Author Topic: Asking for home plan suggestions  (Read 2046 times)

upacreek

Asking for home plan suggestions
« on: January 19, 2019, 03:20:45 PM »
I'm 2 1/2 years from moving and starting to salivate at house plans.  My aim is to build a very low-maintenance ranch house.  I want to die in it quite a ways in the distant future, so my goal is the least amount of roof maintenance and the like when I hit senior status.  I also want it to be off-grid friendly.  I plan on putting a greenhouse to the south side of it for heat and water heating purposes - along with all the benefits of having a greenhouse.  Short of that and needing a basement because your tornadoes down here freak me out, I don't have a lot of other musts.  I think a metal roof and concrete construction are the best low-maintenance options, but I'm guessing.  I was told that I'm all set for energy, especially if it's just me.

What are some things you guys have done or wish you had done to your houses?  Do you have any books you'd recommend or websites?  I've got a few and I'm doing my homework, but I don't think I need to reinvent the wheel completely when a lot of you have done similar things.  There is no house on the property, so I don't need to modify anything.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

RWS

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Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2019, 03:45:12 PM »
The first thing to understand is if you wish to be "Off Grid" or off grid friendly is you need to move your heavy loads off of electricity.
1.  Water heating is 25% of your energy bill.  You should use a solar water heating system.  I use and have installed for others a double pumped drain back system.  The pumps consume far less energy that heating by electric.  A solar water heating system is the perfect solar electric load.  When the sun goes down the water heater turns off.  Solar water heating is slow so a large tank is required 80 gal.
2.  Central heat and air conditioning.  You should pour a concrete slab foundation that is raised up from surrounding grade.  (To help keep water out)  The slab needs to be insulated from earth and PEX tubing installed to run warm water thru.  Up sizing your solar water tank 120 gal. and collector sq. ft. area from 64 to 128.  This will provide the bulk of your heat.  The exception will be a week of clouds and or exceptionally cold period.  Supplemental heat should come from a cast iron, soap stone or equal wood stove with a catalytic element to help keep the chimney clean.
3.  Install ceiling fans.
4.  Use heat pumps for ac.  Keep size to 2 ton or 2ea 1.5 ton split systems.
5.  Use the new foam insulation on the whole house.
6.  Install a solar electric system with generator backup.  It should be capable of working interactively with the grid.
7.  You may wish to be able to cook with propane in addition to electricity.  A camp stove would do.
If you can do all of that, I take my hat off to you.  You have more money than I do and a good head on your shoulders.  Can U tell I am a prepper??   Last night I was talking to a guy from Australia.  I talked about all the things I do to be prepared.  He said if you lived in Australia in the country that those things everyone did there because it was just common sense.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2019, 04:41:41 PM by RWS »

John Galt 1

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2019, 05:56:49 PM »
Solid fire resistant exterior walls, minimize soffits since they are where sparks often get into the attic.       Centrally located wood stove.
Talk is cheap, Actions count.

RWS

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Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2019, 06:15:02 PM »
Hardy board works for exterior wall.  Holds paint well and is fire resistant.

Your garage/shop combo should be detached.  The roof full of solar panels, as many as will fit.  The inverter and batteries are located in the shop.  240Vac @60A is wired to a separate lighting panel in the house beside the grid panel.  A disconnect switch is located beside the meter box.  Solar lighting panel is 20 circuit > 100Amp.

An equipment shed/wood shed  should be added with an East facing roof with early morning sun exposure.  Your batteries need charging worst in the morning.

BennyMG1

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2019, 07:08:23 PM »
I could not agree more with regard to hardy board. That’s what we went with for all of the reasons mentioned above. It’s also very aesthetically appealing. I would suggest studying the lay of the land early in the process and plan for any drainage issues early in the process, especially if you plan on having a basement. Just my two cents worth.
Trust, but verify. Russian proverb

RWS

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Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2019, 07:30:02 PM »
You might consider a basement under the garage.  You could drive up an incline into the garage to help with the basement.  You can tell I am a flat lander and have water table problems here for a basement.  Even a half high basement would work for a root cellar and storm shelter.

John Galt 1

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2019, 11:09:53 PM »
I wouldn't suggest Hardyboard if you're building on a slab.      Even my weed wacker seriously chips the Hardy board on my pump house.       My house is built with a crawl space (cinderblock lower) so I intend to slowly replace the cedar siding with hardy board as time and money allow.

Bury a huge propane tank.
Talk is cheap, Actions count.

