Comment by David Zent:

I’ve really enjoyed looking through your posts about simplicity. I find them direct, honest and clear, and I bet you exude these qualities personally.

I’m currently building a 16′ yurt as the start of a yurt compound I intend to put together over the next few years. They are elegant structures, answering the needs of shelter, beauty and economy in a way that many other homes do not, and I’ll take it completely off-grid by building solar electric and water-heating panels, as well as a couple wind-turbines.

Composting toilets will be used and greywater recycled as far as possible. I’ve just heard about some small swedish-made woodstoves that burn with nearly 100 percent efficiency and they’ll be the eventual heat-source. I plan on using radiant heat under the floorboards as well, heated thru a coil passed thru the stove.

Living this way requires a certain frame of mind, and sites like yours help me achieve and maintain it. Thank you!