The ecohome that produces three times more electricity than it needs

A REAL powerhouse! Eco home comes complete with heated pool and sauna yet produces THREE times more electricity than it needs

  • Norwegian researchers designed the house with a solar-powered roof in colaboration with architects firm Snøhetta
  • Heat exchangers use excess energy to heat the outside swimming pool and the house even has its own sauna
  • Each floor has just one radiator and each room has sensors to ensure that light and heat is directed efficiently
  • It produces 23,200kWh of energy a year but requires just 7,272kW to run

The roof has been slanted at exactly 19 degrees and is angled towards the south east to ensure that it can capture as much sunlight as possible and also incorporates thermal solar panels for heating water and uses rainwater collectors for use in the toilet and in the garden.

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The windows are also designed to capture as much sunlight as possible to help keep the home warm while heat exchangers warm incoming air and tap water.

The designers claim that the house should produce 19,200kWh of electricity from its solar panels each year while solar collectors used for heating water gather a further 4,000 kWh annually. In total is produces enough energy to boil a kettle 185,600 times.

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However, the building needs just 7,272 kWh per year – the equivalent of boiling a kettle 58,000 times.

Perhaps surprisingly for an energy efficient home, it also includes a swimming pool and a sauna.

The water for the pool and shower is heated using surplus heat from inside the building while the sauna is heated using firewood.

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The house also features an outdoor dining area made from recycled timber and has a vegetable garden to enable small scale food production.

Each floor has a single radiator that is capable of heating the entire house.

Each room also has sensors to ensure that air and light is directed to those that are being used.

Snøhetta, which also designed the National September 11 Memorial Museum & Pavilion at the World Trade Center site, claims that the house can also use energy from geothermal wells – drawing heat up from underground.

They claim it should produce enough surplus energy to run an electric family car.