Eco-house delivered tomorrow morning and ready to live in by tea time? “Yes Sir, no problem, will that be the £130,000 ROOT2 or the ROOT2 MAXI for £170,000?” The smaller Root2 Eco-house comes in 3 towable modules that are parked in a ‘T’ shape with the gap in the middle covered by a hexagonal roof. The hexagonal living room under the roof is a spacious 4.5m wide and the fully glazed front side gives a modern airy feel to it. Each module is constructed in structurally insulated panels (SIPS) with smart double glazed PVC windows and doors. The roof, floor and end panels are wrapped in zinc to give a modern look and water proof durability. Being just 2.25m x 5.25m the modules can easily, and legally, be towed by most family cars. The ‘wet’ module goes in the middle of the ‘T’ and comes pre-fitted with a wood burning stove connected to a 475 litre heat bank which is also heated by wet solar panels (6sqm on the roof), an immersion heater and an lpg Vaillant Eco-plus gas boiler just in case. The wet module also houses a neat galley kitchen, a shower and chemical lavatory which can be exchanged for a normal one when a septic tank and soak-away is installed. Of course the wet modules wouldn’t be wet without water so a 1,000 litre tank is placed over the roof to give adequate supply and pressure. A trailer is available for fetching another 1,000 litres in an IBC if necessary. The other 2 modules together provide 2 small bedrooms, one double bedroom and an office – useful 50msq accommodation for a family of four. Under-floor heating is pre-installed throughout and quickly connected at the setting up stage along with wiring, made simple with Z-Wave wireless lighting and switching which also enables many functions to be controlled remotely on any i-pad or mobile phone. Root2 is a proper Eco-house with 42% of the build cost going into sustainable energy equipment. The other 2 modules at the sides have a total of 18 PV panels on their roofs to give a total of 4.5kW (kpa) and the power, stored in batteries, is handled by a Power-Router unit that also allows connection to the mains when available. While the Eco-kit incorporated might look a bit excessive at first it does allow the house to be placed very quickly on site in a fully working state and provides a most economical off grid user experience after that. The extraordinarily low price also comes without the need for expensive extras such as site preparation and various professional fees; a patch of land with permission for 3 caravans will probably suffice. Being a new house built by a contractor Root2 should qualify for the UK ‘Help to buy’ scheme and will enable many owners to enjoy comfortable living without a huge mortgage burden. No doubt some users might sell existing properties and release cash for holiday villas or ski chalets. Corporate purchasers will value the instant hassle free solution for housing workers on site with all the proper modern comforts of home. The ROOT2 MaxiThe maxi is built to the same concept but each module is 6m x 3m and the central hexagon is 5m wide. While ROOT2 is like a flat in size the Maxi is just like a house. ROOT2 Maxi is not towable and is delivered on a truck with a crane and in that respect can be installed almost as quickly. If you want a well appointed 5 bedroom Eco-house next week then this is the way to go.
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