"Critical" New Home Design Tips &
Pitfalls Report

Are you looking for home design tips and ideas?  Do you want to make sure your home is designed correctly and will work during construction like it's drawn on paper?

If you are building a new home you MUST ask yourself these questions:

• What is the average bedroom size? 

• How do I know for sure that my stairs will reach the second floor?

• What is an 8/12, 12/12, 3/12, roof pitch and how does it apply to my home?

• What size room do I need for a safe room and how is it constructed?

• When I'm asked, "Do you want a hip or gable roof with dormers?"  What does that mean?"

• How small can a 1/2 bath be and still have room for the toilet, sink, and door?

• And MANY other critical design questions..... 

First of all I want to tell you my business is not civil engineering, house designing, or energy consulting.  Although my credentials are all of the above, I am in the service business.  My job is to make sure you get what you want, how you want it.  I'm in the business of helping you make your dream home a reality.

With my custom home plans drawn to your specifications, you will be able to see your home in 3 dimensions giving you peace of mind knowing what your home will look like before it's built.

Do you have a plan, sketch, or idea of what you want in your dream home? Your home is probably the biggest investment you will ever make.  Don't settle for less.  Choose the best!

With my 100% customized, construction ready house plans, designed precisely how you want them, you’ll watch your ideas become a reality.

Let me ask you a few questions:

• Do you need a construction ready, full set of house plans?  

• Do you have an idea of what you want for your new home, but need someone to draw your plans?

• Would you like to have your heating and cooling system properly sized and a written guarantee on your average monthly heating and cooling costs? Did you know, 90% of the time I can save the homeowner at least 1 ton on their heating and cooling system by sizing it correctly? That’s $2000-$5000 savings!

Let me draw your house plans and you will receive a quality set of plans drawn to your specifications that is guaranteed to have low utility bills!

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 Why Choose Phillip Rye for your blueprints?

Rye House Plan Design Featured In
"Arkansas Green Guide"

During the planning process we will discuss the following construction items:

• Heating and cooling methods: Solar heating, air-to-air heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps.

• Insulation: SIP's (Structural Insulated Panels), cellulose insulation, spray foam, and ICF's (Insulated Concrete Forms)

• Energy efficient windows, framing techniques, water heaters, passive solar design, radiant barrier roof decking, and air infiltration.

    

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What's The Safest Room In Your Home?
 

Being prepared for severe weather conditions goes beyond buying batteries and stocking up on bottled water during the storm season.  If a tornado suddenly comes through your town or a hurricane lands on your door step, where will you and your family go?

Unfortunately, masonry, framing, and sheetrock are no match for 200 mph, destructive winds and airborne debris.  If you are searching for someone that understands storm rooms and, more importantly, how precious life can be, I will work with you on getting a very specific, low cost, storm room that will protect you and your family during the worst of storms.

This storm room:

• Meets all FEMA standards and can withstand winds produced by F5 tornadoes.

• It's easy to finish out as a room of your home, can be wired and plumbed.

• Radio, TV, or cell phones can be used inside the room.

• Takes the place of a closet or storage space without notice.

During the design process we will discuss your needs of a storm shelter and I can incorporate the design into your custom home plans.

 

 

GREEN BUILDING/
HOME ENERGY ANALYSIS

   Heating and Air Systems
Bigger Isn’t Better

Does your house have cold and hot spots? Is a basement bedroom always cold or damp feeling? Is an upstairs bedroom always hotter than the rest of your home? According to recent studies, 95% of new air-conditioning installations fail in regard to operating efficiency, with more than 70% of systems improperly sized or installed.

Heat Flows Downhill

Just like water, you can say that heat ALWAYS flows downhill, or from high energy (warm) to lower energy (cool). You see, heat will build up until it can find a cooler place to go. When you open your front door in the summer, heat rushes in. The cold air doesn’t rush out. Open your door in the winter, the heated air rushes out. Heat builds up in your home due to sunlight, people, appliances, etc. In the summer we want to get this heat out and replace it with nice conditioned air.

Residential air-conditioning systems are made up of indoor and outdoor systems connected by pipes that circulate a refrigerant such as Freon or Puron. Without getting into technical details, the compressor in the system compresses the liquid refrigerant. By manipulating pressure and temperature, the indoor unit can absorb heat out of the house or extract heat into the house depending on the season.

In addition to conditioning the air, air conditioners serve another important function. They dehumidify the air. In the same way moisture condenses on the side of a cold glass of water sitting outside on a hot day, air conditioners extract moisture from warm, humid air and deliver it outside the house through a evaporator coil.
 

Oversize units waste money and will not
dehumidify your home.

Oversized systems satisfy the temperature at the thermostat so quickly that very little moisture is removed from your home. This is known as short cycling. Short cycling is more of a problem in the southern US in humid climates. Short cycling also causes large peak demands on electrical supply systems.

