We are so used to thinking of value in monetary terms that we've turned this world into a very boring place filled with unhappy people. Thank you for putting the needs of others beyond any cash value and rather focusing on the benefits that your gesture brings to your parents, the farmer, the cat, your own physical and emotional health, and the land that will ultimately receive that wealth of energy. Happy New Year, Sean.
Reminds me a bit of how they sometimes stack firewood on the balconies of traditional Alpine chalets, the overhanging roof protects the wood from snow, it's accessible when everything else is buried feet thick, and the stacks add temporary insulation until spring, when the balconies start serving different purposes.
Love this idea, it is quite genius and who does not want to save money. Hay is good insulation and long time ago here in Sweden, lot of people used to put hay in thieir shoes to keep warm! 👍🌿🦋🌿
Happy new year! What a wonderful example of stacked function and community. Your gentle and thoughtful spirit comes through on each of your videos---and this is no exception 😀
As a straw bale gardener I used straw bales to hold up rigid insulation around my father's home for years. We also used bags of leaves (which we collected every year and shredded for our large garden) leaves were shredded, put in paper bags, then surrounded by large plastic bags (we reused every year) to keep him warm during the winter. It really helped. Am not using bales this year and using rigid foam reflective insulation we used last year on a house in Minnesota - keeping insulation on with foam tape. 1/2 inch insulation from ground to siding then insulation around for feet high to keep this 100 year old house from breaking the bank on heating costs. Last year it took forever to measure and cut for vents, meters, etc. and this year (we wrote on the insulation where it goes and stored it over the summer) and the project has taken much less time. Plan to get use of the rigid foam insulation with reflective sides for many years. Was a cost the first year, but we were warmer and if the energy company ever sends us the energy usage for the last five years, we will see if the insulation has helped. I know it really made a difference at my Dad's house. When I used straw bales I put the bales in quarter inch hardware cloth to keep the vermin out then used the bales in the garden.
I’m definitely lining my house foundation with hay bales on thick poly sheeting. I’ve done strawbale gardening so I know they throw a ton of heat and I’ve often wondered how to harvest it. Thank you!
I plan to do this tonight in AR, the temperature is in low 20's right now and heading to low 10's...YIKES. We are staying in a temporary living quarters inside a shop/barn. We have heat but man, it gets really expensive so we plan to lay down about 14 of square hay bales on the side of metal wall that expose to the cold. We also get rain a lot around here...so rain mix with cold that turns to ice...my concern is when hay gets wet then it will retain a very cold ice droplets which then would loose the heat...so you mentioned wrap hay bale in plastic, do you mind sharing the detail on how do you actually wrap 40 ft of hay bales...that's what I would get after I lay about 14 of hay bales in one long line of the shop foundation. Thanks.
A lot of people don't think about the pesticides and herbicides put on straw. I too will only use hay for that fact. Never found an issue with "weeds" from using hay. Rather have weeds than pesticides. Thanks for your video. God bless.
It's always about the straw bale with building/insulation/etc., but unless you are willing to pay 2x to 3x the cost to get certified organic straw, the local, well packed, dry hay works incredibly well for these applications and it doesn't make much weeds at all!
It's true of course! Hadn't occurred to me but hay that's usually cut before the grass seeds will be relatively weed free. The straw I get is very weedy, not enough pesticide I guess :)
The other advantage of using hay instead of straw is that it’s safe for people with celiac or wheat allergies to handle. That’s the main consideration for me, but it’s good to know that it’s healthier in other ways too.
Looks like I'll be doing this this coming winter on my little cabin that sits on a concrete slab...I heat with wood as well....plus the bonus of using the mulch on my hugle mounds! ❤️
Man, thanks for this. We are in our second winter in our home and had pipes freeze a few days ago. This is a great idea for next year. Too much snow to try this time around, just going to have to let the faucet run at night (there are a couple of -17° / -20° nights in the forecast. We also heat with wood, so any reduction in consumption will be great. Some day we are going to try to vent into basement, and pull air from outside like you do. Thanks for all your awesome videos (as well as the garlic we bought from you this fall. Can't wait to harvest that).
