Originally posted by: DaveJ
I don't want a big house, just something no larger than about 2000sqft. Anything larger would be a PITA to clean, and utilties would be expensive.
My aunt & uncle had what I'd consider to be the perfect house... on a lake in Houston, with 3 decently sized bedrooms, a large living room, formal dining, and a HUGE enclosed "porch" that was actually built as part of the house, and would make a kickass home theater. They had also built a workshop on one side of the house that was connected to the garage. If I ever build a house I'd want something very similar to theirs. I'd love to have a large kitchen too, but I hate "open floorplan" houses. They always have too much "wasted space".
Those ICFs look neat, and they don't seem too expensive... I'll definitely look into those if I ever build a house.
Dave
Yeah ICF is looking real nice, as long as you plan it out carefully so that you don't run into future expansion issues it doesn't look like it has any other drawbacks. My goals for my dream home are as follows:
-low maintenance (long-life building materials & automated systems)
-enhanced home control (smart home system)
-super energy efficient (due to building materials & home automation)
-safe (both security-wise and structurally)
Here are some ideas for the various systems I've gathered so far:
Electrical:
Solar power (plus air if I happen to get a place with a lot of land)
City grid connection (backup for solar, I probably won't be using batteries)
Backup diesel generator
Whole-house surge protection
Structured wiring
3 Quad panels per wall (plenty of outlets)
HVAC:
Geothermal heating/cooling
Ceiling fans
Whole-house HEPA air filter (for air purification)
Radiant heating in tiled floor areas
Remote-control fireplace (part of home theater area; I think they run off natural gas)
Pellet-based fireplace (backup heating if power goes out)
Humidifier/Dehumidifier
Water:
Radiant heating on hard floors (see HVAC)
Tankless water heaters or water recirculation system
Insulated pipes/water heater
Central water filtration system (no filters to replace)
Urinals in addition to toilets
Digital controls:
Normal lighting/thermostat stuff
Augmented digital control system (i.e. house still works if taken offline)
-control from touchpanels in wall, PDA remotes, computer, cell phone, etc.
-controls HVAC, lights, security system (webcams), home theater, etc.
-implements power-saving strategies for reducing monthly costs
Building materials:
-Fireproof (ICF? steel beams? still have some research to do)
-Windows with built-in blinds (no more broken blinds or cleaning required)
-Motorized thermal drapes (keeps cold out during winter)
-Metal/ceramic roofing (some steel systems can be rust/hail/walk-on/noise-proof)
Lawn: "zero-effort lawn"
12" of mulch around house and yard perimeter (to eliminate weedeating)
Lawnbott robotic lawnmower
Sprinkler system
FertiGator (automatic fertilizer injection system attached to sprinklers)
Miscellaneous:
Augmented phone system (POTS running Asterisk for advanced features)
Gigabit Ethernet network with 802.11g wifi
Roobma robotic vacuums & mop bot
I don't really have any idea what I want the house to look like. I want a 2-car garage plus a shop, a home office, and a basement home theater. Everything else is kind of up in the air. We're not quite sure how big of a family we want to have yet, so I'll have to factor those in later (bedrooms, play room, etc.). This is turning into no small project