Solar Homes LLC 

The heated area of Pura Vida is roughly 4,000 square feet.  This includes a fully-finished walk-out southern-facing basement.  The heating system is a heat-recovery ventilator that brings in fresh air through a heat-recovery room to temper the air both during the winter and the summer that is attached to a warm water source.  The suorce is a very efficient electric water heater with a 4,500 watt heater and 105 gallons of storage.

During the first week of February 2007, temperatures reached minus 10 - 15 degrees fahrenheit for several evenings and never reached higher than 10 degrees during the day.  During this period, the home's internal temperature remained comfortable throughout the day and night with the 4.5 kilowatt hot water heating system.

Testing this summer has shown the air conditioning use has been minimized significantly, and is only needed on 90 degree plus days with very high humidity. 

Detailed results are available by contacting Solar Homes LLC directly.

The energy use for this home is about 20% of what would be used by a conventionally built "energy efficient" house currently built in the U.S.