We have a fan pulling super hot air right off the wood stove down into our basement for the last week (as in the wood stove trick video I put up that you mention). It has been pushing hot air into the basement and feels like it really makes a difference. The air duct connected right to the stove is key. We have used a little over a cord of wood so far, and it hasn't gone above 10F for a while and will be -F coming up. Its tough but it's working. The hay bales really add a great layer of support. I wish you well in keeping warm! Enjoy the garlic!
We lived in a house of that vintage and heated with wood for about 20 years. I will never forget the welcome warmth that came each year when we finished banking the house with hay and plastic. Good on you for looking after your folks that way!
It looks kinda glumpy and ugly! :) We reuse the same scraps of plastic each year so its just discolored chunks of plastic with rocks on it, nothing to write home about :) You could use sections of sheet metal roof or new plastic or some other treatment, but for the winter it's a 'good enough' scenario for us. Water does sneak in, but since we take them away in the spring we've never had any issues with this at all.
I've often wondered about stacking hay up beside a house for insulation in the colder climates...but even one row apparently makes a huge difference in your circumstance.
The stone foundation and areas where air sneaks under is really the most important to insulate I'd think, and I also feel like a tall stack of hay is a lot more work, more cost and increases the chance of rotting the house which I want to avoid...
I have to tell you man ! First thank you for your awesome video and you are a real caring person and besides this video’s knowledge a lot of people wish that more people were like you ! You hit it right on the money when you talked about listenening to older People’s stories. They are the ones you can learn an awful lot from about life by just listening. A helluva lot more than some irrelevant stuff you will hear in a classroom. And yes that depends on the teacher ! Some care and some really care ! I just want to say you saved me $3,900 bucks because they wanted $4,000 bucks to spray foam my crawl space. It might as well have been a Million Bucks to me ! I’m hoping this will keep my pipes from freezing when I install my pellet stove because I just moved here in April and the lowest it got outside was 42° and it cost me almost $500 bucks a month for my Propane bill ! I can’t afford that either especially when the temp will go down to way below 32° up here in Upstate New York ! Thanks again !!! I definitely subscribed to your videos ! And it’s super nice you help your parents out the way you do ! That’s more important to me than anything else in your video ! They are very blessed to have a son like you ! 👍🏻 You get the max rating ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really kind words, thank you. Wishing for you warm and comfortable winters and ways to avoid massive costs! The hay bales make amazing garden building material in the spring so there are some real win wins there!!!
I grew up in a late 1800's farmhouse and we always banked straw bales against the house in fall. we grew our own so there was no pesticide worry. also, long time watcher; first time commenter! thanks for all the inspiration! Happy New Year from the frigid fundy coast of canada :)
Cool. I would like to see how you cover them with plastic. Can there ever be a danger of them heating up and catching fire just with the bit of moisture from the snow or rain, or does the plastic cover keep them dry enough?
Unless the surroundings very moist, hay or straw will burn readily. For people who don't live where there is lots of moisture, you can insulate with straw bales during dry weather, but then you need to cover them with stucco or some kind of plaster and make the roof overhang about 3 or 4 feet past the bales. But it's worth the trouble--you get R-40 insulation. People can also coat straw with clay slip, dry thoroughly and then put it in the crawl space and walls. Properly coated straw will not burn.
this is a wonderful idea, you are a good son and thank you for caring for your elders😎i use alfalfa hay, in arizona its cheap, around my tree base to hold water in during extreme hot summers.😎
used to drive past a house out on the pararies in Alberta Canada. there were no trees or bushes to protect it. They stacked the bales to just below the windows. 2 to 3 high. With a 40 to 60 mile wind I am sure they were way warmer. They also spread them around in the spring
Fantastic video!! & I don't even live in an area which has snow!! LOL. Brilliant use of multi-purpose planning. I certainly support your argument that this method contains much more value, albeit takes a bit of sweat equity. Kudos to you & thanks so much for sharing your knowledge
Great function stacking! you could also do some bale beds. Some home owners insurance policies are voided by having dry matter against the foundation, just something i had read in a policy agreement years ago. worth looking into.
