Reminds me of an engineer friend who worked at Rockwell. He built a house many years ago with 2x6 framing, no west windows or doors, to the south he had windows that he built 2x4 shutters filled with foam and wrapped with rip stop nylon. At night he closed the shutters and effectively made the south wall solid but warmed from the sun during the day. He built his wood burning stove from a sheet of 3/8" 4x8 steel and placed 2, 55 gallon drums of water on both sides to retain heat. An armload of wood in the morning heated the house all day and until about 9 or 10 at night. He also built his own water heater. Another friend described him as a person that didn't feel you were a man unless you built your own refrigerator. He was and amazing and energetic person. | 
As resourceful as farmers are (homemade washing machines built to last)
