So we are nearing the end of our winter up here in Eastern Ontario and the winter experience in our SIP home has been very good. We heat with a masonry heater and have never had to turn on the furnace as it's set at 62f. The coldest day/night I believe was -33c or -27.4f and the coldest it got inside at 7am was 66f. The average temperature inside based on recordings was 73.5f which is very comfortable so that alone I consider a success. I am trying to determine roughly how much wood we consumed as it all came from the trees removed during construction and it was not substantial. My current guesstimate is 5-7 face cords. Just a few facts about the house. It's a one storey craftsman, with SIP walls, blown in cellulose (approx. 23") in attic, triple pane fibreglass windows and doors, masonry heater with backup propane furnace. Would have done differently? - Installed radiant floor heating as backup (wanted to but $$$ and time was lacking) - Installed on-demand water heat instead of basic water heater (hot water is our biggest part of our hydro bill) - Walk-out basement Still planning to do: - solar hot water heat - Investigate how to 'get off the grid', hydro is ridiculous up here in Ontario and is planned to increase by 45% in the next few years - finish basement to take advantage of coolness in summer Would I do it again? Definitely.

That is a success story all right.
Can you share the make/model of the masonry heater please. I am building just north of Kenora (NW Ontario) and will have a walkout as well. So far after much reading and several questions I have concluded that despite the horrible hydro rates (Hydro One) I am probably best to use an electric boiler to heat water for in floor radiant. I am planning on stick building 2x6 with 4" of exterior foam (R40) and R60 (or more) in the attic. Would those values approximate your R-values?

did you compare the construction cost with a sip's House, before going in conventionnal construction...



Pierre Desjardins
Banerpan

Hi Pierre, I assume that question is for me and no I have not, I don't know of any SIP manufacturers in my area. The house is not going to be started till the fall of 2012 so I have some time yet. Do you have any idea how the two compare (SIPS vs 2x6 with 4" foam)?

Sent us your plan and we will give you a quotation

[email protected]

Thanks.....

where are you located?

In Quebec, but we go up to northern Onr, Elliot Lake, Sudbury, we offer a training session to all our new costomer, on the job site. Wich is the best way to understand the product

We have a distributor in Huntsville too.

Keep me inform

Pierre
Banerpan

As comparaison for these two way of going the walls, price wise, there should not be a price difference, but a huge difference in quality, as energy économy and tightness for infiltation, the SIP's is way better ans faster to install

Pierre
Banerpan

Hi A word to the wise be extremely careful dealing with that company I gave them a 45,000 deposit last May/June and have not seen 1 panel and my engineer has not seen 1 drawing.... check back in the threads or I will send you all the details with all the emails.....    good luck I too wanted a sips home but I had to build convention... Pam

Posted By Pamco on 15 Mar 2011 07:01 PM
Hi A word to the wise be extremely careful dealing with that company I gave them a 45,000 deposit last May/June and have not seen 1 panel and my engineer has not seen 1 drawing.... check back in the threads or I will send you all the details with all the emails.....    good luck I too wanted a sips home but I had to build convention... Pam

Please do!

Dear Kémora, that personne say false things, we still have her panels in our shop, and waiting for her to pay her debt, She sent some detective to take pictures of these wich we gladly did let them do, as for her engineer, he has alll the copys of the plan and we are still waiting to have them back return and sealed but never heard about him since, We are still waiting for her layer to call us to find a solution to her problem, why did we ever received any call or letters from them, i do not know...a wise person who would have been in that situation would have react earlier, would you...

In busimess, sometimes you are cought in situation with a special customer, this is one...we still have the trusses she order in our shop, that she never paid....please do not get in her game and verify our customers in Ontario, they are all happy people, why this one is different...i am still waiting for
an answer, She did gave us a part of the deposit, but never finish pay her dept, and never wanted to pickup her panels. If you want her house, she could give you a good deal, and i would be happy to close that situation, be wise, verify...

Some person have their kik by destroying people, my question is...is this one of them...lets say it ....it is crazy....lady please, please, please, call your lawyer.

We are a small enterprise, we do not need that s...t.

