Energy – alternative ways and comfort
Hi All, <!—-><!—-><!—->
This is all about personal energy use, production, creativity and brainstorming.<!—-><!—->
I’m still designing, creating and changing my retirement home which is still a few years away but not many. In the mean time I’m experimenting with my current home while leaving it marketable for the future. Actually hoping some of the projects I’m working on will help the home sell for more…..maybe. Each home we’ve built has been larger and used less energy than the last. As a matter of fact our current home has more than twice the sq. footage, significantly higher ceilings and uses less than half the energy. It’s brighter and more comfortable. Air is fresher too.<!—-> <!—->
Little things that are easy to change…..incandescent to florescent….low flow shower heads mean less heating energy….careful attention to weather stripping to cut heating and cooling energy.<!—-> <!—->
Middle things like a homemade solar water pre-heater and a solar panel self circulating heater and solar cooker.<!—-> <!—->
Larger things such as wood, corn, pellet fired boilers for heating, buried pvc tubing for cooling.<!—-><!—->
Part of this is how to live as comfortably and reduce usage, part of this is how to produce the comforts in a more efficient manner, part of this is creating new ideas for living comfortably.<!—-> <!—->
Time to think outside of the box and brainstorm with no limits as long as it is on topic.<!—-><!—->
Got an idea you thought was great when it first hit you but now you think it’s dumb? That’s ok as some of the brightest ideas developed from non functioning initial ideas.<!—-><!—->
Let’s work together to successfully discover ways that will not work until we develop those that will.<!—-><!—->
My personal latest idea is general power conversion on the cheap…I expect to generate power by solar, hydro and wind but part of that is having a way to economically convert it to standard use. To date I have old <!—-> <!—->UPS <!—->‘s with nearly dead batteries but the inner workings are perfect for converting 12v dc into 120v ac. They range from ones that would power a few florescent lamps to those that would easily run a 2 1/2 ton heat pump.<!—-><!—->
I look forward to hearing your ideas.<!—-><!—->
Pedro the Mule – I’m no longer pursuing motorized horse shoes<!—-> <!—->
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Replies
Make your cable runs easy to access so you can upgrade your com stuff in the house. Be advised that appliable photovoltaic material should become available within less than five years, with a >20% effeciency factor. Solid systems may approach 40%.
Design your entire sanitary sewer system to be able to switch over to a grey-water system. That is, everything but the toilets, lavatories, and kitchen sinks will go into a system that can be used to irrigate your lawn, trees, etc. Water is gonna go through the roof in price, just like electricity and natural gas will in about two years.
Be sure and build at LEAST 100' above MSL in your area, and at least 20 miles from any coast-line that may be affected by hurricanes.
Build a hurricane/tornader shelter, if needed in your area.
Build a pill box next to your drive-way and keep a Barrett .50 cal and a couple of AKM's ready to go in it. Might consider a flame thrower too, for the invading feral hogs that are moving north.
Build a smoke house so you can smoke the hams from the damn hogs...
Hi TomT226,
Fantastic ideas.....I think I'm going to keep a log of all this stuff and it'll be fun readin' back over it in 20 years to see how close we all got.......
Pedro the Mule - Looking forward to the future, means I'll be alive if so
Build a pill box next to your drive-way and keep a Barrett .50 cal and a couple of AKM's ready to go in it.
Every once in awhile you actually have a fairly sensible post <G>
Well, you KNOW he's gonna start makin' shine, and that'll discouage the rev-e-nooers'....
Hi TomT226,
Well, you KNOW he's gonna start makin' shine, and that'll discouage the rev-e-nooers'....
What-a-ya-mean "Start"........my recently dearly departed Grandfather was one of the best shine runners this state has ever seen.......my wife's grandfather was a big time "chief" revenuer right outside the capital city.....although our grandfather's lived 100 miles apart and never knew each other......we have pretty good proof positive that her grandfather shot at my grandfather when he was runnin' a roadblock one time.....he had to replace the windshield but kept his load of shine that day......
My Grandfather - RFM - a precursor to NASCAR
Pedro the Mule - what else you gonna run that 'ol truck on when fuel is $10 a gallon......
