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Colorado Home That Doesn't Need A Furnace For Sale

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Dec 17, 2008 8:38 pm US/Mountain

Colorado Home That Doesn't Need A Furnace For Sale

Written by Andrea Lopez

Reporting
Andrea Lopez

STRASBURG, Colo. (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: The straw bales are sandwiched in-between concrete and stucco. Craig built the home five years ago and said that the cost of the straw was less expensive than traditional insulation.
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Imagine not having to turn on the heat at all during the winter because the house is so well insulated. One homeowner living on the plains of Strasburg hasn't had to touch her thermostat for over a year. The reason? She has 2 foot thick straw bales in the outer walls of her home.

"The first thought process was energy efficiency," said owner Eva Craig. "All of the insulation is natural straw. The straw bales are highly compressed straw bales, not the typical 30 pound straw bales that a farmer would bale up. These are about 80 to 85 pounds. We got these in the San Luis Valley. The outer walls are all made of those straw bales. The R factor was rated by my engineer as anywhere from R-60 to R-65 which is phenomenal."

The straw bales are sandwiched in-between concrete and stucco. Craig built the home five years ago and said that the cost of the straw was less expensive than traditional insulation. However, she said it was more labor intensive, and that the 2,800 square foot home took about four months to build. The outside walls are also framed with steel beams rather than wood, making the home stronger, according to Craig.

"There's also rebar and cable," said Craig. "You stack the bales like bricks. You put rebar into it, cable it down, and stucco it over and you're done. You have thick, nearly soundproof walls, and hardly any dust what-so-ever. It's taking advantage of a product that most farmers just leave out in the field."

The second reason Craig chose to use straw bales for insulation was to create an environmentally-friendly atmosphere to live in, or a "healthy home."

"This house is conducive to health because there's no dust, there's no forced air, and there's also no artificial insulation," she said.

Craig is downsizing and selling her home. Even though she wants to attract potential buyers by marketing her home, she also hopes that it will set a good example.

"I would want people to learn and appreciate the fact that there are things such as natural materials and things that can be used in construction a house for energy efficiency rather than just the conventional sort of materials such as insulation and products were so used to seeing in a house," she said. "It doesn't cost you much more, it's better on your health, and it's got a lot of beauty to it."

The house sits on 40 acres and is being sold for $850,000. An adjacent 108 acres is being offered at $275,000 or $1,125,000 for the entire package.

Additional Resources

For more information, contact Cathy Sipes with Keller Williams Realty of Northern Colorado at (970) 227-3307 or at csipes03@msn.com.

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