How well do you sleep?

How well do you sleep?

I've been struggling with sleep for the last year. From waking up at 5am for no reason to headaches in the morning. Also I sometimes wake up when the room is so stuffy you have to open a window! I'd been suffering with a sore neck so I started retracing the bedroom choices I've made (!) and probably gotten away with in regard to my sleeping habits!

You spend 1/3 of your life sleeping in bed so like a good pair of shoes, are you really aware of how your choice of temperature, pillow, duvet and sheets can play a part in the quality of your sleep? It started for me about a year ago with my neck. I had bought a memory foam pillow a year previously and while lovely and contoured it only occurred to me at that point that the neck problem had been going on about that long. I also suffered from a lot of head colds. Could this be anything to do with my choice of pillow or gap between washing pillow cases?

I took a trip to IKEA and was amazed at the range of pillows on offer. I narrowed down the choices to medium or firm and bought one of each. I sought new pillow cases that would give me a spare to rotate through and the plan was if I got a cold I would wash the pillow cases more frequently to purge them of germs I undoubtedly hit them with each night. I found a single firm pillow suited me best and I must admit my neck has been greatly improved. The frequency of head colds has also diminished so now it's odd when I sneeze instead of when I don't.

I remember buying the warmest duvet available once with a TOG rating of 15. I only used it for one night because it was TOO warm! I reverted to a TOG 7 or so I've had for years. In the last month or two however I've found myself getting a bit too warm at night so I've taken to using a single sheet and a blanket over it and so far so good. I got a headache two nights running when I woke up this week and found if I double up the blanket around my shoulders due to the way it was arranged on the bed, I was more likely to suffer the headaches. I turned the blanket 90 degrees and today, no problem - no headache. Case pending.....!

Anyway, long boring story short - be aware of how you prepare your bed. Getting the right temperature that works for you is important. As is the choice of Mattress, Pillow etc. Maybe as I get older I'm less tolerant of things that didn't bother me before but I've found a little attention can make a big difference the following day. A good night sleep is So gracious but if absent, makes the following day much harder. There's no substitute, and I don't drink coffee/tea...!!

One Blog post on Passive Houses I read recommended a sensor that reads Temperature, Humidity and CO2. I purchased one from ebay and started monitoring my bedroom to see if I could tell when things were getting too stuffy. I did a bit of research around air quality and found it of interest what my bedroom was like sleeping in overnight vs when I was gone.

The ebay link to the sensor is here:
USB CO2 CARBON DIOXIDE Air Temperature Humidity DataLogger Meter Monitor LCD/PC
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301283660682
You can run it off batteries or mains, I found it uses batteries even when the mains was connected so keep the batteries out (if your CO2 stops working it's an indicator of low battery power) and run it from mains but close enough to a Laptop / PC to connect the USB to download the data without unplugging it! I'm not sure the data survives that....

My findings after a week (traditional 15 years old Irish semi detached house) were as follows:

The shocking thing to me was the CO2 levels and how they rose and rose even when I spent time in my bedroom awake, never mind asleep! Leaving the window open kept things @ 700ppm but as soon as that was closed it rose. It would peak early in the morning just before waking. From the chart below it's clearly not ideal and unless you leave the window open all night it's not something you can adjust easily. I've a main road beside the house so noise levels are bad enough, trying to get a good night's sleep is paramount. 

Now I'm not going to die from these levels but my hope is a passive house will increase ventilation and give dead air somewhere to go without impacting temperature which we discuss next. When the cold weather hits, opening a window is the last thing I want to have to do!

The temperature was taken during a warm November week and about halfway during this test I turned on the radiator. Temperatures would drop 3-4 degrees slowly over the course of the night until the morning heating period kicked in from the gas boiler. You can see a swing of 10 degrees though in the graph. I noted 21 degree was perfect for me, but with as little as a 2-3 degree drop my hands got cold over the space of a few hours.  

The Infra Red image taken above shows my wall temperature of 8 degrees in the evening when the heat is on. This is probably due to poor insulation levels. Obviously windows are warmer as the old double glazing has lost it's seal by now and even the cold bridging around the foundations is a showing up! But that's the way the houses were built back in the day.....The camera is a FLIR One for Android - harder to get these days but a cool gadget all the same! 