My current project in that vein is a drain water heat recovery thingamajig. I'm in the process of replumbing part of my house - getting rid of the rest of the existing galvanized pipe using pex. Two of the baths are back to back and the two tubs drain into the same branch. I'm trying to come up with an exchanger made from pex to capture the heat from the drain on the way to the water heater.
http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
I think that you will be much better off using copper for the heat exchanger.I have not even tried make a WAQ about how much surface area that you will need, but it will need to be many times more than a copper setup.How if you only have tub/shower water and you have the space/layout you might be able to do that by making a switchback HX that would zig-zag down the wall from the ceiling to the floor..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
I think that you will be much better off using copper for the heat exchanger.
I've experimented with that some and I'm having better results with the pex. I'm running numerous pieces paralleling the drain (I've only got about 2 1/2' to work with) and will connect them so the supply water makes several passes against the drain before heading to the heater. All will be enclosed in insulation around the whole shebang.http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
To seeyou and all brainstormers,
I've experimented with that some and I'm having better results with the pex. I'm running numerous pieces paralleling the drain (I've only got about 2 1/2' to work with) and will connect them so the supply water makes several passes against the drain before heading to the heater. All will be enclosed in insulation around the whole shebang.
Ok, so we all know heat rises and it always tries to get out of the house in winter and in during summer.....the general stuff.....
Now if you were to do two copper coils.....the first tightly corkscrewed for numerous feet, the second coiled tightly around the first, possibly with some heat transfer compound like you put between a computers cpu and heatsink/fan. Wrap all of that with insulation maybe even form it with an airspace lined with a radiant barrier and all of this somewhere between the tub drain and water heater.
So, the first question is....do you put the incoming cold or outgoing warm in the inner coil for maximum transference or does it matter?
Second, will this pass code dealing with a leak having the potential to have gray water backup the line? Granted the design can be worked out if this is a problem, I'm simply wondering if it needs to be considered as a part of the design and how best to accomplish it if so.
Pedro the Mule - Don't drink that stuff
Pedro -
You're trying to "high tech" a "low tech" solution.
The supply basically "hugs" the drain for a few feet and all is wrapped in insulation (not sure what kind at this point).
When the shower is running, hot water is flowing thru the drain pipe. Water on the way to the heater passes thru pipe against the warm drain and is warmed somewhat on it's way to the heater. Probably not incredibly effcient, but not very expensive either. The savings could be substantial over a long period, though, if the supply temperature was raised just a few degrees before entering the heater. Also, the extra supply pipe will be traveling thru conditioned space and should pick up a degree or two from the less expensive to operate heat pump conditioned air.
There's no way gray water and supply could mix unless both ruptured at the same time, so I can't see how it would be a code violation. Thje current configuration has the bath supply and drains running near one another.http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
Hi seeyou,
You're trying to "high tech" a "low tech" solution
Oh no doubt you're right on there.....and I'm delighted with any low tech idea that can solve a problem.....but if a high tech solution is cost efficient vs. the cost of the low tech then I want to at least poke at it for a while to see how an already great idea can get even better.
At least in my situation I'm going to be able to work these great ideas in at the beginning .....here at my planning stage, so hopefully all these improvements can be easily implemented once I start the next home. I've got my pipes wrapped so well on this current home, it'd be a nightmare to attempt to rework it now.
Again, love your idea and keep up the brain work; simply hang with me as I'm bouncing off the walls of the universe while out of my little box MEBG (Mule eatin' briers grin).
Another production piece of your idea....how about 1/2" copper inside of a 2 1/2" pvc drain with fittings on the ends to couple it to traditional plumbing.....then insulate everything?
Pedro the Mule - Careful not to step in that
how about 1/2" copper inside of a 2 1/2" pvc drain with fittings on the ends to couple it to traditional plumbing.....then insulate everything?
There's actually something like that on the market and if I were building new, I'd look at it closer. But, right now, I've got what I've got and my biggest constraint is limited space. I plan to redo the baths in a couple of years, but right now I've got some plumbing problems to deal with immediately and this heat exchanger experiment is an aside to that.http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
"Ok, so we all know heat rises a"Not exactly.Free (without other pressure)hot fluids will rise. Or at least most of them do. As the heat up the become less dense compared to the unheated fluid and flow up. That what happens with air, with no fan and water heaters without water flowing.But add a fan, water pressure or even gravity of the slopped drain line and it will easily overcome that affect.Heat flow by conduction flow equally in all directions controlled only by the thermal conductivity of the material.I *think* that for HX the best is counter flow. That is the incomeing cold water should be at the bottom end of the drain. That is the coldest water against the coldest drain water. If you had flow in the same direction and had long enough run you would get a point where the water would be as warm as cooled off drain water and you could not get any more heat transfer.With counter flow you can get much larger percent of the energy transfered.
