Our solar home

 

In this section, we explain how we designed and built our solar home, from our initial thoughts through to construction.  Navigate through the section by following the links on the pages, or using the fly-out menus for the ‘Our solar home’ menu on the left.

 

What we wanted

 

We both work from home, so we wanted a house that would be lovely to live and to work in.

 

We also wanted a house that was energy efficient, which could use free energy from the sun. At the same time, we didn’t want to seriously compromise our lifestyle and creature comforts. On top of this, we wanted the house to cost no more than a ‘normal’ house of similar size.

 

Here’s how we designed and built our home in Downeast Maine.  

 

Follow these links to see how we:

 

Chose a site,

Designed our solar home,

Included passive solar and active solar features,

Added other fuels for when the sun doesn’t shine.

 

See also how we insulated our home, and how we designed our electrical system.

 

We also describe our experiences living in our solar home, and, with the benefit of hindsight, some things we’d do differently if we were starting again.

 

If you are thinking of building an environmentally thoughtful house which will reduce your heating bills, read on.

 

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