3 ms·
Delta is one thing, but you're also fighting solar gain when trying to cool. Sure you can mitigate, but when heating, the sun is working in your favour. Winds a
by Scoundreller 4y ago
Delta is one thing, but you're also fighting solar gain when trying to cool. Sure you can mitigate, but when heating, the sun is working in your favour. Winds are another variable.
- D13Fd 4y agoThat’s true, although solar heating in warm climates can be mitigated in some ways (roof color, attic structure/ventilation) and solar heating in cold climates is tough with a layer of snow on the roof. Bottom line is that there are many variables but a big delta tends to be energy intensive to overcome.
- Scoundreller 4y ago> cold climates is tough with a layer of snow on the roof Snow is actually helpful by insulating. The sun is closer to the horizon over winter, so it's your vertical windows doing the heating anyway. An obvious issue is how much sunlight you get over winter. Not just in hours, but in N. Europe, you might have continuous cloudcover and not see the sun for weeks at a time.
- D13Fd 4y agoSnow is not helpful for solar heating, as I said, and if your roof has a big r-value to begin with the snow is not adding a ton of insulation.
- Scoundreller 4y agooh yeah, and snow reflects light off the ground. It's much brighter outside after coverage by snowfall.
- legitster 4y agoIf you are in a weird climate that gives you cold temperatures but consistent sunlight maybe? But you are also dealing with angle of declination. Solar gain will be diminishing the further north you go even if you get sunlight.
- Scoundreller 4y agoHigh elevation can do that, but cloudcover is a lot heavier than much of Europe over winter than in much of North America.