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A Farm of My Own:  What Energy/Resource saving things...ideal home?  |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 07 2011 : 07:09:05 AM
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What energy or resource savings things would you do for your ideal home?
I am starting to think about what I would really like to have for our home just incase we are lucky enough to build our own house.
I would like to position the home on the land so we can make use of solar heating the most during winter.
I want an attached permanent greenhouse on the southern side which will be one also a sun room. The greenhouse will have permanent earthen planters to absorb solar heat and we will have solar tiles to also absorb and hold heat. There will be windows between the house and the greenhouse so in the winter we can open the windows during the day and get the benefit of natural heat and humidity, and at night and in the summer, we can close the windows and draw insulating blinds to keep the house at the right temperature.
I would like to have a grey water reclamation system where our bath and laundry water will be routed to an outside tank that will have a slow leach field in our garden.
I also plan on having a gentle slope to the garden so water at the top will slowly mae it's way down to the bottom as well.
I would dearly love to have solar panels, and even a windmill!
I would like to have the northern part of our house partially buried in a hillside to give natural insulation. The house should also have an open floor plan so the central fireplace or wood stove can warm as much of the house as possible.
What do you ladies think? What would you have? Have you ever drawn up blueprints in your daydreams?
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
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Bushel n Peck
True Blue Farmgirl
251 Posts
Tracy
Truly
MT
USA
251 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2011 : 1:54:37 PM
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That home sounds like a dream come true! It would be nice to have the resources to build a home up just right instead of retro-fitting everything to an existing home.
I would definitely build as much as possible into a hillside for nice even temperature control.
A solar water heater would be nice, and the greenhouse /sunroom is essential! My kitchen would be the heart of the house with an old hearth to warm and cook.
I love reading about homesteaders and how they set up their homes with so little. My grandmother had great homesteading stories, they were content with so little compared to today.
my blog: http://bushelnpeck.blogspot.com
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
C. S. Lewis
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Bushel n Peck
True Blue Farmgirl
251 Posts
Tracy
Truly
MT
USA
251 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2011 : 1:57:26 PM
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Oh yeah,
I'd have bee hives on my roof too!
my blog: http://bushelnpeck.blogspot.com
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
C. S. Lewis
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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nabrown42
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Nancy
Caneyville
KY
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2011 : 4:47:54 PM
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Our house in KY isn't oriented so that solar panels will do much good but we are planning on building a greenhouse. We're also putting in a cistern to collect rain water and I plan on using grey water as much as possible. Cold frames and a root cellar are in the plans, too.
Nancy B.
"I've wept in the night for the shortness of sight that to someone's needs I've been blind; but I've yet to feel a twinge of regret for being a little too kind." |
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Bushel n Peck
True Blue Farmgirl
251 Posts
Tracy
Truly
MT
USA
251 Posts |
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Tall Holly
True Blue Farmgirl
2305 Posts
Holly
Worcester
Vermont
USA
2305 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2011 : 6:09:09 PM
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We have gravity fed water from the spring to the house and then it is pumped up into the house. We have a 350 gallon holding tank in the floor level to hold the water.
People here in town have a house that is built into the side of a hill. I think they may have created the hill after choosing the housing site. It is a beautiful house. It is made of poured concrete with the front faced in field stone. the inside floors are all oak that John sanded and finished. they use a minimal amount of wood to heat the place.
We have looked into solar power with a collecting unit like an easel on the ground. Our house is not quite on the right compass points.
We have a farm pond with an overflow pipe that would be ideal for micro hydro and I think for us that would be a better option than wind because it would be more consistent, but it sure is windy up here.
We really like having water in the barns. It is so much better than having to lug it from the house.
If I had had the money I would have had the rigid blown foam insulation put into the house before I put up the sheetrock. The pink stuff settles and the mice live in it and it becomes less insulating over time.
