How much you need to heat/cool a home is more of a function of its level of insu... | Hacker News

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throw0101a on Jan 22, 2019 | parent | context | favorite | on: On whether changes in bedroom CO2 levels affect sl...

How much you need to heat/cool a home is more of a function of its level of insulation and air tightness than its mechanical capacity.

It's possible to design house that need almost zero BTUs:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house

When looking at bang-for-buck / value / ROI, better insulation and air sealing should be done first. If you can reduce the number of your blower door test, then you'll have to spend less on running capacity (and their related costs).

SketchySeaBeast on Jan 22, 2019 [–]

Passive houses are cool, but most houses aren't, and can't be retrofitted to fit the requirements.

throw0101a on Jan 22, 2019 | [–]

True, but they show that comfort is possible without crazy mechanical power. Improve your insulation first, and you'll need less BTUs afterwards.

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