Most Americans’ idea of a dream home is something like a large mini-mansion with six bedrooms, six full baths and four living areas.
Not mine. I want to live in an earthship.
An earthship is made of rammed earth tires (tires filled with packed dirt) with solar panels on the south side of the house. The tires are either built up against the side of a hill, or straw bales coated with plaster encircle the outside of the tires. The spaces between the tires are filled with materials such as plastic water bottles or rocks.
Earthship under construction
Why do I want to live in such an unconventional, strange-looking home? Easy. Jerry and I want to be off the grid, and you can’t be off the grid if you have central air and heat. And in a regular, modern-day house you need central air and heat in north Texas.
As Michael Reynolds explains in Comfort in Any Climate
Although a space heater or wood stove may be necessary to maintain a comfortable temperature in the winter, you certainly don’t need to expend the amount of energy needed to heat a regular house.
And central air conditioning cost is non-existent, as are the costs to repair and eventually replace air conditioning and heating systems.
Having spent eight or nine grand on our two A/C units during the past five years, Jerry and I are more than ready for an alternative. It will save us money and headaches, as well as drastically reducing our carbon footprint.
Not only that, but you can run plumbing and electricity into earthships, the same as any house, and build it as big or as small as you want. We plan to build one (er, uh, have one built) between 1200 and 1500 square feet.
Maybe you like your big energy-sucking house and enjoy paying hundreds of dollars in utility bills every month. That’s you. You be you, and that’s okay with me.
But we’ve decided that simple means less maintenance, less money and a whole lot less stress. I can hardly wait for my earthship home.
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