[Strawbale] Help in western NY State

[dustyvalley at sisp.net]

Individual looking for help in New York state.  Please respond directly.

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New Start and need advice
Posted by: "John" independent at stelmack.com

Hi all. I am making a new start and plan to build the most energy
efficient home possible. I own land atop a hill in Western NY where
a house can face the south. However a lot of beautiful trees must
come down to take advantage of the sun. The land is fully wooded. I
have a clean slate and about $40K. My goal is about 1000 square
feet, PV for lights and appliances, passive solar and wood stove
heating and a PTO Generator for backup/aux electricity. I have a
book worth of questions but here are the conceptual questions.

Issue #2. Straw Bale home. I'm strongly leaning
towards a hybrid straw bale construction with SIP roof panels in
a "shed roof" and passive solar design. My problem is that I am only
experienced with conventional stick built construction. Straw Bale
construction scares me not on it's viability, but on my lack of
experience with it. Does anyone know of a school I could attend to
gain hands on experience? I would travel to learn the technique. Has
anyone heard of straw bale homes in the Northern climates? In
Western NY State?


Issue# 1. I own a small Kubota 22HP tractor (17 at the PTO shaft).
The only PTO generators I can find all have AC only outputs. It
seems to me that, since I will use DC from the PV panles to charge
DC batteries, wouldn't it be more efficicient to use something like
an alternator on a big deisel truck to charge the batteries instead
of generating AC, then converting it back to DC. I could easily make
a contraption to run an alternator from the PTO for under $200. Am I
wrong about this?

Issue #3. The trees. I would have to clear about
1/2 acre (to gain use of the sun) and hate the idea of cutting down
trees and not using them for more then firewood. That being said,
is hiring someone with a mobile mill typically economical? I could
use some of the trees to make any lumber needed. But then it would
not be kiln dried. Here are some other details of my situation. I
saved up for this and am not tied down by having to work for roughly
12 months. I own a travel trailer and intend to live in it while
building my new home. 

Please forgive me for the terribly long
message.

 Warm Regards,
John

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