#minergie — Public Fediverse posts

The Minergie Weather Disconnect

When winters were long and cold Minergie seemed like a fantastic idea. They would turn a home into a thermos, blocking all heat loss to save on energy costs and more. Minergie does work extremely well in capturing and holding on to heat, from the sun, washing machine, dish washer and more. You might think “But those aren’t heaters” and you’d be right.

During a heatwave the Minergie thermos has a serious flaw and that is that it requires open windows. Open windows in theory, and practice are easy. Wake up, open the windows, and once outside is warmer than inside close them. Then you keep the ambient temperature low and comfortable.

With a traditional building when you open and ventilate walls and other surfaces lose heat so when you close windows, doors and veluxes it takes a while for heat to radiate back out.

With Minergie heat lingers. You open a window, and you need a high flow of air to cool the air within a room, and you need a huge volume of air to cool the structure itself.

In the last two or three days temperatures have gone down which is fantastic. If you open windows you get 22°c air to cool the environment, or at least the medium of air. Cement and other mediums store heat for varying amounts of time.

Yesterday I was out for the entire day so I didn’t aerate at all. It was interesting to see how flat the temperature graph was. It was around 28.9 for the entire day with .01 of a degree or two variance.

When I mess around with open windows, and ventilation the volume of air changes by two or three degrees, but as soon as I close windows the temperature shoots back up to the base 30°c depending on which sensor I look at.

The hallway that I believe heats all the top floor apartments in winter, also heats them in summer. Overnight I forgot the Aranet sensor in the hallway and saw that it displayed 29°c. Any heat from the hallway radiates upwards into the duplex apartments. That’s why, when I have the opportunity, I ventilate the hallway as well as my apartment.

In scuba diving we learn of the dead air space and why it is important to take deep breaths, rather than shallow ones. The concept is simple. By opening my hallway door, and the balcony door I allow the building to take a deep continuous breath and to expel all of the hot air.

It doesn’t flush the heat from the walls, tiles and concrete, but it does flush the air, and that’s better than not doing anything. It has a psychological benefit, if nothing else.

My frustration with Minergie is that it gets to 30°c and stays at that heat, whether it’s 22°c or 36°c, which, if it’s warm outside is a relief, to some degree, but if it’s 22°C then it acclimates us to tropic heat that is not local. I don’t like that my apartment is 8°c warmer than the outside air in the morning, and that I can’t ventilate in the afternoon, due to my desire not to add yet more heat.

Minergie is forgiving of open windows in winter, for ventilation, but not at the hottest time of day during a heat wave.

It’s important to highlight that I love the heat, and that I can cope comfortably with the heat, as long as I have a hat and a water bottle. The issue with heat waves, and minergie, is that I’m in a building with no natural air flow and where various forms of noise pollution make open windows unpleasant.

In 2003 I was perfectly happy with windows open all day long, and at night I felt fine. In 2026 I can’t keep windows open for the entire day, so heat accumulates.

I theorise that in April and May, when some people spent eight weeks re-building a roof the noise pollution was so great that I kept the windows closed. That’s when I captured the heat, and with three or four heat waves (canicules) in a row it was impossible to release it back into nature.

In a quiet place a Minergie building can breath, but in a noisy village the heat gets trapped and fans are required, to provide the draft that open windows would provide without a carbon footprint.

I suspect that summers, from now on, will be a challenge, for many, in modern buildings that were built for a winter that no longer exists whilst forgetting that cooling is just as important, in summer.

The Minergie Weather Disconnect

When winters were long and cold Minergie seemed like a fantastic idea. They would turn a home into a thermos, blocking all heat loss to save on energy costs and more. Minergie does work extremely well in capturing and holding on to heat, from the sun, washing machine, dish washer and more. You might think “But those aren’t heaters” and you’d be right.

During a heatwave the Minergie thermos has a serious flaw and that is that it requires open windows. Open windows in theory, and practice are easy. Wake up, open the windows, and once outside is warmer than inside close them. Then you keep the ambient temperature low and comfortable.

With a traditional building when you open and ventilate walls and other surfaces lose heat so when you close windows, doors and veluxes it takes a while for heat to radiate back out.

With Minergie heat lingers. You open a window, and you need a high flow of air to cool the air within a room, and you need a huge volume of air to cool the structure itself.