The repurposed concept is understandable. If someone doesn't want to do it every year, or doesn't have the same multiple motivators, what about covering it with hardware cloth + cob to block critters, with some cover extended to protect from rain? I wonder how long it might last as a winter cold/ summer heat insulator/ bench for visitors and sun bathing cats...
Interesting idea, most definitely would need vapor barrier below, excellent drainage, etc etc to keep them from rotting in a hidden way right up against the house over time. That would be concerning to me to be honest...
Well, tried to do this last night and didn't go so well...so today will tried to redo them. What happened was the dirt area on the side of our shop is not level so I put down some cedar mulch to level it out about a foot wide so I can put down the square straw bale on top of the cedar mulch bed. The length of the area to cover is 40ft long. Suppose to be easy and no biggie...right?...well, first the cedar mulch started to slide out because there is nothing to hold it together so got some long pieces of metal and wood anchor them with big rocks/bricks. Then straw bales started to tip over because the width of 1ft is too small and probably need more leveling. Also, I was trying to wrap them with long piece of 6 mil plastic sheet. Due to getting late and really cold last night, we end up just anchor MORE heavy rocks and bricks along the 40ft perimeter to anchor down the bale. The bale do stand up because the rock/brick is holding it BUT I didn't get a very good insulation because I can feel the cold air still coming from the inside the baseboard area (also note that we don't have a baseboard trim at the bottom of the shop as this is only our temporary living quarter while we plan to build our home). My goal is to either reduce or get rid of that cold air coming inside from the baseboard gap. So, today I will attempt to rearrange some stuff and hopefully will work. Oh, also, I will have to cut down my plastic sheet because it is too wide and have hard time doing the upside down U wrapping like a lot of people mention in the comments. Any ideas/advice, please share. Thank you.
This last summer it was dry so it sounded like hay was quite expensive... But the habit I want to get into, when spring time comes along make sure my yard is clean of anything that a snowblower can catch Put down a bunch of hay. Cover my windows with clear vinyl, which would be insulating, and I could snow blow a bank right against my house on top of the hay (I'm a creature of redundancy maybe the snow would be just good enough like I did this year, and maybe just the hay would be good enough... But I like the idea of both...
I had read about this being done historically with things like leaves or straw, and I often wondered about mice - have you had any out of the ordinary issues with them?
Nope. They come around a little bit, but there is a cat who is on top of it and once we pull the bales away in the spring it all clears up. Really a non-issue as far I can tell after 6+ years.
Happy new year🎉 I always enjoy seeing your projects and learn something new, for the day I live the life I want. Thank you like always for sharing! 😉I wish you good health, prosperity and lots of happiness for 2018.
I just brought this idea up to my girlfriend the other day. Her concern was mice and I hadn't thought about using the plastic. Very reassuring to hear that you've been doing this for years and hopefully she'll be on board after seeing this video. I was looking into the R value of materials and came across hay bale houses and that's where I came up with the idea of using them outside the perimeter of our house. We have a house built in the 50s with practically no insulation. So now with the tips I seen from you with the TEG fan on top of the fireplace and the fire brick around the wood stove, along with this... I think we'll be heating our house fairly cheap. Thanks again!
Quick question on the plastic portion? Do you just cover the top, top and outer side, or drop it over to cover the top 3 sides (like an upside down U)? Might have someone staying out at our (ancient and not well insulated) mobile home in the far north and thinking of this to help out around the skirting. Thanks!
I don't think we do... We have used old greenhouse plastic with stones as weights, works just fine for a winter... Ask around to any local farm and probably there is free plastic to be had!
