My house is too big. Any food for discussion?

[bikin' Ed]

Use a bedroom for batteries. Solar panel the roof. Get off of the grid. I've got to believe the payback in AZ has to be relatively short.

[jamesqf]

If one of the rooms is south-facing and has good windows, turn it into a conservatory.

My unused extra bedroom has become the library & electronics/computer lab. (That is, where I work on the guts of the computers & stuff, as opposed to using which tends to get done in the living room.)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by bikin' Ed

Use a bedroom for batteries. Solar panel the roof. Get off of the grid. I've got to believe the payback in AZ has to be relatively short.

I've already considered to do a similar project, but would rather build a basement and a rainwater collecting system alongside it

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Well, I port heads and blueprint blocks in the space between the dining and living rooms... you could have a projects workroom or two.

Yeah, Frank, but maybe you were an inspiration for one of Garrison Keillors' Norwegian bachelor farmers from his monologues on Prairie Home Companion going back more than thirty years.

Those long winters in the cold country.

(And I agree with the idea: Learn to sew. Re-load cartridges. Organize county records. Put it to use for family good. Common good. Even if you only do that thing six-seven times/year. Etc.)

.

[pete c]

A PV battery bank inside the house sounds like a really, really, really bad idea.

I'd probably just rent it out to an insanely hot coed. I could then use the income for divorce legal fees, assuming I still have the house. I guess it's a good thing I have kids to occupy my extra rooms, although my daughter is away at college (25 minute drive) and rarely comes home.

There is another option. Rent one of the bedrooms as a storage unit. Preferrably to someone you know. But, a stranger would be OK, so long as you set down a few rules like he would only have access if you were home and you would have the right to inspect the room any time he was there to ensure he wasn't stuffing it full of dynomite or oily rags or something else that might be dangerous.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by pete c

A PV battery bank inside the house sounds like a really, really, really bad idea.

Unless it had some ventilation to prevent overheating of the batteries, among other safety features.

There is another option. Rent one of the bedrooms as a storage unit. Preferrably to someone you know. But, a stranger would be OK, so long as you set down a few rules like he would only have access if you were home and you would have the right to inspect the room any time he was there to ensure he wasn't stuffing it full of dynomite or oily rags or something else that might be dangerous.

Some big old houses are often divided into apartments. That sounds like a cost-effective way to deal with a big house if it some space is wasted...