Cooling Your Space

As you saw in my previous post about heating, I am an HVAC nerd. In a previous career I helped design high efficiency residential heating and cooling systems. Each home was its own puzzle that took into account its size, insulation, tightness, window size and direction, and climate. What we found, more often than not, was that a majority of HVAC companies were oversizing the equipment. Why? Often times to compensate for the fact that they didn’t have a mechanical engineer on staff to do proper design work. Other times it was to compensate for poor insulation that is common in most American homes. Time and time again it was based on outdated rules of thumb handed down from past decades when HVAC technology was less efficient and homes weren’t built as well.

Why was oversizing HVAC equipment a problem? Because it was needlessly expensive, inefficient, bad for the environment and lead to air quality issues (Google “HVAC short-cycling”).

Here at Marigold, our main focus is on the invisible stuff behind the walls. We frame our houses using the best available methods and materials and we insulate way above and beyond the competition. In fact, our Spaces are so well made that they stay cool throughout the summer without the need for air conditioning. Even with our climate steadily warming, you can still open the windows at night to bring in fresh, cool air, and then shut them in the morning to keep the Space cool all day. All Marigold Spaces have a ceiling fan and ERV to help keep the inside air fresh and comfortable.

With that said, there are a couple reasons you may choose to add air conditioning (an option we offer on all models).

1. You may not want to open your windows at night. This might be due to air-quality issues, like the smoke from a wild fire or pollution if you live near a highway, factory, etc.
2. There may be a couple of off-the-charts heatwaves during the summer that the passive design can’t quite keep up with.

In the second scenario above, keep in mind that 10 off-the-chart-hot days out of 365 is less than 3% of the total time spent in your Space. Even on these super hot days, only a few hours during peak afternoon heat might feel uncomfortable inside. It’s up to you to decide if the cost of the air conditioner is worth these handful of hours per year.

Now that you’ve made up your mind about whether or not you want air conditioning, here’s what you need to know about our AC option:

• We use mini-splits that are sized for your space
• They are quiet and energy efficient
• They are heat pumps which also work as a heater during the winter months
• It’s a $3k option

If you’d like to learn more about our air conditioning or have any questions about our Spaces, please contact us here.