Off-the-grid home sparks interest
A Waikato-designed Hybrid Smart Home that allows owners to live independently of national power grids has attracted a lot of attention.
Huge interest surrounds an innovative Waikato-designed Hybrid Smart Home which provides “100 per cent off the grid living”.
Allan and Sally Nicholson’s debute of their Hybrid Smart Home at this year’s Fieldays saw more than 5000 people through the show home.
The couple received 750 inquiries – 35 percent of them from Cantabrians.
“It’s blown us away how much interest we’ve generated,” Mr Nicholson said.
The Cambridge couple were inspired by the situation in Christchurch to design a house that functioned “off the grid”.
“We sit there and watch the news and see Christchurch going without water and heating and they’re problems that can be solved so easily,” Mr Nicholson said. “I think we’ve pulled something together that solves them.”
The home is built on four-metre piles, one of the measures taken to make the home disaster resistant.
“What’s happening in Christchurch could happen anywhere in the country and the best thing we can do is to be prepared,” Mr Nicholson said.
The couple are so confident about their invention they are moving into the show home with their three children. And in six weeks time they will invite the 750 people who showed a serious interest in the concept to come into their home and see first-hand how it works.
The Smart Home is powered by a combination of solar panels, LPG gas, a back-up diesel generator and a deep cycle battery bank which allows the house to generate its own power.
People can also link to satellite phone and broadband connections which Mr Nicholson said cost a fraction of the price consumers would pay to be connected to the major networks.
“One of the major advantages is people can completely eliminate their power bill, “he said. “If enough people get on board, it will relieve so much pressure on the big companies.”
The three-bedroom home costs $143,000 plus GST and there are options to custom design the house for people who need more or fewer bedrooms.
Mr Nicholson is keeping their next project a secret.
“I’m not going to say what it is – but it will be a combination of three things that affect the farming sector. It’s going to be multi- cultural … and it’s going to blow us out of the water.”
