Welcome to our website! click for Home Page or click for Site Map
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Welcome to our website! click for Home Page or click for Site Map
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Knitted outdoor shade cloth in colors
Shading fabric is a must for any greenhouse or passive solar home. You can develop unique 'micro-climates' using this knitted shade fabric as shadecloth and/or windbreaks. During the summer months, shade cloth screens out solar energy thus reducing heat gain and home cooling expenses. These higher quality, knitted outdoor shade fabrics are UV stabilized so colors resist fading and they'll never mold or mildew. Cheaper, non-knitted, woven fabrics are used in agricultural applications where longevity, appearance, and sag resistance are not as highly valued. We sell only the finest desert tested, knitted shading fabric with strong, durable lockstitching that resists tearing, fraying, stretching, and sagging. Both edges are factory hemmed to provide solid anchor points for stretching very tightly. Our knitted sun screen material will not ravel when cut, like cheaper woven shade cloths.
Saddle Tan . . . . . Solid Green . . . . . Smoke Blue . . . . . Solid Black . . . . . Brick Red . . . . . Chocolate
click here or on sample swatches above for the shadecloth detail page
Custom size knitted shade panels with hem and grommet
If your shade fabric installation calls for sun screen awnings wider than six feet or a specific shade factor, we offer custom sized panels up to 32 foot wide in 30% to 90% shade factor. Our UV and heat resistant, HDPE polyethylene, knitted commercial shade cloth is an extremely durable lockstitched material and will not fray when cut, like cheaper woven shade screens. All of our knitted shade fabrics come with a closed, factory hem along the two edges - only the ends are cut as it comes off the roll. Custom sizes are quoted with the online ordering form. Reinforced tape, hem, and grommet work is available. Shade canopies not only provide sun screening to block excess solar heat gain, they create a micro-climate next to the glass. Outside temperature can be dropped more than fifteen degrees with effective shading and ventilation. The key is allowing warmer air to rise and pass through the open knit, not trapping heat like a rainproof tarp, metal roof, or plastic patio cover.
Light Grey 87% - Evergreen 87% - Royal Blue 70% - Stucco Tan 65% - Really Red 65% - Evergreen 60% - White 50% knit
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Full size range of 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, 26 and 32 foot wide rolls
Double grommeted corners are standard on all grommeted sun screen panels for no extra charge! click here or on images for custom shade tarp detail page |
Passive solar heat storage water tubes
Our fiberglass solar heat storage tubes can be filled with water to create light diffusing columns that are capable of storing LOTS of BTU's. Placed next to each other in a row, they make great room dividers and privacy screens too! Sloped, south facing, greenhouse style glass has long been known to admit more natural light than vertical windows, especially in the cold winter months when the sun is lower on the horizon. The "catch 22" has always been that too much solar energy passes through, instead of reflecting off the glass, causing a wide temperature swing problem. The best answer to this design problem is to add storage mass, not pass up all that free passive solar heat and lose that precious natural sunshine.
click here or on picture above for the heat storage tube detail page
Servel propane gas powered refrigerator freezer
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Servel® RGE400 non-electric propane gas powered refrigerator
click here or on picture for Servel propane gas refrigerator details |
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Kobe Range Hood stainless steel kitchen vents
Unlike the big catalog companies, we don't sell a bunch of different brands when only one is the best! Kobe® range hoods are the most dependable, easiest to maintain, and most cost effective stainless steel range hood on the market today. We could offer other major brands of stainless steel appliances to our clients, but why? We truly believe the Kobe stainless steel range hood line is by far the best value and of the highest quality.