Humidity is next and there is an ideal range considered to minimize transmission of diseases and suppress bacteria and viruses. I always thought a good cold spell would kill most things off but you can see it's not temperature so much as moisture that's at play below. Now one thing the Irish weather is good for is humidity so it's probably a plus I'm in a good old Irish House! It will be interesting to see how a Passive House copes and what levels are experienced in a more controlled climate. 

So, there you go. A whistle-stop tour of bedroom health and comfort! I plan to repeat the tests above again if I ever get my passive house built one day and look back and see how it's helped / made a difference. In the meantime I continue to look at how I sleep, and how I can maintain warm enough temperatures without overheating. I plan to cool things a bit as I hear having your body work a bit harder to keep itself warm helps lose weight but I don't want to get too cold! 

Visiting a Passive House

Visiting a Passive House

Today I went and stepped inside my first passive house....or two!! I signed up to the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings - Open Doors Ireland event which has been held for the last few years. A number of willing residents open their doors for visitors like me to come poking around and asking lots and lots of questions! The hosts were great and very patient! You can find out more here:

http://www.nzeb-opendoors.ie

Some of the houses have attached websites / blogs you can access to get more in depth information and inspiration for your own build.

One of the first things that struck me was how quiet it was. With all the rain and wind outside, there was no way of noticing it once you stepped inside and closed the door! A summary of items I found interesting from each house is as follows:

House #1 - Newbridge:

This was a build in progress. As time and money allow Seamus was working on the inside now the building was air tight and sealed. I took a LOT of notes as he pointed out each detail and explained how each was progressing and challenges faced along the way. The H shape was very interesting but it increased the cost and challenged the PHPP software! He recommended the 2/3 day Passive House course to get some additional info prior to building and understand how the PHPP calculations work. The course is @ €300 for the 3 days.

As the house wasn't finished it was great to get handed examples of the materials used and see into the building which when finished of course hides much of the magic.

He noted his triple glazed windows and door were Passive House certified at the time of purchase but since then the manufacturer hasn't kept up payments to the Passive House Organization and has been dropped from their Database...they still work fine though!

Seamus recommended illbruck TP600 for sealing around windows etc rather than Flexifoam he used (if using foam make sure it's specifically for windows). The only thing is the speed at which the window has to be installed after the product is let "loose" as it expands quickly to fill the space. It's breathable, weather sealant and provides Thermal and acoustic insulation. Good tip!

Getting a good windows installer is tricky - some suppliers just don't understand how to deal with a passive house so ask for the companies best installers and insist they are the only ones allowed onsite. The weight of the doors can be a problem so check hinges are able to take the weight, they may need to be upgraded if the company chosen are not familiar with the loads. Windows can bend if the wrong foam is used as the pressure is different at various points of the frame, not good for doors especially as you get gaps. This is one clear area where precision to avoid thermal bridging is important.

Prices for Windows is around €500 per sq meter, halve that if you have a very solid building - timber flexes by 13% but with the reinforcing Seamus had put it it's only 6% so he could put in rebates into the building window openings to take the glass directly without a window frame! Saved half the cost that way. The spacers in the windows he got were thermal and dark coloured. The right stuff in other words! Don't forget to ask about Low-e!

Seamus is keeping the PV panels supplying DC instead of inverting it to AC and using the power to look after a 500 litre storage heater for hot water and the rads. He reckons if you're paying more than €1 per kW for the panels then you're being overcharged - so for 1kW you'd need 4 panels and it should only cost €1,000.

Solar Panels for heating water - a drainback system empties the panel when not in use. This avoids systems that use Glycol which can turn to sludge in very hot weather if turned off and needs cleaning out. It's also acidic in that state.

