The following blog post is a description of the technologies used in our house, written in non-techie language. A highly technical entry for geeks, written by Piotr, will be released soon.
When someone writes about an autonomous house, it often turns out it is not fully autonomous. Usually there is a back-up, for example, an alternative power supply, or connection to the water supply. This is because it is very difficult to keep a house completely self-sufficient. In winter there are very long periods without sun and the wind does not blow as much as expected. However our house is truly designed so that it can function independently of the city's external infrastructure, i.e. without supplying electricity, water or receiving sewage from the outside. Let’s dig into more details.
Electricity in the forest?
Fortunately, there is a forest clearing :) We try to design the house so that it uses as little energy as possible. Nevertheless, we want to provide light from an electric bulb, not a kerosene lamp;) In addition, a large energy absorber will be a fridge, a water pump or a few sockets, if someone wants to charge the phone. However, you will not find a TV in our house. You won’t need it anyway :) All electricity will come from solar panels and wind turbines. The installation will be equipped with batteries so that any surpluses can be stored and used during shortages.
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How do we provide water? At home by the lake it is not a problem!
Here we are dealing with a dual system. The washing water will be drawn from rainwater or a lake. Of course, before it reaches our installation, it will undergo an appropriate filtration process. Drinking water will be supplied from the store :)
How to arrange a house heating?
Floor heating rules! Therefore, on winter days, prepare your feet for a pleasant brush of wood. Naturally we will apply low temperature floor heating. We use gas from the cylinder to generate the heat into the floor heating installation pipes. This solution seemed the most feasible knowing that we do not have any energy supply apart from the photovoltaic panels wind turbines. We were considering heating the house with a pellet fireplace with an automatic feeder, but there are too many drawbacks of this solution. For example you need to fill the pellet container once every 2-3 days. Also designwise the choice of pellet stoves with a container that holds more biomass is very limited. That is why we decided to make gas and, for anthourage, a traditional wood-burning fireplace 🙂
When in comes to thermal parameters the house will be perfectly insulated, equipped with triple glazed, very airtight passive windows. In addition, large glazing in the southern exposure will ensure getting heat directly from the sun's rays. In addition, excellent heat accumulation in concrete walls ensures the house stays warm and cools down very slowly even if left without heating for a while
Waste water disposal 🤔
Most likely, we will use a composting toilet that works just like a normal, home one, only there is no flush. At the same time, we are considering the construction of a household sewage treatment plant.
Cooking food in a forest hut
In addition to the traditional campfire, we recommend a fully functional gas stove, on which you can prepare a fantastic spaghetti or bruschetta 🙂
If you are interested in more technological details, feel free to ask questions in the comments. I will mobilize Piotr to answer 😉 Nevertheless, be awake, because soon details with photos and drawings will appear on our blog. Also you can already see the visualisation shots of our house.
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