The Citizen, 2007-10-18, Page 25at the backside of the house. Besidethe panel are solar-water heaters,that take care of their water needs,storing hot water as the sun heats it.
Most of the equipment came from
China. Bearss says that his initial
investment in renewable energy was
between $50,000 and $60,000.
There is also a small windmill that
collects wind energy, but Bearss is
looking into a second one, doubling
the amount of energy that can be
collected around the clock.
There is a surplus system installed
as well that heats the concrete floors
of the foundation when the amount
of heat needed to heat the main
house spills over. This is why the
basement will remain uncarpeted, as
the carpet will act as a reverse-
insulator, keeping the heat in the
concrete.
There is also a lot of window
space on the south side of the house,
allowing for maximum sunlight to
enter the house, heating the main
floor with passive solar heat.
Although there is no shortage of
impressive science behind the
energy flowing into the house, the
architecture of the house is equally
impressive, and upon completion,
will house a handful of neat
additions that you just don’t see in
the average home these days.
The basement, which is still
unfinished at the moment, will
eventually be home to a sun room, a
family room and a bathroom
modeled after a European shower.
The room will be tiled completely
and there will be no shower stall, as
the entire room, which will have a
drain in the middle of the floor, will
essentially be the shower stall.
Bearss is also planning a patio
with interlocking brick and an
outdoor fireplace in the corner.
The laundry room in the basement
has an underground tunnel leading
from the basement to the garage for
snowy and rainy days. This can also
serve as a shelter, as the tunnel is
completely encased in concrete.
The main floor consists of
hardwood floors and a magnificent
spiral staircase which leads up to a
third-floor loft which can be used as
a bedroom or for entertaining.
So what started as a 50-acre
property full of trees with no
farmable land, has become the site
of the Bearss dream property. They
are currently in the process ofclearing trails throughout all 50acres for hiking and biking, a bighobby in the Bearss family.
At the request of Frances, the
landscape of the property will be
kept largely natural, with the
exception of a vegetable garden and
a flower garden that they are
planning for the open area near thefront door next spring.However, the family is plentycomfortable now in the confines of
the house. After selling their
previous house, they stayed in a
trailer on the property before
construction had begun on the
house.
Bearss hit several snags thatforced him to adapt his blueprint.The first allowing him to build, asthe property was designated by the
government as environmental land.
He got permission, because a
foundation was already built there,
but then abandoned.
The trick for Bearss was to adapt
his blueprint to the existing
foundation, something he couldn’t
replace. It proved to be a challenge,
which shrunk the size of the house.
Bearss chose to keep theconstruction process homegrown, ashe designed and built everythingwithin the walls of the house from
scratch. In addition to that, all of the
wood he used came from the bush on
his newly-acquired 50 acres of trees.
Bearss hopes to call his house
complete sometime next year, but
with 50 acres of property to clear for
trails and landscaping and that active
mind of his, “finished” may be a
long way off.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007. PAGE 25.
A passive space
The main floor in the Bearss house benefits from large
windows on the south side of the building, heating and
lighting the space without direct energy. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Living off-grid has its challenges, but can be worth itFFaallll HHoommee IImmpprroovveemmeenntt 22000077
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