We used to do that with our 1900's house then the insurance company told us we couldn't get insurance due to it might burn. Waaa, it was great insurance.
I have heard that it blocks in ground gas fumes called Radon,. how true is this,, concerned, for i would like to use the bales, but someone mentioned about the ground gas,Radon, is there any such thing ??
I researched it by google. this is what it said: but you can also google zones in USA...( the gas is called Radon and it does come up from the ground.. and it depends on the soil type. Radon gas comes from a particular rock found in the ground... so you would need to search your zone area with state... it shows on google. and it does seep into the house, depending on the structure...The only way to know the radon levels in your home is to test. Contact: 1-800-543-8279 - they will send you a free tester for you home and area. you can get more then one if you like.
I live in the Hudson Valley, NY which has very high radon levels because there is so much granite in our geology. The gas rises slowly out of the earth above any igneous rock, leaks into basements and keeps rising through the structure. Most HVAC systems suck radon up from the ground, it goes through the furnace, leaks out of unsealed duct work, crawl spaces, etc. Yikes! Add to that the positive air pressure created by fireplaces, wood/pellet stoves, air conditioners, open windows & doors, attic fans; its a shit show. BUT the good news is that it can be mitigated by sealing the floor with a vapor barrier and v e n t i n g - from the basement by directing the radon out of the home with positive pressure- same as clearing cooking smells with a window fan. Creating positive pressure is much easier when any crevices that draw air upward, are sealed. This directs radon an exit ramp via aerodynamically rigged 6-8” PVC with an airflow fan or two to encourage the flow; the positive pressure to vent the radon obviously has to be greater than negative pressure created by everything else going on upstairs. It’ll take some fiddling, simple engineering, and highly technical pressure tests involving toilet paper and a lighter, but once it’s vented outside, it harmlessly floats away. This is going to be my approach anyway, I actually will be tackling this task, so thank you for reading through the ‘pep talk to me’. I’ve gleaned these basics from RUclips can-doers who can demystify or innovate anything.
We are so used to thinking of value in monetary terms that we've turned this world into a very boring place filled with unhappy people. Thank you for putting the needs of others beyond any cash value and rather focusing on the benefits that your gesture brings to your parents, the farmer, the cat, your own physical and emotional health, and the land that will ultimately receive that wealth of energy. Happy New Year, Sean.
Reminds me a bit of how they sometimes stack firewood on the balconies of traditional Alpine chalets, the overhanging roof protects the wood from snow, it's accessible when everything else is buried feet thick, and the stacks add temporary insulation until spring, when the balconies start serving different purposes.
Love this idea, it is quite genius and who does not want to save money.
Hay is good insulation and long time ago here in Sweden, lot of people used to put hay in thieir shoes to keep warm!
👍🌿🦋🌿
I like the idea of shoes stuffed with hay for warmth! Makes a lot of sense actually, if thats all you have available.
Happy new year! What a wonderful example of stacked function and community. Your gentle and thoughtful spirit comes through on each of your videos---and this is no exception 😀
Helen Grace Pane was thinking the same thing.
As a straw bale gardener I used straw bales to hold up rigid insulation around my father's home for years. We also used bags of leaves (which we collected every year and shredded for our large garden) leaves were shredded, put in paper bags, then surrounded by large plastic bags (we reused every year) to keep him warm during the winter. It really helped. Am not using bales this year and using rigid foam reflective insulation we used last year on a house in Minnesota - keeping insulation on with foam tape. 1/2 inch insulation from ground to siding then insulation around for feet high to keep this 100 year old house from breaking the bank on heating costs. Last year it took forever to measure and cut for vents, meters, etc. and this year (we wrote on the insulation where it goes and stored it over the summer) and the project has taken much less time. Plan to get use of the rigid foam insulation with reflective sides for many years. Was a cost the first year, but we were warmer and if the energy company ever sends us the energy usage for the last five years, we will see if the insulation has helped. I know it really made a difference at my Dad's house. When I used straw bales I put the bales in quarter inch hardware cloth to keep the vermin out then used the bales in the garden.
