And by using special trusses that raise the height of the roof at the outside walls, he was able to achieve this R-value over the entire ceiling area. The Dibble home uses only about a third of that. A view from the northeast shows the earth berms that help insulate the Dibble home from the cold Wisconsin winters. In 1994, Bob and Lila spent the month of February in South America. Although many new homes in southern Wisconsin incorporate central air conditioning, the Dibbles rely on their passive solar features to beat the heat.
Air coming in the windows at night cools the concrete walls and tile floor.
The stove draws combustion air through a duct opening directly to the outside. The Dibbles also installed electric baseboard heaters throughout the house. During the first several years in their home, they rarely used the electric heat and relied almost completely on the sun and two cords of wood. In recent years, they have been less diligent about stoking the stove, and are thus using less wood and a bit more electricity. About 1.5 cords of wood provides half their space heating needs.