His LEDs are "homemade" - he had a panel with 4 set up, two Sharp LEDs, an off the shelf LED and a Halogen for comparison to show how he made them up and the differences in colour temperature. The Sharp CRI value showed the best light after the Halogen and only uses 9 (vs 50) volts. He bought the LEDs, mountings and heatsinks and soldered / glued them ( in that order) himself. The electronics in a standard LED are compressed to make them like traditional Halogens but they also have to keep things cool, not so eazy - Seamus reckons the lifespan of those off the shelf LEDs are not too good as a result. He used a separate box to drive the electronics and can connect up to 5 LEDs to achieve a much longer life solution @ 50,000 hours all going well!

His rainwater harvesting solution is based on a 2,000 litre concrete tank. He has designed his own control unit which uses a header tank. If the rainwater is low it switches to mains. If you're heading out on holidays to avoid untreated water getting stale and smelly while you're away you can force a mains water flush to put chlorine into the header and leave it there until you come back and then revert. Very smart! The commercial equivalent is €700-800, his was €200! Plus he reckons the pumps they use are too powerful so he's sourcing a smaller 12v one.

He's also designing a leak detector to turn off the mains water and placing it beside the immersion tank.

For KNX he's going to use a binary device from ABB - this negates the need to buy expensive light switches, basically the box is the brains and you don't need fancy sockets or switches, use ordinary ones! The KNX switches are €70 a pop otherwise!

House #2 - Enniskerry:

This was a finished Passive House and again was very quiet, although we were in the country! The warmth was lovely and even though they'd cooked a fry earlier there was no smell. The Mechanical Heat Recovery unit was interested to see, very, very simple, dishwasher safe! And it works! They've two of them and rarely use the underfloor heating. I didn't recognize the hot water system but it was also well insulated and works well for them.

They had large windows but an overhang to prevent overheating - they find the Spring and Autumn are the warmest months when the sunlight is able to get right in! The back door had to have the hinges replaced as they were too weak and the supplier also didn't apply UV treatment on the windows which had to be done later to prevent deterioration.

Their Electric bill is €150 every 2 months all in, mine is the same but you should see my gas bill!!! The only thing is the internal sound - it's very easy for noise to pass through the walls so if going timber frame and you have more than one person in the house, or kids, pay attention and get extra sound proofing. Also if you've upstairs / downstairs pay attention there also.

The design was fabulous - the huge living room set of windows was really something from a showhouse!

Update: Forgot to add, the owner noted that keeping fruit lying around wasn't possible due to the temperature, something I hadn't thought of. They have an interesting porch that is outside the insulated envelope they use to come in from outside, shed wet shoes / clothes etc so a similar cold room might be an idea for food storage. Other methods include cellars but with a Passive Slab I doubt this is possible.

Well, I hope you found some of this interesting. I'm not planning any more trade shows / visits but am talking to Architects myself at the moment to start the design and planning. I expect it will take a while to firm up the detail but start slow is my advice, changes now are much easier before things get locked in!

Conventions & Shows

Conventions & Shows

This weekend I attended the Self Build Show in Millstreet, Cork. I missed the Citywest one in September so took a train ride or two down there to see what was on display. Most of the event was geared I thought more towards refit / renovate rather than building new but with some obvious overlap. But it depends how big a renovation or extension you're planning!

I found the show featured national and local suppliers so some of the show as it was local to Cork wasn't as useful as the Dublin one may have been to me but it was still worth attending.

Like most conventions I tend to tack around the outside once, before weaving my way through the inside paths to make sure I cover all the displays.

I talked to a few of the exhibitors about different products they had and picked up more than a few leaflets to take away. The dining hall was packed so I headed into Millstreet afterwards and got a lovely lunch in the Hotel there. The exhibition hall entrance is a bit of a walk around from where you park the car, or for me, an even longer walk from the train station! At least the nearer road entrance was open which saved me a few minutes.

Shows like this and the Ideal homes Exhibition were useful in that I got a chance to see cross sections of timer / concrete framed factory built houses and also different insulation options. The idea of sitting a house on top of dense polystyrene is interesting to say the least! I'm glad I checked both of the shows out altough don't feel the urge to go back. When starting out on the road to a self build though they are invaluable to getting a toe in the water for what's out there and to talk to Architects and other Professionals about your Project. That's the time to ask questions and listen to the advice given. It's a steep learning curve and there's no better way to spend a morning or afternoon. A contact you make here could become very useful later on.

