Another new guy.

[duggae]

Want to say hi and get aquainted with this forum. I just found it this morning. I currently live in a 3500 sq ft Lindal Cedar Home I built myself. It sits on 60 acres of mid Missouri woodlands. I love it but the wife moved to town, and we will be divorcing after 30 years. She wanted it too, but tired of it before the first year. So, I want to build a small home/ cottage/ cabin.
Time for me to simplify my life and downsize, a bunch! I've already found 5 acres on a dead end road with the seclusion and quiet I desire. I love the post and beam construction of my Lindal Home and the quality of the building materials they shipped (two tractor trailers of it). But I know enough now to design a small home myself. Looking at 5oo to 700 sq ft with an open floor plan. Passive and active solar heating, woodstove supplemental heat and super insulation. I am a true believer in passive solar. When its 10 degrees outside and the sun is shining, it's 80 degrees  or more it the house. The furnace runs all night however unless the woodstove is hot!
I will address the nighttime heat loss issue with a solarium or insulated shades or both.
I was into the small efficient home movement in the early 80's. The spouse however wanted big, expensive and impressive. See where that got me. I'm following my instincts now. Can't wait to start a new life in a small efficient and well thought out house. My only consession to excess however will be a Viking Range. I have used  mine daily for ten years. I will miss it more than anything in this big house. I love to cook and I will somehow fit a new Viking Range in my budget. Probably it will be a 24" or 30" and not the 36" I have now.
Hope to exchange much info with you guys. I don't know you yet!   doug   

[glenn kangiser]

Welcome, doug.  I think you will enjoy our off topics What's for Dinner and Building Extreme Hunger also.

John felt that we had a community here and needed a place to talk about things that were not about building.  That is to our advantage though because when a building question comes in, there is always someone checking things out to answer it or other ones soon also.