South-facing windows covered in snow
When it snows at my house – an Earthship that I built in 1995 as little as one inch of snow will, given windy conditions, cover my front windows with snow.
Earthships were designed by Michael Reynolds, who initially wrote three books about how to build these passive-solar heated adobe homes: Earthship: How to Build Your Own, Vol. 1 ,
Earthship: Systems and Components vol. 2,
and
Earthship: Evolution Beyond Economics, Vol. 3
While I’ve seen many books and websites about how to build a passive solar Earthship, or similar, type home, I’ve seen few books or articles that discuss living in one. Since many people, once they hear that I own an Earthship, ask me about living in one, I’ll share my experiences.
Living in the Earthship has both advantages and disadvantages. I’m at between 9,400 and 9,500 feet in the Colorado mountains, with the expected cold and snowy winters. When it snows, it often blows, and the windows (my heat source) become coated with anywhere from a few inches to a foot or two of snow.
Thus, first thing in the morning, I need to sweep or shovel the windows to clear the snow. After a big storm, we’ve had several feet of heavy wind-packed snow (think 50 – 60 mph winds with 80 mph gusts) that my son has struggled to excavate and remove. I asked Solar Survival Architecture (Michael Reynolds company in 1994, when I bought my plans) for vertical glazing, but at the time they refused to sell a design with vertical windows. Had I known how difficult it would be to shovel my windows after every snowfall, even a small one, I would have waited until vertical-glazing designs became available. I believe that they now offer vertical glazing.
In future posts, I’ll discuss heating with a wood stove ( and chopping the wood). In past posts, I’ve talked about repair of the stucco walls, both interior adobe and exterior stucco.
After a storm
Tell us more–this is fascinating. Did you actually, hands-on, build this home, or did the company do it for you? Tell us what the advantages of it are, what works for you, anything particular you love!
Comment by Rosemary Carstens — January 29, 2010 @ 10:44 am
Thanks so much for telling us how your Earthship works! I’ve followed various green & small building design ideas over the years, and I always wish for the occupant reports. Glad to hear vertical glazing is now available. The passive solar house where I live in Boulder also has slanted windows, and the slightest bit of snow fills them up completely. I’d already concluded that in snowy climes vertical glazing must be the way to go–thanks for confirming.
Comment by Priscilla — January 29, 2010 @ 1:21 pm
OK, Sibylle, so clearly I’m a transplant into Colorado because I’ve never heard of such housing? Earthships? Are you kidding me??
Oh, my gosh! Do tell us more! This is so fascinating! I feel like I’m reading science fiction . . . or since I’m living here now, maybe I’m living science fiction!
Can you please explain what vertical glazing on a window does? Surely the snow still sticks . . . doesn’t it?
Thanks for writing such an interesting post. Looking forward to reading more!
Tamara Suttle
http://www.AllThingsPrivatePractice.com
http://www.TamaraSuttle.com
Comment by Tamara Suttle — January 29, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
Yes, I acted as the general contractor for this house; I hired earthship builders trained in Taos by SSA to build the walls, framing, and roofing. I ran the backhoe for excavation and installed the electrical wiring; plus built the cabinets, etc.
I’ll describe more in future posts.
Comment by sibylle — January 30, 2010 @ 9:03 am
Thanks for sharing this, Sibylle. Pretty amazing. Nothing quite like first-hand experience — and pix of Colo. high country snows. As a freelance environmental writer, I write a regular column on sustainability and the environment in Port Angeles, WA — with a far different climate.
Diana Somerville
www.DianaSomerville.com
Comment by Diana Somerville — January 30, 2010 @ 9:37 am
I’m absolutely fascinated, Sibylle, please tell us more. Porter and I fantasized about living in an earthship in the mountains, before we did the total remodel on our house with a combination of active and passive solar. Even on the coldest days, we get a lot of heat through all our south-facing glass, but it’s all vertical, with an overhang to keep off snow.
Comment by Gail Storey — January 31, 2010 @ 9:31 am
We are considering buying an existing earthship in NM, and we have so many questions!
Comment by martha — February 2, 2010 @ 5:03 pm
Great post, Sibylle. I look forward to more. It’s always helpful to hear about how the ‘living-in’ goes for people. And frustrating that the littlest choices can end up causing such significant amounts of work! How well we know…
Folks in the Boulder Green Building Guild would probably be interested in hearing about your experiences too:
http://www.bgbg.org/
Comment by Christine Weeber — February 3, 2010 @ 11:59 am
I had never heard of your kind of living arrangement. Very interesting. The things people do to be green. WEll, I will keep checking out your posts and see if I ever can use you as a resource for my website http://outdoorbaby.net
Comment by Heidi Ahrens — February 4, 2010 @ 8:01 pm