid home plans at TimberStead – Timber Frame Plans .

Just build wisely and build well.

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Timber Frame Window Walls

January 12, 2011

Timber frames are a natural fit with windows.  The massive posts and beams frame the glass, offering an expansive view to the outdoors.  Never are the views more glorious than in the winter.  As you sit in your timber frame, cozy and warm, you gaze out the windows at nature’s best show.  Snow covers the landscape and you enjoy the view from your comfortable chair.Winter through timber frame windows.

Curved beams in a timber frameTimber frames wrapped in insulated panels are energy efficient.   Tightly sealed and well insulated, they are simply the best built homes today.  Windows are inefficient, so you need to do your research and choose the best windows available for your application.   Double and triple glazed windows are available in different styles and with various finishes.  Windows are not a good place to economize.  Buy quality windows.

So, enjoy your timber frame home, whether you are sitting inside looking out or out in the snow looking in.

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Winter Approaches in a Timber Frame Home

November 2, 2010

Well, like it or not, colder weather is upon us. It’s time to take a few minutes and make sure that your timber frame home is weatherized and winter ready.

Check all your window and doors for leakage. We found a window that hadn’t been closed properly and would have leaked cold air in (and warm air out) during our check.

Clean out your gutters so that leaves and “gunk” won’t let the water flow out. Water frozen in place can damage your gutters.

Make sure that the filters for your heating system are clean and/or replaced. You’ll get maximum efficiency with clean filters.

Surely there is more to do, but this list should get you started for now as your timber frame home shelters you for the winter.

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A Year Passes in Our Timber Frame Home

September 15, 2010

Well, David and I have been in our timber frame for just over a year now. Timber frames, always a passion, are now a little more real and much more livable than we’d ever expected.

Our timber frame home has proven to be as energy efficient as we expected.  Our highest power bill was just at $125 last winter.  Our area had one of the coldest winters on record and we heard of utility bills in the $300 range for homes the same size (and smaller) as ours.

We’ve now lived in the home each season and have experienced the changes (the checking of timbers as we went from hot to cold and cold back to hot), the comfort of the open floor plan, and the comfort that the beamed ceilings offer as they bring our vaulted ceilings down to a “human scale”.

While the leaves haven’t quite fallen, I’m going to give you a look at how our home looked last year just before winter by reposting one of my favorite photos.  We’ll take more as the season’s change and will share them with you soon.  

We want to inspire and our Creekside has certainly done just that.

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Timber Frames and Energy Efficiency

August 9, 2010

Well, it’s been hot this summer, some say record-breaking hot, but you couldn’t tell it by the energy usage for our timber frame home.   This timber frame, wrapped in energy efficient structural insulated panels, has met and exceeded our expectations.

Timber frames and SIPs are a great combination when it comes to a well insulated home.  Even with walls of windows, which are notoriously inefficient, and an electric dryer, we are not seeing the high power bills that might be expected.

Of course, we have all Energy Star rated appliances and fixtures, use fluorescent bulbs, and are manic about turning off lights when we aren’t in the room.  However, our 2 ton heat pump and fans are keeping our timber frame home cool and comfortable.

Last month we topped out at $74 and this month we went down to $72. We are pleased at the money we’ve saved…and at the energy we’ve saved.   Our home is 1700 square feet and we cook most days (heating up the house) and embraced daylighting and have more than our share of windows.  We do use our ceiling fans and we keep the house cool during the day just because it’s our “model” home.  I guess I can say our “model energy saving home”, can’t I?

All these years I’ve been encouraging people to consider using panels on their home and I am pleased.  I’d like to know how much energy is saved every year just in timber frames with insulated panel enclosures.  That would be a significant number, I’d think.  Sustainable homes are important to each of us.

So, I’ll sit here and not stress over the heat and high utility bills, and I might hope for cooler weather so we can open the windows and go back to our $30 power bills of the spring.

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Spring is Upon our Timber Frame

April 23, 2010

Spring has sprung.  Well, almost.  There was frost on Thursday morning (April 22), but the flowering cherry tree says it’s Spring as it smiles on the new timber frame home it didn’t get to greet last year.

Timber frames work easily with Spring weather.  Windows come open and sunshine fills the space.  The timbers stand proud and strong and welcome the fresh air. We open the windows during the warm days and close them as evening nears, saving the warmth in our well insulated home.  Heat hasn’t been on in several weeks even though some nights have been near or below freezing and we’ve had frost several times.

We are looking forward to having our windows open and a fresh breeze at night, breezes to bring us dreams of faraway places and wondrous things. Those days will be here soon enough.

Now, the planting has begun.  Garden, flower beds, cleaning up the winter debris…there are plenty of tasks for every day.  I do see how folks worked from sunup until sundown without ever going to town.

But, I need to head to the office, leaving behind this bloom-covered tree and my sheltering timber frame.

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Our Timber Frame’s First Snow

December 19, 2009

Snow settled into the mountains of Western North Carolina on Friday and on our new timber frame home.  Timber frames just seem to accept the snow as a given, still providing comfortable shelter and a serene presence.

While designing our timber frame, one of the items that was important was a Timber Frame View From the Officesmall home office, not isolated, but comfortable enough for me and my sidekick (also known as my laptop).  I wanted light…natural daylight.. and I didn’t want to feel closed off.  Well, it happened and this snowy day made me realize just how important it was.

We had about six inches of snow and with our heat set at 63, never felt a chill.  The double paned, argon gas, low e (and whatever else was included) in our Jeldwen Windows paid off.  The Thermocore insulated panels kept the heat in and the cold out.  That’s the way it’s supposed to work, right?

As the day closed, I sent David out into the snow to catch a couple of photos of the timber frame with snow on itTimber Frames First Snow (I grew up in far west Texas and snow wasn’t in our picture).  He’d already been to the barn and even driven me to town (where the grocery store was without power and closing for the day), so this wasn’t a big imposition.

So, our timber frame proved itself once more, sheltering and warm, we are pleased to live in a timber frame and to be a part of helping others do the same.

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Timber Frames and Structural Insulated Panels

November 18, 2009

I suppose that everyone gets much of this, but I can’t emphasize enough how important a tight, well insulated shell is to your timber frame home.  Even with temperatures dropping below freezing and “frost on the pumpkin”, our heat is seldom on and never comes on during the night.

SIPS (structural insulated panels) provide an enclosure for timber frames that, in my humble opinion, can’t be beat.  They enclose the frame quickly and efficiently and provide long term benefits.  What more can we ask for?

Our timber frame is enclosed with urethane panels.  Over the years Goshen has tried other panels and enclosure methods and we keep coming back to these panels.  Our experience with them and our research into the different products have made us believers in their durability, sustainability, and performance.

The walls around our new home are sound.  Our small home truly shelters us from the weather.

While our home is almost a full timber frame, our mudroom Structural Insulated Panels in Hybrid Timber Frame Homeis built with panels and offers the same comfort and efficiency as the rest of the enclosure. We design and build many hybrid homes with timber framing in the living areas and panelized construction for the rest of the home.  A great compromise without sacrifice (well…not much sacrifice).

So, we’ll continue to enjoy our new home and to embrace energy efficient, beautiful buildings as the only way to build.

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