The new independent home : people and houses that harvest the sun / Michael Potts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Potts, Michael, 1944-

Contributor:

Potts, Michael, 1944-

Series:

Real Goods solar living book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dwellings--Energy conservation.

Dwellings.

Renewable energy sources.

Physical Description:

xxii, 392 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of color plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25cm.

Edition:

Revised and expanded edition.

Place of Publication:

White River Junction, Vt. : Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999.

Summary:

Potts's original book has become one of our best sellers and flagship of the series of popular Solar Living Books we have produced in conjunction with Real Goods Trading Company. Because of its impact in bringing the almost unknown promise of solar energy to thousands of readers, one longtime observer of energy trends described the publication of the original Independent Home as "the most important event in the solar industry in more than a decade".

Contents:

Chapter 1 Declaring Independence 1

The Dependent Home 2

The Present State of Energy 6

Rediscovering the Land: O'Malley Stoumen's Story 9

Looked Like Movement to Me 15

Reinventing the Cave 16

Sticker Shock and Whole Cost 17

Whole-Life Cost Analysis 18

Thrifty Technology: Fred Rassman's Story 19

The Hidden Costs of Electricity 23

Chapter 2 Homework: Outgrowing Dependence 27

Cost-Effective Home Energy Systems 28

Regional Energy Economies in the U.S. 28

Electrical System Components 30

Retrofitting: Steven Strong's Story 32

Heating and Cooling Space 37

People Cookers 41

The Case of the Overheated Attic 44

An American Fetish: Hoarding Hot Water 46

The Outrageous Cost of Refrigeration 50

Refrigerator Cowboys 51

The Great American Refrigerator Challenge 52

But Where's the Stick? Refrigerator Breakeven 54

Proudly Standing Alone: Catherine, Eva, and Lilia's Story 56

What Part of Off Don't You Understand? 59

The Road to Town: Noel Perrin's Story 60

A Cleaner Obsession 63

Describing Electricity 64

Chapter 3 Harvesting Power 67

Harvesting Sunshine: Photovoltaic Cells 69

The Photovoltaic Effect 70

Are PVs Toxic? 71

Evolving Modules 71

As Simple as Possible: David Katz's Story 73

Generators: Turning Spin into Flow 75

We Need Implementation, Not a Breakthrough 76

Wind Energy: Paul Gipe's Story 78

Falling Water: The Best Source 84

Hybrid Systems: Multiple Energy Sources 86

Power's Dark Underbelly 87

Chapter 4 Maintaining Home Utilities 91

Home Energy System Overview 94

Planning Domestic Power: Felicia and Charlie Cowden's Story 95

The Heart of a Power Thief 98

Storing Energy 103

Balancing the Battery Bank 106

Mush, You Batteries! Regular Battery Maintenance 108

Taking Good Care of the Team 111

Things that Spin, Wear 112

Built to Be Serviced 113

Inverters: Different Powers 114

Safety and Balance-of-System Equipment 114

No Load is a Good Load 116

Mission Critical Power 118

Light for Life: Robert Sardinsky's Story 119

More Power to Us 123

Preheating with Compost 124

Chapter 5 Comprehending Energy 125

Voluntary Simplicity: Lennie Kaumzha's Story 126

Interdependence 127

Homestead Energy: Stephen and Christiane's Story 128

Mapping Home Energy 136

Urban Energy Treasures: Berta Nelson's Story 140

Reckoning Home Energy 146

Getting Specific 148

Chapter 6 Choosing A Site for Energy 149

Declaring Freedom 150

Building in Our Minds 152

Defining the Program 153

The Right Site 154

Real Estate Traps 155

Evaluating Comparables 156

The Site Rose 158

Regional Design 159

Improving the Land: David Palumbo's Story 161

Meeting Our New Neighbors 164

What the Woodrat Recommends 166

The Laws of Physics: Laws We Can Live With 169

Chapter 7 Design for Independence 171

Recovering from an Edifice Complex 172

Right Ingredients 174

Comings and Goings 174

An Engineer's Way to Put a Hole in a House 175

Putting the Car before the House 176

Window Framings 176

Before You Build: Wes and Linda's Advice 178

Chapter 8 Building the Home Energy Machine 182

Paying for Too Much Climate Control 183

Mass and Glass 185

Pounding Tires: Ken Anderson's Story 187

Simple, Passive, and Massive 195

High Ceilings, High Heating Bills 195

Doors Indoors? 195

Insulation Is Everything 196

Radiant Floors: A Case in Point 198

Building in Harmony with Sources 202

Renewable Energy Gotcha!s 207

Planning for Maintenance and Change 208

Mobile Homes 209

The Light of Experience 210

Chapter 9 Pioneering and Settling the New Energy Frontier 211

Stepwise Refinement 213

Evolving Standards 214

Fuel Cells: Why I Am Unimpressed 215

Beyond Experiment: Low-maintenance Systems 216

The Second Generation: Lafayette Young's Story 218

Integrated Response 226

Laf Young on Gas Refrigerators 226

Chapter 10 Home Entropy

Improvements and Repairs 229

Spreading the News: Richard Gottlieb and Carol Levin's Story 230

Thinking Like and Island 235

Islanding 236

Understanding Failure: Darkness or Dimming? 239

Optimizing Performance 241

Hedging with Windows and Wire 243

Never Finished: Enlarging on the Theme 243

Homogenize or Customize 245

Building into the Future 247

The Brazil Effect 247

Chapter 11 Growing With the Land 249

Selecting a Home Site 251

Twenty Thousand Trees: Frank Dolan's Story 252

Fitting the Landscape 256

Ark Maui: Wittt Billlman's Story 258

Slash and Burn Gardening 260

Beneath the Trees 261

Getting above Mud 262

The Kitchen Garden 263

Growing Energy: Renewable Fuel 265

The Garden Within 266

Chapter 12 Generalists & Specialists 269

For Land and Family: Wes and Linda Edwards's Story 271

The Information Grid 274

Work-at-Homers 275

Phone It In 277

Wild West: Wayne and Debbie Robertson's Story 280

Garbage 284

The Unburn Pile 285

The Pendulum Returns 286

Chapter 13 Solar Neighborhoods 287

Cultural Landscape: Arnie and Maria Valdez's Story 288

Bonding with the Land 295

Land for the Cost of a Car: Nancy Hensley's Story 296

Independent Children 300

Make Friends with What You Need: Michael Reynolds's Story 303

Caveat Emptor: J.P. Townsend's Story 310

Natural Communities 313

Chapter 14 Living With Constant Change 314

Solar Cycles 316

Gradualism 317

Generations 317

Public Consciousness and Cyclical Change 319

Mac Rood on Energy Politics 320

The Political Weather 321

Making Cycles Serve Us: Leigh Seddon's Story 322

Shift Happens 325

Jon Stoumen on Secondary Performance 326

Chapter 15 The Will to Survive 329

Bunkers Will Not Save Us: Leandre Poisson's Story 330

Shelter without Pollution or Compromise: Alan Crabtrees' Story 332

Mass-producing Mistakes 336

Mechanical Crucifixion 337

Who Will Continue the Work: Scott Suddreth's Story 339

The Tough Keep Going 342

What We Know 346

What We Must Do 347

The Soft Path: Hunter and Amory Lovins's Story 348

Rocky Mountain Institute 351

The Future's Gifts 356

Home Energy Audit 359

Site Map 360.

Notes:

Rev. ed. of: The independent home / Michael Potts. 1993.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 376-384) and index.

Related Work:

Potts, Michael, 1944- Independent home.

ISBN:

1890132144

OCLC:

39085315