We have been having scorching hot weather in this part of the world these past few days. After the very long winter, now comes the heat. It is the 3rd week now where temperatures had been at 30C++. Although it is not unusual to get this high temperature, I have been told that having it linger for 3 weeks is quite unusual.
Thankfully, our passive house has kept us comfortable despite the soaring heat. Even without AC, we have managed to avoid overheating by scheduling our activities to conform with nature. For instance, I schedule all my cooking at night time when temperatures are normally low. At dawn, when the temperature is at 10-17C, we increase the ventilation and open the windows to quickly let the cold air in. During the day, we normally get 30+ temperatures, so we have all the blinds closed. Although one of the features I love of this house is an abundance of natural light, no sunlight means minimal heat accumulation, so it will do for now. The thick insulation is enough to preserve the coldness that was trapped at dawn. The only drawback is that we, (mainly my husband) has to wake up early just to open the windows and quicky let the cold air in. But this is very minimal considering the comfort that it brings.
To give you an idea of how it is ventilated, here is a short video about the ventilation system in a passive house.
So there you go, a passive house is not only good in winter but in summer as well. I am sharing this with you so that if you ever think of building your own home, the passive house is the way to go. It is good for the environment, good for your pocket and good in any weather!
Czech the Flip 