Although well in to the project, and tens of thousands already spent, Jo and I have been reflecting on why we are doing all this. It's not that we went in to this without thinking, but its good to remind yourself of the reasons that started it all off so that in the midst of the difficulties, bills and general aggro, we don't loose sight of the ultimate goal.
We both have had a long standing sense that our current way of life is going to change - in our life time and the life time of our daughter. Building this house is some insurance against these inevitable changes.
With fuel prices escalating rapidly (not to mention the effects of global warming) our thinking is that investing in home that will largely heat itself and hopefully produce some of its own electricity is an investment in our family's future.
That all sounds a bit doom laden doesn't it? Well there are more obviously tangible reasons to build a house (and a Passiv house in particular) apart from the saving on fuel bills and living in an utterly gorgeous setting.
We currently live in a Victorian terraced house - originally built @ 1910, but bombed by the Nazis during the war and rebuilt in the 1950's! I love fresh air and hate stuffy rooms, where as Jo closes windows as fast as I open them in order to keep the place as warm as possible for her comfort. A key principle with a Passiv house is to use MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery) to get the best of both worlds: the MVHR system pulls in fresh air into the house but uses the warm air already in the house to heat the fresh air up to a comfortable temperature. So hopefully Jo will have her warmth and I will have the clean air I crave!
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