Log cabin energy efficiency (floor, roof, window, hot water heater)

[nico7]

Does anyone know how energy efficient a log cabin is, compared to a regular house with siding, insulation, drywall, etc.? Would our heating costs be much higher?

I've looked online but can only find claims by manufacturers and people selling log cabins, so I'd like a more unbiased source.

Thanks for any help.

[sunsprit]

We've just been through this recently in other threads, so you might want to do a search on this.

But briefly ... you can look up the R-value of classes of wood. As a very general number, 1" of solid wood has an R-1.1-1.4; so a typical wood wall one foot thick would be around R-12.

A lot depends upon the type of log home construction. A "swedish cope" and notched log construction will have a more uniform thickness wall that can be tightly sealed, while other construction where a log just lays upon the next may have thinner areas that require chinking to seal the joint. The R value of the roof depends upon the design of the house ... whether it's exposed roof timbers or an attic space that can be insulated.

I've been in a lot of mountain area log homes that were heated solely by a modest sized wood cookstove which also supplied the domestic hot water. As well, I've been in some that needed a big wood stove for heat and that supplemented a conventional gas-forced air heating system and domestic hot water heater.

All depends upon the design and quality of construction. You can do better, the same, or worse than comparable stick built framed houses ....

[campmom123]

I agree, it depends on design and quality. Don't forget a lot of those nice cabin designs include big vaulted ceilings. you'll be paying to heat all that space as heat rises. Although you can get some nice solar heat from proper window placement (and good quality windows). In floor heat is sometimes put into these types of places too and people tend to like that.