5 comments about The Independent Home: Living Well With Power from the Sun, Wind, and Water (A Real Goods Independent Living Book).

1. I was looking for a book on technical data for energy independent sytems, how they hooked up to your house, how it interacted with the existing power company system etc. This book has more opinion in it than information. I only read the first three chapters so far but the construction of all the chapters seem to be the same. It starts out with someone's story where they put down the power companies and insert a lot of "save the Earth" jargon. Most of the chapters consist of this type of rhetoric and at the very end of the chapter there is some useful information about a certain system, PV,wind, etc. I was also disappointed to find out that this book was copyrighted in 1993. The field of PV has taken leaps and bounds since this book was published. There is some useful information in this book but in my opinion, it could have been condensed into a short concise booklet of about 45 pages.



2. As an editor and writer, to me this book is awful. The title is misleading: it provides no idea that this is simply a collection of feel-good stories from people who have succeeded in living independently. For the person wanting to start to live independently, this is NOT the book. Except by accidental gleanings from the stories, there is no comparison of technologies, no systematic analysis of how to go about it. The incomplete and inadequate descriptions of technologies are poorly placed and you wonder why they were placed where they were at all; the applied information could be culled into ten pages or less. There is also a nauseating rash of redneck chest-thumping about why America is so great and why it is losing the "race" to go green, presented in the very way that provides an implicit answer: America is great because it is full of greedy, competitive, small-minded, insular, arrogant people built to exploit the country's natural resources - the very ones that (most of) these people - including me - would like to get away from. This is off-set by some (again, accidental) very brief and quiet mention of the usefulness of non-American technologies. I expected more from this book, especially given the reviews it has received already. Much like the authors approach to his own building, the book may be euphemistically called `organic'; otherwise, it may be called just wasteful, inefficient, and poorly focused.



3. I found this book very disappointing. I was looking for more of a "How-To" book which would provide answers and ideas for a mountain cabin. Instead I found it to contain warm hearted informtion in the form of short stories. At a minimum this books title should be modified to "The Independant Home - Good Hearted American Stories of Living Well with Power from the Sun, Wind, and Water.



4. When I ordered this book I thought it was a collection of stories gathered from people who have moved off the grid with some techniques and practices thrown in. Instead what I've found is that it preaches to the choir.

   The emphasis is on explaining how we waste energy through our daily on-the-grid lives and what doing so costs in "real" terms of "dead dinosaurs" turned crude oil deposits. If I'm buying this book then it's assumed I already have some concern for the environment and my energy usage, that I already want to "get off the oil" addiction my nation has. Why propound it over and over and over in this book. Why preach environmentalism in a book bought by environmentalists? Why not give them the info they need and the courage to do it through depicting others who've done it already?

   There are some stories of how others have gotten off the grid but they are short and don't really go into any of the problems one may encounter or how they can be overcome.

   A disappointing book that so easily could have been much much better.




5. This book is a motivational book for people considering building an off-grid home. It includes arguments for living independently of the grid or other utility systems, stories and interviews with people who've established independent homesteads, and some general information about design considerations (siting the home for maximum efficiency, ways to generate power, and maintenance issues). Although there are a few tables and graphs, this is definitely not a how-to book; it includes very little detailed information about setting up independent power systems. Instead, the book focuses much more on why people choose to live off grid and how they get along without grid power. The book is illustrated with black-and-white photographs of people and their houses or diagrams of equipment and how it works. End material includes a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
   
   Unfortunately, many of the interviews with homeowners are rather disjointed. It seems that Potts was striving to convey what people told him as accurately as possible, and so he relied on direct quotes where it would have made more sense to fill out the statements with the details needed to explain what the people really meant or intended to say rather than the exact words they used. For the interviews, Potts chose people in the regions he knew best, namely Northern California, Vermont, Hawaii (Maui), and communities in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. No mention is made of independent homes outside of these regions, and very little is mentioned of independent living in other countries. Potts has a tendency to stray off topic and he occasionally includes some information that, while interesting, isn't really about building an independent homestead, such as chapter five, a simplified accounting of our environmental impact on the planet (ecological footprinting), in which everything we do or use is translated into trees. (The details of the accounting system aren't very well thought out, since, for example, Potts equates the impact of 1 mile driven to 10 miles flown, when cars actually get better passenger mileage than airplanes.)
   
