Sustainable living

Cost Effective Zero Energy House

The most cost effective way to reduce the energy used in a home both during construction and while it’s lived in, is to make it smaller.  The average size of a home in the United States has almost doubled since 1970.  I don’t think those of us who were around then felt deprived by the size of our home.

There are some strategies to get more space from the same amount of materials.  One is the row house.  Part of my childhood was spent in intercity Philadelphia.  Our 4 bedroom home was only 20 feet wide though it was quite deep front to back.  Much of the side or what was called a party wall was heated on the other side so there was no heat loss through more than half of the exterior walls.  There was also a surprising amount of privacy with no side windows.  Since the wall and foundation was shared it saved cost, materials, labor and energy. 

Third Week of Dixon Energy Program

I’ll review the last show on solar hot water systems.   A system that is designed to heat the hot water only has a different angle to the sun than one that is used to heat the house as well.  Summer hot water use is only slightly less than the winters, so year round collection is needed and a lower angle is appropriate.  The backup for hot water can be small enough that an electric element can supply enough heat to supplement the solar when needed, without using much electricity.  Electric resistance backup for home heating would require a larger heating element and would run longer than for the hot water.

Second week of Dixon Energy Program

This is a brief review of last week’s intro. More energy is used in buildings than is consumed by vehicles.   I don’t mean to say avoid the transportation issue because it’s a close 2nd to buildings.  The easiest solution to both these things is less.  Fewer miles driven and smaller homes.  Then small, efficient, clean systems and cars can supply our energy and transportation needs. If we make the shell of a building like a thermos we can greatly reduce the energy used for heating and cooling.  In our northern NM climate, cooling becomes unnecessary in a well insulated house or even an un-insulated adobe.   Just opening and closing a few windows, night and day can provide fresh air and a cool comfortable space.

First Dixon Energy Show

I've got a new radio program on KLDK (Tuesdays at 7pm) that will be posted here on the Dallies in blog format to keep the conversation alive. So feel free to leave questions and comments.

Hear the April 20th broadcast

This is an overview of a zero energy home.  Future shows will include Transportation, food, and the local economy are other areas of consumption.

We want our home to be warm in winter cool in summer, have both hot and cold running water, lights, a cooking zone with cold food storage and other things that are considered normal in a modern home.  All these things take energy, which can be provided without spoiling the planet for future generations.