Tom Scott got the chance to visit a rotating house, because it's on the market. He's there to find out the answers to the real questions we have about such houses: how do the utilities work? I paid close attention, and I think I understand how slip rings work, and the concept of four funnels inside each other work, but how do you integrate the liquid utilities with the electrical utilities? Maybe the electricity and cable come in from the top and the liquid utilities are connected at the bottom of the house. It still sounds way more complex than feasible outside of a major metropolitan area, where the really expensive maintenance companies are. The owner, Al Johnstone, is an engineer who worked out all the technology when he built the house in 2000. If you think you might want to live there, you better get to know him, because you'll have to learn a lot about this house to keep it rotating. But you can't afford it anyway.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Tom Scott Visits a Rotating House
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Very clever solutions to the mechanical connections. I'm sure it makes no difference but I would prefer the potable water be above rather than below the grey water. You know, gravity and all that.
But it's a silly concern because even though a leaking seal on non pressurized grey water is not likely to leak up but down, the pressurized potable water seals can only leak out, never in.
With glass walls you have to be aware of where you are on the circle before scratching an itch... or someone else's itch.
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