Just say Yes to sunshine
Richard Perez
Living with renewable energies means graciously accepting what Nature offers. Colin McCoy and Christine Reising do just that. Their Oregon mountain home is heated and powered by the Sun. This owner designed & built, earthbermed building uses only energy resources found on site. Colin and Christine have made a home that is warm, sustainable, independent, and inexpensive. They accomplished this for themselves by accepting the plentiful renewable, natural resources that surround them.
Location
Colin and Christine live in the mountains outside of Jacksonville, in southwestern Oregon. At their elevation of 3,000 feet, there is abundant sunshine above the fog that often blankets the nearby lower valleys. Their homestead is located about one mile from the nearest hard surfaced road or commercial electrical hookup.
Colin & Christine's Homestead
In the short period of two years, Colin and Christine built their home themselves. The house is earth bermed on its north and east side. Solar heat warms the home from its large south facing windows and from the a greenhouse attached to the home's southeast corner. Air is circulated through this two-story, 2,000 square foot home by natural convection currents.
Colin and Christine are serious about construction. Colin realized that heavy equipment was the best way to move all the dirt and rock necessary to make his homestead. Colin bought a used small bulldozer and used it to construct the earth berm for the house , to rough out the garden, and to dig two ponds.
The concrete work that forms the north and east sides of the house was accomplished by dry stacking concrete blocks. Colin mentioned that the dry stack technique did not require constructing wooden forms. The blocks were reinforced with steel rebar and filled with cement. The wooden portions of the walls in the south and west were insulated to R-19 or R-24 with fiberglass. The floor is a six inch concrete slab reinforced under the 2.5 ton masonry chimney and stove in the home's center. The home employs virtually no north facing windows, but instead uses skylights for natural lighting.
The large south facing windows use two panes of glass to reduce heat loss. Colin and Christine bought these factory-made windows direct from Arctic Glass in Minnesota (715-639-3762) and have found that they work well. During the winter nights or summer days, each window can be covered with reflective curtains that roll down to control the home's temperature. During the winter these curtains minimize heat loss from the large windows. During the summer the same curtains shade the home's interior and keep it from getting too warm. The large mass of the tiled concrete floor and the monster masonry stove/chimney act as heat sinks. This thermal mass holds the heat during winter nights and keeps the home cool on hot summer days.
Colin designed the home and it is beautiful inside. This is Colin's third home building project and his experience shows brightly in this home. The design is functional and simple to build. The interior spaces are large and open. The kitchen and the library are the twin focuses of the home's design. This is a home in which it is impossible to feel either alone or gloomy. A riot of color and life flourishes in the gardens just outside the large south facing windows.
Solar and Wood Heat
If the sun doesn't provide the heat, then wood does. Southwestern Oregon has a mild enough climate that a solar heated home is a working reality. Adding a greenhouse and using its hot air for the home, adds even more heat during the winter. Only during days of continuously cold and stormy weather is the backup wood Russian type mansonry heater used.
Above: the north side of Colin and Christine's home. This side is built into the earth for thermal stability- making the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Colin is on the roof checking out the PV array. Photo by Richard Perez.
- Above: a view of the kitchen. Note the heavy mansonry stove/chimney. Below: a view of the library. Photos by Richard Perez.
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