The First Now House
The Retrofit Process: Hot water
Install a hot water storage tank
We installed a Latento hot water storage tank thanks to assistance from Solarnetix. The Latento takes heat from the solar thermal collectors and stores it until it is distributed to the home’s heating and hot water system. Solar energy can be accumulated for several days meaning hot water from solar energy may be available even on cloudy days. When there isn’t enough solar energy, the hot water from a tankless water heater will bring the water in the Latento to the required temperature.
Add a tankless water heater
When there isn’t enough solar energy, a tankless water heater will provide the home with its hot water needs.
Capture heat from grey water
We installed a Power-Pipe thanks to our sponsor RenewABILITY. The Power-Pipe will capture heat from grey water leaving the shower and dishwasher, for example, and send the captured heat to the hot water storage tank.
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The Retrofit Process
To achieve our goal of a near zero energy retrofit we made the following changes to this home. As all existing houses have a unique set of conditions and characteristics, the application of the Now House process to another house would produce different design specifications. What follows is not a prescription for the near zero retrofit of all homes.