221–230 of 508 posts
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"low impact" for North Americans, maybe... No wonder that we're at the begining of a climat change disaster.
I doubt most North Americans need a 400A connection. (How much wattage is that? 48kW?) I live in an ordinary single house in a boring suburb in the bay area, and on hottest days, if I have to use the A/C, the oven, and the dryer at the same time, maybe it would push it over ~10kW. Maybe once in a year.
I've done this in Portugal, but on a smaller scale and pretty much with only my own labor. I purchased 6 hectares (15 acres) for mid-5-figures. I've built an A-frame studio house for around €10k (excl tools), and installed a 5kw solar system for about another €10k. The house has air conditioning and underfloor heating (water-based, heated using wood from the land). I've also brought a 50-year-old tractor and started…
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There's nothing less mature than raising children and overseeing your home's construction, while holding down a full time job.
Their lack of mature shows when they talk about being concerned about the environment then using so much power to run their house.
Is there anyone in America or Canada who cares about the environment, who is not a kid by your standard? I know a bunch of people who claim to care about the environment, but they still eat meat, drive ICE cars, have children, use ridiculous amounts of power compared to the global average, and do many of the normal things North Americans do. I still believe they care about the environment though.
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As someone who lives in the US, yes, 400A is insane.
It's entirely reasonable if they have a tankless water heater + electric heat. The amount of powerdraw that can be required during a shower means I would trip a 200A circuit during the winter. Average powerdraw would certainly be much lower, but you have to prepare for the peaks. Adding in an electric pool heater, more square footage to heat, and probably a fancy electric range, means you could hit 400A somewhat easi…
The way to do this if you're not wealthy is to get a cheapo plot of land on the Oregon/Washington coast ($<100k for up to .5 acres) and put a manufactured home on it. It's way simpler, cheaper, and the construction on manufactured homes has improved a lot over the years (they're framed with 2x6s to survive transport, and this makes them sturdier and better insulated than most traditional houses). I did it and it's be…
Yeah where can I find land like this within 30 minutes of Seattle/Tacoma?
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You can’t. (I just bought 12 acres 50mins within Seattle.)
Wow. Might I ask where? I'm thinking of places like the outskirts of Monroe, North Bend. I've heard of people doing this farther out on the Peninsula in places like Port Angeles.
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It's funny how removed we are from reality. Even if $15/month might be cheaper than a propane bill, it would be far far more expensive against the planet to heat it with gas/coal burned at a factory 100 miles away, converted to electricity, then converted back to heat inside the spa water heater.
I think that an air/water heat pump on the tub, with say a COP of 8, would be less expensive to operate than propane or straight electric. But, I couldn't justify the capital expense. (Small hot tubs are electric.) I like my wood/propane mix for heating, because it's immune to power outages. At some point I'll get too old to cut/split/haul wood, though, and will have to figure something else out. I'm not sure why the…
It's that, as well as the fact that having a gas stove means you have a gas hookup in the first place, so you're more likely to also use it for heating. That in turn leads to more emissions than other heating methods produce.
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NH electric rates are $.20/kWh [1]. If you are spending $15/month for heating the hot tub, then you are consuming ($15/month)/($.20/kWh)=75kWh/month to heat it. Assuming you are using are using a resistance heater (100% heating efficiency), to raise 200Gal of water (typical small hot tub size) from 50F to 100F requires about 25kWh of energy. To only use 75kWh/month (255kBTU), you would need to only raise it to 100F l…
I pay $0.13 per kWh in my town. (That's my marginal cost.) The tub is well insulated, with an insulated cover, so you need to account for that. My estimate on the hot tub cost is by comparing my kWh usage after the tub was installed to the prior year use. Most small tubs are electric, like mine.
So assuming $15/month, you are using 115kWh, which is 392kBTU of heating energy. It takes about 83kBTU to heat 200gal of water from 50F to 100F, which would be like 5 full heat ups from 50F. Of course there are the other convolved factors you mentioned (insulation).
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I'm just laughing at a flat roof in Pemberton... It's a pretty ridiculous house.
Snow removal must be... fun.
I've done this in Portugal, but on a smaller scale and pretty much with only my own labor. I purchased 6 hectares (15 acres) for mid-5-figures. I've built an A-frame studio house for around €10k (excl tools), and installed a 5kw solar system for about another €10k. The house has air conditioning and underfloor heating (water-based, heated using wood from the land). I've also brought a 50-year-old tractor and started…
Did you use a set of plans specifically for the A-frame studio house, or was it an amalgamation of a bunch of different resources? I'd love more resources on it if you have a suggestion.
If you send me an email (see my profile -> website) I can share with you the construction photos.