RWS

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Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2019, 06:48:48 AM »
I second that "Bury a large propane tank.  If the propane supplier will not fill it because you can no longer bury them, install a small tank above ground.  Have the propane company fill it.  Then open a valve and drain it into the large tank.  Call for a refill or call another supplier to fill the small one.  Where there is a will, there is a way....
« Last Edit: January 23, 2019, 11:37:51 AM by RWS »

Starlady

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2019, 09:41:41 AM »
Pay attention to prevailing winds and weather for each season - you want to take advantage of natural heating and cooling as much as possible.  And lean more towards open concept rather than separate, closed off rooms so wood stove heat can spread throughout the house more easily.
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein

Lilburner

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2019, 11:14:36 AM »
I'm in the same situation, but I don't know my exact time frame. I have a home on my BOL site, so it's just a case of deciding when I'm done with suburban life and replacing my manufactured home with a permanent home. Make sure and share any good home plan books or sites!
 
I'll share what I've learned from planning my own home and my current building experience.
 
Metal roof. Full stop. The only choice for longevity and water collection. In addition, if you can fit in your budget, get the version called "standing seam". There are no exposed fasteners, so there's no way it can leak. And since the metal is enameled, it won't rust. There's really no path to failure.

Look into PolyISO rigid insulation. It's the only kind of insulation whose R value increases exponentially. Meaning four inches is better than twice as good as two inches. The compounding value is so good, that some people choose to use 2x6 construction instead of 2x4. It's expensive, but curiously, some commercial installations use it in its full 4x8 sheet format, so you can get it on the used market and it is effectively new stuff. It's always on Craigslist.

For air conditioning, look into mini splits. The efficiency is about triple what you get in a conventional central air setup.
 
The first and foremost thing about your basement is waterproofing. Stress it to your contractor and get a guarantee. A dry basement is a function of everything from landscaping to being sealed from the outside, and possibly a dry wall pump system on the inside. Then make sure all your connections and mechanicals are in your dry basement with plenty of light and good standing room so you can slap on upgrades and modifications at your leisure.

Look at light tubes. The light output is crazy especially for the size. I catch myself reaching for a switch to turn them off sometimes.

I know you have an impressive array that will meet your needs alone, but it wouldn't hurt to think about orientation and pich to add more solar. Your kids and their future families might show up at your doorstep.

That's it for now. I'll probably remember some more.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2019, 11:28:27 AM by Lilburner »
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.
~ Daniel Webster

Searchboss

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2019, 02:00:59 PM »
Lilburner, what is a light tube?

Lilburner

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2019, 02:07:29 PM »
Lilburner, what is a light tube?

It's a super targeted skylight that multiplies light and has the footprint of a light fixture on the ceiling. The light given is greater than that of the light you see when you look out the window.

They're also called tubular skylights, solatubes - probably a few other names.

Technically if you had one in every room, and kept solar lights outside and brought them in at night, you could completely light your house with no energy. (Obviously limited to one story houses and upper floors unless you came down through a closet or something - but she did say a ranch)



ETA: Here's the one in my stairwell. It's the only source of light in the picture except a little coming in the downstairs door. The ugly metal thing came with the house. Stupid tinypic can't handle portrait mode, but you get the idea.

« Last Edit: January 20, 2019, 03:15:16 PM by Lilburner »
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.
~ Daniel Webster

John Galt 1

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2019, 05:23:12 PM »
Yea, I wish I had a few light tubes.

X2 on the mini-split for heating and cooling.     Much more efficient and I use a 2 head unit in my house which my solar system powers for ac and it supplies much of my heat.       If it only goes down to 50 at night we use the mini-split rather than light a fire.      If it gets really cold at night we use the wood stoves to protect the solar batteries.      But just for fun I used the mini-split one night when it got to 8 degrees at night and the house stayed warm.

The problem with mini-splits is that they only tend to last 6-9 years while a standard HVAC system lasts about 15 years.       But the mini-split parts costs about 60% of the price that a traditional ducted HVAC system costs and is much easier to install.

The builder of this house planted 2 trees on the south side of this house which now mostly shades the house.     I added a tree SW of the house to shade the western end because that wall gets warm during the summer days.

Having a large back deck is wonderful for our evening cooking and a smaller covered porch gives us a place to sit out and watch basically nothing but it's still a great thing to have.      We just sit out there in the rockers many evenings.
Talk is cheap, Actions count.

revckd

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2019, 11:28:39 AM »
 :)I like this thread... so I bookmarked it!
revckd
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A prudent person foresees danger ahead and takes precautions. ~ Proverbs 27:12

cope

Re: Asking for home plan suggestions
« Reply #14 on: January 27, 2019, 01:16:22 PM »
double wall built. gives better insulation and heat transfer blocking ability.   .   


https://www.homepower.com/articles/home-efficiency/design-construction/high-performance-walls

 

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