Climate Data for Design

I am looking into the ways to get climate data to inform my design for a home in Sullivan County, NY.

One simple source is this Bing search which yields an interactive chart:

Parksville, New York historical weather - Bing

Phius provides climate data on their website according to a specific format to Phius members. From their website:

PHIUS+ Climate Data Sets are generated using the DRY data method within the software Meteonorm for use in WUFI Passive and PHPP for PHIUS+ design and certification purposes. Due to Meteonorm licensing restrictions, we are unfortunately no longer able to offer climate data sets as a free download.

WUFI Passive is the software that is required by Phius to certify Passive Houses. A version that allows you to analyze your project for certification is now available for free. Phius has WUFI Passive Tutorials as well. It uses climate data to perform analysis of a design's energy performance.

Note that access to the map of existing Phius datasets is available without membership and has some basic information available on it. See below

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Phius allows you to use a dataset for a location if it is within 50 miles of your site and the difference in elevation is less than 300-400 ft. My site was within 50 miles of a dataset location, but the elevation difference was 800 ft. Through Phius I was able to purchase a custom dataset for my site for $75.

Solar Charts

I really like sunearthtools.com for their solar chart tool. This is the direct link

Domestic Water Heating

Tankless, Point of Use and Mini Storage Water Heaters

In Europe ,Point of Use tankless water heaters are very common in older buildings. There are also Point of Use Mini Storage Water Heaters. I am trying to get a sense of the install costs and operating costs compared to systems more commonly used in the US. To me they seem intuitively better - no need to install or insulate hot water pipes from a central water heater (domestic water piping is cut in half), no loss from storage of hot water in a central or remote tank, water is only heated where it is needed and when it is needed.

• From Energy.gov: Tankless or Demand-Type Water Heaters . This site states:

For homes that use 41 gallons or less of hot water daily, demand water heaters can be 24%–34% more energy efficient than conventional storage tank water heaters. They can be 8%–14% more energy efficient for homes that use a lot of hot water -- around 86 gallons per day. You can achieve even greater energy savings of 27%–50% if you install a demand water heater at each hot water outlet.

• This ecomfort.com post on a Point-of-Use Water Heater Buying Guide makes them seem like a solution only for unusual circumstances

• This hot-water-heaters-reviews.com post titled Point-of-Use Water Heater Review & Buying Guide indicates that they are not for applications with a high hot water demand, but they do not state why.

• ThisOldHouse.com has a more detailed article titled Tankless Water Heater: What You Need to Know Before You Buy but it is still hard to quantify the pros and cons.

• BobVila.com has more information in a post titled The Best Tankless Gas Water Heater for Your Home

In doing the math, if 3 people take a 15 minute shower each day at 2GPM, that would be 90 gallons of hot water, more than the 86 gallons per day listed from Energy.gov for "a lot of hot water" for the showers alone. That may be why these solutions are not more efficient than traditional central hot water.

Misc. Structural Information

Basic Frame Building Information

1. NFBA Post Frame Building Design Manual, Second Edition (2016) Introduction to Post-Frame Buildings

2. INTRODUCTION TO POST FRAME CONSTRUCTION BUILDINGS & CONSTRUCTION, BUILDINGS & DESIGN

3. American Wood Council Design for Code Acceptance 5 - Post Framed Buildings

Foundations for Sheds

• https://plasticinehouse.com/popular-shed-foundations/

• https://plasticinehouse.com/how-to-build-gravel-shed-foundation/

• https://www.lancasterpashedbuilders.com/content/site-preparation

• https://www.secrets-of-shed-building.com/shed-foundation.html

Roof information:

• Ridge Beam vs. Ridge Board