Heat & Light

Heating is passive solar (primarily) with some backups. The great mass of clay tile floors, area for a swimming pole or hot tub (some 1000 to 2000 gal. of water), many posts and beams, stone (particularly slate, river stone, sand stone and the like) in addition to the surrounding insulated mass of foundation and sub-soil beneath the home provide for plenty of thermal sinks (storage for heat/solar radiation). There is also an optional wood stove or similar, aesthetics and climate depending, available in the design. Hot water is solar heated and solar pumped (thermo-siphoning) up to an insulated storage source (a conventional gas water heater with additional insulation) on the 3rd floor. In the event of the lack of sun light the gas water heater can heat the water, should it cool.

The whole hot water system is a closed loop system where hot water can be reheated to outstanding temperatures or released to water plants in greenhouse or garden. All water hot and cold is gravity fed to the various usage areas on the 1st and 2nd floors. All gray water is then piped and distributed to planted beds, trees, pots and raised in the greenhouse and gardens. An optional system has been designed to deal with access water or all water in times of severity or drought where, through a bio-logical water filter system, all water is made pure (in the space of only 60sq.ft. per 3-4 persons avg. based on conservative usage of water.) The water is then reused and heated/pumped again through the system. New incoming water is collected from the roof primarily. Optional sources include ponds, wells, springs and more. All water is appropriated to be gravity fed, no extra pumps. All water is carbon filtered and if necessary lightly "salted" or mineralized to balance the pH (typically most rain water is acidic).

Electricity relies primarily on 2 to 5 20+sq.ft. photovoltaic panels, generating about 1000watts per hour. Also, depending upon local conditions (or expected changes) the use of wind powered mills, or micro-hydro electric should also be incorporated (never rely on just one source). Other options include the hand generator or the bicycle generator (want to watch a movie on the TV, then get on the bike for an hour or two?). I also have a design for a static electricity generator that relies on the water (and the static friction thus electrical current) that flows down the plumbing from hot water storage to usage areas. Total system includes of course 10 12 volt batteries, to operate on a 120 volt system, AC/DC converter, voltage meter, appropriate AC wiring, boxes, switches, outlets, etc. More on this later.

Offered by Steven.