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Living Is Easy In A Grain Bin Home
There's no getting away at night or on weekends from the products rural contractor Craig Regnier works with all day long.
During the day, the Clay Center, Kan. builder spends his working hours erecting grain bins. And after the day's work is done, he goes home to the 10,000 bu. bin he's turned into a very unique
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Living Is Easy In A Grain Bin Home CROP STORAGE Grain Storage 6-6-20 There's no getting away at night or on weekends from the products rural contractor Craig Regnier works with all day long.
During the day, the Clay Center, Kan. builder spends his working hours erecting grain bins. And after the day's work is done, he goes home to the 10,000 bu. bin he's turned into a very unique home.
"I'd always worked around grainbins and installed them," says Regnier. ''So a grain bin just seemed like a natural home for me."
Driving home from work one day, Regnier got the idea for his special dream home ù a round grain bin. He finished building this dream home 5 years ago and has enjoyed life in it ù plus plenty of curious visitors ù ever since.
In normal farm use, the bin would be used to store 10,000 bu. of grain. Instead, Regnier has added an office, two bedrooms and a combo living room and kitchen on two levels.
"Most of my friends thought turning this grain bin into a home was a crazy idea," admits Regnier. "And in fact, making the transformation wasn't all that easy."
Doing most of the work himself, Regnier often had to pause to figure out what to do next to make living quarters out of the bin. But things eventually fell into place.
One big advantage of "bin living" has been a considerable savings on electrical bills. As an example, Regnier only turned on his air conditioner four or five times 2 years ago when temperatures exceeded 100? on many hot, Kansas summer days.
While he's not sure why the bin is more energy-efficient than a normal house, Regnier suspects the "roundness" of the house may be the chief reason.
Living in the grain bin has turned out so well that Regnier has talked with a real estate developer down in Arizona about building stucco-covered bins to sell as homes. The price tag would be around $25,000.
In the meantime, Regnier continues to live in one of the few grain bin homes you'll find anywhere. And while it may look like a grain bin to many passers-by, it's seldom you see a television antenna sprouting out of the roof of a grain bin.
(Reprinted from Farm Building News.)
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