Holly
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Melina
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Melina
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2011 : 05:53:52 AM
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I would definitely have solar, a graywater collection and delivery system, enough land for a large garden, orchard and grape vines, a predator-proof henhouse, and fencing that would keep critters in/out, depending on who we are talking about. It would be situated on a piece of property that's where I can't see the neighbors. I agree with Tracy that I'd love to be able to build from scratch, not forever be retrofitting someone else's ideas. Oh, and a greenhouse big enough to start all my own plants in the spring. Then, I'd put it all in a place that has more than a 90-day growing season!
The morning breeze has secrets to tell you. Do not go back to sleep.
Rumi |
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henlady35904
True Blue Farmgirl
295 Posts
Kim
Gadsden
Alabama
USA
295 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2011 : 07:10:00 AM
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Wow... I sit and dream all the time of how I would love to be self sufficient. I do have chickens, milk goats and hoping in the future to have a cow or two. I dream of solar panels for electricity. My propane water heater went out so I am looking at ways to heat naturally. I dream of a huge stone hearth with a wood stove, and a fp with a bread oven built into it. I also would love to have a summer kitchen outside just for canning! Oh to be wealthy! LOL
Farmgirl Sister #2667 |
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tammyknit
True Blue Farmgirl
135 Posts
Tammy
Reedsburg
WI
USA
135 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2011 : 10:42:38 AM
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Wind power, foam insulation, steel roof, solar power, passive heating and cooling, in-floor heat in basement, wood burning stove.
Tammy |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2011 : 4:03:16 PM
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My from scratch house plan is at minimum earth berm, but I'd go all out with the underground house too. This guy has been kind of an authority on those kinds of plans for a long time http://www.undergroundhousing.com/ He's an odd duck for sure, but he's got great ideas-- especially since I'm plotting a move to tornado country. If I ever get hit by one and need to rebuild, DH and I agreed this is what we're doing.
As for improvements solar is excellent if it's at all possible to take advantage of, but I would also want to run some small windmills to my well to keep my stock tanks and pond filled, run my garden and any crop water too if it could work out.
And this part has nothing to do with sufficiency, but I want a seriously BIG tub. Like japanese style bathing.
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
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MEWolf
True Blue Farmgirl
358 Posts
Margaret
Byers
Colorado
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - Aug 17 2011 : 06:46:40 AM
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For me the ideal home would be small, not over 1800 sq.ft., with tons of storage in all the nooks and crannies, one floor and be efficient in it utility usage and layout. Building products such as SIPs for the walls, ceramic tile, and plaster would be used. The exterior walls would be 12" (or more) thick, and have a metal roof and tile floors. I want as much thermal mass as possible. I would also LOVE to have a masonry heater as a heat source that has a bread oven. The house would have a solar hot water, a water catchment system, and a greywater system for the gardens, and composting toilets.
One can dream, can't one?
Margaret
“Kind hearts are the gardens, kind thoughts are the roots, kind words are the flowers, kind deeds are the fruits. Take care of your garden and keep out the weeds, fill it with sunshine, kind words and kind deeds.” ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1808-1882)
Farmgirl #3020
www.grey-wolf-farm.com |
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batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2011 : 05:25:09 AM
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I would love to have a house that is all in recycled materials such as hay bales or tires or glass bottles or bits of all of that...
Gray water system
wind power
solar panels for hot water
composting toilet
More rain barrels
large eco friendly windows to catch the sun
small solar system to run heat & fans in chicken coops & shop
already have a antique wood cooking stove that is used for mild heat & cooking in the cold months
Bee hives
pigmy goats for mowing grass & brush & for milking
definitely a bigger garden & an orchard
A pond either natural or man made stocked with some fish, frogs ect
I would love to have a home that has a tin roof so I can listen to the rain
a good dirt root cellar
If I had my way I would live totally off the grid, no electricity ect but hubby is military & has lived that way for far to long & won't let me do it...lol....I have lived off grid without all the fancy things & did not miss them....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
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A Farm of My Own: What Energy/Resource saving things...ideal home? |
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What Energy/Resource saving things...ideal home?