In the last two or three days temperatures have gone down which is fantastic. If you open windows you get 22°c air to cool the environment, or at least the medium of air. Cement and other mediums store heat for varying amounts of time.

Yesterday I was out for the entire day so I didn’t aerate at all. It was interesting to see how flat the temperature graph was. It was around 28.9 for the entire day with .01 of a degree or two variance.

When I mess around with open windows, and ventilation the volume of air changes by two or three degrees, but as soon as I close windows the temperature shoots back up to the base 30°c depending on which sensor I look at.

The hallway that I believe heats all the top floor apartments in winter, also heats them in summer. Overnight I forgot the Aranet sensor in the hallway and saw that it displayed 29°c. Any heat from the hallway radiates upwards into the duplex apartments. That’s why, when I have the opportunity, I ventilate the hallway as well as my apartment.

In scuba diving we learn of the dead air space and why it is important to take deep breaths, rather than shallow ones. The concept is simple. By opening my hallway door, and the balcony door I allow the building to take a deep continuous breath and to expel all of the hot air.

It doesn’t flush the heat from the walls, tiles and concrete, but it does flush the air, and that’s better than not doing anything. It has a psychological benefit, if nothing else.

My frustration with Minergie is that it gets to 30°c and stays at that heat, whether it’s 22°c or 36°c, which, if it’s warm outside is a relief, to some degree, but if it’s 22°C then it acclimates us to tropic heat that is not local. I don’t like that my apartment is 8°c warmer than the outside air in the morning, and that I can’t ventilate in the afternoon, due to my desire not to add yet more heat.

Minergie is forgiving of open windows in winter, for ventilation, but not at the hottest time of day during a heat wave.

It’s important to highlight that I love the heat, and that I can cope comfortably with the heat, as long as I have a hat and a water bottle. The issue with heat waves, and minergie, is that I’m in a building with no natural air flow and where various forms of noise pollution make open windows unpleasant.

In 2003 I was perfectly happy with windows open all day long, and at night I felt fine. In 2026 I can’t keep windows open for the entire day, so heat accumulates.

I theorise that in April and May, when some people spent eight weeks re-building a roof the noise pollution was so great that I kept the windows closed. That’s when I captured the heat, and with three or four heat waves (canicules) in a row it was impossible to release it back into nature.

In a quiet place a Minergie building can breath, but in a noisy village the heat gets trapped and fans are required, to provide the draft that open windows would provide without a carbon footprint.

I suspect that summers, from now on, will be a challenge, for many, in modern buildings that were built for a winter that no longer exists whilst forgetting that cooling is just as important, in summer.

On Running in the Evening During a Heatwave

Rationally it makes sense to go for a run when the sun is setting because the heat from the sun is lower. In theory this means that the body is dealing with a cooler environment.

In practice, when I go for evening rides and runs my body remains warm for hours, and that heat, during a heat wave, in a minergie building makes it unbearable.

For a few days it was cooling, and I had stopped using fans. I questioned why. I suspect that it is because when the building is exposed to heat wave temperatures for several days the air heats, but eventually the buildings’ structure begins to radiate its own stored heat energy. This means that you’re dealing with hot air, which isn’t bad. It’s when the building becomes a radiator that it becomes unpleasant.

When I was scuba diving the Léman was 5°c from 5-10m down all year round but now it has risen to 6.5°c. In the Alps there are roockfalls that are making rock climbing and hiking dangerous. Near Oechinensee rockfalls were seen heading for the lake.

We see images of England parched and dried up due to there being no rain for over a month.

England, and Europe are much warmer, and drier now. There was a news item about why fountains were turned off around the Vallée de Joux and about the desicated sugarbeet crops.

It’s worth remarking that we’re in a drought, and a heat wave at the same time. It’s hot, and dry. It is a good opportunity for natural history units to document this, so far, exceptional summer.Within two days the temperature should drop.

On Running in the Evening During a Heatwave

Rationally it makes sense to go for a run when the sun is setting because the heat from the sun is lower. In theory this means that the body is dealing with a cooler environment.

In practice, when I go for evening rides and runs my body remains warm for hours, and that heat, during a heat wave, in a minergie building makes it unbearable.

