3 Years in a Passive House retrofit: Expectations vs. Reality.

Join us on an eye-opening journey as we follow an individual's transition from life in a poorly constructed high-volume home to embracing the concept of building physics, with a year spent in a passive house. This video explores the tangible contrasts and experiences, digging into the high hopes and the grounding realities of indoor air quality and sustainable living. Witness how IAQ design and building physics features redefine their daily life, comfort, and utility expenses. Dive deep into the nuances of passive housing - from initial hope to eventual advocacy - and see how this innovative approach to reimplementing a living space can reshape our relationship with the environment. Get ready for a candid look at the challenges, surprises, and ultimate verdict after a year of high-impact family living. Tune in to see if a passive house home's promise matches the lived experience.
#PassiveHouse #Buildingperformance
Goto ecolibria for more information on building biology.
www.ecolibria.com.au
The builder
Https://www.aphiprojects.com.au
00:00 Intro
00:25 Reintroduction
08:08 Cooking with gas
13:08 No Rats and spiders
14:28 What would you do differently
21:20 A chat with the builder

[@davidissko9796]

Hi Raph. Great job retrofitting to as close to PH standard as possible in an existing build. If I may, in reference to your gas, because you only have the cooktop connected to mains gas, usage cost will be very low, but for the sake of having the gas, the daily supply fee will be 95% (or possibly more) of your $400.00 cost per year. Such a shame. You mentioned EMF from induction. Consider the NOx from burning the Methane into the atmosphere. In my humble opinion, the NOx is far worse than some localised, possible EMF harming anyone. FAR WORSE!!
I recently removed gas from my Melbourne home and having induction means LESS time cooking compared to gas. The induction is faster acting and more responsive than gas, with almost all the energy produced, being directed into the pot/pan. I strongly encourage you to make the move to induction and rid yourself off mains gas.
On the topic of HRV, I certainly like the centralised Stiebel system, with the ducts inside the thermal envelope of your home. How is it during summer? Is there a summer bypass you can activate? I have a very conventionally built home, which I have endeavoured, over the decades, to air tighten as best as possible. Fully achieved recently this plus big top up of ceiling insulation. Brought a VAST improvement to the comfort level our home has to offer. Fantastic thermal stability (as you know). The improved acoustic dampening levels are a terrific 'fringe benefit' as well.
I also have various monitors placed throughout the house. Our CO2 monitor ranges from a low of about 430ppm with windows and bifold doors open to 1800ppm+ when closed. I found a balanced, centralised HRV, where the ducts can be located outside the thermal envelope. We're having that system installed mid March. Looking forward to low CO2 levels all year round, with or without windows open.
Keep on inspiring people to move to the PH concept and adopt world best practice. Cheers. David.

[@TJames]

EMF from an induction hob poses bigger risk than GAS... Right. Love to see the science on that one. 🤪Otherwise, great video.

[@HardstylePete]

I just don't get this EMF concern. I haven't seen any credible science to support concerns about it.

[@rajTrondhjem10]

Yeah, that part was a bit bizarre..

[@dirtmcgirt168]

Well they have limits on devices and transmitters, which would mean that excessive amounts are harmful.
I guess you could divert sms and calls to a wired phone or wired laptop, most people aren’t going to find this practical of course.

[@HardstylePete]

@@dirtmcgirt168 Those limits are to avoid interference between devices.

[@MikeWhitton]

Awesome Update guys, great to see the progress and feedback from the owner!

[@asjeot]

Great follow-up 👍

[@adavisops2340]

Awesome!! Thank you for the follow up!

[@thomas536]

Any details on the shower assembly? Optimizing for zero mold seems like a no brainer but hardly anyone does...

[@dannym5797]

How much was the renovation?

[@gabriellee6316]

That range hood sounds amazing. What is the brand and also can you tell me the brand of your windows and sliding doors?

[@irvingirving]

It looks like the same type as i have, which is a Schweigen (an Australian company)

[@gabriellee6316]

Thank you.