.
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
With counter flow you can get much larger percent of the energy transfered.
Actually, that's how my design works, but I just stumbled into it.http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
Hey Fella's,
I *think* that for HX the best is counter flow. That is the incomeing cold water should be at the bottom end of the drain. That is the coldest water against the coldest drain water.
There ya go, that's the stuff my retirement home dreams are made of....to put together the best ideas in the best ways to the point I'll feel like an idiot if I don't use them.....just like now....I'm gonna feel wasteful everytime I take a shower and I'm not recouping that lost heat.....geeeeez
We do keep an extra low water bill as compaired to our neighbors.....we chose plants that could specifically deal with virtually anything our area could throw at it rather than choosing just what looked good. It's turned out wonderful....the only watering we do is the approximate 5 gallons per day of AC condensate that we collect at the ends of the drain pipes. Plan to collect rainwater too as soon as I can get around to putting gutters on but it really isn't necessary since the plants do so well on their own....neighbors run soaker hoses and sprinklers most of the summer....our water bill $23/m there's... $200+
Thanks for your continued input!
Pedro the Mule - Only wet when I wanna be
Hi seeyou,
in that vein is a drain water heat recovery thingamajig
Hey now that's an out of the box idea.....even if it's only 40% efficient it should still save a minimum of 20% yearly on your water heating bills.
Some form of insulated pre-holding tank suspended within the gravity plane and something like a no lead radiator in the tank.
Or maybe you're thinking of something to use in the cooler months which would be simpler.....put a temp sensor on the radiator that would activate a small fan to blow air through the radiator or an inline slow flow sensor. To do this, I'd personally try to find a discarded home heating radiator.....even a steam one that has a full loop would work.....put in a bypass to shut it off during warmer times. I would think you could maximize efficient recovery with a holding tank at the head of the drain section to capture all shower/bath water and have it "slowly" drain through the radiator on it's way to the septic field.
Pedro the Mule - The warmth of $ saved
I was reading something about batteries awhile back, how different kinds of batteries are better for specific tasks. Got me thinking about task specific things.
I was thinking about air conditioning. Instead of tying it to the grid, give it its own solar system, and make its only purpose to seperate heat from cold, then store both. The internal ventalation systems can then choose hot or cold sources to circulate.
I was also reading about high rise office building that were reducing sewage by routing it though gardens in the lobbies. I would be great to do something like that with homes too. Especially #### waste - lots of good stuff in there for plants.
You've seen my previous postings about connecting the kitchen to a composting setup that would keep the kitchen clean and smell free but process all the food scraps instead of sending them into the trash or garbage disposal.
Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Hi xxPaulCPxx,
I was reading something about batteries awhile back, how different kinds of batteries are better for specific tasks. Got me thinking about task specific things.
I was thinking about air conditioning. Instead of tying it to the grid, give it its own solar system, and make its only purpose to seperate heat from cold, then store both. The internal ventalation systems can then choose hot or cold sources to circulate.
Oooo I like this out of the box thinking.....in current terms it's almost unthinkable but then again......I have seen where they're using Heat Pumps to also heat water but what I've read shows the most efficient units are taking the AC side and reversing it...the cooler water helps cool the lines for cooling the house and the house excess heat is returned to the water heater.......wonder about a diy water coil tunnel that would sit atop a traditional heat pump......the water coil would be a preheater like the shower drain idea discussed recently...simply another way to tackle the same problem of input water to the water heater is too cold to be efficient.
Back to the storage for hot and cold....the "battery" shall we say would have to be enormous, thus I believe this is the thinking behind geothermal but it still runs off the grid....now how do we get your system to be self storing, self powering, self moderating?
I was also reading about high rise office building that were reducing sewage by routing it though gardens in the lobbies. I would be great to do something like that with homes too. Especially #### waste - lots of good stuff in there for plants.