For a few days it was cooling, and I had stopped using fans. I questioned why. I suspect that it is because when the building is exposed to heat wave temperatures for several days the air heats, but eventually the buildings’ structure begins to radiate its own stored heat energy. This means that you’re dealing with hot air, which isn’t bad. It’s when the building becomes a radiator that it becomes unpleasant.

When I was scuba diving the Léman was 5°c from 5-10m down all year round but now it has risen to 6.5°c. In the Alps there are roockfalls that are making rock climbing and hiking dangerous. Near Oechinensee rockfalls were seen heading for the lake.

We see images of England parched and dried up due to there being no rain for over a month.

England, and Europe are much warmer, and drier now. There was a news item about why fountains were turned off around the Vallée de Joux and about the desicated sugarbeet crops.

It’s worth remarking that we’re in a drought, and a heat wave at the same time. It’s hot, and dry. It is a good opportunity for natural history units to document this, so far, exceptional summer.Within two days the temperature should drop.

The Irrational Decision to Ride in a Storm

It’s worth noting that after my historical post was deleted from a group chat I aborted my run with that group. The reasons were rational, rather than emotional. Something else came up and by the time that something was over the run had started. I also expected it to rain very heavily and storm.

Yesterday the forecast was similar but I chose not to just sit at home and miss out. I could see that a storm was coming for 18:50 and again a few minutes later. I thought “If I wait too long it will be cancelled and I will have had a second day in a row without sports. That’s why I got dressed and cycled to the shop. I said “I expect the ride is cancelled”, and it was.

For the ride home I took the long way round. From Nyon to Duiller, from Duiller to Trelex, to Gingins, towards Cheserex and Tranchepied before heading back down with Signy back to Eysins.

During the ride I could feel tiny hail stones falling on me and my fear wasn’t the cold, or getting wet and covered in mud splatter. It was that the hailstones could become bigger and do real damage.

I saw someone, on an e-bike, sheltering from the rain and hail but I kept going, first because it was tiny, and second because there was no real shelter anyway.

Another reason for cycling in the nice, refreshing storm is that I spend a lot of time in a minergie building, that as we type is heated to 29.8°c. This means that I am sweltering twenty four hours a day. They have health warnings for cars, but in my eyes, a minergie has the same oppressive heat, and yet it qualifies as a home.

The rational of cycling in the storm was that it would cool me down nicely. It might even cool me so deeply that when I got home the minergie oven, as I call it, would feel comfortable, rather than oppressive. The reality is that my body needed a break from the heat of the apartment that was designed for a winter that hasn’t existed for a decade or three. It was designed to trap heat. In a heatwave that design feature means that you go from May to Octobre in 27-30°c heat.

They spoke of canicules, and breaks from the canicules, but in a minergie building there is no respite from the unbearable heat. Once it’s hot, you’re cooking until Autumn, I hate that design flaw. I hate that the engineers and architects didn’t plan for summer.

The problem is serious enough for [architecture schools in Switzerland](https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/2026/article/rechauffement-comment-la-formation-en-architecture-evolue-29318598.html) to update the learning plan. I can’t believe that professional architects didn’t read around the subject, and think about this until now. It was in plenty of documentaries and other sources over many, many millennia.

I wasn’t worried about the storm because the air was warm, and if the air is warm then rain, even if it contains tiny hailstones, is refreshing, and a welcome break from the heat. I turned on the fan as I wrote this. I’m sitting, not doing anything, and it’s 30°c according to an Aranet sensor and 28.2°c according to Netatmo in another location in the same room.

There is a debate in France and Switzerland about air conditioning, but for me that is an absurd solution for three reasons.

The first reason is that air conditioning a building with a poor design wastes a huge amount of energy. Small changes would provide more resilient improvements. Shutters, blinds, aerating at night.

That’s the second reason. The night are cool, down to 19-20°c. This means that by opening windows fully, and allowing the cool air to cool the structure at night, you cool minergie ovens enough, for them to charge during the day, and then lose it at night.

The third reason is Human error. A neighbour left his south facing window fully open to the morning sun and the balcony heats to 40°c or more, as does the interior of the apartment, if you aerate and keep the wrong windows open to the sun. Shutters are key to controlling heat. If you run AC to fight against the sun, then you’re wasting energy.

