I'd suggest you see about watching the reruns of that hour-long program if you can. I think PBS is available in Canada too. They use a tankless hot water heating system, of which there are many types, but I don't recall what sort of stove. I think, just from what I saw, it's a typical electric.

Now, I'm not saying that this technology is "ready for prime-time." The economy of scale will have a big influence on the cost of the extremely important storage batteries that will enable one to use energy irrespective of the weather.

I also don't know how those same houses would function in the climate we have here in Denver, though we have, on the average, mild winters, and relatively mild summers. We do have more of the extremes than the Viginia climate for which they were designed. Perhaps the storage facilities would have to be larger. Perhaps the heating would have to be more energy-consumptive, or perhaps the cooling, which, in the case of the demo houses, was always largely passive. The theory is, of course, that a swamp cooler would work fine, since it's really just a blower, but none of the houses had one.

The houses shown all had "all the modern conveniences."

Whereas these houses are off the electrical and gas mains, they do require community water and sewer systems.

Electric cars are not a pollution relocator if they're used in combination with an off-grid home. The grid is what has to go in order to get away from the pollution.

At least initially, I think you're right, in that people would have to modify their behaviors somewhat in order to adjust to the off-grid home. However, from what I saw, the adjustment would not be difficult. A good deal is accomplished simply by situating the house properly, such that the summer sun is at an angle that disallows the entry of heat in the summer, while permitting it in the winter.

One key feature of an energy-efficient society is an attitude that would support telecommuting. If people didn't have to go and sit at the desk in the office, somewhere else, it wouldn't require moving all those people and their cars. It wouldn't even require public transportation. If you're an assembly worker, or a plumber, a physician, or a street maintenance worker, it's unlikely you could telecommute. However, if you're an accountant, an engineer, or a lawyer, you don't have to travel about as much as is the current practice. There are also some inroads being made into the area of remote medical treatment. Fancy that!

RE