I had thought of that too at one time and discussed this with a top notch septic system designer. His only concern was over salmonella in the supply. He said if you would precook the "material" before it made it's way into the garden, you'd be fine. We talked about a system that would take a piece of land that would not perk and "was not" in a flood prone area, bury pvc 18" deep in an open field. The tubes would be perforated 1 1/4" pvc. Instead of having the typical 3-400' of line you'd have 3-4000' of line (engineer it). There would be a simple holding tank with a low pressure grinder. You wouldn't capture the waste like a typical septic tank, rather the waste would be sent out to the field everytime the pump ran. Now just how much pipe length and how deep would have to be engineered but due to a pump system, you wouldn't have to have the lines level. I've actually read about a variation on this on the web. But again you wouldn't use this for edible production. Maybe a solar system cooker could be built but killing off the salmonella will also destroy the good bacteria that will help the system work.....then again with this system you really wouldn't need the good bacteria until it reached the soil and by then your sewage would be cool enough.
kitchen to a composting
That can put off some heat but removing the heat and transfering it insde cools the composting production and can limit it's process but there are ways to accelerate the process to make up for this......the problem I see is how to automate the process. Fun to toy with on a personal basis for experimentation but it would get old fast if you couldn't make it run on it's own. Of course your idea of simply making composting easier for the average homeowner is right up there.....I'm simply trying to complicate it <G>.
Keep working on these and posting your continuing insight.
Pedro the Mule - This thread is making my brain ache real good
IMHO, passive composting is the way to go. Been doing this for years, and it handles all our veggie debris since we no longer keep livestock.
Just plant 6 4X4's in the ground, 5' on centers and 5' wide. Cut'em off 5'6" above ground. Frame in three sides so it will support close mesh galvanized wire. Build two removable front panels and cover with the same wire. Drill 1" holes in the frames to accept 3/4" EMT nipples and matching holes in the front three posts. Slide a removeable panel in one side and stick the EMT through top and bottom on one end, and just enough to support the panel on the center. Put the the other panel on, and slide the EMT all the way through to support that side. Then put the other pieces on the right side. This is so you can remove the panels to excavate the compost. Place corragated galvanized metal on the bottom of both bins to keep roots out.
One side is "active" and one side is "passive". Start filling one side completely with shredded leaves, grass, etc, and place three 1-1/2" pieces of PVC that have been honeycombed with holes. Layer that every foot or so. I use 12 pieces. Cut the PVC long enough to protrude through the wire on the back, and the front removeable panel.
Attach a piece of PVC to the center post and keep a hoe with a metal or fiberglass handle in it to excavate a hole for your compost. Just take your container out, dig a hole, put it in, cover it up. When the fall comes, take your shredded leaves and stuff and fill up the vacant bin using the pvc from the other side. Now, that is the "active" side, and the other is "passive." Around here it takes 5' of shredded leaves and stuff about one summer to compost down to about 16" of compost on the bottom. Shovel it out and sieve it, or run it through your shredder again. Sieving it gives a finer product.
Hi TomT226,
passive composting is the way to go. Been doing this for years, and it handles all our veggie debris since we no longer keep livestock.
I take it you grilled and ate all the livestock <G>....with peppers of course.....
I have the perfect place to make compost.....could probably make a tandem truck load a year if I wanted to put that much effort into it.
Thanks for your working plan and I'll certainly get one in place as soon as I fell several large pines this fall. Going to have 'em cut into lumber, let 'em dry over our mild winter and use 'em to build a new shop late next spring.
Pedro the Mule - Bet you could grow some nice pablanos in that stuff
I have been playing with an idea for a solar pool heater.
Black plastic water pipe coiled in black plastic barrels(2) filled with drain field stone.
Hook it in line with the filter return hose.
If it gets to hot cover it with white plastic.
What do you think? Will it work maybe?
I love simple/inexpensive things you can make that work.
I am also going to make solar window heaters for the south side before this winter. I hope!
I always wondered if running bathroom and kitchen fan exhausts into attached greenhouses filled with plants would help humidify the plants and clean the air--maybe run it in perforated pipes in the plant beds and then draw make up air (someone told me that's the wrong term--whatever you call the air you need back into the house to replace the air exhausted by fans) back in from another tempered but less humid area.
Hi Danno,
I always wondered if running bathroom and kitchen fan exhausts into attached greenhouses filled with plants would help humidify the plants and clean the air--maybe run it in perforated pipes in the plant beds and then draw make up air (someone told me that's the wrong term--whatever you call the air you need back into the house to replace the air exhausted by fans) back in from another tempered but less humid area.
Pretty cool idea.....sounds like a lot of work but the journey would proove satisfying.
