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Not sure if this will be helpful heating and insulation

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I live in my place 7/24/365. NO AC here, don't "need it" as the house design helps o keep it cool. IE: 35C outside and it's 27C inside with doors/ windows open. My region can swing from -35C / -31F in Winter to 35C / 95F+ in summer with some crazy humidity at times. But I built this and located the house specifically to take advantage of the big Spruce Trees for southern shading (besides, I am in a forest so it's cooler to start with). Can get pretty humid on occasion but it's not terrible. That said, I built the house with a "Cool Roof" based on this method (great site / good explanation) http://www.houstoncoolmetalroofs.com/cool-roof-information/cool-roof-design-texas/ That in conjunction with the Rain Screen Siding method, it makes the home very liveable, far exceeded expectations for performance & comfort. https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/all-about-rainscreens The roof REALLY makes a HUGE difference in home comfort overall and totally worth it.

Word on Insulation. If you have to use BATT insulation, use ROCKWOOL like Roxul. Bugs, Mice and critters HATE IT, unlike fiberglass which they will nest in. Rockwool is also hydrophobic, meaning it will not hold nor transmit water / moisture, whereas fiberglass will hold it and wick it.

For my own build, I bought foam sheet insulation. Normally this is crazy expensive especially in retail land which can see 500% markup ! YES, 500% ! some even higher. I bought all of my Foam Insulation from a "commercial roofer" (malls, schools office buildings), as "Take Off" insulation. When a large commercial reroof is done, here, by law, all removed insulation must be recycled. I purchased perfectly good (as new) insulation prior to starting my build so I knew I would have enough. Now get ready for the shockers
2'x4'x4" HD XPS Foam used for the FPSF (Frost Protected Slab Foundation),: COST $10.00 per sheet.
4'x4'x5-1/4" HD EPS-II Foam used between 2x6 wall studs. Walls are framed 24OC using Advanced Framing Method. COST: $10.00 ea sheet
4'x8'x3-1/2" PolyISO COST $7.00 per sheet,
4'x8'x4" PolyISO COST $8.00 per sheet, POLYiso used in Cathedral Ceiling @ 7.5" thick.

Because these are all Rigid Foam Sheets, I had to cut and hard press fit between studs & rafters and then seal any spaces" with commercial spray foam. This was an extremely long & tedious 2 person job and NO FUN AT ALL ! I got stuck doing it this way because our Bldg Inspector was "new to using all foams" and I even had to educate him on vapour barriers in regards to foam insulation (the foam IS the barrier & ISO breathes). IF using Foam Sheets, it's far better to prebuild the walls with insulation installed and then raise & set walls in a new build.

Finishing.... as mentioned I live in a Forest... North Eastern Ontario near Algonquin park. We have a LOT of small scale logging here, Red / White Pines, White Cedar and of course the usuals that go with that. As a result I acquired a lot of locally milled lumber. Siding is Live Edge White Cedar, ceiling are 6"x1" thick white pine T&G, floors are red pine & ceramic at the woodstove. Cupboards & Cabinetry I made ou of 7/8" Rough Face showing (one side) pine * Rough Face, meaning circular mill saw cut marks visible. All beams and posts are rough mill cut pine. Counter tops are 12x24 glassified ceramic. 6" Baseboard & 4" casings are all handmade & routed out of yellow pine. All wood finishes are water-based Polyurathane,

My home is very airtight and obviously seriously insulated, so I built an Air-Exchanger (very low power) to exchange air in the house. I built one because the commercial ones are oversized and most are energy pigs. Once you seal up a house well, you need air exchange otherwise you'll end up with a "sick house" and sick occupants. Air has to be freshened and he humidity etc has to have a way out.

Hope that helps, good luck.
 
Watch YouTube, matt risinger, he has some great videos on construction techniques and materials.

Also this old house.

If you don’t need AC, perhaps a dedicated dehumidifier might make a better choice.
Then a simple window unit for a bit of cooling in the hot days. AC really can’t remove moisture well unless the ambient is sufficient for long runtimes. Also, dedicated dehumidification allows fresh air intake to be filtered and dehumidifier right from the getgo.
 
I live in my place 7/24/365. NO AC here, don't "need it" as the house design helps o keep it cool. IE: 35C outside and it's 27C inside with doors/ windows open. My region can swing from -35C / -31F in Winter to 35C / 95F+ in summer with some crazy humidity at times. But I built this and located the house specifically to take advantage of the big Spruce Trees for southern shading (besides, I am in a forest so it's cooler to start with). Can get pretty humid on occasion but it's not terrible. That said, I built the house with a "Cool Roof" based on this method (great site / good explanation) http://www.houstoncoolmetalroofs.com/cool-roof-information/cool-roof-design-texas/ That in conjunction with the Rain Screen Siding method, it makes the home very liveable, far exceeded expectations for performance & comfort. https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/all-about-rainscreens The roof REALLY makes a HUGE difference in home comfort overall and totally worth it.

Word on Insulation. If you have to use BATT insulation, use ROCKWOOL like Roxul. Bugs, Mice and critters HATE IT, unlike fiberglass which they will nest in. Rockwool is also hydrophobic, meaning it will not hold nor transmit water / moisture, whereas fiberglass will hold it and wick it.

