Three weeks ago Ben and I went to a local meetup to hear a talk on several residential solar hot water heating systems. We were presented with information about three different systems and were shown data on the costs, efficiency, and temperature averages of the hot water (dependent on climate).
The cost range for the systems presented was between $2k and $6k, and the presenters agreed that the average non-batch closed loop system for a typical home costs around $6k. (I believe this includes a backup system.) The least expensive system that was discussed (~$2k) was a passive system, which was basically a solar oven collecting the water on the roof.
Each of the residents had different goals and budgets to work with, but all had a backup electrical system running in the case of several cloudy days in a row. Ben and I are both of the opinion that overall, people generally prefer hot water on-demand at any point in the day and in any amount, which is why they require a backup system. It would be nice to opt out of a such a system, not only because we balk at using fossil fuels for this project, but also because we’re embracing the changes in our daily routine that we will be necessary to make if our hot water is in limited supply.
The US Department of Energy explains the different types of systems pretty well and provides resources for further reading.
EERE Consumer’s Guide: Solar Water Heaters
Darrell Edgley was one of the presenters at the meetup. He is experimenting with all sorts of resource-saving methods at his home in Durham, NC, and records data from his solar hot water system daily. (Scroll down and click the “solar data” link.)
Darrell Edgley’s Solar Data
The information we took in from the meetup was valuable in that we were introduced to solar hot water heating and heard some good discussion on mechanical and cost differences between the three systems. I’ll be writing more about solar hot water heating once we begin to make some decisions on our budget for the water system.
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If you saw my previous post on the blog design, you’ll note that some of the elements I discussed are now either missing or unclear.
I decided that Short Bits and the commented Recent Links were too similar, so we merged them together. The Resources page is hidden from the main navigation because I’m in the process of organizing and designing it still. I hope to have it up by next week.
We created a flickr account and twitter account now associated with this site. The Current Status area in the middle column is pulling the newest tweet. The photos are still being migrated from our personal flickr accounts to the new, merged account. The photos feed in the right column will be updated to pull from the new feed next week as well.
There are now clearly designated links to the flickr photo sets for each entry that has an associated group of photos. The link will appear at the end of the entry. Also at the bottom of each entry is a new Related Posts area. As we continue with the project this area will populate with links to articles that have comparable content. We’re also in the process of streamlining the Categories and Tags so the site is a little easier to navigate.
I think we’re almost there… Stay tuned! :)
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Last weekend Ben and I spent four days on the land literally chopping our way through to see what’s going on. We spent hours slicing through briars and knocking down small trees just to carve out a mere three trails, none of which connect yet. I can’t even put into words how much of a mess it is. In most places you can’t see past 20 feet in front of you, not like you can when you’re standing in an old-growth forest.
But, it’s all ok. There’s a part of me that is very happy it’s going to take so much work to make it nice. This is absolutely a labor of love and to confirm that, Ben asked me to marry him after three hours of chopping through the woods and asking me a bunch of questions about whether I think I’m up to the task of building a house there with him. I said yes… and I couldn’t (seriously) COULDN’T be more excited about the next few years.
Our next trip back will be during the last week of December and we’re hoping to bring better tools than just our machetes.
Fall Break In Toccoa
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I’ve been working lately to complete the design of this site. I have a few things to tweak but most of the basics are in place. The following is a summary of the design and organization of content.
We had so many ideas on the drawing board but in the end we’ve agreed that it might be fun to change the header image several times in accordance to the phases of the project. In the footer you’ll notice that the current style sheet is called “OFA - Phase One”. Moving forward, each time we step into a new phase of the project we will design a new collage for the header and swap out some of the styles. I’m still working on this but I’d like to make each phase a link so that the user can click to see what each template looked like. (So in a few years, when we’re in Phase Three let’s say, I’d like to have links to Phase One and Phase Two so the user can view the site as it looked during that phase.)
In the main navigation you’ll see a link called “Resources” (if you don’t see it that’s because I’m still styling the site). All content listed in the center sidebar (explained below) will be formally listed as a resource on this page. This is our toolbox and I’d like to share the links and a little review of each with our readers. We’re using the internet a TON right now to find as much info as possible and I think creating a repository of goodies would be beneficial.
To the right of the main blog post column are two sidebars. In the center you’ll currently find “Short Bits” which are mini entries about interesting things we’re reading up on. Short Bits will generally encompass any info that we decide is important enough to write about but is too short to form a full blog post. Underneath you’ll find “Recent Links” which is basically a feed of links from our respective del.icio.us accounts tagged with “ofa”.
The right-most sidebar contains your basic blog navigational items as well as recent relevant photos.
I’ll explain any major changes or additions to the current template layout as it evolves.
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The two of us are currently saving up all our pennies to build a cob house and start a farm in North Georgia. Since we believe in light-weight, sustainable living we will be integrating those values into our plans. Our goal is to capture and utilize energy from the sun to power our home and be completely off the grid. This may require certain sacrifices but we are excited to see what we can live without (and consequently learn how do to by hand).
The land is roughly 50 acres near the base of the mountains in Toccoa, GA. Currently, it is vacant and needs a lot of attention before we start hauling in supplies to begin the build. There’s so much to do; clear trees, make a driveway, decide on pond, farm and house location, create a budget, organize ourselves…
That’s what this site is all about. It’s a chronicle for us, our friends and family and others who are interested in such things as cob building and farming. We want to share what we learn (all the mistakes, research and little victories) with as many people as possible.
This is our dream, our big adventure. Enjoy! :)
Our Farm Adventure on Flickr
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