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If you are like most people, the only time you use your range hood is when you want to remove excessive steam, smoke, grease, and odors while cooking. During everyday use, ventilation fans are so loud that you tend to ignore the effects that even light cooking create. Kobe stainless steel range hoods with the QuietMode™ feature are so quiet that you will not only be able to operate your range hood continuously while you are cooking, but can leave the hood on when you have finished to remove the heat without the annoyance of fan noise. Their QuietMode™ feature is: "So Quiet, You Won't Believe It's On!" |
click here or on picture above for Kobe stainless steel kitchen hood details
Sun-Mar waterless self-contained composting toilets
SunMar® Excel was the first self-contained composting toilet in the world to be tested and certified by the NSF. This standard #41 (waterless toilet) certification is all that's required by most local health departments for installation approval (see links page). First introduced over 30 years ago, the Excel's three-chamber, Bio-drum™ continues to be the most functional design, period. Unlike the big catalog companies, we sell no other self-contained composter for a very good reason: we service what we sell, and the Sun-Mar Excel is the most dependable, easiest to maintain, and is the only self-contained composter large enough to conveniently handle full-time residential usage. Our home and office has had two Excel composters in continuous usage for well over ten years now, without a problem. We know these units "inside and out", trust me, technical assistance before AND after the sale is our specialty.
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The SunMar® Excel at 32 inches deep and 22 inches wide, is a natural for adding a toilet to your garage, workshop, or cabin that lacks the basement needed for a Clivus Multrum® or Sun-Mar Centrex central composting toilet system (see below). These durable units are great for job sites too! Why pay rent for a portapotty chemical toilet when you can own something so much better? The Excel composting toilet sits directly on your restroom floor, so installation simply involves cutting a hole in the roof for the vent, gluing a few pieces of pipe together, connecting the emergency overflow hose to a small drywell or holding tank, and then plugging the unit into an electrical outlet. This time-tested, high capacity composting toilet has a VERY convenient tray for removing finished compost material. Keep this feature in mind when you're looking at other manufacturers' composters. Other brands are difficult, at best, to remove finished material from; some have way too many moving metal parts; and most others are way too small for full or part time residential use. The bigger the composter, the smaller your periodic maintenance needs. | 
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click here or on picture above for Sun-Mar and Clivus composting toilet system details
Drywell leach pit drainage kits are $169* delivered
Our drywells make excellent leaching pits for gutter storm water drainage, driveway drainage, and septic, greywater, or composting toilet leach field systems. These amazingly strong kits can be buried as deep as you need to dispose of rainwater, drainage, or effluent. Gravel backfill around and under the drywell is not necessary, but will certainly increase the capacity of your leaching pit. A single drywell with a foot of gravel under and around it will dispose of 200+ gallons per day in most soils. As with all of our products, we'll work closely with you, consulting on your design for a system that works and provide toll-free consultation during construction!
click here or on image above for the drywell kit leach pit installation detail page
Flood alarm moisture sensor is 9V battery operated
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Flood alarm (high water level alert) moisture sensors are an integral part of many sustainable design systems. Sump pumps, cisterns, septic tanks, greasetraps, and greywater filters alike can all benefit from this early warning overfill alarm. Washing machines, water heaters, pressure tanks and other household plumbing will leak, eventually. This flood alarm will let you know there's a problem with a piercing 110dB wail long before your couch starts to float away. This flood alarm's solid state circuitry is built into a 3 inch wide, 4.25 inch tall, and 1.5 inch deep sensor compartment. A single 9 volt battery powers the alarm and a battery saver feature keeps batteries fresh longer. Don't take chances with water damage. Protect yourself with a flood alarm.
$20* FREE First Class / Priority US Mail
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click here or on picture above for flood alarm detail page
two must-have passive solar heating & cooling books
along with an excellent greywater recycling guide from Art Ludwig for your library
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$78* free shipping
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Buy all 3 books for $78* and save $16 plus
All three of these wonderful reference texts are recommended for a complete understanding of passive heating and cooling, alternative building techniques, composting toilets and greywater recycling systems. |
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The Natural House
This 468 page paperback takes the reader on a tour of thirteen natural home building methods, including straw bale, rammed earth, cordwood, cob, adobe, earth-bags, papercrete, Earthships, stone, and log.
You'll learn how these homes are built, how much they cost, and the pros and cons of each.
Sustainable home components are discussed in detail with chapters devoted to passive solar heating, cooling, cisterns, greywater, composting, and septic systems.