During a heatwave walking from fountain to fountain, and cycling from fountain to fountain are rational things to do. Outside there is a breeze, and if you’re by a wood, with a stream, then you have the cooling of evapotranspiration.

Failing that storms are great. One of the things that struck me, as I got nearer to home is that I was riding through puddles but the water splashing from the puddles onto and into my shoes was warm. Puddles were filled with tepid water. The roads got so warm over a series of weeks that when it rained the roads had enough heat energy to heat puddles, and puddles were hot enough for me to notice.

I have never noticed that before.

The next step, after yesterday’s ride is to clean and maintain the bike properly, to ensure that I get rid of grit and grime. People avoid the rain for a reason. The rational approach is to use fountains, rather than clouds, for cooling. This won’t be a persistent habit.

The Irrational Decision to Ride in a Storm

It’s worth noting that after my historical post was deleted from a group chat I aborted my run with that group. The reasons were rational, rather than emotional. Something else came up and by the time that something was over the run had started. I also expected it to rain very heavily and storm.

Yesterday the forecast was similar but I chose not to just sit at home and miss out. I could see that a storm was coming for 18:50 and again a few minutes later. I thought “If I wait too long it will be cancelled and I will have had a second day in a row without sports. That’s why I got dressed and cycled to the shop. I said “I expect the ride is cancelled”, and it was.

For the ride home I took the long way round. From Nyon to Duiller, from Duiller to Trelex, to Gingins, towards Cheserex and Tranchepied before heading back down with Signy back to Eysins.

During the ride I could feel tiny hail stones falling on me and my fear wasn’t the cold, or getting wet and covered in mud splatter. It was that the hailstones could become bigger and do real damage.

I saw someone, on an e-bike, sheltering from the rain and hail but I kept going, first because it was tiny, and second because there was no real shelter anyway.

Another reason for cycling in the nice, refreshing storm is that I spend a lot of time in a minergie building, that as we type is heated to 29.8°c. This means that I am sweltering twenty four hours a day. They have health warnings for cars, but in my eyes, a minergie has the same oppressive heat, and yet it qualifies as a home.

The rational of cycling in the storm was that it would cool me down nicely. It might even cool me so deeply that when I got home the minergie oven, as I call it, would feel comfortable, rather than oppressive. The reality is that my body needed a break from the heat of the apartment that was designed for a winter that hasn’t existed for a decade or three. It was designed to trap heat. In a heatwave that design feature means that you go from May to Octobre in 27-30°c heat.

They spoke of canicules, and breaks from the canicules, but in a minergie building there is no respite from the unbearable heat. Once it’s hot, you’re cooking until Autumn, I hate that design flaw. I hate that the engineers and architects didn’t plan for summer.

The problem is serious enough for [architecture schools in Switzerland](https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/2026/article/rechauffement-comment-la-formation-en-architecture-evolue-29318598.html) to update the learning plan. I can’t believe that professional architects didn’t read around the subject, and think about this until now. It was in plenty of documentaries and other sources over many, many millennia.

I wasn’t worried about the storm because the air was warm, and if the air is warm then rain, even if it contains tiny hailstones, is refreshing, and a welcome break from the heat. I turned on the fan as I wrote this. I’m sitting, not doing anything, and it’s 30°c according to an Aranet sensor and 28.2°c according to Netatmo in another location in the same room.

There is a debate in France and Switzerland about air conditioning, but for me that is an absurd solution for three reasons.

The first reason is that air conditioning a building with a poor design wastes a huge amount of energy. Small changes would provide more resilient improvements. Shutters, blinds, aerating at night.

That’s the second reason. The night are cool, down to 19-20°c. This means that by opening windows fully, and allowing the cool air to cool the structure at night, you cool minergie ovens enough, for them to charge during the day, and then lose it at night.

The third reason is Human error. A neighbour left his south facing window fully open to the morning sun and the balcony heats to 40°c or more, as does the interior of the apartment, if you aerate and keep the wrong windows open to the sun. Shutters are key to controlling heat. If you run AC to fight against the sun, then you’re wasting energy.

During a heatwave walking from fountain to fountain, and cycling from fountain to fountain are rational things to do. Outside there is a breeze, and if you’re by a wood, with a stream, then you have the cooling of evapotranspiration.