Thanks for sharing your notes here. I suspect your investment in the rigid foam was worth it!
Good on you for helping out your mum and dad and thanks for sharing too. Cheers.
I’m definitely lining my house foundation with hay bales on thick poly sheeting. I’ve done strawbale gardening so I know they throw a ton of heat and I’ve often wondered how to harvest it. Thank you!
I plan to do this tonight in AR, the temperature is in low 20's right now and heading to low 10's...YIKES. We are staying in a temporary living quarters inside a shop/barn. We have heat but man, it gets really expensive so we plan to lay down about 14 of square hay bales on the side of metal wall that expose to the cold. We also get rain a lot around here...so rain mix with cold that turns to ice...my concern is when hay gets wet then it will retain a very cold ice droplets which then would loose the heat...so you mentioned wrap hay bale in plastic, do you mind sharing the detail on how do you actually wrap 40 ft of hay bales...that's what I would get after I lay about 14 of hay bales in one long line of the shop foundation. Thanks.
Very creative! I've looked into building straw bale houses and it seems like a good idea, especially where it gets cold during winter.
A lot of people don't think about the pesticides and herbicides put on straw. I too will only use hay for that fact. Never found an issue with "weeds" from using hay. Rather have weeds than pesticides. Thanks for your video. God bless.
It's always about the straw bale with building/insulation/etc., but unless you are willing to pay 2x to 3x the cost to get certified organic straw, the local, well packed, dry hay works incredibly well for these applications and it doesn't make much weeds at all!
It's true of course! Hadn't occurred to me but hay that's usually cut before the grass seeds will be relatively weed free. The straw I get is very weedy, not enough pesticide I guess :)
The other advantage of using hay instead of straw is that it’s safe for people with celiac or wheat allergies to handle. That’s the main consideration for me, but it’s good to know that it’s healthier in other ways too.
Fitting nicely with the highest use strategy. Well done!
Looks like I'll be doing this this coming winter on my little cabin that sits on a concrete slab...I heat with wood as well....plus the bonus of using the mulch on my hugle mounds! ❤️
Been really beneficial for us in the past.
And yes my local health department in Newark Ohio is imposing fines for “vegetation” located on the house foundation. I wish I had some back up
Man, thanks for this. We are in our second winter in our home and had pipes freeze a few days ago. This is a great idea for next year. Too much snow to try this time around, just going to have to let the faucet run at night (there are a couple of -17° / -20° nights in the forecast. We also heat with wood, so any reduction in consumption will be great. Some day we are going to try to vent into basement, and pull air from outside like you do. Thanks for all your awesome videos (as well as the garlic we bought from you this fall. Can't wait to harvest that).
And don't worry, we catch the water from the faucet and use if for the chickens in the morning. :-)
We have a fan pulling super hot air right off the wood stove down into our basement for the last week (as in the wood stove trick video I put up that you mention). It has been pushing hot air into the basement and feels like it really makes a difference. The air duct connected right to the stove is key. We have used a little over a cord of wood so far, and it hasn't gone above 10F for a while and will be -F coming up. Its tough but it's working. The hay bales really add a great layer of support. I wish you well in keeping warm! Enjoy the garlic!
why not just shovel the snow out of the way and do it now?
We lived in a house of that vintage and heated with wood for about 20 years. I will never forget the welcome warmth that came each year when we finished banking the house with hay and plastic. Good on you for looking after your folks that way!
Did you ever go higher than one level?
Genius! Can you show what it looks like once covered with plastic? Does water find its wasy in at all?
It looks kinda glumpy and ugly! :) We reuse the same scraps of plastic each year so its just discolored chunks of plastic with rocks on it, nothing to write home about :) You could use sections of sheet metal roof or new plastic or some other treatment, but for the winter it's a 'good enough' scenario for us. Water does sneak in, but since we take them away in the spring we've never had any issues with this at all.
