At some point in the future, we would like to build a home. And we even think we have agreed on it being a Geodesic Dome Home. But I have had a fascination with the thought of being reasonably self-sufficient for a long time. I wouldn’t mind growing a garden, hunting occasionally, that sort of thing. (Before you flame me, I hate the thought of hunting for sport, but for food, I think its actually a good thing, but that’s another conversation.) But I will admit that I don’t know very much about powering a home without being hooked up to the local power grid. We’re certainly not about to give up all the trappings of this life, we’ll want a fridge, and computers and the like, but I’d like to minimize my reliance on major corporations.
Now this house probably won’t be where we live currently, mostly because building it would be prohibitively expensive, so it will be in an area that does get cold in the winter. It will certainly have a fireplace, centrally located to maximize its heating capability, but I know I need more. I know about solar, but how effective is it, and is there anything else?
I heard about someone who kept a bunch of rabbits and tried to trap the heat from the rabbits to heat the house. I didn’t actually get all of it sorted out.
There’s just not much out there. If anyone here heats with something othert than oil, wood, gas, and/or electricty I’d be very surprised.
Your first issue will be with your appliances being AC powered while solar panels produce DC power. Yes, you can work around it but you’ll need to consider it.
If you’re able to a locate next to a small/deep body of water a heat pump could be used to cool the house in the summer and heat in the winter. Failing that you could find a system that uses the latent heat of the ground by digging down 50 odd feet. In both cases you run liquid through pipes to the water/ground dump/gain some heat and bring it back. Of course you’ll have to power it somehow.
I suppose the biggest bang for your buck will be to design your house to take advantage of passive solar heating and maximize the insulation of your house. Straw bale homes tend can reach R40 values for their walls which is considerably better than the R12/20 found in stick frame homes.
Part of the reason your not getting answers is that the topic is very broad and involved.
Get yourself a subscription to “Home Power” magazine. Also plenty of info on the Web if you google. Arizona wind and sun (I think ???) has a lot of FAQ type articles on thier site for example.
In most cases, the investment can’t be economically justified if On-grid power is readilly available. Remote areas may be cheaper than bringing in utilities. Even some of the enviromental justification is flawed…many claim that it takes more energy to manufacture PV panels than they well ever produce, for example.
Me, I’d like to do it someday just because I like to tinker.
I’ve always liked the idea of geothermal heating and cooling was smart and applicable in virtually any climate because digging deep enough, the earth temp is pretty stable and consistant around the world.
It won’t eliminate your dependence on utilities, but it should reduce it.
Situate your home near a brook or stream and maybe you could use hydroelectric power. You’d have to get various clearances to dam the stream and the machinery would be costly.
Situate in a windy spot and use a wind turbine.
There’s not much out there that’s cheap and easy. Electricity is one of those things that benefits from economies of scale.
Can it be done? Sure. Worth it? Probably not, evidenced by the lack of people doing it. You can slap solar panels on the roof, stock charged batteries, warm your water with the sun, drive a hybrid vehicle, and keep supplies of heating oil or other fuels. Its a lot of work but if it makes you feel good to be less dependent on large utility companies than its worth it.
I watched the History Channel’s Modern Marvels about energy. The hour-long show focused on all types of power plants ever devised by man. Everything from the water wheel to research into creating fusion reactors was covered.
The last 5 minutes was about Bill & Debbi Lord, with interviews and shots of their house. My jaw hit the floor, and has never left. They’re in friggin Maine! A solar house in Arizona I get, but their solar house in Maine (so they claimed) would often be feeding energy to the power company, instead of drawing power from it. Simply amazing.
In NY there are many houses like this and a program by NYCERTA (Not sure if it is spelt correctly) basically rebated you back the cost of the solar panels. Also IIRC solar panels work better in cold temps, so one in ME should produce more energy then on in AZ on that basis (now factor in rain, snow, cloud cover and the distance from the equator and it might be a different story.)
