Posted on 12/04/2014 7:40:18 AM PST by Theoria
Was It Too Soon to Be Sustainable?
Warren, Vt. — Dotty Kyle and Eric Brattstrom had an ambitious vision for the home they would build when they sold their bed-and-breakfast here seven years ago and retired.
They were environmental and community advocates, so they wanted it to be as sustainable as possible — ideally net-zero, producing as much energy as it used. And because they would be living on a modest fixed income, they needed to make sure it was inexpensive to maintain.
But they didn’t want to scrimp on luxury or size, so against their architect’s advice they insisted on 5,000 square feet, enough space to accommodate all their children and grandchildren at the same time. And a $30,000 hydraulic elevator, so they could age in place. And a separate apartment for the inevitable time when extra help was needed.
The indoor pool was just for fun.
“We sold a nine-bedroom B&B and then pretty much recreated it right up the street,” said Ms. Kyle, who is now 78, shaking her head with the kind of clarity only hindsight affords.
“I was an idiot and built a house that was way too complicated and labor-intensive,” said Mr. Brattstrom, also 78. “Only a masochist could enjoy it.”
The good news? The house is very inexpensive to operate.
With 71 photovoltaic and eight solar hot-water collectors, there is plenty of free power. In fact, in the seven years they’ve lived here, they’ve never written a check to the public utility for electricity, because they generate more than they consume, sending the overage back into the grid.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
One salient point from this article - calculate the time cost for the green technology as well. You can plow a field with a tractor or horses. The horses will take longer and require a whole lot more time in daily “maintenance”.
As an engineering achievement, it’s very impressive in many ways. However, as a home for a couple who were over 70 when they moved in, it’s just plain nuts.
‘[Instead,]During the coldest months, they’d supplement the system with propane water and air heaters.
“If we did that, and had the same kind of heavy insulation and tight construction we do now,” Mr. Brattstrom said, “our house would be easy to run and cost next to nothing.” ‘
LOL!
Just what I do.
So they went and built a very expensive home. But its OK. Its energy efficient.
So in 30 years, they will break even and begin to see a return on the expenses.
Ooops. I see they are in the 70’s.
Never mind.
We added a solar assisted cooling/heating unit and a solar hot water heater (back up uses heating elements but they've been turned off since the install in Aug) and within the next week or two expect to finish the roof mounted 5kW PV system. Some people go nuts, especially after listening to AlBore. I had a friend who watched his "movie" and decided to sell his small PU truck to buy a prius (I guess since he stopped talking to me shortly after that). I sent him a series of e-mails disputing the movie and then asked him how his selling his truck was going to save the planet? If you don't drive it someone else will and it'll still kill the planet if that is your belief. Sorry to have lost a friend but I guess it wasn't such a deep friendship. ;-)
I am puzzled why the roof was not designed to have a steep pitch so that it would more readily shed snow. With solar power running things, am surprised that some safer system for snow removal was not put in place other than a wooden (slippery) walkway far off the ground. If I was 20 years old I would not want to go up there to clear snow.
But he really got going after reading Al Gore’s 1992 book, “The Earth in Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit.”
Don't do stuff because an idiot with no science or engineering background tells you to.
ROFL......exactly
That’s not even the correct title.
“I was an idiot and built a house that was way too complicated and labor-intensive,”
Yep.
Leaping before looking is usually a bad plan.
The least he could do, to save himself some labour, is putting tarps on the solar panels at night.
The guy has longer hair then his wife.
The reason why we often do so poorly against the left is because they "own" the means of spreading propaganda. The truth just doesn't stand a chance when you have agenda driven news and entertainment media.
Mostly air tight construction, above code levels of insulation, and paying attention to passive solar heating and cooling will more than half your utility bills with very little, if any, added construction costs to new buildings. The Greeks knew about passive solar thousands of years ago, the sun is still doing today what it did back then.
There are plans for passive thermo-siphon solar heaters that cost no more than a quality double hung window. They produce heat (up to 165 degrees) in the winter, and are shaded in summer. All air, no water to pump or leak.
This guy built a McMansion, and while his elect bill is low, maintenance and TAXES are out of sight for a retirement home.
Hubby and I are younger than them and our 2000 sq ft house on 1/3 acre would be too much for us if we didn’t hire help. Luckily we can afford to have gardeners, a housekeeper, and a pool guy. Of course our house is paid for so that helps a lot.
My father was 78 when he died last week, the same age as this couple. He and mother did NOT spend the last 15 years as slaves to an enormous house in New England. They had a 2-bedroom on a postage-stamp lot in Florida, until they moved into a condominium building.
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