Prefab Net Zero Off Grid Thoughts: Kitchen

Oh how prefab-ulous: We are ALL sick.
It is raining.
Coughing, sneezing, low grade fevers... we will not visit the net zero off grid prefab this weekend.
Yet inside, we're bustling about in our pj's and woolen socks, ill but happily busy, and I am researching:
Kitchen Appliances For The Net Zero Off Grid Prefab Modern House!


I have been toying over thoughts on the kitchen island and appliances for months.
General thoughts:

• Kitchen island should face the chaos, so that I can happily participate as I cook
  
• Upper part: contains juice and wine glasses so I can throw them at thirsty clamoring mutinous guests
• Smaller fridge reflects our locally eating, buying fresh food, often, lifestyle
• Composting bin
• Smaller trash can because we compost our food waste, feed scraps to chickens, avoid packaging
• and a recycling bin, of course

But something in the functionality I drew out earlier didn't sit right... I was still working on it...
The big barrier to energy efficient off grid appliances is that, frankly, they often cost a heckuva lot more.

Today I stumbled onto this: A green fridge that uses almost no electricity, made out of a freezer!

Freezers and fridges that open from the top make sense. Think about it: hot air rises, cold air falls. When you open a traditional fridge or freezer, the air literally falls out of the compartment as you consider, "Hmmmmm... what shall I have for lunch today?"

With the door on the top, you can keep the cold air contained within much more efficiently.
I again researched energy efficient appliances... then stumbled across what seems like a good solution:

A freezer with TWO access drawers and temperature zones! So the top could be for food kept cool... and the bottom, remain a freezer! (IF we even need to use a small freezer. More on those thoughts for you on that in another post...)

The Haier freezer I selected was rectangular, not square, because it makes sense that when you open it, with a more rectangular shape you can quickly scan the inventory vs. dig through layers trying to find something in a square space. I researched and researched, and found one for $329, not the least expensive, but with free shipping (shipping averaged $100 so in the end, it was a good deal).

Now I am going to play with crayons to show you my kitchen area idea:

(The reality will be much more sleek and modern, longer in width, much more stylish; I'm trying to explain the functionality. Dudes, I'm drawing with CRAYONS.)

• Countertop:
  
  
  
  • Range
  • Cutting board area also doubles as where to put the dish rack when drying dishes, water can run off to be recycled with a surrounding groove into a container right in front of the compost top?
    
  • Drawer top to hold compost bin to the right of work area (doesn't need to be too big as we discard scraps at least twice a day - you can see the bin top to the left of the stove, it would be built in- metal container, flush with the countertop) - if I were left-handed it would go on the left...
    
  • Sink: shallow but wide enough for rinsing, washing dishes
    
  • Glass storage: facing me, sliding glass provides access to glasses
    
    
    
    
    This reflects the natural progression in how I cook:
    By putting the workstation between the range and sink, I can rinse & cut, add scraps to compost, then add the cut items to the pan all without moving the cutting board.
    
    
    
    
    
  
  
• Underneath:
  
  
  
  • Pull out shelf (not drawer) reveals freezer-converted-into-fridge, yet allows access to bottom drawer of fridge (after I drew this I realized it should be under the sink, as I'm right handed and thus making it more accessible as I prepared / cooked)
    
  • Two drawers under sink for pots and pans
    
  
  
  
  
• Side where the stools will be:
  
  
  
  • Sliding glass: provides access to glasses (the nonbreakable pewter cups of which we Virginians seem to acquire so many...)
  • Legroom under the glasses area for swinging, restless children's legs
  • Access to pipes if you need it by making that side face a latched door, able to swing open
    
  • Handsome Husband pointed out we could take that latched door just mentioned (that opens to the pipes, systems where the stools are) and instead have it lift up, not open sideways, and could then create a "insta-table" for extra guests.
    
  
  
  
  
• Behind me, flush and built into the wall:
  
  
  
  •  Two shelves that open for more storage of plates, glasses, utencils, cloth napkins
  • Underneath: a pull out drawer separated into
    
    
    
    1. trash (as in, non food anything): which we have *very little* of...
       
    2. recycling (um... we have more of that. Hello, beer cans...)
    
    
  
  

Here is another crayon rough version of what it might look like...

Picture this room with the grey polished concrete floor, a built in bookshelf, smooth plywood finishes mixed with the recycled VMI basketball court on the walls and in the kitchen island.

Now I need to keep an eye out for cool, modern (hopefully reused, as I try to recycle, even better: vintage) bar stools, and juice and wine glasses.  I'm also looking for a marine stove...

