Passive Solar on the family farm in Glassville- BE, PS
This newer home was built next to their family farm, and is set into a south-facing hill. The owners took advantage of this feature to include passive solar design elements, such as large windows on the south side of the home, and with large overhangs to provide shade during the summer. The north wall of the basement is buried by the hill, and the south-facing walk-out basement leads into the yard. The family finds this home very comfortable and efficient. …
Passive Solar & Masonry Heater in Bocabec- BE, PS
A number of features have been added to the house to make it more efficient, such as the use of strapping (to reduce thermal bridging), putting insulation on the exterior of the concrete foundation (so as to maximize thermal mass), and lots of insulation in the walls and ceiling. The house is also somewhat submerged in a hill, so as to provide extra protection from the elements. Local materials were used for constructing the house, such as local harvested trees cut at a local, water powered mill. Bricks for the masonry heater came from Lewiston, Maine, the closest source for …
Vegetable Oil Furnace in St. Andrews- BE
As a source of heat to meet requirements during the colder months, a furnace was installed which runs on waste vegetable oil. The owner had previous experience using veggie oil, as he has run his diesel vehicles on waste veggie oil for many years. The furnace is very efficient (90% +) and works well using the veggie oil. To view this home’s other feature, please visit the following link: Passive Solar, St. Andrews …
180W Photovoltaic on Off-Grid House in Kingston Peninsula- BE, SE
The owner started constructing his off-grid home on a 8.1 hectares (20-acre) woodlot in 1996–97. He strove to have as low an impact as possible for the construction, and did this through a number of ways: all wood was milled on site from local sources, recycled materials were used whenever possible (such as old doors), he uses a composting toilet so as to reduce the use of water. He supplies all of his own firewood from the woodlot. The small PV system, twelve 15 W solar panels, for a total of 180 W, powers lights, a water pump, a few appliances, and other …
Finnish Soapstone Masonry Heater in St. Andrews- BE
This is a soapstone masonry heater of Finnish make and design. The masonry heater sits between the living room and dining room and the heat circulates through natural convection. Total annual operating costs are $400 to $500 depending on the price of local cord of wood (approximately 2 cords per year). …
Off Grid Carbon Neutral Living at Interpretative Centre in Heron Wood- BE, PS, SE
The Laforge Holstein plant is a biomass system set on 400 hectares (1000 acres) of land that uses organic materials such as potato peels, fries, pizza dough and tomato sauce, mixed with manure and chicken grease residue for biodigestion (anaerobic decomposition). The system has 2 mixing tanks that hold the organic material: tank 1 is used as an energy source and tank 2 is used as a protein source. These tanks are linked to the biodigester using a regular feeding schedule run by a computer program that is linked to all the machinery. The ideal pumping ratio of organic material or feed …
Wood Heating in Letete- BE
The owners have been very low energy and resource consumers since arriving in Canada in 1972. The main wood furnace and heat distribution system was home-made using an existing design and was constructed of recycled and new materials. The small wood heaters are recovered units used for cooking and heating in both the home and business. The kitchen stove firebox was enlarged so it would produce hotter and longer fires. The owners use about 6 cords of split wood annually. Additional energy- and resource-saving features in their home and business include: a greywater system for the garden and orchards, a …
Wood Stove Heating & Hot Water in Lower Kintore- BE
This Pioneer stove, equipped with the capability for hot water heating, provides all of the family’s cooking and space heating needs (including in-floor heating), and most of the hot water needs. …
Wood Stove Heating & Hot Water in Bocabec- BE
This house provides excellent examples of energy efficiency implementation. There are no windows on the North side of the house to reduce heat loss. The cold room is on the North side to keep it cool. It has an energy efficient refrigerator. The owners have an on-demand hot water system instead of a hot water tank system. They also have hot water supplied by their stove for back-up. Natural ventilation keeps the house cool in the summer, while passive solar (from a greenhouse and large southern windows) provides most of the heat in the winter. A wood stove provides back-up heating. …
Wood Stove Water & Space Heating in Lower Kintore- BE
This stove, equipped with the ability to heat water, was installed when the house was constructed in 1980, and has worked great ever since. It is used for all cooking and space heating, and most of the water heating. It has proven to be reliable, very comfortable, and reduces electricity use. …
