Buy an old house that needs renovating
We want to buy an older house that we can retrofit with solar, rainwater harvesting and extra efficient insulation.
We want to buy an older house that we can retrofit with solar, rainwater harvesting and extra efficient insulation.
I bought a house in Haria, Lanzarote, a reforma. It is a ruin. I love it, we can just about live in (myself, partner, and 3 kids) and one day I hope to renovate it! I am so glad we bought it. In the village many Canarians moved out, families went to mainland Spain, properties caught in inheritance disputes and as a result there are quite a lot of ruins that have been abandoned. The town council is addressing these issues and one day the village will be great again!
The house has an alijbe which we hope to use again. It collects water from the mountains but there is not much rain here and no natural water. We also hope to install a small wind turbine.
Lucky for me, my cottage already had solar panels on it. I've since insulated the attic with rigid foam board to R-27 and most of the walls with cotton batting to R-19. But egads, it's hard work to be a
DIYer that's bootstrapping the upgrades. I lucked out and found a $5 rain barrel at the salvage yard. Next big green project is getting a graywater system running. Yay for old homes with character and a little bit of funkiness.
We are in the process of old-home shopping now, though we've lived in many (rentals). My husband is great with plumbing and electrical work, and we are interested in finding a house with "character" but good bones. One thing that scares me is the possibility of having to deal with Vermiculite insulation -- it seems to be mentioned now and then, and its removal can be very costly and dangerous. We also love the idea of point-of-use water heaters (instead of huge tanks of energy-wasting water heaters in the basement) which aren't used much (yet!) in Canada. I'm hoping to get lots of advice once things get rolling!
i bought an old house in donegal and renovated it by upgrading the insulation, converting the attic and upgrading the hot water heating system. it's so great to have an efficent house with character!! i'm also a freelance renewable energy consultant and am happy to advise edenbee members for free. email me if i can be of any help :-)
Our existing houusing stock, in particular the insitutional landlord owned represents a huge challenge. However knocking down & rebuilding (even in an eco-manner) has a huge footprint. Urban environmental history is also littered with examples of grand re-build projects which, however well intentioned, fail to protect and enhance social and human capital, thus leading to a poorer environment in the long term. So if there is a chance to renovate, refurb and improve it must be best? Then again looking at some of our urban monstrosities I guess tne answer will be a bit of both!
