hi
We are designing 2 story house in melbourne and are deciding where to place the staircase. With energy efficiency, air circulation and practicality in mind, where is the best place to position a U shaped return staircase? The options we are looking at is:
1. adjacent to the main living area to the south side - to maximise the stack affect in summer (openable window at top of stairs) i'm imagining this would be great in summer for air cirulation but in winter it would be a big source of heat loss through rising heat, closing off the stairwell is not a practical or elegent solution with multiple kids running around
2. off the main entrance to the north side where we can zone off this area from the main living area in a corridor. I'm assuming this would be better in winter but it would reduce the air cirulation and reduce the impact of the stack affect.
so, how effective is the stack affect in a normal two story dwelling, in a new house thats super insulated and air tight, how much of an issue is heat loss through an open stairwell?
Appriciate the feedback, especially some real world experiances
Thanks Mick