I notice Carol's stove is gas. So perhaps, they will have a heat source. Although I wonder if propane has an expiration date?
As far the solar panels go Reg described them as a prototype system. This is how this seemingly inadequate rating and quanity has been addressed. [MENTION=7785]Neuropyramidal[/MENTION]

 

I think propane can last for many years, but I think its the tanks and valves and other equipment you would worry more about maintaining. I'm no propane expert, and I'd like to ask Hank Hill about this, but I think they'd go through hundreds of gallons per week, heating 12 houses and a large building with propane. Even if they are only heating for a few hours each evening. I suppose they could have underground propane tanks, right? Because I haven't seen any home heating sized tanks around. But they seem to be investing most of their concern into the solar panels, so I think the picture they are giving us is that the vast majority of their pre-ZA comforts come from those arrays.

 

I think everyone has forgot about the eco sewage system. how warm that would be, run a radiator system of water pipes through it gives you boiling water it run a steam engine turbine to provide electric

 

I had thought about the eco sewage but hadn't thought much about its purpose. Perhaps they are capturing heat and methane which is natural gas..

 

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Over at our other house (circa 1800s that was a one room house, then they added a kitchen, then an indoor bathroom and then the addition which was my boys' bedroom for a grand total of 800 sq. ft.) the pig never had any maintenance and we only filled up every other year. Here at the new house we only use propane for the stove/oven. We bought $600 worth of propane for it 4 years ago... and haven't filled it since. Before that we were using the lil propane tanks like for a gas grill or a camper.. that was loads of fun because either it would run out halfway through cooking a meal or, when the temps got really cold, it would freeze up. Because we only used the tanks from the grill or the camper LOL Both pigs are in the back yard or side yard and not really something one would notice from the front yard.

I liked the propane furnace and water heater at the old house much better than the electric water heater here or the wood furnace: temps were more consistent both during a shower and in the air.

I won't go into a rant about the brand new propane furnace sitting in the basement that isn't hooked up. :zombies_mad:

I'll just holler at one of the boys or hubby to go put more wood in. It's an awesome furnace that can take 4 foot logs (we just put in regular split stuff) and is started via a diesel flamethrower (not sure of the actual name but.. that describes what it does). But it was installed so it goes wall, furnace and furnace door opens left to right. Which means you have a 2 foot opening to chuck wood in vs if the door opened the other way (toward the wall) or if the furnace had been turned around and then one would had 4 foot of space to throw wood in. I have scars on my arms. I now know that cooked human flesh really does smell good.

The boys think I should have a set of welder gloves to keep me safe. I think that once their butts are out of the house I will be ready for a new house ... one where if it's -20F I can just turn up the dial to 70F from 68F and feel warm with maybe a sweater and slippers.

Ok, I lied... I ranted.

But it's 30F right now and will be down into the teens by morning. We ran the furnace for one load of wood. I'll be narping painfully hard come morning.

 

haha, your weather seems about on par with mine right now. . Yeah, I agree, using propane solely for stove/oven use, the consumption would be considerably more conservative. Heating these large houses and larger building I think would be a totally different story. It just seems to be that in a community like this, it would be very hard to hide the pigs, unless they were underground. And if that were so, it seems like they would be putting as much concern into replenishing those as they are maintaining the solar arrays. I doubt the ASZ is relying much on propane. This is probably more a case of suspending our disbelief, which I am happy to do, since they really haven't shown us the number of solar arrays on the show yet.

And your original house sounds I lot like my grandparents house, when I was a kid.

 

The pigs being hid is nothing new... in HOA type situation here in the Midwest, yeah, they would be set behind the garages that were 20 feet from the house on each lot. Accessible via the alley.

And Heaven forbid you have a clothe's line!! Or cute planters next to your door. Or a picture of the FSM in your front window.

Our neighborhood is like stepping back in time. Either the neighbors are from "way back when" * or they are the kids or grandkids of those who lived here way back then.

* Neighbor from when we bought the house was an Octogenarian ... and filled us on who lived where over the years, what was planted where over the years... and was tickled pink that we had made up a nickname for our kids that we considered and used as positive... that had been applied as a negative classist name to his generation.

His wife passed away this last year... he's still alive and I hope he is a Centenarian (errr.. 100 year old plus person). An awesome neighbor: did his own thing (Mole killer extraordinaire, Peach tree grower-- not a fruit tree that usually grows in Iowa and generous with whatever he had growing in his yard from flower bulbs, fruit from his other trees to knowledge of our are (the old church, the old grocery store and the pioneer cemetery).

We bought our first house with some down money and the rest on a credit card. Crappy depressed area (wonderful for kids, crappy funtime for teens and older). On the advice of the local bank owner... cos the CC charges would be less than the monthly payments of a home loan from the bank. We bought from shirt tail family (my BIL's great-aunt.)

My sons like being out here in the middle of nowhere: they are huge ZA fans. And they love that they grew up shooting, growing their own veggies/fruits and learning how to fabricate stuff. The only ZA thing they haven't really learned is how to hunt*. I did some coonhunting, fishing, rabbit and squirrel hunting but hubby only did fishing and a lil bit of squirrel. But none of them are squeamish so I bet that won't be a hurdle. They aren't vegetarians but do love the wild veggies I have turned them on to like Nettles, grapevines and gooseberries.

*or killing a dead person...