“Dr. Jerry Dean Epps says the Eppivent is a waterless toilet that requires no electricity and has no bad smells. No working with waste required like with compost toilets. Internal flush moves contents out of sight. Waste is digested in main tank, moves through the bio-filter tank and the small amount of liquid discharged is safe for the environment but we send it to an underground evaporation/transpiration bed anyway. It is a stand alone and completely deals with waste on site.”
Mechanical
Plumbing and Electrical Summary for Earthbag Houses
These topics have already been covered in various posts on our blog, but I’m pulling everything together here for easy reference. Our blog now has 1,460 blog posts and it’s getting more difficult to find things. For those building an earthbag home, the bottom line is plumbing and electrical is 99% the same as conventional construction. The few differences are shown here. Everything else you need to know can be learned from library books or pocket guides. I prefer simple electrical and plumbing pocket guides because they show only what you need.
Natural Toilets
Jerry Epps at Teach Democracy.org shares his thoughts on three types of natural toilets. Jerry plans to have product for sale by November 1 this year. The natural toilets would be for use in remote areas anywhere they can use overland shipping (USA, Canada, Northern Mexico). Shipping product overseas is cost prohibitive.
Jerry hopes to franchise to other countries. He will teach them how to manufacture and assemble and they will be licensed as franchisee to do the business of marketing and sales of the Eppivent.
Leasing Solar Equipment
This might be a good time to buy a solar energy system for your home. Consider leasing rather than buying equipment to reduce the initial investment needed. Companies such as Sunrun and SolarCity install solar energy systems for little or no payment, then charge for the power generated at lower cost than most utilities. Solar equipment prices are dropping fast – about half price from one year ago. At the same time, technological advancements are improving the performance. And since fossil fuel costs are expected to continue rising in the future, renewable energy alternatives such as solar become even more attractive.
Trus Joist Online Catalog
Many natural builders use wooden TJI engineered joists for floors and roofs. This online specifier’s guide makes it easy to determine what size TJIs to use. From Custom Truss LLC: “What are TJI Wooden Floor Joists? TJI joists offer an excellent alternative to wooden floor trusses or flat roofs. These high-tech joists combine webs of … Read more
10’ Container for Mechanical Systems
Guest article by Cliff, who’s planning his sustainable home in a rural area. “Am pondering using a 10ft container as a systems room located at the back of the vault. It will keep the inside of the house clean without need for additional space or clutter. I can put the coal boiler, hot water cylinder, … Read more