LAST long FACT about myself! 25/25: Planned future home, and a future to change for energy.

(Continued from "24/25 facts about myself: "How I would change things if I woke up in my past." (One fact per note now.)."

(Foreword: If you've been tagged, press Ctrl+F and type your name to find where I mentioned you.)

25.

I will not get a home the traditional way. I would hate to bust the bank for that. I would much rather start small with a kind of home that is easy to expand with the family. Easy like Lego-blocks, but with welding and other work put in between. It will also help the environment. Then I want to retrofit current streetlights with solar panels and little wind turbines. Basically, help the environment with everyday environs.

25a.

Student loans are/were (someday "were") troublesome enough. We need not saddle ourselves with mortgages. Do we expect a 6-member family? Therefore, some couples who do will buy a 4-bedroom house (assuming bunks in the childrens' bedrooms) with one set aside for guests. However, they may not get around to having 4 children because they can't afford raising them, much because they have to put a bulk of it towards the mortgage.

25a.i.

I WILL NOT BUY INTO THAT PATH. I don't know how many times people need to make the same mistake before others will know what's coming. I'd like to bet it wouldn't take even several times for me to watch others make this home owning mistake.

25a.ii.

Let us hope that after many watch this video, we'll know better than to waltz into our own traps: http://www.crisisofcredit.com/ Instead of dangerous mortgages, consider an alternative...

25b. Introducing: Modular Container Homes

25b.i.

The economy's been stalling out into a flat-spin, causing demand for shipping containers to nose-dive. Shipyards get saddled with loads of unwanted shipping containers so they get desperate to get rid of them. No wonder their prices are so low.

25b.ii.

Even though they're the size of mobile homes, they are MUCH stronger, and MUCH cheaper (mostly due to supply/demand.) Unlike traditional mobile homes though, they can stack adjacent to and ATOP each other.

25b.iii.

So instead of a preset size that is basically like taking bad gamble, why not just have your house grow with the family?

25b.iv.

See the container homes and some organizations behind them below. First, let's start off with an article of the best pictures of them put together: http://weburbanist.com/2008/05/26/cargo-container-homes-and-offices/

25b.v.

http://www.pfnc.net/

25b.vi.

http://www.globalpeacecontainers.com/index.html

25b.vii.

http://weburbanist.com/2008/08/25/buying-designing-and-building-cargo-container-homes/

25b.viii.

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/articles/containers.htm

25b.ix.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1B3RNFA_enUS243JP275&q=container+homes&btnG=Search

25b.x.

http://flickr.com/photos/janky/sets/72157594292059910/

25b.xi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4qe0SsHKno (And you will find more related videos on a related video list to your right.)

25b.xii.

With a fraction of the cost-per-sq.-ft. of a traditionally-built home, I will come out well-ahead. I will also be sure to pre-pay for each section so that without monthly payments to be saddled with, I don't have to worry about being foreclosed on should I ever get laid off from a job. (Assuming I have to work for someone else.)

25c.

Once I have this house, I want to install solar panels on its roofs. I don't want to draw electricity from the grid; I want to give back to it.

25d.

The "trees" I'll "plant" will be wind turbines in an orchard-like sequence on my property.

25d.i.

Perhaps on the top of the turbines' poles (and surprisingly clear of the blades no less,) solar panels may be. Why not let these turbines' poles go double-duty? See image below:

25e.

I'll not be interested in the biological side of things; my wife can plant actual trees (out of proximity of the turbines) and do gardening work. (though I may assist her out of the kindness of my heart.)

25f.

Finally, I wish to retrofit streetlights with wind turbines and solar panels. Therefore, they'll look a bit like the photo above, except a light fixture will protrude off the side of the Fenestron shield. In fact, see something like that on the photo below.

25f.i.

A battery inside a pole will power the streetlight all night. The solar panel and wind turbine will recharge the pole. (Windy nights help even further!) During the day, after the pole battery (or the neologistic portmanteau "polery" or "poletery?") is fully charged, the panel & turbine will feed their excess back to the grid!

25f.ii.

That will save the city and its residents considerable energy costs. Also, this will help the environment because when tens of these streetlights turn to hundreds to thousands to millions across the nation, we can start shutting down the biggest polluters in the land.

25f.iii.

If I have these around my own property, I can make money off of selling back to the grid. You can do the same if you're up to getting them.

25g.

If you've seen the egg-beater wind turbine, I was told somewhere that they capture more wind than the traditional ones do. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_beater_wind_turbine

25g.i.

Turns out though, they don't seem to give as much ground clearance. Maybe they'll also go up on the roofs as long as they don't interfere with the roof solar panels' collection of the Sun's rays. I'm sure I'll install one or two of these somewhere on my property.

25h. (EPILOGUE)

It's about time the ENTIRE SERIES got finished. Tim pointed out they were supposed to be brief. I see that others' 25 facts are usually no more than a single paragraph long. That is why I have made a 50-word-per-fact version. I plan to post that next, and many of them will be different from the ones I have already posted.