For my own build, I bought foam sheet insulation. Normally this is crazy expensive especially in retail land which can see 500% markup ! YES, 500% ! some even higher. I bought all of my Foam Insulation from a "commercial roofer" (malls, schools office buildings), as "Take Off" insulation. When a large commercial reroof is done, here, by law, all removed insulation must be recycled. I purchased perfectly good (as new) insulation prior to starting my build so I knew I would have enough. Now get ready for the shockers
2'x4'x4" HD XPS Foam used for the FPSF (Frost Protected Slab Foundation),: COST $10.00 per sheet.
4'x4'x5-1/4" HD EPS-II Foam used between 2x6 wall studs. Walls are framed 24OC using Advanced Framing Method. COST: $10.00 ea sheet
4'x8'x3-1/2" PolyISO COST $7.00 per sheet,
4'x8'x4" PolyISO COST $8.00 per sheet, POLYiso used in Cathedral Ceiling @ 7.5" thick.

Because these are all Rigid Foam Sheets, I had to cut and hard press fit between studs & rafters and then seal any spaces" with commercial spray foam. This was an extremely long & tedious 2 person job and NO FUN AT ALL ! I got stuck doing it this way because our Bldg Inspector was "new to using all foams" and I even had to educate him on vapour barriers in regards to foam insulation (the foam IS the barrier & ISO breathes). IF using Foam Sheets, it's far better to prebuild the walls with insulation installed and then raise & set walls in a new build.

Finishing.... as mentioned I live in a Forest... North Eastern Ontario near Algonquin park. We have a LOT of small scale logging here, Red / White Pines, White Cedar and of course the usuals that go with that. As a result I acquired a lot of locally milled lumber. Siding is Live Edge White Cedar, ceiling are 6"x1" thick white pine T&G, floors are red pine & ceramic at the woodstove. Cupboards & Cabinetry I made ou of 7/8" Rough Face showing (one side) pine * Rough Face, meaning circular mill saw cut marks visible. All beams and posts are rough mill cut pine. Counter tops are 12x24 glassified ceramic. 6" Baseboard & 4" casings are all handmade & routed out of yellow pine. All wood finishes are water-based Polyurathane,

My home is very airtight and obviously seriously insulated, so I built an Air-Exchanger (very low power) to exchange air in the house. I built one because the commercial ones are oversized and most are energy pigs. Once you seal up a house well, you need air exchange otherwise you'll end up with a "sick house" and sick occupants. Air has to be freshened and he humidity etc has to have a way out.

Hope that helps, good luck.

I was thinking of getting an air exchanger anyway just to move air between rooms. Our cabin is 24' x 36', with 1 wall dividing the 2 rooms (Sleeping quarters, 24' x 16') and Kitchen/Living Room (24' x 16'). There will be a bathroom between them on 1 side (6
x 8'). I will have an exhaust fan in the bathroom and another above the kitchen counter (over the LP stove top).

Wondering if running those exhaust fans while we're there is enough.
Assuming moisture would only be created while we're there, but not when we're gone.

The air exhanger's purpose would be to circulate air between the rooms, as the furnace is only going to located in the sleeping quarters. We'd also be hooking up the window air conditioner in that room as well. Primarily so we can save energy by closing off the sleeping quarters at night and keep the heat or AC in that room only. Then open up the cabin during the day.

We do have ceiling fans in both sections.

Sound like we'll be OK if we keep this thing air tight?
 
The air exchanger pulls air from outside and exhausts stale air from inside, having a sealed house = becomes a sick house.
There are many commercial versions with various features & functions.
 
The air exchanger pulls air from outside and exhausts stale air from inside, having a sealed house = becomes a sick house.
There are many commercial versions with various features & functions.

Would this be running 24/7 or just when we're there? We go weeks at a time without being there.
Worried about energy consumption like you mentioned, plus the cold temps in late fall and winter.
 
They cycle on & off depending on the settings / programing. In your kind of situation, it would certainly be On while occupied and you could leave it off while away. How the intake & exhaust is routed through the walls depends on the system you decide to go with.
 
The Air Exchanger I built was based on a build by another fellow who posted it on his site. I looked for it but seems to have been removed, fortunately, I have the whole thing in PDF now attached.

Differences:
I used a System 636 Concentric vent for my installation as it is not only neater but also is the same as used for my Direct Vent on-demand hot water.
I also used straight 3" aluminium pipe inside instead of the corrugated stuff.
My whole system length is 10'. White 3" PVC DW Pipe actually fits up perfectly with the 636 pipe.
I used Fernco type rubber couplers to interconnect the pipes and eliminate any vibration potentials.
For FANS, I decided to go Power Frugal with High Quality so I went with 2 AC-Infinity USB Powered Fans (one exhaust, one intake) connected to a 2 Channel Thermal fan controller. LINK: https://www.acinfinity.com/quiet-usb-fans/

NOTE: AC-INfinity has many fans & systems for different uses, including simple air movement to component coolers. While these "may" look like computer box fans, that only look similar. Most are aluminium cast, All of them are Axial Fans with ball bearings (no roller sleeves to seize up), this is the "Good Stuff" and still well priced surprisingly.

System 636 complete .
636-concentric-kit.jpg

My vent end outside.
My vent End.jpg
 

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