Our House

The floors of the house are concrete, the exterior walls mud brick and the roof is corrugated iron.

In several places some of the mud bricks needed minor repairs, particularly around the doors and several window frames. The repairs we carried out were very successfull and we were surprised how easy they were to do.

One side of the house is open plan and contains two lounge areas with the dining area in between them. This area was originally two rooms but they were not of sufficient size for any purpose. By taking out a wall and making one large area we find that the house is easier to heat and cool as well as giving us a more livable area.

Structurally the house is very sound and when inside it feels like an old friend, particularly on a cold day.

In the summer after several days in a row of temperatures in the mid to high 30's to the mid to high 40's it can get a bit warm inside but by closing the heavy curtains and stopping the sunlight getting in it can be quite comfortable.

The house is moderately well insulated because of the materials it is made of. It is easy to heat in the colder months of the year and retains the heat for some time without a fire going.

The kitchen is on the small side but has adequate storage and room to move. We have a wood burning stove that we use for most of the cooking in the colder months. The wood stove also heats the water in the solar hot water storage tank and helps make the house comfortable during the colder winter days.

We have installed a steel fire box at the opposite end of the house to the wood burning stove and in the winter with both of the fires going we are very comfortable.

We have a gas stove that is used in the warmer months as the last thing we want to do when the temperature is 35°+ is to have a wood stove burning.

The solar power system supplies 240 volt power all through the house which assists greatly in making it very comfortable to live here.