Hello everybody,
Some time ago I met a charming woman called Kelly through a knitting group that she organizes. I really enjoy knitting and this group meets at a coffee shop on Saturdays in a town not too far from where I live. I wish I could get out there more often but life and building the house and working the garden seems to get in the way.
When we met I explained that we had recently moved to the area, built a straw-bale house and we lived off the grid. Kelly was quite interested in the whole thing as she and her hubby are planning to build a new home themselves and want to be off the grid.
Last night they visited us at our home. Frank and I spent quite a bit of time explaining to them exactly how our system works and answering any questions they had. We also discussed straw bale building and the theories of passivhaus for having a tight building envelope for energy efficiency.
We are very happy to share any knowledge we have about how we live here. We believe that the more information that people have, the more likely they will be to chose to live this way. Perhaps they will not want to be completely off the grid as we are but maybe they will put up some solar panels to help to generate some of their hydro and feed back to the grid. Every little bit helps.
The other aspect is something that I have already blogged about. Building a very energy efficient home. Straw bale was our choice but there are other options out there.
I sometimes think that when we tell people we live in a straw bale house off the grid it conjures up images of a couple of old hippies without modern conveniences who light the house with candles. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Our home is just like any other house. Three bedrooms, living room, dining room and a nice big kitchen. The only modern conveniences that I do not have are a dishwasher and a clothes dryer. We have a fridge, a large chest freezer, washing machine and a microwave. I use a vacuum to suck up the vast amounts of hair that our two Labs shed for most of the year. The only difference is that I check on the state of our batteries before I vacuum or plug in my iron.
So we are very happy to explain the process to anyone who is interested in this sort of lifestyle. The more people who know, the better.
Thanks for stopping by. Cheers.
Some time ago I met a charming woman called Kelly through a knitting group that she organizes. I really enjoy knitting and this group meets at a coffee shop on Saturdays in a town not too far from where I live. I wish I could get out there more often but life and building the house and working the garden seems to get in the way.
When we met I explained that we had recently moved to the area, built a straw-bale house and we lived off the grid. Kelly was quite interested in the whole thing as she and her hubby are planning to build a new home themselves and want to be off the grid.
Last night they visited us at our home. Frank and I spent quite a bit of time explaining to them exactly how our system works and answering any questions they had. We also discussed straw bale building and the theories of passivhaus for having a tight building envelope for energy efficiency.
We are very happy to share any knowledge we have about how we live here. We believe that the more information that people have, the more likely they will be to chose to live this way. Perhaps they will not want to be completely off the grid as we are but maybe they will put up some solar panels to help to generate some of their hydro and feed back to the grid. Every little bit helps.
The other aspect is something that I have already blogged about. Building a very energy efficient home. Straw bale was our choice but there are other options out there.
I sometimes think that when we tell people we live in a straw bale house off the grid it conjures up images of a couple of old hippies without modern conveniences who light the house with candles. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Our home is just like any other house. Three bedrooms, living room, dining room and a nice big kitchen. The only modern conveniences that I do not have are a dishwasher and a clothes dryer. We have a fridge, a large chest freezer, washing machine and a microwave. I use a vacuum to suck up the vast amounts of hair that our two Labs shed for most of the year. The only difference is that I check on the state of our batteries before I vacuum or plug in my iron.
So we are very happy to explain the process to anyone who is interested in this sort of lifestyle. The more people who know, the better.
Thanks for stopping by. Cheers.
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