I'll be building an SIP residence in E. Wa. I'll use a gas direct vented tankless H20 heater and a direct vented gas furnace. SIP walls with truss roof. I would really like to have a gas cook top. How can I do this in an air tight structure? On another topic: 100% blown in attic inuslation, or maybe 1" of sprayed in foam with blown in on top of that? My thanks in advance.

use an air exchanger and provide exhaust for your stove. If it were really air tight, don't you think there would be some issues with breathing??

lkg907,

I remodeled my own 2600 sq. ft. home including full conditioned basement with effective R Values of R35 in the walls, and R70 attic, and VERY tight. In the attic, I used rigid extruded polystyrene sealed up like a plastic bag, with 24" of blown in cellulose on top. In Maine we use one 250 gallon tank of oil per year for heat and hot water. I installed a gas rangetop, because it's so much less expensive to operate. We have no problems with it, or with carbon monoxide. BUT, we have a heat recovery ventilator running 24/7 on low, set to kick up to one of 3 higher speeds based on humidity level. In addition, in the bathrooms we have switches to manually do the same for 20, 40, or 60 minutes. The humidity level always runs between 45-50%, which is virtually ideal.

Hope this helps,
Ronald Sauve
www.greendesignbuild.net