Pops wrote:Use doors, don't heat/cool the whole house
Gosh, I pretty much have it nailed, and it didn't cost any more per square foot than an average home in my area (less, actually):
Well-insulated structure designed for passive solar heating, passive cooling, and lots of thermal mass. Hydronic slab heating from wood and solar is zoned to heat only those spaces needing heat. Each zone (7 zones) has its own thermostat. Slab is insulated.
Zoned air conditioning provided with 100% surplus solar electric.
Solar hot water with days of storage.
Efficient refrigeration using solar electric.
Carefully considered "miscellaneous" loads and LED lighting.
All "entertainment" and other miscellaneous loads are wall switched. Switching loads off is habitual.
Gas (propane) cooking supplemented with induction and small electric appliances (i.e. Crockpot) when surplus solar is available.
Freezer (11 cubic foot) is solar electric, super-insulated by me.
Clothes dryer is high-efficiency propane supplemented with clothes line. Total household propane use Sept. 2015 - October2016 was 72 gallons ($133).
Dishwasher runs on solar hot water and is run when we have surplus solar electric.
Wood heat supplements/backs-up solar space and water heating in colder months. About 3 cords last year sourced from deadwood on our property.
My computers are recycled from dump with very efficient mini-ITX mainboards and DC-direct PICO power supplies; no fans, minimal passive cooling required.