Air conditioning units are least efficient when they first start up. It takes 15-20 minutes for a system to reach peak operating efficiency. Oversized units run shorter cycles so more time is spent running in the least efficient part of the cycle.

Shorter cycling and high humidity in your home equals an uncomfortable home and HIGH electric bills! At a cost of around $2000 per ton, oversized units cost considerably more. Why pay for a 5 ton system when 3 tons will do? That’s at least a $4000 savings!
 

Rye Home Energy Consultants Wants To Save
You Money! Lots Of It!!

So how do we determine the correct and guaranteed size of heating and cooling system you need? On new construction we take your home plans and run them through our computer using ACCA’s (Air Conditioning Contractors Of America) Manual J Residential Load Calculations. This is how we arrive at room-by-room totals for heating and cooling needs for your home. Manual J calculations are VERY IMPORTANT because you cannot design a duct system properly without these calculations. Duct systems installed without Manual J calculations are what we call “the Bubba method”. Bubba the contractor looks at your 3000 sq. ft. home and says, “Yep, you need 6 tons”. Some of you are smiling right now and thinking, that’s exactly what he said.

Now you tell me. How does he know this? HE DOESN’T! You may need 9 tons, or 6 tons, or even 3 tons. Do not let someone guess at the size system you need.

Manual J calculations takes into account solar-heat gains, direction the house is facing and orientation to the sun and shading, which can greatly affect the loads needed. We also take into account window sizes, ceiling heights, wall insulation, floor insulation, foundation type, ceiling insulation, and everything else that can affect the heat generated in your home.
 

Why do electric cooperatives all over the
country love what we teach?

Here is one reason why electric cooperatives all across the country love what we teach. Build your house energy efficient, let us size the heating and cooling system for your home, and you will enjoy a comfortable home with low utility bills.

So how does this help electric companies you may ask? See, when an electric company builds a power generating plant it must be designed for the maximum peak loads even if it only happens once a year. Right from the start they are already spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars more than they should have to.

Ever wonder why places like California have brown-outs during a hot summer? It’s because the power generating plants cannot keep up with the demand for electricity. Almost every single building in the state is calling for maximum cooling at the same time. Now remember, this may only happen once a year, BUT they have to build the plant large enough to handle this one peak.

When you build your home like we teach those peak demands are kept to a minimum, and when there is a peak it’s much lower because the amount of electricity needed is less. Which takes more electricity? 500,000 homes with 5 ton systems or 3 ton systems? You get the point?

Oh, and one other thing! Now we don’t have to import nearly as much coal from other countries to power the plants and now we can reduce the amount of emissions coming from the power plants.
 

While the home energy analysis is an optional service when I draw your plans, you can't afford NOT to do it. 

Each day thousands of homeowners live the American dream and start to build their new home.  However, they overlook one of the most important steps in the home building process.  They allow their contractor, who usually knows nothing about energy efficiency, to guess at the size of heating and cooling system they need for their home.

An incorrectly sized heating and cooling system results in

WHAT DO I GET WITH THE

ENERGY ANALYSIS?

Everything you need to know about the energy
 efficiency of your home.

When we run the energy calculations on your home we enter in all the important information that affects the heating and cooling loads on your home.  We look at the direction the house faces, window sizes, foundation types, ceiling heights, room sizes, exposed exterior wall, room sizes, and other design aspects.

We will return your set of plans along with a detailed energy specification list and a written guarantee on your average heating and cooling costs. 

Our specifications include requirements for:

• Floor insulation

• Wall insulation

• Caulking

• Ceiling Insulation

• Lighting

• Windows

• Ductwork / return air sizing

• Water heaters

• Roof decking

• Energy efficient framing techniques

We normally charge 15 cents per sq. ft. (heated and cooled) to size your heating and cooling system and give you a written guarantee on your average heating and cooling costs.

However, if I draw your plans that is discounted to 10 cents per sq. ft. 
That's over 30% savings!

We have done this hundreds of times all across America and never had one come back.

Already have your house plans?

It is important to note that even if you already have your completed house plans we will run the Manual J calculations, size the heating and cooling system for your home, and give you a written guarantee on your average monthly heating and cooling costs.  This cost is 15 cents per sq. ft. living area.

CONTACT ME TO DISCOVER THE ADVANTAGES OF CHOOSING RYE HOME DESIGN AND ENERGY CONSULTING

Here's what I want you to do.

To speak to me personally about your house plans, call me at  501-317-9883. 
This number is reserved for house plan inquires only.     
- OR -
Complete the form at the top of this page and I will contact you with more details about my services and how I can help you.  I will send you an email with complete details about what I offer, pricing, and scheduling.

Thanks and God bless!

Phillip Rye