Episode #1 An Overview

 

 

An overview of our country cottage.

We are on a quarter section which is a half mile by a half mile square. Ruffly 160 acres.

Property was bought 15 to 20 years ago and construction started 4 years ago and completed 2 years ago.

The cottage is about 1500 square feet.

Three bedrooms, one large master upstairs and two small bedrooms downstairs .The downstairs bedrooms can convert into one larger room with a garage door that rolls up into a false ceiling.

Two full bathrooms. The one upstairs is an ensuite with an enclosed shower and a soaker tub which is elevated so you can see out the window. Downstairs has a large enclosed shower.

The entrances to the cottage are through, a mud room or a sunroom, each act as an airlock to keep heat in.

Kitchen is equipped with fridge, induction cook top, and dishwasher. All appliances were chosen for their efficiency of power. There is also a pantry.

The living room has a masonry heater.

A utility room and a battery room. The battery room has its own entrance and is under the sun-room.

A detached 24′ by 24′ garage has a loft on top.

Water comes from a well,  240 feet deep. The septic system includes a septic tank and a septic mound.

Power is supplied by 30 photovoltaic solar panels with a battery bank and is backed up by a propane generator fed by a 1000 gallon propane tank.

Heat is provided a number of ways…
passive solar
masonry heater (wood fired)
in floor radiant (electric boiler)
2 solar collectors, on the roof, heat either a small radiator in the back hall or, preheat the domestic hot water

The domestic hot water is heated by the same electric boiler that is used by the in floor radiant heating.

The cottage is well insulated with spray foam and the windows are all triple glazed.

Future episodes will go deeper into all the different systems that make up our country cottage.

The next episode will concentrate on what powers us out in the sticks.