Description:

Currently building a passive solar rammed earth home built out of old automobile tires. The tires provide a large thermal mass which will regulate the temperature inside the house. The front of the house when finished will be glazed with glass and south facing for passive solar heat. A water collection system will be installed to harvest rain water for house hold use. The house when finished will also have a grey water planter which will clean the grey water which will then be used to flush the toilet. Natural cooling: the tire house has 8” cooling tubes buried in the ground; these tubes are used in conjunction with skylights. Open the sky light in a given room, as the hot airs rises it pulls outside air down through the 8” pvc below the earth’s surface cooling it and bringing cool air into the house.

Other Benefits:

Requires no energy and the only maintenance is cleaning the cooling tube

Maintenance Requirements:

Cleaning the tubes, not sure how frequently as the tire house in not done at this time

My Motivation:

The use of otherwise wasted materials, water harvesting, grey water recycling, energy efficiency are all a motivation for me.

Advice:

This type of house is VERY labor intensive and back breaking, I would recommend as much free labor and you can get to fill the tires with dirt and pound them with a sledge hammer until they are completely hard.

Experience with Installer:

I have done all the work myself so I have no experience with installers.

Additional Notes:

The Cronk Earthship is currently under construction, I am currenlty putting the roof on the front and working on the bottle walls.

Open House Info:

If you are interested in seeing the house and you cannot make it to the open house please feel free to call or email me to set up another time to see the house. You can always call 315 232 2774 email: acronk33us@yahoo.com 21185 Jerusalem Rd Adams, NY 13605

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