Paul and Julie Maguire haven't had a water or electricity bill for 15 years.
Their four-hectare property at Elderslie, near Branxton, featured on Sustainable House Day on Sunday.
"We've always wanted to have a minimum impact and leave the world a bit better place than when we arrived, if possible," Paul said.
"It just seemed natural to use what we had, recycle, reuse, combine second-hand stuff with new, have a veggie garden, compost, plant trees and so on."
They considered various options before building a "passive solar rammed-earth place".
The couple, who have five kids, became owner-builders and found a rammed-earth team, carpenter, plumber and electrician we could work with.
Paul, a former Newcastle Herald reporter, has long been an environmentalist. He's the author of Going Bananas: Vegan Ninja 2 and Vegan Ninja: a cookbook of confronting ecological proportions and personal meaning.
"In 2000, I took two months long-service and accrued holidays from the Herald and worked with three other blokes and Julie to get the walls up," he said.
It took about a year to get the place into a reasonable and liveable condition.
"We spent about $200,000 on subcontractors and materials and that did not cover our labour or our recycled items."
Julie drew their plans and a draughtswoman prepared them to meet council specifications.
"We've never had a TV in our home. There's just too much rubbish on it and too many other things to do," Paul said.
"These days we can choose to watch a movie on a laptop or see something on the internet."
No Water or Power Bills
They haven't had a water bill for more than 20 years.
"We're not hooked to a town water supply," he said.
"As part of the original build, we put in two underground concrete tanks that hold about 90,000 litres of rainwater."
They haven't had an electricity bill for at least 15 years.
"We have a thermal hot water system and grid-linked photovoltaic power. We started with about 2.5 kilowatts on the roof, then added 10 kilowatts in the paddock and last year replaced the 10 with 15, so we now have about 17.5 kilowatts.
"The grid's feed-in tariff, through the years, has covered our power's capital costs and what we draw from the grid during evenings and poor solar days."
The home's passive design, thermal mass and cross-flow ventilation help maintain a reasonable temperature throughout summer without air-conditioning.
"It's not like living in the Antarctic, but it's OK and we use fans during really hot times.
"In winter we wear jumpers and have a combustion wood stove, in which we're still burning wood from things from the property, such as replaced fence posts."
He has energy efficient appliances such as a chest freezer, front-load washing machine, fridge and lights.
Their off-peak solar hot water electric booster is used only about 10 nights a year.
Water for the washing machine, toilets, yard taps, paddock irrigation and stock water comes from pressure pumps on an underground well. They have an electric oven and bottled gas cooktop.
Julie's the cook and they don't have a dishwasher or microwave.
"We enjoy great vegan fare and I do the dishes," Paul said.
