watching the "Green" home makeover for a family in arizona. the family includes a 13 year old who invented several items from junkyard leftovers including a solar home heating system using a car radiator and aluminum pop cans. show just started so will report later. saw previews with solar panels, wind energy, etc
I watched the show and thought it was pretty good. I was hoping for more Ideas and products on building a more efficient home. I was hoping to get some ideas for my future house but did not really see anything out of the ordinary. Only thing I seen of interest was the sun trackers for the solar panels. The house they built was great through. Whish I had to money to build one like that. I do have a question though. Won’t the people have to pay a crap load of taxes on the new house and car? Usually when people can’t afford something like that and they “win†a big prize they usually end up selling the prize so they can pay off the taxes.
we quit watching that show a couple seasons ago because they went so extravagant that it just got ridiculous... cool that they did a green episode, i wonder how many people they informed and how well they did it.
ya windfall taxes can be an issue, but i think its usually absorbed by the show. i dont watch the show that much, but of the few ive seen, if there was an existing mortgage, that was usually paid off along with a college fund for all the kids
I was very impressed with the son's ingenuity but disappointed that the builders didn't do more "green" stuff. They put the wind and solar power in, and did something with plants on the roof (I was distracted at that point in the show and didn't catch the details). I thought they would carry it further and use renewable materials, low VOC paints, passive solar design, etc. And especially since they live in the dessert, I was hoping for some water conservation gizmos. But it was better than nothing. I always worry about the people getting stuck with these giant energy hog houses and SUVs and the tax consequences. Oh yeah, they gave them the Escape Hybrid too.
well the plants were all wter by system that collected gray water. i do know that most gray water has to be treated at least a little to lower ph to be beneficial to plants but the didnt mention aqny of that
I saw part of the show and had a basic question. When they lived in the trailer, what was their utility situation? It souded like they had none to speak of befroe the "makeover." What makeover? They just tear old ones down and build new ones in seven days.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 29 2007, 12:29 AM) [snapback]531786[/snapback]</div> I have stopped watching for the most part as well for the same reason. It seemed like they just went so big and using a lot of power/resources to keep it up. They did a few good things I think, but I agree with CMonster, I wished they would have done. At one point they showed the meter running backwards, but that was before the family was there and I think before the appliances (which they get Energy Star). I felt like as much as they discussed it, they missed a lot of easy construction aspects that could be utilized very easily. Better than nothing I guess.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(McShemp @ Oct 29 2007, 10:39 PM) [snapback]532257[/snapback]</div> The trailer had electricity from the grid. They had running water at a garden hose, but not to the bathroom or kitchen, so they were using an outhouse. Until the son created his solar radiator system, they had a coal-fired stove for heat.
