If you ask any Kansas City residents, they will tell you that the region's winters are freezing, windy, and snowy. Given these harsh winters, it's more important than ever to design a custom home that can easily handle the city's winter weather.
To help you with this, our team at Dusty Rhodes Homes has detailed the best home design for Kansas City winters and shared winter-proof home design tips. So read on to learn how to design a home for cold weather and the features you should consider to ensure you and your family are always cozy and comfortable when winter roll in.
When considering a move to Kansas City, people often wonder how best to design a custom home for Kansas City winters. If you’re one of these people, you’ll want to read below and learn the home design tips for winter weather we’ve put together:
The best house design for cold climates features proper insulation. We recommend using high-quality home insulation as it prevents heat loss, minimizes energy consumption, and helps maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. A licensed professional home builder like Dusty Rhodes Homes can help you choose the best insulation options for Kansas City homes to install on your roof, walls, windows, and doors, as these different home parts require insulation with varying R ratings.
Usually, the higher the R rating, the better it will insulate your home and may even lower energy costs. So, by insulating your custom home properly, you can stay warm and cut expenses.
Winter-proofing a custom home in Kansas City means installing double or triple-glazed windows that feature several layers of glass with insulating gas fillings. Double or triple-glazed windows are the best windows for Kansas City winter weather based on expert opinions and builders like Dusty Rhodes Homes.
These windows are not only aesthetically pleasing and energy efficient but also help provide added insulation to a home. They do this by minimizing heat transfer between indoor and outdoor environments, meaning the warmth you’ve built up in your house won’t escape through your windows as easily.
In addition, it might be a good idea to design a custom home with double—or triple-glazed windows with low-emissivity coatings. These coatings are specially designed to enhance a window's energy efficiency further, as they can reflect heat inside a house during cold and dreary winters.
With temperatures dropping as low as single digits at the height of winter in Kansas City, it's crucial to consider adding efficient heating systems to your winter home heating design.
One of the best Kansas City custom home heating tips we can give you is to consider options like radiant floor heating, geothermal heating, and forced-air heating systems. These systems are best for keeping a home warm without breaking the bank.
You will also need to ensure that your chosen heating system is appropriately sized to heat your entire home without uneven heating and energy wastage.
When designing your custom home to handle Kansas City winters, consider building orientation. Few people realize it, but the orientation of your house can impact how warm it is in the winter.
So, speaking with a design-build firm like Dusty Rhodes Homes is essential, as they can help you position your home to maximize solar gain, minimize heat loss, and protect against winter's bitter winds.
No matter the climate, smart ventilation is essential, especially in climates like Kansas City that experience freezing winters. Smart ventilation should be an integral part of your custom home design to keep moisture levels under control during the winter.
Some intelligent ventilation systems you can consider include heat-recovery ventilators and energy-recovery ventilators. Both systems extract stale air from your home while bringing in fresh air preheated by recovering energy or heat from the outgoing air.
This complex process reduces your overall energy consumption while keeping your home fresh with clean, breathable air and minimal moisture.
To handle Kansas City winters, consider designing a custom home with features that can make living and thriving in the winter easy.
Below, we’ve shared a few features we consider must-haves for homeowners who are debating designing a custom home that will last you decades through Kansas City winters:
Some home materials are better than others if you build a custom home in Kansas City. To learn a bit about the best materials to consider when designing a home in this region that can withstand the winters, have a look at the following:
It is possible to design a custom home that easily handles Kansas City’s winter weather while making it energy efficient. For example, you can seal all air leaks in the gaps of windows, doors, and vents. Sealing these gaps will help prevent heat from escaping while improving your home's energy efficiency.
You can also install energy-efficient lighting and appliances when designing your custom home. ENERGY Star-certified appliances and LED lighting are known for consuming significantly less energy, which keeps your utility bills in check even during the winter when your usage is higher.
In addition, you should also consider installing smart home technology when designing a home in Kansas City. Smart thermostats, lighting systems, and appliance controls allow you to manage energy consumption effectively. Some systems even learn your routines and adjust settings automatically to maximize efficiency. And you know what this means? Money saved.
Designing a home that handles Kansas City winters isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially if you have no experience in home design. Fortunately, there are design-build firms like Dusty Rhodes Homes that specialize in designing a warm and efficient home in Kansas City that looks good and stands the test of time and the region's vicious winters.
If you’re ready to begin designing a custom home in Kansas City, you can speak with us here. Our firm is more than happy to help you create a home that is warm and cozy in the winter while remaining a comfortable residence year-round.