Home Power DIY

Lori can put together a good photography book of some great solutions to “sustainable” design. I enjoy studying the imagery, and the details I want to learn. The book doesn’t get high marks for the detail explaining the ideas she shows, but it’s a decent publication recording some good ideas.
Rating: 3 / 5

This is a tremendous book that provides great food-for-thought for those interested in both quality design and off- or nearly-off grid living. Even if some of the houses might be out of range as noted by one commenter, there are still boat-loads of ideas around every corner.

Great photos, too!
Rating: 5 / 5

This book, “Off the Grid”, and Lori Ryker’s other book, “Off the Grid Homes”, are just mildly interesting. I regret having ordered them both at the same time. Had I seen one, I would not have bothered with a second. In fact, had I seen one before before purchasing, I would not have purchased either. Kemp’s book, “The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-grid And Sustainable Living”, is what most people will find interesting and useful.
Rating: 2 / 5

My husband and I are looking into building an off-the-grid cabin, and Lori Ryker’s book was really helpful for putting all the options in perspective. It is not a technical, in-depth how-to book; it is more of an overview of the different possibilities. The author, a working architect and a professor of architecture at Montana State University, looks at ten different homes that range from grid tied to completely independent for their energy needs. After reading Ryker’s book we decided we could build a house that is entirely off the grid; in particular, I was inspired by the four entirely off the grid homes featured in the book, one of which was designed by the author. The homes were built for different environments and living situations–from a full-time 2620 square foot residence in a remote part of Australia, to a 620 square foot vacation cabin on an island in Minnesota, to a 2620 square foot vacation home that is open to the elements of the Texas Hill Country. Some of the energy solutions surveyed are relatively simple and inexpensive (collecting water in cisterns) and others are more high tech and expensive (solar electric panels). This book is a great starting place for someone who wants to see what the possibilities are.
Rating: 5 / 5

If you are looking for practical solutions for alternative energy sources this is not the book for you. This book is a “coffee table” book and provides no information on implementing alternative energy sources whatsoever.

The author displays no knowledge of any scientific principles. I suspect that she has no such knowledge since she actually refers to the four elements (i.e. that asinine Aristotelean concept: earth, wind, fire, water) and comes across as “pointy-haired golf” type with a degree from Harvard (yawn…), and a die hard member of the parasitic class of life (i.e those people who don’t know anything about the universe other than how to operate their iPods and order coffee at Starbucks). She comes across as if she has never connected a single electrical device other than her hair dryer in her lifetime. I don’t think she could state a single equation in physics or electrical engineering if her life depended on it. The only information in this book really is her vague generalizations about Edison, Ford, and the history of the energy which consists of only a few sentances.

This book is essentially a book full of pictures of houses. It does not even show photographs of the alternative energy sources used in the houses, just the houses themselves. If you have never heard of or seen a house before you may learn something from this book but otherwise you aren’t going to get any knowledge out of it. If you have heard of a house before and would like to learn how houses can use alternative energy sources, I suggest you read “The Renewable Energy Hanbook.”
Rating: 1 / 5