Thoughts of New Construction homes by K. Hovnanian Homes in Naperville (Chicago: house, buying)

[bellhead]

DJK is more of a semi custom builder, in that you they offer ready to go plans but you can alter them quite a bit.

The better the framing the more sturdy the house, you will not feel vibrations as much.

As far as solar, no it doesn't make a lot of sense, but the following do.

1.) Tankless hot water heater.
2.) Better insulation preferably spray foam, as it gets every nook and cranny a HERS score is important.
3.) High efficiency furnace and a higher Seer AC, even though AC is only a month a year in Chicago it's still energy.

Also don't blame you wanting to live close to downtown, I work from home so commute doesn't matter for me and my wife. I just want the elementary school to be within 5 minutes.

[damba]

Originally Posted by bellhead

DJK is more of a semi custom builder, in that you they offer ready to go plans but you can alter them quite a bit.

The better the framing the more sturdy the house, you will not feel vibrations as much.

As far as solar, no it doesn't make a lot of sense, but the following do.

1.) Tankless hot water heater.
2.) Better insulation preferably spray foam, as it gets every nook and cranny a HERS score is important.
3.) High efficiency furnace and a higher Seer AC, even though AC is only a month a year in Chicago it's still energy.

Also don't blame you wanting to live close to downtown, I work from home so commute doesn't matter for me and my wife. I just want the elementary school to be within 5 minutes.

You must live in another state up north if you only have to run the AC for a month and not 2 or 3

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by damba

You must live in another state up north if you only have to run the AC for a month and not 2 or 3

Depends on when you run it, my wife hates AC and I currently live in Savannah Ga. Openly complains about having to turn it on in late April. It's not the heat but the humidity which I really dislike, I will not sleep on damp sheets, but she will still open the windows in the morning to "air the house out".

When we lived in Cincinnati we only ran it in July and August everyday and at night would open the windows.

Now if your the type who has the AC on when it gets in the low 80's then we are two different people, my neighbor down here had theirs own and it was 68 degrees at night, they run the AC all the time and don't open windows.

[damba]

Originally Posted by bellhead

Depends on when you run it, my wife hates AC and I currently live in Savannah Ga. Openly complains about having to turn it on in late April. It's not the heat but the humidity which I really dislike, I will not sleep on damp sheets, but she will still open the windows in the morning to "air the house out".

When we lived in Cincinnati we only ran it in July and August everyday and at night would open the windows.

Now if your the type who has the AC on when it gets in the low 80's then we are two different people, my neighbor down here had theirs own and it was 68 degrees at night, they run the AC all the time and don't open windows.

OK, so you just aren't particularly familiar with Chicago's climate. We may not be sultry like Savannah, but it gets uncomfortable here- for more than a single month btw(!) Sept. was also bad this year ;(

cheers

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by damba

OK, so you just aren't particularly familiar with Chicago's climate. We may not be sultry like Savannah, but it gets uncomfortable here- for more than a single month btw(!) Sept. was also bad this year ;(

cheers

No, I pointed out before I have lived in Chicago before and grew up south of Toledo in Ohio so I am very familiar with the climate.

I know there are times the climate hits the upper 90's and will stay in the 90's for days on end. The difference is up there it does cool down at night unlike here. In July and August it will sometimes be 91 degrees at 11 o'clock at night, and then 81 at sunrise. You'll never see that in Chicago or anywhere in the upper midwest.

[qfeverq]

Originally Posted by bellhead

DJK is more of a semi custom builder, in that you they offer ready to go plans but you can alter them quite a bit.

The better the framing the more sturdy the house, you will not feel vibrations as much.

As far as solar, no it doesn't make a lot of sense, but the following do.

1.) Tankless hot water heater.
2.) Better insulation preferably spray foam, as it gets every nook and cranny a HERS score is important.
3.) High efficiency furnace and a higher Seer AC, even though AC is only a month a year in Chicago it's still energy.

Also don't blame you wanting to live close to downtown, I work from home so commute doesn't matter for me and my wife. I just want the elementary school to be within 5 minutes.

I would definitely ask about spray foam. I contacted DJK and will meet with them.

We definitely use our A/C a few months of the year. We have used windows maybe the past 1 month, but May through at least most of September is very hot. Winters are of course brutal

[damba]

Originally Posted by bellhead

No, I pointed out before I have lived in Chicago before and grew up south of Toledo in Ohio so I am very familiar with the climate.

I know there are times the climate hits the upper 90's and will stay in the 90's for days on end. The difference is up there it does cool down at night unlike here. In July and August it will sometimes be 91 degrees at 11 o'clock at night, and then 81 at sunrise. You'll never see that in Chicago or anywhere in the upper midwest.

You clearly weren't up here this summer. 2016 is one of the hottest years on record for the US.

Even if the temperatures were going lower than the 80s at night around Chi-town, the high humidity still had most folks running their AC.

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by qfeverq

I would definitely ask about spray foam. I contacted DJK and will meet with them.

We definitely use our A/C a few months of the year. We have used windows maybe the past 1 month, but May through at least most of September is very hot. Winters are of course brutal

Check out a youtube.com video on it and see how it works. It doesn't leave any little space for air to escape vs. hand installed batts and blown fiberglass.

I have a 3800 square foot house in Savannah and my highest electric bill was $304 this summer. I have a spray foamed attic. My neighbors similar square footage average $500.

[qfeverq]

Originally Posted by bellhead

Check out a youtube.com video on it and see how it works. It doesn't leave any little space for air to escape vs. hand installed batts and blown fiberglass.

I have a 3800 square foot house in Savannah and my highest electric bill was $304 this summer. I have a spray foamed attic. My neighbors similar square footage average $500.

Oh my gosh! Is that how much it costs to cool a 3800 sq ft home!? We are in a 2000 sq ft townhouse plus a finished basement and our electric bill was $65. We have Ecobee thermostat. Wife stays at home to watch the 2 year old. We have gas that is separate but maybe $20/mo. $300 a month is insane!

[bellhead]

Originally Posted by qfeverq

Oh my gosh! Is that how much it costs to cool a 3800 sq ft home!? We are in a 2000 sq ft townhouse plus a finished basement and our electric bill was $65. We have Ecobee thermostat. Wife stays at home to watch the 2 year old. We have gas that is separate but maybe $20/mo. $300 a month is insane!

June/July/August the high each day is in the mid to high 90's with 80% humidity. It's brutal, think the opposite of a Chicago winter.

October/November/February/March/April/May are the really good months down here, the low is high 50's and it's 80 degrees 9 out of 10 days.