Those crafty Alaskans. Its amazing what can be done when you have to pay so much more for building materials and energy cost. These factors spur’s on creativity and determination for people like Thosten Chlupp who have built Passive Homes in the merciless cold and sunless (winter) climate of Alaska. More recently, I read in Home Energy Magazine about another build in Dillingham Alaska by Tom Marsik and Kirstin Donaldson, who’ve built a house that’s 10x more air tight than the Passive House maximum of 0.6Air Changes per Hour at 50 Pa.That’s right, it clocked in at 0.05ACH50, a new world record!
This could be a submarine! Yes it’s true there are few windows and its small, but when its dark outside all winter-long, who needs windows! Making things really interesting… they plan to heat with an AIR-source heat pump, that’s right not a GROUND-source, an AIR-source! If they survive the winter, will this be the death-knell of Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)?
Here’s a couple slides purloined from their on-line presentation with link:
The tiny hole in the middle of the fan cover is what helps the flow sensor detect the minimal flow of air passing over it. I always felt smart pulling out my ‘C’ ring, but these guys used an ‘F’ ring!
I can’t wait to get the data from this experiment! An AIR-source heat pump will be used to heat this Alaskan house. Please keep your fingers crossed – from December to February – for the couple!
Please click on the pictures above to go to the entire presentation.