I've often wondered about stacking hay up beside a house for insulation in the colder climates...but even one row apparently makes a huge difference in your circumstance.
The stone foundation and areas where air sneaks under is really the most important to insulate I'd think, and I also feel like a tall stack of hay is a lot more work, more cost and increases the chance of rotting the house which I want to avoid...
Yes indeed. The cat's approval is vital.
I have to tell you man ! First thank you for your awesome video and you are a real caring person and besides this video’s knowledge a lot of people wish that more people were like you ! You hit it right on the money when you talked about listenening to older People’s stories. They are the ones you can learn an awful lot from about life by just listening. A helluva lot more than some irrelevant stuff you will hear in a classroom. And yes that depends on the teacher ! Some care and some really care ! I just want to say you saved me $3,900 bucks because they wanted $4,000 bucks to spray foam my crawl space. It might as well have been a Million Bucks to me ! I’m hoping this will keep my pipes from freezing when I install my pellet stove because I just moved here in April and the lowest it got outside was 42° and it cost me almost $500 bucks a month for my Propane bill ! I can’t afford that either especially when the temp will go down to way below 32° up here in Upstate New York ! Thanks again !!! I definitely subscribed to your videos ! And it’s super nice you help your parents out the way you do ! That’s more important to me than anything else in your video ! They are very blessed to have a son like you ! 👍🏻 You get the max rating ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Really kind words, thank you. Wishing for you warm and comfortable winters and ways to avoid massive costs! The hay bales make amazing garden building material in the spring so there are some real win wins there!!!
I grew up in a late 1800's farmhouse and we always banked straw bales against the house in fall. we grew our own so there was no pesticide worry.
also, long time watcher; first time commenter! thanks for all the inspiration! Happy New Year from the frigid fundy coast of canada :)
Cool. I would like to see how you cover them with plastic. Can there ever be a danger of them heating up and catching fire just with the bit of moisture from the snow or rain, or does the plastic cover keep them dry enough?
I came here to see if anyone else made this comment. Apparently its a real risk of combustion.
Unless the surroundings very moist, hay or straw will burn readily. For people who don't live where there is lots of moisture, you can insulate with straw bales during dry weather, but then you need to cover them with stucco or some kind of plaster and make the roof overhang about 3 or 4 feet past the bales. But it's worth the trouble--you get R-40 insulation. People can also coat straw with clay slip, dry thoroughly and then put it in the crawl space and walls. Properly coated straw will not burn.
this is a wonderful idea, you are a good son and thank you for caring for your elders😎i use alfalfa hay, in arizona its cheap, around my tree base to hold water in during extreme hot summers.😎
used to drive past a house out on the pararies in Alberta Canada. there were no trees or bushes to protect it. They stacked the bales to just below the windows. 2 to 3 high. With a 40 to 60 mile wind I am sure they were way warmer. They also spread them around in the spring
I would hope it helps!
I'm discovering that bales of hay are so incredibly useful for so many things. :)
They really are. I appreciate them tremendously.
I was thinking of doing this. Thanks for posting. What plastic do you use to cover the bales?
Great idea all around and that is a gorgeous kitty!
He's a real sweet little man.
You have the best content! Probably all kitty approved. :-) Happy New Year!
I like your style! Nice video!
I haven't seen that in years. Great idea
Fantastic video!! & I don't even live in an area which has snow!! LOL. Brilliant use of multi-purpose planning. I certainly support your argument that this method contains much more value, albeit takes a bit of sweat equity. Kudos to you & thanks so much for sharing your knowledge
Always from the Heart bro ;)
Great function stacking! you could also do some bale beds. Some home owners insurance policies are voided by having dry matter against the foundation, just something i had read in a policy agreement years ago. worth looking into.
Thats an interesting observation, I should check into that. Thanks for the heads up.