A resource guide at the end of every chapter offers a wealth of information.
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The Solar House
This 274 page paperback is an excellent reference even if the author does misspell my name!
While heat from sunlight and ventilation from breezes is free for the taking, few modern architects or builders really understand the principles involved.
Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling.
Acknowledging the good intentions of misguided solar designers in the past, he highlights certain egregious errors and shows how to avoid them.
In methodical detail he provides contemporary home builders with all of the necessary tools for successful solar design.
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Create An Oasis with Greywater
This revised 145 page greatly expanded fifth edition of Art Ludwig's heavily illustrated book outlines numerous basic greywater recycling systems and serves as an excellent primer for anyone interested in building their own "septic" system.
Discussions include greywater filtration, pumps, leach fields, plant selection, soils, and basic plumbing.
Click here or on the picture for a detailed synopsis of the book, excerpts from chapters and a complete outline of contents.
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$78* free shipping
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Buy all 3 books for $78* and save $16 plus
All three of these wonderful reference texts are recommended for a complete understanding of passive heating and cooling, alternative building techniques, composting toilets and greywater recycling systems. |
initial design consultation with packet $195*
Questions? Concerns? order an initial consultation to discuss your project
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$195* initial design consultation
Whether regarding HTMs specifically or passive solar in general, our initial consultation will address your concerns.
After reviewing the material, we encourage you to drop us an email with your questions.
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First, we email an extended outline of tips, tricks, and technical details, many not found on the website.
Then, we ship you a two inch binder jam-packed with the following printed information:
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plan review and HTM consultation for $1995*
after initial consultation, we can perform plan review with personal consultation
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$1995* plan review & HTM consultation
This isn't ongoing personal project consultation, and is limited to five or six emails, but we trust the plan review and follow-up consultation puts your project on the right track. |
We request that you start with the initial consultation packet for $195* to ensure a solid feel for HTM principles and get a chance to know each other first. Later, after your construction blueprints are finished, sign up for plan review consultation and send us two complete sets for study. For $1995* we will carefully pick over your plans for possible errors, better flow, wiser use of space, and alternative design possibilities. When pointing out options, we view your whole house as an independent "holistic system" chock full of inter-related, functionally inter-dependent parts from the ground up. With a project as large and complex as a new home, it's extremely easy to save more money than you spend on a good consultant. Building a home is the greatest investment of time, energy, and money most of us will ever make. Having an experienced ally giving you relatively unbiased answers to your questions is priceless. Please note that our plan review and consultation service has never included custom blueprinting, engineering or load calculations. Custom drafting and structural engineering services are best supplied by locally licensed professionals and we do not offer referrals, sorry. Always hire professionals familiar with your area's building regulations and who can physically visit your property to inspect soil, construction and materials. Here is a short biography page: whoweare.htm as way of personal introduction and our standard contract is online at: Terms of Service Agreement. We look forward to being of assistance. |
in-house consultation and personal HTM home tours are no longer available
hourly and flat-fee on-going HTM consultation services are also discontinued
don't want any consultation? DVD only for $9*
we include a free copy of the website on CD, but no phone or email time
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$9* DVD only
One hour long video on universal DVD format
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First half hour walks you through the sustainable design, HTM passive solar earthhome featured on our website. While not a How-To video, the second half does include detailed Infiltrator chamber leach field septic system installation and Sun-Mar composting toilet footage. |
and visit our YouTube channel for free video in 11 parts
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Left click underlined words and most pictures for link to
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Please E-mail us anytime
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PRIVACY STATEMENT - We will never release your name, contact information or purchase history to anyone!
The use of this internet site and purchase of Architerra Enterprises, Inc. (d.b.a. TheNaturalHome.com) products and services are governed by this Terms of Service Agreement and Disclaimer.
By using this internet site, you acknowledge that you have read this Terms of Service Agreement and Disclaimer and that you accept and will be bound by the terms thereof.
Copyright © 1998 - 2010 by Architerra Enterprises, Inc. All rights are reserved, please.