On 10-20-97 Kyle Hearn wrote to Day Brown... 
 KH> I have been looking at an alternative process called a "monolithic 
 KH> dome" that  
 KH> is made here in Texas. They basically build a form, blow it  
 KH> up, pour several concrete over it and spray polyurathane  
 KH> foam in it to seal up the cracks. They typically are  
 KH> painted white rather than the black one normally sees on  
 KH> roofs. They are very energy efficient to say the least. 
 KH>  
 KH> I'm wanting to partially bury one of those and eventually  
 KH> have a large solar array outside and go off grid entirely.  
 KH> I'd love to get started and become more knowledgable before  
 KH> I move out in the boonies next year. Assuming I wanted to  
 KH> completely overkill energy needs and have plenty of power  
 KH> stored up to last several days, how much of an investment  
 KH> am I looking at? 
My son has some brochures from the dome outfit.  I find it very 
telling that they don't list the price.  I worry about outgassing 
in foam insulation.  Do varmints and ants like the foam?  Have 
you lived in the area you want to move to during all seasons? 
 
I would get a cheap house/camping/RV trailer to live in while I 
prepared the ground for the house and garden.  What is the sub- 
soil? easy simple septic drainfield? impermeable clay?  what is 
the water table like?  You got a well? how far does the water 
level drop when the weather gets dry? Does the spring quit? 
What is the cost and quality of local materials, adobe, rock, 
and lumber? 
 
How much cash?  or how much onsite engineering/construction? 
How much 'convenience' do you wanna forgo to reduce your total 
cash/manhour investment?  60 watt 9" DC TV or 23" 180 watt AC? 
900-1300$ for an LP gas fridge? 
 
 KH> I assume 3 or 4 or these things would be more than  
 KH> sufficient to run a regular size house then 2000-3000 ft^2? 
The size of the house is not the problem nearly so much as what 
you put in it. 
 
 KH> I currently have electronics and such run through a 2kw  
 KH> UPS, super heavy duty surge/spike supressors as well as  
 KH> line conditioners. I had a $5k mac fried a few years ago a  
 KH> few weeks out of warranty and learned my lesson the hard  
 KH> way. 
UPS is also an *inverter*.  There are, from time to time, some 
harmonic effects between it and the switch mode power supplies 
used in computers and peripherals.  PFC types are even worse, 
and like feedback in the high school gym PA system, totally 
unpredictable, and in this case, devastating. One of the benefits 
of a computer like mine designed to run off 12vdc. 
 
Homepower probly still has ads about 100w of panel for 200$ that 
cover 4'X4'.  If not, lemmee know, maybe I can look it up.  But, 
the cost of *total* PV is not efficient; the batteries for 20 
days of cloudy weather cost more than a backup gas generator and 
5 days worth of battery.  I'd prefer solar/wind combo. 
 
We have a savronius design being worked on: used plastic 4X8' 
bathroom wall panel stood on end in pairs, with another pair 
stacked on top 90 degrees out of phase.  the windswept area is 
about 100 square feet. mounted on a rear wheel drive axle, it 
is only planned at 5 foot above grade. low altitude & efficiency, 
but low cost and assembly. w/100 sq ft. should get 300 watts. 
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 * OFFLINE 1.58 * I'm so far out, I got my own zipcode: 72679-0009 
--- Maximus 3.01
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