Failing that storms are great. One of the things that struck me, as I got nearer to home is that I was riding through puddles but the water splashing from the puddles onto and into my shoes was warm. Puddles were filled with tepid water. The roads got so warm over a series of weeks that when it rained the roads had enough heat energy to heat puddles, and puddles were hot enough for me to notice.

I have never noticed that before.

The next step, after yesterday’s ride is to clean and maintain the bike properly, to ensure that I get rid of grit and grime. People avoid the rain for a reason. The rational approach is to use fountains, rather than clouds, for cooling. This won’t be a persistent habit.

Twenty Eight Point Eight Degrees

This morning I woke at 4 to have a shower, have breakfast, and then drive to Morges for a 6am run. As a result I had no opportunity to open windows, aerate or anything else. I kept every room closed so each room is a compartment.

The result, is that the temperature in my flat has been completely flat, varrying by .01 of a degree throughout the day, rather than huge fluctuations.

If I blast in the morning, then the temperature plummets, before flying back up to within half a degree. If I open windows, to vent the hot air I also end up heating the apartment.

Intuitively you want to open windows, you want air to flow but by doing this you get warm air to enter, rather than exit. It’s counterintuitive to trust the building to control its own temperature.

I checked the hallway and it is at 29.5°c. Meanwhile the bedroom is at 30°c or more. In all there is a 2 degree difference from room to room, and from one floor to the next.

Netatmo and other apps have a clear message. 28.8 is too warm and most humans will agree with that, especially when there is no movement of air, or very little. The temperature is uncomfortable unless you’re wearing very little. Trousers and t-shirts are sweaty. Shorts are fine. Being shirtless is fine.

It’s interesting that pouring water on arms, neck and face have a refreshing effect, even if the tap water is warm. Instead of relying on evaporation from the body alone, helping it with a splash of water every so often feels good.

We read about taking several showers during a heatwave but that wastes water. If you cool strategic parts, like the neck, arm, and scalp then you’re cool. The static heat becomes more comfortable.

In the end we have to trust the machine to do what it’s meant to, without micro-managing it.

Twenty Eight Point Eight Degrees

This morning I woke at 4 to have a shower, have breakfast, and then drive to Morges for a 6am run. As a result I had no opportunity to open windows, aerate or anything else. I kept every room closed so each room is a compartment.

The result, is that the temperature in my flat has been completely flat, varrying by .01 of a degree throughout the day, rather than huge fluctuations.

If I blast in the morning, then the temperature plummets, before flying back up to within half a degree. If I open windows, to vent the hot air I also end up heating the apartment.

Intuitively you want to open windows, you want air to flow but by doing this you get warm air to enter, rather than exit. It’s counterintuitive to trust the building to control its own temperature.

I checked the hallway and it is at 29.5°c. Meanwhile the bedroom is at 30°c or more. In all there is a 2 degree difference from room to room, and from one floor to the next.

Netatmo and other apps have a clear message. 28.8 is too warm and most humans will agree with that, especially when there is no movement of air, or very little. The temperature is uncomfortable unless you’re wearing very little. Trousers and t-shirts are sweaty. Shorts are fine. Being shirtless is fine.

It’s interesting that pouring water on arms, neck and face have a refreshing effect, even if the tap water is warm. Instead of relying on evaporation from the body alone, helping it with a splash of water every so often feels good.

We read about taking several showers during a heatwave but that wastes water. If you cool strategic parts, like the neck, arm, and scalp then you’re cool. The static heat becomes more comfortable.

In the end we have to trust the machine to do what it’s meant to, without micro-managing it.

On est en Novembre, le brouillard ne monte pas au dessus de 800m, le résultat avec une maison #minergie-p c’est qu’on a toujours pas utilisé une bûche 🪵 de bois pour chauffer, il fait 22, et y a de l’eau chaude à gogo (panneaux thermiques). 🤩

On est en Novembre, le brouillard ne monte pas au dessus de 800m, le résultat avec une maison #minergie-p c’est qu’on a toujours pas utilisé une bûche 🪵 de bois pour chauffer, il fait 22, et y a de l’eau chaude à gogo (panneaux thermiques). 🤩

On est en Novembre, le brouillard ne monte pas au dessus de 800m, le résultat avec une maison #minergie-p c’est qu’on a toujours pas utilisé une bûche 🪵 de bois pour chauffer, il fait 22, et y a de l’eau chaude à gogo (panneaux thermiques). 🤩

