Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

The huge issue of a healthy house is on a par with a happy house. The two 
are intertwined. Here are a few thoughts for the morning:

For starters, live in a place of high air quality. All air on Earth is 
constantly recycled--what goes around, comes around--and we all breathe the 
same stuff, but certain conditions, like lots of trees, clean the air--crap 
wafting in on the wind clings to leaves and when it rains the crap is 
washed to the ground where it enters the soil community's cleaning operation.

Avoid products that outgas poisons. These noxious products include carpet, 
particle board, strand board, and all the pressed-wood products that use 
glue to bind them. You want real, solid wood cabinets. Sheathing may be an 
exception if it is tightly and totally enclosed. Paints are available that 
are low VOC. Preferably, just live with the natural beauty of interior 
stone and wood, unfinished.

Avoid forced-air heating systems. They stir up dander, pet hair, and the 
myriad tiny pieces of stuff that we collectively call dust, all of which 
our nasal passages and lungs abhor. Forced-air duct work over time can 
accumulate molds and other nasties that can cause serious respiratory 
problems. Protect your lungs. Passive solar and radiant heat make far more 
sense and are more energy-efficient.

As Jefferson did at Monticello, build your house to process fresh air on a 
continual basis. TJ used overlapping glass at the high point of the house 
with tiny openings between. Air escaping at the high point created a slight 
vacuum, which caused fresh air to enter the house at certain low-level 
design points. I favor such a natural system rather than the 
electricity-dependent air exchangers now in vogue. I have written before of 
how I love the leaky old shack at Heartwood for its air quality. To replace 
the stale air seeping out of many points high, fresh air enters the main 
floor from the earth-temperature-tempered and regularly-hosed-down basement.

This is a huge subject. There are books and magazines to read. I 
occasionally pick up a copy of The Natural Home, which is a useful read. 
Nothing is more important than your health. Become knowledgeable about what 
it takes to stay vibrantly healthy. Develop a plan. Write it down. Focus 
and persist. Make the plan happen.