   The strongest feature of this book is the encouragement it provides that living independently can be done, and done comfortably today. Many of the people interviewed in this book live relatively ordinary lives, complete with electric lights and refrigerators. Some have vacuum cleaners, and some even have freezers. Significantly, all of them are living in remote areas, where they take responsibility for supplying not only their power, but also their water. Because they realize the limits of their water supply, they use composting toilets, and since they don't have sewage to deal with, their drains have nothing but gray water, which is reused elsewhere around the farm. Most grow some or all of their own food, and consequently generate very little garbage. Many even apply the goal of independence to educating their children, and home school their kids. Overall, the information contained in the book is quite exciting and encouraging, but after reading the book cover-to-cover, I'm no wiser about the details of how I could begin to implement some of these ideas in my own home.

No comments about Energy Efficent Design and Construction for Commercial Buildings.

No comments about Bioclimatic Housing: Innovative Designs for Warmer Climates.

No comments about Design of Metallic Cold-Formed Thin-Walled Members.

No comments about Gas Installation Technology.

No comments about Principles of Construction Safety.

No comments about Official OSHA Construction Safety Handbook, Fifth Edition (201-ORS-5).

No comments about Glass in Structures: Elements, Concepts, Designs.

5 comments about Practical Electrical Wiring: Residential, Farm, Commercial, and Industrial (Practical Electrical Wiring).

1. I bought this book while in Iraq to study before I get out of the army and try to get under an apprenticeship. This book has helped me learn a LOT about the trade of inside wireman and the basic fundamentals of electricity from fomulas to installation of panel boxes to wiring an entire house and to which lamps will give the best lighting effect in a room. I am really looking forward to learning more about the trade. So far I have read it once and am already half way thru for my second time around. I highly recommend this book however, what I have learned about electrical is only from this book so I do not have a comparison.



2. Some very good information , but very vague on a lot of subjects. It would be nice to have more pictures and details of subject matter I have yet to find a really good electrical book other that the NEC CODE BOOK



3. If your looking to get into the Electrician field or just need a steady reference guide, then this is the book for you. Residential, Commercial, Industrial...you name it. I've been a certified Electrician for 17 years and I still use this book as a quick reference manual to this day. Not overly complex but still gets down to the nitty gritty in details.
   
   Definitely a must buy if you're interested in pursuing a career in this trade.



4. Great condition as I expected based on the description prior to purchase. I will definitely recommend to others.



5. These is a lot of information in this book but if you are trying to do your own electical, it doesn't help.
   
   This book is great if you are studying to be an electrician. It gives you a lot of background material. But for the home project, go to HomeDepot and and get an electrians guide.

5 comments about What Color Is Your Swimming Pool? The Guide to Trouble-Free Pool Maintenance.

1. As a new pool owner, with no prior experience in pool care, I did not find this book to be particularly helpful. The book had a lot of information on what things were, and what needed to be done in terms of problem solving. Unfortunately the book neglected to share with readers how to do it. I would not recommend this book to new pool owners.



2. I use this book as a training tool and give one to each of my customers in which I build a pool. New and perspective pool owners need to learn a crash course in pool care and maintenance to preserve the beauty of their investment. I have had a much easier job of educating my customers and in the end, they are much happier. This book is a must for all pool owners that care what water can do to their investment.



3. I bought a house with a pool in the backyard and I had no idea what to do with it. This book really helped me become familiar with the general pool maintenance and how filters, pumps, chemicals, etc work. I still had to call in a pool company to help me open the pool for the first summer, but reading this book helped me understand what they were doing and ask the right questions.

   I've also referred to this book a few times for troubleshooting information. While it isn't specific to my particular pool configuration, it points me in the right direction.




4. This is a book for people who know nothing about swimming pools and who are thinking of getting one or who need to maintain an existing pool.

   The book starts with some basics - the types of pools that exist, water characteristics and treatment - and continues to explain the equipment that comes with a pool. This includes filtration systems, pumps and motors etc. The book closes discussing winterizing and opening up the pool as well as faces-lifts repairs etc. Of course, there is also a chapter on pool-safety.

   I really liked the book, as it was well-written (easy to read) and seemed to cover all the essentials, getting me knowledgeable enough to handle the pool in my garden. The book is full of illustrations that help to explain the workings of the different parts that come with a pool.

   As the book at every stage discusses the various types of pools and equipment that exist, the book can also be a real help when trying to decide what kind of pool to get.

   So, if you are a pool-beginner (pro will need a different level), get this book! The cost are negligeable to those that you can incur from miss-managing your pool.




5. This is very thorough for in ground pools, but has little to do with above ground and certainly knows nothing about winterizing in the Norhteast.