Solar Sand Bed | Page 2 | Alternative Energy | Forums

Thanks for sharing this video and the guy who designed it sure did a great tour.  I watched the whole thing.

I got a few comments on this design b/c these concepts and i guess the intricacy of these homes will never become main stream or will have much staying power.  I think of the passive hause standards and all that stuff(certs) where they super elevate certain criteria but ignore others.   We are still stuck in the 1970's image of a solar home...the text books of that time still seem to be used even now.  What ends up happening to most house designs is they seem to suffer from too many systems.  To much requirement on active computer/electric based controllers and pump based systems for moving heat.  The two biggies..there are others but ..lol.

I also understand this house is a demo...but the utitliy room is insane and its pretty common to see these super green / super effecient houses that look like this!  I'm not sure how anyone could effectively manage such a complex system.  All these gadgets being blow left and right...constant fixing of components ..adding bandaids..on and on it goes.   There are just to many freakin' systems here.  I think/KNOW we can create an amazing home with hardly any systems.  When these parts fail as they will because its technology and it has a shelf life (of not very long 5-10years depending on electric quality and build/component quality) good luck...your going to either fixing it your self or paying someone.  Whats the footprint ecologically on all the materials in the utility room!  I'm not just picking on this house..there are tons of examples of the same mindset.

Nice overall design.  Good window placement it seems.. with  a nicely executed insulated basement ..i'm curious what its cost was ..but ..to be honest before i read the umbrella pahs concepts this was pretty much what i wanted to do.  I wanted an insulated box below the house.  That was years ago though..many lol.

Mounting hardware for the solar panels on the roof seems like another common thing which i understand in certain environments like highly dense neighborhoods without sufficient earth surface area to put it ON the ground where you can maintain it.  To put on roof there is a lot of details that half to be right to not leak.  Your punching holes in probably the most important part of a year long shelter the ROOF 😀

Highmass homes to do not need a high mass stove. period. period. period..exclamtion point lol.  I've thought it about as well which is where i'm coming from.  A stove that is simple with no mass is the best to warm up a highmass homes interior space quickly...b/c really you got mass ALL AROUND YOU.  It will store some from the interior air that was heated from convection steel stove and radiate that after fire goes out...accomplishing same goal he was trying to get..but better..b/c the draft will draft well and you can get your self warm quickly after being a way from a high mass home for a while.  Which actually i view as one of the benefits of a highmass house is lower risk of issues while leaving.

 A low mass house is where you want a high mass stove like this....cool stove ..just in wrong house.  He should just remove it quickly and put a regular wood stove in.lol...i mean no biggie right lol.

This house also suffered from having a septic uphill and water pumps, conventional issues of not paying attention to the site (just my opinion).  If you want a super efficient house but have to pull water up and then push septic waste UP then that's not very efficient.  Site matters..use it to your advantage ( i also understand not every site can work like this..but then ..maybe...we should just not build there..or come up with other options of roof catchment and sawdust toilets...etc...ya know..lower tech stuff.  Technological band aids is not going to build a sustainable future...thoughtful ness and working with nature is the most simple way possible might though.  Do you want to depend on a gadget thats made in china ..has a patent on it ..etc..to keep you alive.

This was just a silly rant...mostly i don't really care what others do..but if you want to create a REAL efficient home..every gadget you don't have is electric this is not used..is less connections where something could short and or leak.  Less material that had to be mined. It cracked me up how he was explaining how his setup turns into a radiator and overheats the room lol. Then he needs a insulated door..etc etc..it just goes on.  Technology cannot change the laws of physics ..no matter how many sensors and smart circuits it has .

I know we are where we are ...but in the future ..even if we have active systems ..they can be stripped out and modified..don't always have to add "more" to a design..sometimes it takes taking away to make it better.

  sometimes it feels like it....surrounded by silly humans trying to outsmart their way into the easy life.  I need to go to dancing rabbits webpage or something to get my low-tech/ nature cooperative design balance back lol.