Was out having a coffee yesterday and happened to stumble on this article about a rotating house being constructed in Canberra, which allows for a change of view, and it occurred to me what a good idea this was from a few different perspectives (pardon the rotating house pun). If you have trees around your property it allows for you to adjust the amenity of shading at a particular time of day. It enables passive solar elements as well as charging up the photovoltaics.
If the property had extended eaves or an overhang this could also help with produce plant shading at hotter times of the day. Particularly useful for those practicing crop rotation.
Apparently the energy use involved in operating the rotation is that of a typical light bulb.
The world of design is an exciting phenomenon in this world of climate challenges! These houses are getting more common overseas.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/efficient-design-follows-sun-in-roundabout-way-20121114-29cpq.html
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Attribution for above garden design goes to
Andrew Jones, talented artist and designer.
Inspirational concept. The site in which the building rotates would have to be spacious to make it feasible. Plenty of opportunity to get the maximum benefit of the outdoor garden area.
ReplyDeleteThere are at least half a dozen rotating homes which have been built in various parts of the world including Australia. The builders of these homes have established years ago, the following facts.
DeleteTo overcome the problem of noise from steel wheels, the wheels always need to have polyurethane tyres. The frictional resistance to be overcome when the drive motors starts, is very substantial due to the high friction of these plastic tyred wheels. Not a lot of power is needed when the house gets moving, but the power of an average light globe is certainly only a fraction of the power really needed. I expect some journalist posted that foolish comment. Be assured that the power needed for this rotating home will be in the order of 750 Watts at least.
The video showing 3 men moving this house platform makes it obvious that when the house is finally built, and fitted out with essential domestic appliances and furnished, and occupied by, say, 4 people, will not be driven by a 100 Watt motor as suggested by the author of the article.
It is a pity that so much false information, relating to rotating homes, appears on various web sites. One website states that it costs no more to build a rotating home than any other home fixed to the ground. (of the same size and quality) This statement is sheer nonsense.
The weight of the platform and completed home and contents, will be in the order of 40 Tonnes.
Thanks for your comment. Much appreciated all the time you put in to it. Yes, a concept like this would involve seriously complex engineering considerations, that obviously weren't taken in to account in the news article. Always good to keep an open mind, on these matters. Possibly 750 watts to generate the rotation could be offset by the savings on heating when the house is moved to a more beneficial passive solar position.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's ideal to get a forum going about these rotating houses and other lifestyle ideas.
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