respectful comparison

Great questions! I was also considering the LV home, although I think it ends up being quite a bit more expensive to construct one of the Romero homes. I am awaiting Wes and Andy's responses.

I am interested in more information about the solar and subsequent hook up, too. Additionally, while I will have power to hook into (I'm not off grid), I am in the mountains and a battery back-up option would be great and sometimes necessary.

Great questions! We were aware of Romero’s LV home and other work but I would not say that project was a contributing inspiration for the i-house. The i-house is very different in many aspects. The LV home has been around a while. I think it was published in Dwell magazine in either 04 or 2005. I remember the issue. Cool house and we applaud their efforts.

Included in the pricing is basic setup and utility hookup. Your i-house specialist can coordinate every aspect of the project, from grade work and foundation construction to all the finishing touches.

The i-house is designed so that a photo voltaic system up to 4 kW can be incorporated into the homes power system. This is a grid tied system designed to be as easy and maintenance free as possible. It does not utilize a battery storage bank. As the solar panels produce energy the power is converted at the panel to AC power. The power is then distributed among the home and its components.

If the system is producing more power than is needed to run the home, the excess power is automatically diverted to the grid through a dual direction meter. You will receive a credit for any power you kick back to the grid.

The system is fully automatic, requiring no switching of breakers or switches and comes completely set up and ready to go. In order to go “off grid” a battery system can be added onsite. This would have to be designed and installed by a third party, but can be easily coordinated by your i-house specialist. The system is designed so that this can be done with very little modification.

Hope this helps. Thank you for the great questions!

I really appreciate your response about the solar power! The fact that an independent contractor could install a battery system either at the time of initial placement on the site or in the future is a good thing to know and consider. Actually having looked into the costs of such a system, this would allow someone to plan on it for the future, if necessary, and in the meantime have an energy saving system from the get go. I'm impressed with everything so far and now I'm just anxious to have someone get back to me about my visit to the Sacramento facility that has the i-house model.

By the way, I was interested enough in Rocio Romero's LVL house that I made a trip to St. Louis to actually view the house. Until the i-house came along - with the added advantage of a manufacturing facility in Oregon (where my house will be going) - that was the closest design I'd seen that I felt I could live with. The i-house, however, is winning out for two reasons; shipping from one point in Oregon to another point in Oregon will save a LOT of money, and the i-house with the Flex option better meets my financial needs and my desire with regard to the house footprint on my property.