Really like your attitude.
if you stagger the bails like bricks the joints will lock better and lass gaps great work
The repurposed concept is understandable. If someone doesn't want to do it every year, or doesn't have the same multiple motivators, what about covering it with hardware cloth + cob to block critters, with some cover extended to protect from rain? I wonder how long it might last as a winter cold/ summer heat insulator/ bench for visitors and sun bathing cats...
Interesting idea, most definitely would need vapor barrier below, excellent drainage, etc etc to keep them from rotting in a hidden way right up against the house over time. That would be concerning to me to be honest...
Well, tried to do this last night and didn't go so well...so today will tried to redo them. What happened was the dirt area on the side of our shop is not level so I put down some cedar mulch to level it out about a foot wide so I can put down the square straw bale on top of the cedar mulch bed. The length of the area to cover is 40ft long. Suppose to be easy and no biggie...right?...well, first the cedar mulch started to slide out because there is nothing to hold it together so got some long pieces of metal and wood anchor them with big rocks/bricks. Then straw bales started to tip over because the width of 1ft is too small and probably need more leveling. Also, I was trying to wrap them with long piece of 6 mil plastic sheet. Due to getting late and really cold last night, we end up just anchor MORE heavy rocks and bricks along the 40ft perimeter to anchor down the bale. The bale do stand up because the rock/brick is holding it BUT I didn't get a very good insulation because I can feel the cold air still coming from the inside the baseboard area (also note that we don't have a baseboard trim at the bottom of the shop as this is only our temporary living quarter while we plan to build our home). My goal is to either reduce or get rid of that cold air coming inside from the baseboard gap. So, today I will attempt to rearrange some stuff and hopefully will work. Oh, also, I will have to cut down my plastic sheet because it is too wide and have hard time doing the upside down U wrapping like a lot of people mention in the comments. Any ideas/advice, please share. Thank you.
Always a good watch and well thought out, thankyou
This last summer it was dry so it sounded like hay was quite expensive...
But the habit I want to get into, when spring time comes along make sure my yard is clean of anything that a snowblower can catch
Put down a bunch of hay. Cover my windows with clear vinyl, which would be insulating, and I could snow blow a bank right against my house on top of the hay (I'm a creature of redundancy maybe the snow would be just good enough like I did this year, and maybe just the hay would be good enough... But I like the idea of both...
I had read about this being done historically with things like leaves or straw, and I often wondered about mice - have you had any out of the ordinary issues with them?
Nope. They come around a little bit, but there is a cat who is on top of it and once we pull the bales away in the spring it all clears up. Really a non-issue as far I can tell after 6+ years.
Happy new year🎉 I always enjoy seeing your projects and learn something new, for the day I live the life I want. Thank you like always for sharing! 😉I wish you good health, prosperity and lots of happiness for 2018.
Thanks kindly! Happy new year to you!
I have corn fields on 2 sides of my home, we already get some mice… would this attract more mice?
What a great idea!
If you were to do this in summer to keep cool, would you still to the plastic?
The plastic protects the bales from rain and snow so I think it would be beneficial any time.
Don't have money for or access to hay, but might be trying something similar with bags of leaves...
That seems reasonable, they have great insulating value too and you can't beat the price!
super - all the best
Great video! I like the price analysis, keeping in mind the compost value later. I need to find a hay guy haha!
Would like to see video of putting plastic and rocks on?!
Why not 2 layers or more?
going full-turf house!
I just brought this idea up to my girlfriend the other day. Her concern was mice and I hadn't thought about using the plastic.
Very reassuring to hear that you've been doing this for years and hopefully she'll be on board after seeing this video.
I was looking into the R value of materials and came across hay bale houses and that's where I came up with the idea of using them outside the perimeter of our house. We have a house built in the 50s with practically no insulation. So now with the tips I seen from you with the TEG fan on top of the fireplace and the fire brick around the wood stove, along with this... I think we'll be heating our house fairly cheap.
Thanks again!
