OK - I'm in the process of buying some land, and will build in several years. It's in the Texas Hill country, west of Austin. This is a potential retirement primary home, so I want to take the opportunity to do it right, up front. I have some wish list items that are pretty out there (and frankly, pretty unlikely to be funded at the end of the day), so I'd appreciate any feedback on those with experience with any of them.

• Solar Roof Tiles: I like the concept of the whole house solar roof tiles by Tesla. The price will have to moderate for me to consider. Open to alternatives, too.
• Tesla Power Walls: Mostly to work in conjunction with the above, but also as a charging system for EVs and a backup power source.
• Heated bathroom floors
• Heated outdoor patio tile floor
• Rainwater collection system, water purification systems (as opposed to drilling a well - the area has iffy water quality)
• Starlink or other satellite internet provider vs. the overpriced terrestrial provider most use in the area ($199/month for 100mbps!).
• Plunge pool doubling as a jacuzzi (with retractable cover - why not?). Downsizing from a full pool.
• Greenhouse
• Wine cellar / cave, with small dine-in area
• Utility vehicle (I've researched the Tracker LX4 or LX6, but open to alternatives), ideally electric, but open to alternatives

1. What on this list is too crazy to consider?
2. What is missing from this pie-in-the-sky list?

Any and all opinions welcomed!

Hard to tell. What hobbies do you have? Age at retirement? Are you planning on having family guests in the main house or a separate structure? I'd probably start there.

aezmvp said:

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Hard to tell. What hobbies do you have? Age at retirement? Are you planning on having family guests in the main house or a separate structure? I'd probably start there.

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This is intended to be a primary home, with regular family and friends visitors, both in the main house (2-3 nice bedrooms) and a proposed 1-2 BR casita. Garage is a third structure - all connected by covered walkways. Construction would begin in 2-5 years.

Oh - a man cave / cigar room is also on the "doubtful" wish list. A protected outdoor patio with supplemental heat/cooling and other nice entertainment features will probably suffice for those purposes. I haven't seen any reviews for acceptable ventilation solutions that would make it worthwhile.

You planning electric heated floors or liquid? Electric can use a ton of electricity. Water is much more efficient, but could possibly leak. I've wanted heated floors too since they're awesome, but every time I think about it, I just decide to turn the heater up a few degrees.

agnerd said:

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You planning electric heated floors or liquid? Electric can use a ton of electricity. Water is much more efficient, but could possibly leak. I've wanted heated floors too since they're awesome, but every time I think about it, I just decide to turn the heater up a few degrees.

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Thanks! This is a heavily deed-restricted location, so they are almost as difficult as a regular subdivision on what's allowed to be built. On the solar panels, their requirement is it cannot be viewed from ground level or from any nearby house, and can't cause reflection on any other homeowner, so it's pretty limited as to how I can build a solar roof. The point that having solar shingles means that the roof would need to be replaced when solar tiles fail is accurate. Of course, they claim they outlast a regular roof, but who knows?

On electric vs. liquid heated floors, I'm totally open. We would have a buried propane tank as a gas supply, so I'm not sure if it's more efficient than electricity, all things considered. Several friends have shown off their heated bathroom floors, and a former employee had a sweet back patio setup on the water in San Diego that negated the need for heaters outdoors year-round. The temps could be in the high 40s, and it never become too cold to hang out on the patio. I realize it gets colder here, but it could make those borderline patio days much more comfortable.

Another thing - I have a mosquito-misting system currently that seems to work pretty well, but may want to consider screening in a porch or patio, too. Anyone have experience with the effectiveness of rural mosquito misting?

I'm not sure of the need for heated tiles on the patio vs having space heaters for the few weeks where that would be necessary. Heated bathroom is a winner though. If you're doing the cigar lounge/man cave what's the feasibility of it being a separate room attached to the house on it's own ventilation/heating/cooling?

Solar today with battery storage will cost at least $0.20 per kWh used over the life of the system. That's more than twice the current electrical retail rates and that's if you build and install it your self. But it could make economic sense if you don't have power to your property and the utility company is charging a fortune for setting poles.