After a split-second of thought, I decided I do not need an oven.  I use our solar cooker for fun, why not make it integral for our bread baking, etc. *every* time? Granted, that rules out a Thanksgiving turkey, but there are other, more creative ways to approach that dilemma. The reality is that I only use our oven a few times a year, and many of those times can certainly be replaced with the slow cooker, solar cooker, and other methods.

So there ya have my prefab house kit thoughts on the kitchen area!
All certainly to be refined, revised before you see photographs of the finished area...
But what else was I supposed to do on a sick, rainy day? : )

 

Modern Prefab Update:

It is morning in the net zero prefab house kit.
I am blearily sipping coffee, and the 5 year old just walked up and said,
"Momma? This feels like home."

Last night both children woke up separately, and with them, individually, we finally watched the stars and listened to the coyotes howl together.

It has become habit here for the 5 year old to awake waaaaay after the animals have melted into dawn and sit with me, along the south windows overlooking the trail, loudly chattering while seeking wildlife.

So for her to finally join me before dawn, in the dark, and quietly listen to all the night sounds as I always do, alone, was... so nice to share it with them, for I have been listening for years by myself while the family slumbered... You should have seen her bright eyes and smile: she heard the coyotes, an occasional cow, and many birds of the night.

She even saw her first shooting star. : )



Sooooooooooo... Let's talk about the bedrooms.
We have neglected that middle bedroom while camping in the prefab.

We have two queen sized air mattresses on which we've been staying while camping in the house kit.
We put one in the west bedroom, and one in the east, which is supposed to be our room. Through this sleeping arrangement over the past months, I am now rethinking it- the west bedroom, intended to be the 6 year old's, might actually work better for the adults- we are tending to sit at the dining table at night, so I imagine that might be the "late night talking area" vs. the other side of the common room, and the east bedroom is closer to the bathroom so it might be better for the 6 year old when he has little friends stay the night.

So as we re-think the purpose of the east & west bedrooms, I suggested,
"Why don't y'all sleep in the five year old's middle room tonight, and we'll try out the west bedroom?"

It didn't work out that way.
Somehow a child fell asleep on EACH bed, so the boys were in the west room and the girls in the middle bedroom.

And let me tell you... that middle, overlooked bedroom is FABULOUS.
It is PERFECT for a little wildlife watcher!

When she awoke, instead of leaving the warm bed for the rocking chair along the south windows to seek animals, we just turned over under the covers and looked out that long, vertical window where we had a clear view of the field. I am certain she will see many things over the years from that lovely view.

Because the house kit is made of SIPs (structural insulated panels), the inside sounds tend to... stay inside.

The dogs were being loud- the mastiff-mix happily-with-tail-wagging-and-heavy-breathing his acknowledgment of our nighttime alertness, the other shaking his tail happily and jingling his tags as he greeted us, and Handsome Husband... well...
Handsome Husband was snoring.

So, from the comfort of our bed, I reached out and opened that vertical window, and suddenly the night sounds filtered in.

Similarly, those high windows in each bedroom ROCK. During the day, they allow light in while providing privacy. At night, I tell the children to lie down, heads on pillows, and look up: they are perfectly placed to view the stars!

Although progress has been maddeningly slow (no one's fault but our own), it has really given me time to evaluate how we are *really* using the space, vs. as I had envisioned we would.

Imagine if I wanted to switch rooms after decorating one room very mod and adult, the other decorated for a little boy! So by camping in and using the space thus, I can make sure everything is finished where it is appropriate for YEARS of use and enjoyment.

Now I am off to sweep (again, thank you, myself-in-another-dimension for NOT choosing bamboo and embracing the easy-to-clean concrete with fly ash! My other-self-NOT-in-another-dimension would have LOST IT when the 6yr old decided to give the dogs "dirt baths" whom, after I finished sweeping, came in to flop...and it was awhile before I noticed the piles of dirt here, piles of dirt there... "What the heck?!?" then he 'fessed up...) and organize as Ron will build bathroom walls this week, just in time, for... well, one of my best friends is supposed to visit next week from NEW YAWK CIT-AY and I am taking her camping in the prefab house kit.

Handsome Husband is busy recycling leftover wood from framing to make stairs, and the 6year old has proudly added a um, nice doormat he snatched from the waters of the Bay while sailing last weekend and thinks it's perfect to reuse here.
I support his enthusiasm to reuse! But... um, it's not quite mod.
But, hey, it's reuse, so I applaud.

(So if you come to the Prefab Open House September 26th and notice a faded doormat that's all frilly / West End housewife-y, that's the story behind it. Please tell the 6year old you think it's a *lovely* addition to the decor.)