Our home is an example of a green home with some investment (Tesla solar roof and battery) combined with small DIY projects which add up! Our motivations are to be cost and resource effective, and to adapt to climate change and reduce long term costs. Next steps are various, including getting an energy audit with BAYRen to decide on the best investments to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

ENERGY & EFFICIENCY

• Tesla solar roof tiles (not roof top panels) avg 11.6 kWh daily production on 2.9kW capacity (small system). The house is 40% self-sufficient on a yearly average.

• 2 Tesla Powerwalls capacity 13.5 kWh each. The battery reserves 50% charge for emergencies, the other 50% is charging up during the day, and depletes when the sun goes down. 

• The batteries act as UPS power supplies in case of electric outages, they automatically charge to 100% from the grid based on announcements of the utility provider.

• All-in-one high efficiency electric LG washer & dryer

• Electric cooking which does not require kitchen renovation: electric kettle and Instant Pot pressure cooker with air fryer.

• Automatic, wifi enabled LED lights

• Smart thermostat, smart home command center 

• Electric bike and electric skateboard for commuting!

WATER CONSERVATION

• DIY rainwater collection system under patio deck, with on-demand or irrigation system attachment (see details below)

• DIY smart irrigation system

• DIY passive rainwater catchment

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPING

• Hardscape: front lawn slope grade adjustment for water flow, introduction of swales, rock garden with native and non invasive succulents

• Softscape: mulching, low lawn replacement with collection of native, edible or medicinal plants (different sages, blue elderberry, soap plant, prickly pear), our favorite tree fruits (mexican lime, duh!), and herbs

• Bonus: Underground wire fencing (humane gopher deterrent)

DIY RAINWATER COLLECTION & IRRIGATION SYSTEM

For a thoughtful, step-by-step description of Jani’s rainwater system, CLICK HERE.

SUMMARY OF SYSTEM: A rainwater collection system with 300 gallon capacity, feeding from 4 downspouts or 300 square feet, with one remote valve, serving 200-400 sq ft of irrigated backyard surface. Total investment: $2500 without labor and electric work.

The Tank:  Low profile 500 Gallon Tank from Plastic-Mart, produced by US Plastic. Your water tank will be the biggest cost of all the components in the system, it is worth spending time on research. You should always call the distributors after the tank is selected as the delivery cost of the tank can be comparable to the cost of the tank itself (500$ difference depending on where it ships from). You will pay about ~200-600$ / 300 gallon capacity not including delivery cost. Cheapest option is the used ICB tanks going around 150-200$ / 300 gallon. 

RainEscape Collectors: After the tank was in place, special water collectors were installed between the joist of the deck. The original intent of the RainEscape system is to keep the deck’s structural components dry, in our case it also collects the water and divert it into the tank. 

Pump: For pumps I suggest “external, high pressure, on demand self priming, pressure booster, transfer pump” for drip irrigation. We went with this.  

Irrigation System: For the irrigation we were using Rain Bird. This product suite is very diverse, medium price range and extremely easy to work with. Also available in most of the hobby gardening and hardware stores. The system takes the water from a wi-fi controlled vale (Link-Tap), the water goes through a pressure regulator and contains multiple valves and end-points.