If your goal is just to be off grid (reasons can vary from saving the climate to prepping), then cost is a secondary concern. Either way, the ground array is the way to go. You can buy used panels for as little as $0.20 per watt (new ranges from ~$0.55 for Chinese panels to ~$2.00+ for Tesla's roof.) and batteries for as little as $125 per kWh of capacity.

For now just try to make sure you aren't making any decisions that will adversely impact your ability to do solar (like buying on the north slope of a mountain). Then down the road start scarring build plans for solar. The cost is minimal to install sub-panels and leave room for a ground array and battery shed in your initial plans.

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2021/4/12/22380057/tesla-solar-roof-price-increase-contract-amount

Might want to rethink that solar roof...

Quote:

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Now, prices for Tesla's solar roof product are starting to go up dramatically. One solar roof customer told The Verge he signed a contract in February to install the solar roof for $35,000, with an additional $30,000 for the batteries.

Later, he received a "terse email" from Tesla stating that in several days he would receive a new contract with higher prices. He was told he now owed $75,000 for the solar roof a 114 percent increase and $35,000 for the batteries.

This person was told he could cancel his order via a customer portal if he chose not to accept the new terms, with the implicit threat that the installation project would be delayed if he didn't accept the new terms right away.

Here is the email he received from Tesla:

Quote:

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We have increased the price of Solar Roof and have added adjustments for individual roof complexity. Learn More

You will receive an email in the next 1-2 days when your new agreement is ready for your review and acceptance before moving forward. If you are no longer interested in moving forward with Solar Roof, you can cancel your order by logging into your Tesla Account and your deposit will automatically be refunded.

We will be prioritizing customers based on the order in which they accept their updated agreements.

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However, he discovered there was no way to cancel his order through the customer portal, requiring him to track down a Tesla customer service representative to complete the cancellation. The customer told The Verge that he was disappointed by the price increase because it's been difficult to find a decent alternative to what Tesla was offering. His emails to the company's reps went unanswered for weeks until a friend of his who worked at Tesla was able to connect him to the right person.

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So, I guess it's time to update this thread. I am probably within a year of starting some buildout, and had a few more ideas to run past my esteemed and intelligent Aggie message board posters.

- I'm pretty much convinced that ground solar panels are the way to go (thanks for your input). We'll almost for sure have a standing seam metal roof, and I really don't want to drill into it (convince me that I'm wrong, please).

- Heated floors: Yes, they're pretty much frivolous, but I'm still strongly considering them. We older (NOT OLD) folks get chilly between October and March, and these might (?) greatly improve utilization of an outdoor space. We use patio heaters now, and they work, but are ugly (according to my co-decision-maker), and break down quickly. We have a high-end Bromic heater that seems to be holding up more than the traditional 2-3 years, but it's way too expensive to consider for multiple units (might need 5-6 to cover the intended multiple outdoor spaces).

- We are strongly considering a staged development plan, building the casita first, and the main house a few years down the road. One alternative to traditional construction that my co-owner found is called HiFab ( hifab.co ). She knows the architecture firm behind the design (Lake Flato), and claims this is going to be above-and-beyond quality. All I can say is that it better be - the price is more than I was planning for a Casita (2BR/2BA for $299k to start (we may consider the 3BR version, as well). I am not sure my HOA will approve it, even though they claim it is permitted just like regular construction. Does anyone have thoughts on this? I was also investigating BOXABL, but I know the HOA would not approve this, as it technically is a manufactured home.

- The downside of the casita-first plan is that we probably will have to build some infrastructure (rainwater collection system, propane tank, etc. for the eventual full buildout, so I'll be over-spending at first (but certainly saving long-term over piecemealing that stuff.

- I'm always open to suggestions on other custom features that we should consider.

I can tell you that I really like my heated floors we have at our house in Colorado. They are only in the bathrooms. I think heating the outdoor patio floor would be a waste. You are only going to feel the heat if you are barefoot.

Why not go whole house radiant heating if your that sold on heated floors?

I used to live in NM. Many high end homes and restaurants would have patios with an adobe wall around them. A small fireplace in the patio plus the sun kept the patios very comfortable even on winter days, unless it was really, really cold. Of course, the wall would obstruct any view you might have.

When I do this later in life, I will have geothermal heating and cooling, with a couple split units to supplement master br and main living area.