Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A warm house

Last night I chose to turn off the heat.  With several 80 wool blankets on top of my regular sheet I went to sleep.  When I woke up the air in the hose was crisp, but not uncomfortable.  The thermostat read 50 degrees inside with snow coming down outside, but I was pretty toasty until I got out of bed in my underwear.  This highlights the importance of proper insulation and windows on a homestead.  When a legitimate amount of time is spent hauling wood from forest to the woodpile and from the woodpile into the house, a drafty house can keep you close to the stove.  Efficiency starts at insulation.  The debris hut uses leaves, our modern construction uses fiberglass to moderate success.  Natural building methods have been used since the beginning of time and pared with modern technology can give us the upmost insulation.  Straw bale construction using hay bales and earth excavated from the foundation creates an inexpensive means to create warm houses without trucking in extensive amounts of lumber.

If you are interested in natural building and want to get in on the construction this spring and summer, email me at sustainablehomesteadinstitute@gmail.com

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