Ideal Homes Exhibition - RDS every Spring & Autumn:
http://idealhome.ie

Self Build Exhibition - Shows in Dublin, Belfast & Cork:
http://selfbuild.ie/the-shows/

Each year there is also the opportunity to visit energy efficient houses in November:
http://www.nzeb-opendoors.ie
I've booked two for next weekend so will get another opportunity to find out more about the process and pitfalls and see what living in these homes is like.

In summary, explore & attend the shows that interest you and engage with the professionals there. You can usually get your teeth whitened for free in addition to a head massage while you wait!

Also send email enquiries to get answers to your questions. Each reply can open up more areas for you to consider or consolidate your knowledge. You can then refer back if you organize them for later review.

The search begins!

The Search Begins!

Well, this might be a very short series of posts or if I get greenlit turn into an interesting one! I'm on a journey to try and own my own house in Ireland before I turn 80 and start wheeling a shopping trolley around the streets!

I have a deposit and had hope to buy last year but the Dublin housing market woke up and chased back to it's crazy days as quickly as it could before I could hop onboard. The numbers of viewings were crazy so I backed off until the Central Bank mortgage lending restrictions kicked in. Even now with prices around me at €275K I think this is a crazy sum and the quality of the second hand stock I've rented in for 20 years depressing. You would be left with nothing to fix the windows, insulation etc!

So, after viewing the Grand Design's programme on Container Houses I saw a ray of light. Here was someone with family land building a lovely place for £100K! Surely something smaller should be affordable for me? Possibly so but I contacted a few Architects the response wasn't encouraging. You can buy a single 40 Ft. Container all ready to go and have it shipped to Ireland and plug it in but joining two or more together and the problems start. You have to shore up the containers when you remove the common side areas which provide structural stability and strength. There goes that plan out the window.

My sister rang me about an Irish Architect who built his own home for €25K. The whole process I found exciting as the local knowledge that once existed to do this has been lost as specialized trades people took over. There are courses you can take on using Cob and Straw Bale houses etc so that's always possible but while looking into this I came across the term "Passive House". I'm not going to elaborate here on what that is but it sounded exactly like what I was after.

Now all I needed was to get some land. Not as easy as I thought! Land in Dublin is mostly held by developers and people with larger pockets than mine. Building outside Dublin but within commuter range seemed possible but the local needs issue is you need to either work in an area or be from the area (for 12 years or so!). I can understand why, they don't want one off builds turning up everywhere but developers aren't building the type of house I want to buy, some do build energy efficient houses but the rest build and move on, meet the regs & that's all.

In the UK there is a scheme to release land in a controlled way for self builders although even that land in the South East is too expensive for most, at least there are plots going. So, unless I marry a local I'm stuck! A derelict property is treated as a new build but a poor property which is habitable could be developed by tearing it down to build what you want. Guess what they cost?!! €50K-€120 and you've to pay to tear it down. A passive house requires a design from the foundations up so you can't reuse what's there and expect the same efficiency.

So, I could get a new site somewhere way out west but not within sight of the coast and if you end up in the middle of nowhere, while idyllic, I'm only ever going to see it at the weekend, and have to keep renting in Dublin for work. Sounds like the UK a bit? Who keeps an eye on the house when I'm gone? What about health / car issues and their impact? I've lived in Dublin all my life, my first preference would be to stay there close to friends and family.

So, in the process of investigating this area I found the following books really helpful. If you're looking to build and have a site (family site ideally!) I suggest you check them out and start thinking Eco and Efficient!

Housebuilder's Bible - Mark Brinkley (11th Edition currently)

The Sustainable Building Guide - Tim Pullen

I got two books on Passive Houses but I think you'd get as much online as I did out of them.

I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition in the RDS last weekend and spoke to a few of the people on the stands. I got good advice from the Architect you can book and sit down with.

Next up I'm travelling to the Self Build show in Cork on 7th November 2015 and visiting two energy efficient Houses the following weekend as part of Near Zero Open Door annual event.

Hope the above is of use and if you're trying to get on the property ladder good luck!