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The New Independent Home: People and Houses That Harvest the Sun (Real Goods Solar Living Books)

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Pretty much everything you'd want to know. -
I was surprised by just how comprehensive this book's knowledge base was. I'm not the new kid on the block either, I've been involved in several solar installations and many others with mixed-systems comprising micro-hydro and wind power as well. But this book still had a lot to offer, things I hadn't thought of, many that I will seek to apply in future installations.

One strength of this book is the author's reliance upon the experiences of others. Many points in the chapter are highlighted by interviews conducted with people (of various backgrounds and experience levels) who have lived and worked with renewable energy sources in their homes. It is as if the author, knowing that people listen to more sources, found a bunch of great people and added their thoughts as a way of saying,
Hey, if you don't take my word for it - listen to what people like you have told me." This aspect is great because I, at least, find it much easier to relate to the people and get a feel for how their experience went rather than the omniscient author telling you that everything is roses all the time.

All in all, this book really WAS surprisingly comprehensive - covering all the basics (and thensome) of the renewable energy sources that one would want to put into a home. If you read this book before you built your home (even if you weren't thinking about adding in renewable energy) I PROMISE you would get ten times your money's worth in energy savings. Because that's the bigger part of using renewable energy - saving as much energy as you can so that the little you can glean from the earth is used as wisely as it can be without running out in the middle of a shower (for instance).

I highly recommend this work, and will be buying copies for my friends (many of whom will be, or wish they could be building houses soon).

Be well!

Dr. Dominic Ebacher

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From novice to pro, and enyone who learns by other people's stories... -
As a person beginning my education in sustainable home building, I found this book refreshing and encouraging, informative and conversational. Lots of other books are more technical and appropriate at certain times, of course, yet I found this authors style of creation simple in its ability to reach the novice and beyond, to anyone who learns by stories. Simultaneously, I found it a dynamic read, in the way that the stories he included spanned years of experience, trial and error, and wisdom of what our forefathers and mothers in this movement would have done differently. I enjoyed the basic education in how electricity works, and the emphasis on how important and simple (although maybe not always easy) it is to be ENERGY INDEPENDENT.

Interesting for the earthy types, useless for green suburbs -
The book was easy to read without much detail regarding brands, specifics and the 'devil of the details'.

writing, after installing our new energy star washer we noticed that we could wash clothes even during cloudy days. Not exactly a comment that would relate to the 90% of the masses.

I thought this book would cover all sorts of homes, but instead the well versed marketing tricked me into believing that.

No where did it cover a relatively normal house, builder etc, that incorporated the inxpensive changes necessary for a home to be more energy efficient, nor cover what appliances, were good or bad to avoid. It was a buy a plot of land in nowhereville, 'sell' part of it to other earthies, and build a straw or dirt filled tire house.

Um, where's the information about manufactured homes that come super-insulated with low power appliances, and PV from the factory for the other 90%.

If you want to see the types of people that are the ones that the congress, senate, DOE, and EPA see as pro-independent, it's no wonder there's little public knowledge of solar, wind and water power.

As for the pro-nuke guy, if my first exposure was this book, I'd be as short-sighted as him, the solar and wind CAN make a difference, but it's gotta be for the masses.

Alternative energy or Nuclear? -
Being an architect I am really concerned with sustainable living and green design. Once upon a time I was thinking that alternative energy sources would be the future of the energy sector, but as I read and read about these kind of energy sources lots of question marks appeared in my mind. As I deepened my studies about the subject I came to a conclusion that hoping to achieve our energy from sun, wind etc. is a very romantic idea (I am not against romanticism) and it is not very realistic. Now I know that THE CLEANEST AND CHEAPEST SOURCE OF ENERGY IS NUCLEAR ENERGY. This book tells stories of ordinary people who tried to achieve enough energy from sun, wind etc. for their daily use, with too much effort which I really appreciate. But just baking a cake in an oven or any other simple daily event musn't require that kind of effort and money. I thank to this book for awakening me about nuclear energy by showing the other side of the coin. Anyway if you are living off-the-grid and really really want to use PV's or wind mills to turn your TV on this book may help by telling how others succeeded(?) to do that.

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Excellent book on independent, sustainable living! -
"The New Independent Home" is a cornucopia of good information and thought provoking discussion. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I found myself (currently in the throws of re-evaluating where and how my family and I live) unable to put this book down. The author covers not just the technology of independent homes; there is extensive discussion of the whole sustainable living philosophy of independent home dwellers. The numerous interviews with folks actually living in these homes, many of them off-the-grid even when that is not a necessity, add a very real dimension to the author's presentation. This is not just some "chuck it all - back to the land" book either; the info (and interviews) cover the spectrum of not only remote living but also the quite urban; the thoughts, ideas, and technology here are applicable to all situations. And community building is an important part of sustainability; none of the independent homeowners presented here are hermits. There is a real sense of their place in their communities, both the local one, and the wider community of like-minded folks wherever they may live. For someone thinking about their place in our crazy world and how to move toward a sustainable, ecological, sane way of living, this is the best book I've found. Buy this book! Read it!