Well "make up air" makes sense to me but for whoever told you that...how about replenishment?
So for winter, a sunroom or air solar panel would be where you draw your make up air from?
Pedro the Mule - I meant what you knew
So for winter, a sunroom or air solar panel would be where you draw your make up air from?
Yes, wouldn't help much to draw it from the place that's getting the exhaust air (although I admit that was in my first plan--put exhaust air in at bottom and draw replenishment air from top) unless it was a big space and you could dehumidify it and hope the plants "cleaned" odors and such from the exhaust before it went back into the building. Also on further thought, kitchen air could have lots of grease--maybe better to exhaust it totally outside. Dryer might make sense to exhaust where plants are--have to make sure it didn't get to humid and cause mold ond such.
Hi Danno,kitchen air could have lots of grease--maybe better to exhaust it totally outside.
I doubt the only time that would be of any concern is with a commercial eatery. Not enough grease in a home situation.Dryer might make sense to exhaust where plants are--have to make sure it didn't get to humid and cause mold ond such.
Did that in Mom & Dad's basement growing up along with burning coal and wood. The moisture from the dryer balanced out with the drying from the wood stove.
Seems like every greenhouse I've been around has enough humidity to cause green algae on the inside glass/plastic......I wonder if the dryer humidity would really add that much of a problem?
Pedro the Mule - Still humid behind the ears
My thoughts were that by venting exhaust through the plant bed--maybe use gravel or vermiculite under the soil--the water vapor would condense when it hit the cooler soil and actually help water the plants. I'm sure it would work better in winter.
Hi Danno,
My thoughts were that by venting exhaust through the plant bed--maybe use gravel or vermiculite under the soil--the water vapor would condense when it hit the cooler soil and actually help water the plants. I'm sure it would work better in winter.
I think the idea is great and do-able but I still think the humidity in the greenhouse is going to be high.....but.....as you've stated......the make-up air in "winter" should be fine with higher humidity as many locations in the US, the winter air is already "too dry".
That should help compensate and keep you from having to spend "more energy" running a humidifier. Great offset!
Now as I plan to heat my retirement home primarily with a wood fired boiler located "outside" of the home....with the home being super insulated/super sealed, I don't know if I can take advantage of such a system.......I "think" I'm going to have too much moisture inside already but I could use the idea out in the barn......maybe incorporate the barn and greenhouse together and have an office out there with a bathroom.....that exhaust could circulate.....
Pedro the Mule - It would also be nice having fresh home grown "maters" from the winter greenhouse
I was thinking more about this and had the idea of using Nature to benefit you--in winter, have exhaust air blow against a piece of corrugated sheet metal or something like it, and have the condensate channeled down to a trough that goes to a drain or to water the plants. In summer, could blow it against a cistern or a manifold that has incoming city or well water running though it--big dehumidifier. Also use the coolness of night air (when the nights happen to cool off) in summer to cool something and hope it stays cool during the day when your exhaust air is blowing against it. I suppose you could bury a duct and run exhaust though that to dehumidify--but have to think about how to prevent mold growth. In short order you get to complexities that make the system almost unworkable!
Hi Danno,
I suppose you could bury a duct and run exhaust though that to dehumidify--but have to think about how to prevent mold growth.
I've been readin' about this same type of thing....some of it sounds worthwhile while other parts could be very costly......basically if you have a good slope you're in good shape concerning costs.....if not then cost go up due to drainage pumps, footage placement etc.
Home is up an incline.....start with 4" PVC 100' or so down the hill.....depending upon your region......bury it 4' deep or so......depending upon your region and how big the house is will determine how many pipes.....typically 4.......now the bottom end will be screened to keep critters out.....this is your fresh air intake and condensate drain in one....now build a ventable cupola in your roof system if new construction or open top floor windows on the far side if not. Cooling PVC tubes will then enter the lower level of the home.....as the air is literally sucked up and out the peak of the roof, fresh air entering the pipes will cool underground "and dehumidify".....the warm outside air cools, condensates and runs back out the bottom......cool dry air enters the house.
They make PVC piping with special antimicrobial coatings that help contain mold growth and such and I'm thinking "possibly" you could plug up the intake during cooler months and add a water/bleach mix at the top of the pipe and fill'er up til spring.....I wonder if that would keep the hazards at bay or if it would have to be done more frequently.
