customer quotes.htm
CUSTOMER QUOTES
Q:
What
have some of your dome owners said about their American Ingenuity dome
homes?
A:
From
R. Whaley, Florida:
"Once the dome is initially heated or cooled, the temperature remains constant.
Just think of when you take your soda pop to the beach on the hottest day of the
year in an inch thick foam cooler. Once the house gets cool or hot as desired,
it retains that temperature and stays constant." In 2004 their dome went
through two hurricanes. The following is their comments on the storms:
"We live in a 34' dome one block from the ocean. Our domes went through
Hurricane Frances and the exit winds of Hurricane Charley. During the
hurricane we could hear things hitting the domes. In the morning we walked
around the yard and picked up shingles and soffits from other people's houses
and washed off our driveway. It was as if nothing had happened at all."
(34' dome home and 27' dome garage)
From the Mathes, Florida: Their 34' dome home with 30' garage dome utilize a solar water heater and photovoltaic panels to power their lights and refrigerator. Although, their A/C, washer, well pump and TV are still connected to the meter, their total electric bill was less than $150.00 for the year. The dome owner says American Ingenuity's proposed heating and A/C savings are "way, way off." The owner/builder also states, "This has been a wonderful experience that I would not trade for ANYTHING!"
From G. Busick, Florida: "During the hot summer months (May thru August), I can cool my 1,200 sq.ft. dome for less than $27 a month. During Hurricane Jeanne, my neighborhood had 80 mph winds. My domes had no damage, but my neighbor across the street lost her shingles. Her carpet and interior walls had to be replaced due to water damage." (34' dome home and 22' garage dome)
From M. Busick, Florida: "During the hot summer months (May thru August), we can cool our 3,300 sq.ft. dome offices for less than $71 a month. During Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne our office domes experienced 80 to 100 mph winds and suffered no damage. (45' and 34').
From the Sparrows, Florida Keys: "We call our home 'Sparrows' Nest'...it's pretty strong. It may look small from the outside, but...there's a lot of room. The house is a rock." (30')
From the Clarks and Sayles, Ft Pierce Florida: "The eye wall of Hurricane Frances sat on us for two hours so the category 2 hurricane did category 3 damage. We experienced 120 to 130 mph winds with no dome damage while the house across the street lost most of its shingles."
From the Woods, Port Charlotte Florida: "We were in the direct path of Hurricane Charley. We had winds greater than 145 mph and our dome had no problems. One widow got a crack from debris. Most of our town was destroyed and all three area hospitals had roof damage. Thank you for our dome." (40' dome and 27' garage dome)
From the Vandebergs and Delongs, North Ft. Meyers Florida: "Thank you for our dome. The eye of Hurricane Charley passed only 15 miles from our dome. We had 117 mph sustained winds. Our domes stood strong. The only vulnerable part was our garage door. We used 2x4's, plywood and sandbags to keep it from blowing in." (34' dome and 27' garage dome)
From the Drybolas, Milton Florida: "Our neighborhood looked like a war zone. We were in the direct path of Hurricane Ivan and had the full blast of the winds plus there was a tornado in our area. Our concrete domes were wonderful and suffered no damage, despite winds of over 135 mph. Pine trees were stripped of bark and needles and many were lying on a 45 degree angle. Firefighters came by our dome and told us 'You have the right house for this storm.' We've had over 200 people stop by and see our dome. Believe me your product has never been shown off as good! Wish more people by the beaches, who lost everything would come by, sure wouldn't have to worry anymore." (45' and 30' with 34' screen dome)
From the Hendersons, Santa Rosa Beach Florida: "We had over 135 mph winds from Hurricane Ivan and our domes suffered no damage. Our domes are close to the Gulf and sit about 56' above sea level. This is higher than the surrounding houses so we received the maximum of any wind force, yet we received no damage. (48' and 34')
From L. Sawh, Florida: "It's hard to believe, but we finally finished this house of ours! It's taken us a good year and a half but its all been worth the hard work and challenges. We began with some designs on paper, added some features of our own, took a few suggestions from other dome owners and with a lot of sweat and pain, not forgetting our subs and the folks at the bank, here we are!!!" (40' and 27' Garage dome)
From R. Napolitan, Idaho: "The dome is snug and warm. We heat it mostly with a woodstove that's in the basement. Our staircases are open so the heat rises. It stays about 68 degrees without much effort, with our lowest outside temp...5-6 degrees. (2,000+ sq.ft. with basement, 34')
From B. Gates, Illinois: "I've never been too much of a conventional person. I thought this was a pretty neat design, very energy-efficient. I like to keep things environmentally nice. It's almost an organic feeling, being surrounded by curves instead of by rectangles. It seems to be a more relaxing environment to be in." (48')
From D. Partlow, Indiana: "The dome is 'awesome', 'beautiful' and 'breathtaking'. At least that's what visitors say. It is and it's also a very comfortable home to live in. Our June electric bill was $107, we are total electric! We still love the house and the great savings on energy!!!" (2,400+ sq.ft.; 48')
From S. Mumphrey, Louisiana: "We're three years in our dome...we still pinch ourselves every morning thinking its a dream. But, it's REAL and we love it." (45')
From L. Gillis, Michigan: "I don't see how a city can ignore one of the great architectural breakthroughs of the 20th Century. A city without geodesic domes, is not thinking about progress. It's thinking about replicating the past. Detroit cannot be a world-class city, unless it has some geodesic domes." (45')
From H. Willis, Mississippi: "I like the openness. You can see the kitchen, dining room, living room and bedroom loft when you walk in the front door." (34' with 25' screen dome)
From L. Covington, North Carolina: "Doing everything on my own, not too bad when I think that it will save me $25,000 in labor costs for doing everything outside and inside....The folks that ride by are trying to break their necks gawking at the dome. A curiosity for folks I guess and a few have stopped for more info and a lot come back from time to time to check the progress...." Click on his web site to view his dome construction pictures http://home.pinehurst.net/lcovington/dome.htm (30')
From J. Chang: "Thank you again for being the great company that you are! Keep us in the loop with information on finishing touches." (48')
From K. Millar, South Carolina: "What this house is about is alternatives. Skylights make the house bright and airy. We decorated it with an Oriental theme, even painting the floor with an Asian motif and we surrounded the house with a Japanese garden." (40')
From R. Scripps, Texas: "I like to thank you again for the advice you have given me and Dale." (Two 45' domes on full basements)
From J. Holden, Texas: "We just love our four domes, even after 15 years!" (40')
From J. Collar, Utah: "My wife, Mary, devoured articles and books about straw bale, rammed earth, poured adobe, earthships, log, and any other unconventional building systems. Finally, Mary announced to me that she had found our house; a precast concrete and styrofoam geodesic dome kit! Although I wasn't wild about the look of a dome house, as an engineer I was excited about the sheer practicality. I quickly ran some heat loss calculations and found that at -20 degrees F, we could expect to keep the 2700 sq.ft. of living space at 70 degrees F using little more than 30,000 btuh, about 1/3 the size of a conventional home furnace. With judicious use of a large solar window and a masonry heater fireplace, we could limit our use of propane for backup heating." (45' and 30' Garage dome)