Conversation with interested reader

1. Have you continued to have a good experience with the house? Absolutely - I would never live in a "standard" house again!
2. Have you found that you are using significantly less fuel to heat your home while still remaining comfortable (of course, I can use significantly less fuel in my 190 year old house, but I have been VERY cold!)? We only use wood and a few hours of an electric space heater in the back bathroom. And the Tulikivi only needs to be fired once or twice a day which cuts way down on the amount of wood (and time).
3. Have you resolved the condensation issue? It is much better this winter - the only condensation we have had so far is a small amount on the windows if someone showers at night. No longer an issue.
4. Have you had any problems with leaking? No
5. Do you find that the windows drain a lot of heat at night during cold weather? And do you feel that you need to remedy this with insulated blinds or drapes? Are the windows double-glazed or triple-glazed? The windows are double - actually they are replacement panes for sliding doors. They obviously cool at night, but the concrete holds so much heat that we haven't seen much. We have installed some bamboo blinds for the intense sun on sunny days which makes it nearly impossible to read or work on the computer.
6. How comfortable is the house in the summer? Its fine. Did it get very hot? Not really - we have two attic fans during the day. At night we run the exhaust fans installed periodically through the house to bring in the cool air. Living in the foothills - there was only 1 night that I can recall last summer being overly warm at night.
7. Who was your contractor? A local builder - individual, not a firm. Did he have experience with building this type of home? None Who designed your house? We did.
8. Are you considering including your house in one of the solar home tours? Perhaps when it is finished.
9. And finally, would you do it all over again? Absolutely If so, what would you do differently? That's a hard one as we really love it. Ask me in another year or so.
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