On est en Novembre, le brouillard ne monte pas au dessus de 800m, le résultat avec une maison #minergie-p c’est qu’on a toujours pas utilisé une bûche 🪵 de bois pour chauffer, il fait 22, et y a de l’eau chaude à gogo (panneaux thermiques). 🤩

Grosse #Fenster 🪟 sind beliebt, haben aber auch Nachteile. Gute #Architektur ist gefragt, um Tageslicht und den Blick ins Grüne zu ermöglichen, ohne Überhitzung im Sommer zu riskieren. Beispiele zeigen: #Haustechnik ist in vielen Fällen nicht nötig oder kann auf ein Minimum beschränkt werden.

https://www.energie-experten.ch/de/wohnen/detail/fenster-wie-viel-glas-ist-genug.html

#Fensterersatz #Tageslicht #Hitzeschutz #Minergie #nachhaltigesBauen

Grosse #Fenster 🪟 sind beliebt, haben aber auch Nachteile. Gute #Architektur ist gefragt, um Tageslicht und den Blick ins Grüne zu ermöglichen, ohne Überhitzung im Sommer zu riskieren. Beispiele zeigen: #Haustechnik ist in vielen Fällen nicht nötig oder kann auf ein Minimum beschränkt werden.

https://www.energie-experten.ch/de/wohnen/detail/fenster-wie-viel-glas-ist-genug.html

#Fensterersatz #Tageslicht #Hitzeschutz #Minergie #nachhaltigesBauen

Grosse #Fenster 🪟 sind beliebt, haben aber auch Nachteile. Gute #Architektur ist gefragt, um Tageslicht und den Blick ins Grüne zu ermöglichen, ohne Überhitzung im Sommer zu riskieren. Beispiele zeigen: #Haustechnik ist in vielen Fällen nicht nötig oder kann auf ein Minimum beschränkt werden.

https://www.energie-experten.ch/de/wohnen/detail/fenster-wie-viel-glas-ist-genug.html

#Fensterersatz #Tageslicht #Hitzeschutz #Minergie #nachhaltigesBauen

4 / 7: Insulate Britain war die erste grosse Bewegung die mit "wir kleben uns auf Strassen" in Europa startete (ja ich zähle GB auch zu Europa).

Die Forderung macht wenn man die bauliche Substanz der Häuser in GB anschaut für GB definitiv Sinn.

Bei uns in der #schweiz sind aber auch Altbau Häuser in der Regel gut isoliert und Neubau ohne #minergie Standard gibt es nicht.

Eine Forderung, man sollte Öl- oder Gasheizungen ersetzen wäre wohl klüger, da die in der Schweiz ein grosses Problem sind.

4 / 7: Insulate Britain war die erste grosse Bewegung die mit "wir kleben uns auf Strassen" in Europa startete (ja ich zähle GB auch zu Europa).

Die Forderung macht wenn man die bauliche Substanz der Häuser in GB anschaut für GB definitiv Sinn.

Bei uns in der #schweiz sind aber auch Altbau Häuser in der Regel gut isoliert und Neubau ohne #minergie Standard gibt es nicht.

Eine Forderung, man sollte Öl- oder Gasheizungen ersetzen wäre wohl klüger, da die in der Schweiz ein grosses Problem sind.

4 / 7: Insulate Britain war die erste grosse Bewegung die mit "wir kleben uns auf Strassen" in Europa startete (ja ich zähle GB auch zu Europa).

Die Forderung macht wenn man die bauliche Substanz der Häuser in GB anschaut für GB definitiv Sinn.

Bei uns in der #schweiz sind aber auch Altbau Häuser in der Regel gut isoliert und Neubau ohne #minergie Standard gibt es nicht.

Eine Forderung, man sollte Öl- oder Gasheizungen ersetzen wäre wohl klüger, da die in der Schweiz ein grosses Problem sind.

En comparaison suisse, certaines communes ont été d'excellentes élèves du label #Minergie, qui promeut l'efficacité #énergétique des #bâtiments. La ville de #Delémont, dans le #Jura, en fait partie. Son secret? L'exemplarité https://www.rts.ch/info/suisse/13650245-la-ville-de-delemont-parmi-les-bonnes-eleves-du-label-minergie.html