[@iteerrex8166]

Awesome review 👍. I have a question, and I hope someone has an answer. I’d like to build a new building, and there’s going to be organic food producing plants around the house. So I don’t want any unnatural products on the outside of the building toxicifying the grounds over time. My question is what’s the best way to seal and water proof the concrete basement. Any search I’ve done, shows some type a thick polymerized paint and/or plastics and so on, which I want to do away with. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[@lifeinaustralia6415]

I noticed that your curtains are hard up against the wall. Is that a special curtain rod or you have installed it to achieve the closeness thus avoiding the need for a pelmet to avoid convection. I am about to put up a thermal curtain but really don't want to have a pelmet, so any assistance would be appreciated.:)

[@martiruda]

They have passive windows, the way curtains are installed is not a biggie

[@lifeinaustralia6415]

@@martiruda Not all can afford double glazed eglass filled with argon gas. That is why I was enquiring about the curtain rails which is a cheaper fix and the way they are installed would appear that they have them close enough to avoid convection without the need for a pelmet.

[@rajTrondhjem10]

EMF is bad but particulate matter pollution from gas burning is good? Not sure what to make of that

[@ecoevo]

A reported 12% of asthma suffering kids is triggered by gas in homes. It’s a real tangible number, so if you really love it… you really need to make sure you get your ventilation right, to have it.

[@josephcheung8311]

This is a tough one. As Raphael said, it's a personal preference not necessarily better or worse. The gas pollutants can be managed by the exhaust systems. on the other hand, the potential adverse effects of the EMF cannot be effectively mitigated. in a nutshell, manageable known risk V unmanageable potential risk.

[@flamingcoop]

How do I get into this industry?

[@butrabi110]

How much?

[@chefgav1]

What was the remodeling costs to achieve the energy savings?

[@simonwile5110]

Also wondering the cost of all this. That triple glazing alone would be $60k+

[@ecolibria6170]

The total cost for absolutely everything (replaced the roof and bathrooms and used salvaged timber floor boards) was around 400K (Australian dollars) but was done 3 years ago before covid caused a lot of price issues.

[@ecolibria6170]

The triple glazed doors and windows (there were a lot of them) was about 80K (Australian Dollars)

[@chefgav1]

@ecolibria6170 wow that's alot of $. Under sustainability Victoria real world modelling they put double glazing windows at a ROI at around 30 plus years. Retrofit will never see any ROI in $ terms. I'm in what is considered a cold climate and spent 9k in going from a R2 ceiling to a R7.2 but made 0 savings in my energy bills. I made more savings spending 9k on a battery and solar.

[@chefgav1]

@ecolibria6170 house looks real nice and energy efficient.

[@ericscott3997]

I don't know about you but a 12 degree C difference (22 ish degrees in Fahrenheit) is a heck of a temperature swing for indoors.

[@ecolibria6170]

Yes I agree, a 12 Degree Celsius swing is high for a passive house generally but for around 95% of the time there is a 5 Degree difference in temperature levels. In extreme heat (we can get 42 Degrees Celsius on a few days a year) and 3-5 cold days in a row with not sunshine (around 1 Degree Celsius) which again happens rarely but can happen for around 7-10 days a year we will experience the up to 12 Degree Celsius swing.

[@HardstylePete]

You need to compare it to the previous temperature range of more then 30c. Then add to the fact that range is basically the 99th percentile not the median temperature.

[@ericscott3997]

@@ecolibria6170 I'm in Minnesota, USA, & I know of a few Certified Passive Homes up here, & I'm pretty certain that they don't have those types of swings. Our temps throughout the year go from 35 Celsius (or higher) all the way down to lower than -28 Celsius (for well over a week at a time). I've been told by Passive House folks up here it's the ability for the home to keep a constant temperature with very little mechanical input that makes them worth building.

[@KJSvitko]

Every home and business should install a rain water collection and storage system along with solar panels.
Even in areas where rain is infrequent it is crazy to waste the little rain that does fall and waste it.
We need to stop planting green lawns and switch to local native plantings around homes.
It is crazy to plant lawns and build golf courses in dry desert areas. We waste too much water and electricity.
the future is electric. Wind and solar energy along with electric vehicles are the future. Stop using fossil fuels. There is a climate crisis.