guys, Ive made and deleted dozens of plans. Its still difficult building an efficient and easy to build floor plan.

this plan is about 98% of the way there I think. the one question I have is - is the mechanical room big enough. remember, no garage, so electrical panel, string inverter, water heater, ventilator, well tank, etc will go in this room, along with washer and dryer.

is 7'8" by 14' enough?

any additional opinions welcome

It is plenty large, unless you have a ton of kids (thus lots of laundry). We have fit entire mechanical rooms under stairs before, but it isn't easy.

Great!!! thanks for that feedback. That is one area where I dont want to make a mistake. I heard subs charge a lot more to fix stuff in hard to get places.

Use micro inverters for the solar and no room will be needed in the mechanical room. You just run one cable from roof to outside disconnect switch then to breaker box.

Well tank can be eliminated with a using a VFD well pump.

I assume all the large windows on the south wall are for passive solar heating. Please be sure to properly size your roof overhang and window height for your latitude and properly size your window area for your climate. Please see the passive solar calculators and associated instructions on our website for a better understanding how this is accomplished.

It is best to totally avoid windows on the west wall to avoid late afternoon over heating. So if you are going to have a window on your west wall, you should consider planting a tree for shade. Or perhaps mirror image the floor plan so the window is on the east wall.

If that room in the upper left is your movie theater, you should probably eliminate the window in that room. Having windows on the north wall of a house is always a performance hit.

Posted By newbostonconst on 02 Jan 2019 02:33 PM
Use micro inverters for the solar and no room will be needed in the mechanical room. You just run one cable from roof to outside disconnect switch then to breaker box.

Well tank can be eliminated with a using a VFD well pump.

good info and something to think about. thanks. although I put in vfd well pump and the first thing I saw was this https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/variable-speed-pumps-vfds-are-a-scam

Posted By sailawayrb on 02 Jan 2019 05:50 PM
I assume all the large windows on the south wall are for passive solar heating. Please be sure to properly size your roof overhang and window height for your latitude and properly size your window area for your climate. Please see the passive solar calculators and associated instructions on our website for a better understanding how this is accomplished.

It is best to totally avoid windows on the west wall to avoid late afternoon over heating. So if you are going to have a window on your west wall, you should consider planting a tree for shade. Or perhaps mirror image the floor plan so the window is on the east wall.

If that room in the upper left is your movie theater, you should probably eliminate the window in that room. Having windows on the north wall of a house is always a performance hit.

correct you are. I have 4 ft overhangs which shade the walls completely till end of august or so. I will also have external shades for when I dont have full shade the west wall will be fully shaded by several large trees. maybe even too shaded if thats possible. can I eliminate the movie theater window? I thought every room that was not bathroom or closet had to have ingress / egress?

You only need egress in rooms where people sleep and in basements if there is habitable space. You can use doors or windows to accomplish this egress. So you can actually build a house without any windows.

The VFD/cycle stop thing is an old one sided argument.....just pay attention to who is selling them. I don't have proof but am betting that the pump cycles more with a cycle stop valve then with a big tank and even less with a VFD. Cycling the pump is what kills them. The cycle stop valve presentation is just a presentation with out a real pump and real life varying of water flow....aka looks good on paper....

But as I said I have no proof, never owned one and currently use a 80 gallon blatter tank that cycles one per shower and thus only cycles a couple times a day.

I am sure VavleMan will chime in and try to sell you one and defend this and that is his right.

Posted By sailawayrb on 05 Jan 2019 05:22 PM
You only need egress in rooms where people sleep and in basements if there is habitable space. You can use doors or windows to accomplish this egress. So you can actually build a house without any windows.

wow. thats interesting to know. I had no idea. I will remove the window in that room. thanks

Posted By newbostonconst on 05 Jan 2019 11:03 PM
The VFD/cycle stop thing is an old one sided argument.....just pay attention to who is selling them. I don't have proof but am betting that the pump cycles more with a cycle stop valve then with a big tank and even less with a VFD. Cycling the pump is what kills them. The cycle stop valve presentation is just a presentation with out a real pump and real life varying of water flow....aka looks good on paper....

But as I said I have no proof, never owned one and currently use a 80 gallon blatter tank that cycles one per shower and thus only cycles a couple times a day.

I am sure VavleMan will chime in and try to sell you one and defend this and that is his right.

I think the tank would be better for me. Its about the foot print of a water heater, which is really not that much space.

Here is a simple floor plan that can be adapted easily.

This one is a steel SIPS home that typically will score a HERS 58. My 1466 sq. ft. homes I built hear in New Orleans all electric have a $960.00 annual electric bill with only $260.00 per year for the heating and cooling, the best value is in investing in a solar water heater (30%) of the total energy use.

I and my homeowners loved the floor plan.

http://structall.com/residential/content/images/floorplans/amelia.pdf

I always took the kitchen wall out to make it one large room the living room has a 15' high cathedral ceiling the MBR has an 15' high Vaulted ceiling and the back bedrooms 14' vaulted ceilins and drop ceiling over the hall and bath area provided 150 sq. ft. +- of climate controlled attic with vaulted ceilings there as well.



It is the Amelia and displayed as a two-story on the cover and two more of my models including the Sanibel which are both Net Zero now with a 3 KW system.

[embed]http://issuu.com/structall/docs/residential_catalog?e=8589257/3614701[/embed]

The Celebration here is a unit similar in design dimensions (note the Garage became a 400 sq. ft. bonus room or mother in law apartment is some adaptations).

http://structall.com/residential/content/images/floorplans/celebration.pdf

As far as your overhang question even with a truss roof wind uplift is a concern because you are building an aircraft wing in essence.

I can send you more information as well as provide ideas for adapting the BOX as the interior layout does not affect the cost to any degree it is the envelope is what matters.

I worked for the company for the four years as well as actually constructing 15 in my area and actually doing the work while the other guy does the talking in the installation sequence.

General note the width of the hall batch should be 5' from stud to stud as this is the width of standard bathtub I find that 5X8 is a very efficient design.

If you really want to have some fun try Cheif Architect it allows you to create post-it notes and slid them together click a button and it will create a complete floor plan for you to insert doors windows etc.

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/home-designer-DIY/

Meanwhile, I can be reached at [email protected]

Good luck,

Eddie,

Sr. RESCOM Project Manager (Ret.)

How many seats are you planning on for the home theater? 14'-4" x 15'-6" is on the small side for any more than three or four chairs. We built ours at 17-6' x 26' for one row of three and one of four, and I regret not making it wider. . .

There's a dedicate thread on the AVS Forum for home theater builds. I'd recommend browsing what other people have done to get ideas and also an idea of how much space is needed. There's tons of information there for others that have done just what you're planning.

SRW1000, just 4, maybe 5 seats. and 6 18s \m/

This thread is very helpful for me.
Thank you very much for your replies.
I truly appreciate it.