The idea is that the unit is free to run once it's installed.....short of the chemical cocktail to control growth and any temparature automation you may wish to run.]
Pedro the Mule - Cool runnings reminds me of the Jamaican Bobsled Team
I was amazed at how cool an uninsulated roofed playroom was in the summer, then I realized it was covered with his solar pool heater!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
That's where I got the idea of barrel heaters.I don't have a roof close to the pool to do that.the back barrels will heat up the hose and the stone will hold heat longer.The water running thru will pull the heat back to the pool.I have all the materials but the stone. Just gotta get it made and try it.
You have to think about surface area. Your system will be more efficient if you can reflet more light onto the barrels. Even painting the surounding surfaces gloss white will help.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Good call.Maybe a back board with side wings to reflect sun to the back. Kinda like a solar reflective oven.
Thanks
Hi Huntdoctor,
I have been playing with an idea for a solar pool heater.
Black plastic water pipe coiled in black plastic barrels(2) filled with drain field stone.
Hook it in line with the filter return hose.
If it gets to hot cover it with white plastic
A friend in the mountains did something similar but no coils only solid water fill......he had a spring up on a hill that fed a 55 gallon drum that was painted black and left in full sun. The cold spring water was split.....one side to the top of the barrel, one side dropped down below the barrel to a shower faucet and the hot side came out of the bottom of the barrel. He enjoyed many an outdoor hot shower during the summer.
Now to your pool, I do understand the stone as thermal mass but how about the water itself.....a little more complicated but I'm thinking more efficient making it worth the trouble.....
Build a big solar cooker....south facing wall to be glass/lexan and other three walls to be reflective insulation panels. Set the black barrels inside and fill with water....as many barrels as you need.....and feed one to the other.
I am also going to make solar window heaters for the south side before this winter. I hope
Same here for a future shop....so time is undetermined
Pedro the Mule - Sun to it's max use
Black plastic water pipe coiled in black plastic barrels(2) filled with drain field stone.
Hook it in line with the filter return hose.
Well, the trick is in the mass, and in the energy transfer. You are talking 60-80 gallons of heater vice 10, 15,000 gallons of pool water. The surface of the pool is in pretty deep contact with very stable soil temperature conditions, then it's filled with a very good heat sink, water.
Might be apt to recal that a BTU is the energy required to raise a pound (1/8 gallon, roughly) from 60ºF to 61ºF.
So, the length of the hose is probably more critical, depending on the GPM of flow thorugh the pump. That would give you the "exposure time" in the barrels. That would give you the potential for heating.
What you might need might be a line of barrels, with rocks and glycol-water mix to absorb the heat, which would then heat the water pumped through the pool. I'll guess you are going to need a nice bit of deltaT to get the desired heating effect for the thousands of gallons in question.
But, I'm surmising here. This is Texas, and 29ºN, pool water will not heating until mid-September.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Use composting toilets ... allready a 'common' product readily available on the market. For the rest of the water ... or part of it, the plumbing code allows greywater drain to landscaping untreated. Ultimately you could land apply greywater ... commonly done on many systems ... problem is on residential is to get permission/approval to do it on that scale. I know for a fact that some jurisdictions frown on any type of creative thought on this subject (specifically a Health District in Northern Idaho) even with sound engineering.
Down here in the desert SW, reuse of water, IMO, is a no brainer ... but most people down here don't do it ... go figure.
Thanks Clewless,
I had a few construction things when I built my last house that were actually not even addressed in the code. Inspector looked at it and I figured he'd want an engineers stamp, but alas......said Wow, that's awesome, nobody would ever build it like that.......too much labor, mine so nothing out of pocket, lower material cost, my pocket, overall better all the way around.
Of course my next house is not only another county but another state so we'll see what they think of greywater.
I actually built a composting outhouse in place of the traditional portajohn for our last house. Worked great and I followed all the rules.....ooops who knew you were supposed to permit the thing. Septic inspector loved it but said it wasn't on his books so get rid of it as soon as possible. I'm going to have to do that as soon as I find some extra time. In the mean time it's been great to have when you've spent the day under the truck, pulling weeds, cutting trees, etc.........no need to drag yer filth in through the house....guess that's why they call it an outhouse. Although it's not insulated, it stayed rather warm when it was regularly used during the winter as my compost section was directly under the outhouse itself.
Pedro the Mule - Still working on ideas