Pierre Desjardins
Banerpan

Our references are

Banerpan,
450-546-9047
Acton Vale, Quebec


By the way there is a minimum of 200 e-mails, be sure to have everything

Posted By Kyle241 on 15 Mar 2011 12:34 PM
So we are nearing the end of our winter up here in Eastern Ontario and the winter experience in our SIP home has been very good. We heat with a masonry heater and have never had to turn on the furnace as it's set at 62f. The coldest day/night I believe was -33c or -27.4f and the coldest it got inside at 7am was 66f. The average temperature inside based on recordings was 73.5f which is very comfortable so that alone I consider a success. I am trying to determine roughly how much wood we consumed as it all came from the trees removed during construction and it was not substantial. My current guesstimate is 5-7 face cords. Just a few facts about the house. It's a one storey craftsman, with SIP walls, blown in cellulose (approx. 23") in attic, triple pane fibreglass windows and doors, masonry heater with backup propane furnace. Would have done differently? - Installed radiant floor heating as backup (wanted to but $$$ and time was lacking) - Installed on-demand water heat instead of basic water heater (hot water is our biggest part of our hydro bill) - Walk-out basement Still planning to do: - solar hot water heat - Investigate how to 'get off the grid', hydro is ridiculous up here in Ontario and is planned to increase by 45% in the next few years - finish basement to take advantage of coolness in summer Would I do it again? Definitely.

Kyle, would you mind chiming in and letting us (me) know who built your SIP panels please!

Posted By kenora on 15 Mar 2011 04:34 PM
That is a success story all right.
Can you share the make/model of the masonry heater please. I am building just north of Kenora (NW Ontario) and will have a walkout as well. So far after much reading and several questions I have concluded that despite the horrible hydro rates (Hydro One) I am probably best to use an electric boiler to heat water for in floor radiant. I am planning on stick building 2x6 with 4" of exterior foam (R40) and R60 (or more) in the attic. Would those values approximate your R-values?

Our masonry heater like all that I know of is custom built except for the firebox that we purchased through Norbert Serf (http://heatkit.com/). Our mason, Joel Dick, is located in the same area just Northeast of Ottawa (http://mha-net.org/html/members.htm). I cannot comment on the posting concerning the SIP vendor responding to you. I purchased mine through Kent Trusses who are a dealer for Insulspan and they are based in Barrie. Geordie was the gentleman I dealt with and he is on this forum and decent to deal with. I had no problems whatsoever with my SIP's nor the delivery. I personally did not price the difference between stick framing and SIP's as I already knew I wanted either ICF or SIP's. I have built a stick framed house and a straw bale house, that latter outperformed the former substantially from a heating perspective. I have never tried a 'doubled-wall' 2"x4" which I have read to be good for energy efficiency. Sorry I almost forgot to respond to your question concerning R value. I am no expert however your insulation should compare to SIP's from a numbers perspective. The spray foam of 4" can't be cheap! Like any house you build no matter the type of construction, you need to determine where you have any gaps/leak or filtration of cold air. My guess is if the spray foam is done correctly, it should seal you up well.

I would be happy to talk to you about your project requirements - you can reach me at 800-461-9616 ext 30 or email [email protected]
Thanks
Geordie

Hi,

In your post you said that the choice was between ICF and SIPS.  Why did you go with the SIPS?

I am currently trying to make the same choice.  I am building a 2 storey cottage near Huntsville and I am trying to decide whether to do both floors with the ICF or SIPS.

Now that it is Fall of 2011, How was the summer in your SIP home?  Did it get too warm during the day?  Did you need to run any air conditioning?

What size SIPS did you use?

Thanks,
Kelly

Sorry Kelly I am very late in responding as I have not visited this forum in many months. I chose SIPS over ICF as I built the house myself and did not have the experience to go with ICF. As for the summer performance, very good overall. The house kept comfortable throughout most of the summer as we open windows at night and have them closed during the day on those very hot/humid days. We do have a 'portable' AC that we used for all of two weeks when it was over 90 and high humidity.

The SIPs we purchased were 4'x9'.

Update to this winter's performance so far, excellent. While this winter has been 'warm' up until Christmas, it will be -25c tonight and we currently have our Masonry Heater lit. Temperature in the house currently is 73f and will likely be around 76f by the time the fire dies down to coals. By morning the house will likely be anywhere from 67-69f.