So glad you found some of our experiments useful. Hope you are all cozy and warm this winter :)
Quick question on the plastic portion? Do you just cover the top, top and outer side, or drop it over to cover the top 3 sides (like an upside down U)? Might have someone staying out at our (ancient and not well insulated) mobile home in the far north and thinking of this to help out around the skirting. Thanks!
Upside down U would give you the longest time for them to stay dry.
Do u have a video of how to cover them with plastic? What type?
I don't think we do... We have used old greenhouse plastic with stones as weights, works just fine for a winter... Ask around to any local farm and probably there is free plastic to be had!
fire insurance must be rather high. in fact i would think it may be cancelled if they know about it
how do you keep the mice away from the bales? If you don't have a cat.
I Googled it, and it was mentioned that ammonia sprinkled about is a great repellent
I had an exact idea like this without looking it up
I get a bale that size for two bucks apiece - just got four today
that is very smart move! keep going
just the video i needed. thank you! Do you think that it matters if it is first or second cut hay?
Whatever is the least expensive and isn't sprayed with anything!
@@edibleacres thank you! I'm in mid coast Maine. I'll call around today.
We used to do that with our 1900's house then the insurance company told us we couldn't get insurance due to it might burn. Waaa, it was great insurance.
Thats frustrating. I'm sorry to hear that.
I have heard that it blocks in ground gas fumes called Radon,. how true is this,, concerned, for i would like to use the bales, but someone mentioned about the ground gas,Radon, is there any such thing ??
I have never heard that. Something for you to research I suppose and make your own decision about what feels right.
I researched it by google. this is what it said: but you can also google zones in USA...( the gas is called Radon and it does come up from the ground.. and it depends on the soil type. Radon gas comes from a particular rock found in the ground... so you would need to search your zone area with state... it shows on google. and it does seep into the house, depending on the structure...The only way to know the radon levels in your home is to test. Contact: 1-800-543-8279 - they will send you a free tester for you home and area. you can get more then one if you like.
I am still going to use the hay but i will leave some ventilation., says also you can use a fan, but that won't help the cold weather any..LOL
I live in the Hudson Valley, NY which has very high radon levels because there is so much granite in our geology. The gas rises slowly out of the earth above any igneous rock, leaks into basements and keeps rising through the structure. Most HVAC systems suck radon up from the ground, it goes through the furnace, leaks out of unsealed duct work, crawl spaces, etc. Yikes! Add to that the positive air pressure created by fireplaces, wood/pellet stoves, air conditioners, open windows & doors, attic fans; its a shit show. BUT the good news is that it can be mitigated by sealing the floor with a vapor barrier and
v e n t i n g - from the basement by directing the radon out of the home with positive pressure- same as clearing cooking smells with a window fan.
Creating positive pressure is much easier when any crevices that draw air upward, are sealed. This directs radon an exit ramp via aerodynamically rigged 6-8” PVC with an airflow fan or two to encourage the flow; the positive pressure to vent the radon obviously has to be greater than negative pressure created by everything else going on upstairs. It’ll take some fiddling, simple engineering, and highly technical pressure tests involving toilet paper and a lighter, but once it’s vented outside, it harmlessly floats away. This is going to be my approach anyway, I actually will be tackling this task, so thank you for reading through the ‘pep talk to me’. I’ve gleaned these basics from RUclips can-doers who can demystify or innovate anything.
Read that hay is more likely to attract rodents? Do they have that problem? When do you remove?
We remove in the spring. Mice move in during the winter sometimes but it hasn't been super bad. There is a cat that lives there, too :)
good man!
would it work with rvs?
I don't know but I would suspect so.
Wow, if that house was built in the 1840s I wonder if it's a timber framed house?
Genius!
Thankyou !!!
nice voice
My Amish neighbors do this, I thought it was very clever.
Neat!
Does this attract rodents? I’m looking to doing the same for dog house
A little bit but not in a way that seems bad... For a dog house it seems reasonable to try.
I'll build a home with interior walls of bales.
👍
very good for attracting mice.
Cat approved insulation. :-)