- JTMcC -
- Phil Scott -
- Nehmo - But it should be more. Ten feet or even nine makes the space feel much better.
Now they have 54" wide X 12' drywall for 9 ft ceilings.
R
It's certainly more volume to heat/cool.
- D. J. MCBRIDE -
- Nehmo ? Heat & cooling requirements are dependent more on surface area than volume. If you increase the height of the walls, let's say in a rectangular prism, volume increases directly with wall height. But total surface area, including the area of the top and bottom, doesn?t increase as rapidly. A cube doubled in height has twice the volume but only one and two-thirds times the surface area. A rectangular prism 50x50x8 increased to 50x50x10 has 1.25 the volume at 1.06 times the surface area.
It all depends on the proportions of the space...height to width to depth...the windows...the "feel" you're trying to achieve. It might feel better...but it might not.
But temperature gradient is also an issue. Heat rises so the extra foot at the top will contain the hottest air which means that the average room temperature must be higher to get the same temps down low where the people are as they don't get a foot taller with the higher ceiling. I'll bet that the extra 6% of surface area combined with that new surface area having the highest temperature delta with the outside will raise heating costs closer to 10%, or roughly the same amount as the increase in wall height.
This can be mitigated with ceiling fans or with radiant floor heat, but it is still a factor with higher ceilings.
Matt
Well it might be because people are getting taller on average. (I'm 6'+ ,wife is 5'8", which is only slightly above average). We find we need to raise the fridge, dish-washer, counters and practically everything to be comfortable otherwise we're always stooping. We're building a cabin with 9' ceilings because as Mr. Peruna put's it, "it feels better". We went up 10' and then dropped a suspended ceiling to 9' to accomodate 1' of insulation. That was fairly easy to construct, using 4' wide panels. The panels are placed at 8' then the insulation was applied and then the panels were lifted and slid along guides (2x2's at 9'). The panels are pricey $25 per 4'x8' x 1/8" but the're tough and durable, and certainly provide an excellent vapor barrier. Ken
Toilets! I can't believe that anyone can sit on a "standard" height toilet... For us, it's "handicapped" height all around!
Insulation, lighting, HVAC runs, etc., etc. If we ever build again, it's gonna be "living height" + 1'.
Notan
IBC 2003 allows a minimum ceiling height at 7'-6".
CID...
Or "Comfort height" as Kohler calls their Wellworth models.
3 in this house..3 in the last one too
That's right! Hell I have to sit down to pee, because the damn thing is so far away and it splashs if I stand to pee. Really that's a very good point! I had a plumber visit today asking for specs and now I'm going to study raising the W/C in any case, hey that's great...thanks need to think. Ken
"Don" wrote in news:ihZ%e.8541$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:
Re: cooling, tho', it's always been my impression that, in hot climates, part of the purpose of a higher ceiling was/is to draw heat upwards from the living area - conversely, lower ceiling heights in Northern houses helped keep heat down near the living area. So, for heating, it'd cost less to heat rooms with lower ceilings (tho' I've no idea how much less).
It's also a matter of comfort. I've found the higher ceiling height of this house (Houston) more comfortable in the warm weather, whereas the lower ceilings of the (former) Massachusetts house were less comfortable during warm days. Although I also realize that might be more mind than matter, due to the relative "open/breezy" feel of a heigher ceiling versus the "protective" feel of a lower one.
But that's merely my impression - I don't know the thermodynamic reality.
It all depends on where the theromstat is. If the theromstat is at 5', higher ceilings may even be somewhat beneficial as the hot air is higher up than it would be in lower ceilings. Of course, the cool air has longer ways down, exposing it to 'more' hot air at the top, but there's nothing saying the air would be any more hotter at 8' or 10' assuming the walls have the same insulation value.
subdivision homes and additions, 8' or 10' ceilings don't have much of an impact on HVAC capacity, if any. For homes HVAC capacity is typically determined on a sf basis, rather than a volumetric basis. Not surprisingly, key factors in the energy calcs are whether the HVAC is in a conditioned space, garage or attic, where the return air grille is, what's the insulation of ducts, the tint value of the windows, the SEER value of the unit and of course # of windows and house orientation. These have far greater impact, or are assumed to have greater impact, in the codes and calc programs.
Marcello
Yes, if you are talking about AC, but no for heat.
Yes, for AC, I basically agree with you. I was talking about heat and made that clear in my post.
Matt
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