Utility Manuals & House Guide
Bodega Harbour, Sonoma Coast · Everything you need to stay warm, cool, caffeinated and comfortable
Appliance manuals
Every appliance at Switi Hoso has its full manual one tap away. Open it on your phone, right next to the machine.
Heating & Cooling at Switi Hoso
The mini splits heat the house as well as cool it, and they are the main heat source. To change modes, point the remote at the unit and press MODE. It cycles through:
Stop on the mode you want, then use the ▲ / ▼ buttons to set the temperature.
All units west of the pool table must be in the same mode, and all units east of the pool table must be in the same mode. If one unit is on HEAT while another on the same side is on COOL, the system shows an "AP" error and stops working. Please also don't run heat and AC in the same room. They just cancel each other out.
Recommended settings
Setting a higher heat or a lower AC temperature won't warm or cool the room faster. It only overshoots and wastes energy.
Solar power & heat at Switi Hoso
Architect Carson Bowler designed Switi Hoso to be warmed by the sun first. Today the house combines four comfort sources that work together:
| Source | Status | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ☀️ Passive solar | Always working | On a sunny day, the big south-facing windows can take the house from about 55°F in the morning to 68–75°F by noon. Raise the shades to let the sun in, and lower them at night to hold the warmth. |
| 💧 Solar hot-water storage | Sunny days | Rooftop solar panels heat a large hot-water storage tank. When the tank is hot, the green light in the kitchen turns on, and the warm water gently circulates through the radiators. |
| ❄️🔥 Mini splits | Main heat & AC | Heat pumps in every living area and bedroom, for heating and cooling on demand. See the operating guide above. They are not on the backup battery, so they don't work during a power outage. |
| 🔥 Pellet stove | Optional | Your heat source during a power outage, and a guest favorite on cold, foggy nights. Press the power button twice: once to wake it, once to start. Manual. |
| ⚡ Conventional electric heat | Turned off | This used to heat the radiators after the solar tank was used up, and the kitchen's red light showed it was running. It is now switched off, and the mini splits do this job far more efficiently. |
🎬 The theater room
The theater room's heated floor is set to 68°F and runs on solar hot water only. Changing that setting has little immediate effect because of the floor's thermal mass. The room is so well insulated that watching a movie will warm it to about 71°F. For quick heat, use the room's mini split on HEAT.
For the geeks: live system data
Curious how the solar tank and radiators are doing? Interactive status data is available under system temperature here: Switi Hoso system dashboard.
If the power goes out
Coastal storms occasionally knock out the grid. Switi Hoso's 8 kW solar system and backup battery keep the essentials running.
- Upstairs switches to battery power automatically. Downstairs will have no power.
- The mini splits stop working during an outage. They aren't connected to the backup battery, so there is no heating or AC from them until the power returns.
- Use power sparingly and the battery should last about 24 hours. That means no car charging, washer, dryer, dishwashers or space heaters. On sunny days the solar panels recharge the battery, so this cycle can continue indefinitely.
- In winter, use the pellet stove to stay warm. It and the stove tops use very little electricity, so keep using them. Press the pellet stove's power button twice: once to wake it, once to start. Manual.
- The theater won't have power, so we've provided board games and a DVD player in the living room.
- The hot tub and hot-water heating, including the solar part, will stop heating, and hot water for showers will eventually run out. The internet provider will eventually power down too, and there's nothing we can do about that.
🌬️ Air quality at Switi Hoso
The house has its own PurpleAir sensor, so you can check the outdoor air before a hike or before opening the windows. HEPA filters keep the indoor air clean, especially during fire season.
Good
Moderate
Sensitive
Unhealthy
Very unhealthy
Hazardous
If the AQI is orange or worse, keep windows closed and run the mini splits in FAN mode to circulate filtered air.
🪜 The steps of Switi Hoso
Switi Hoso is a multi-level home. All steps have railings, with landings every 3–5 steps. Here's the route from bottom to top:
- Ground floor: Garden Room, Movie Room, shared bathroom (tub/shower), and the Cape Cod Suite with private hot-tub access
- Garage level, then up to the kitchen, dining room and half bath with bidet
- Living room with ocean-view deck
- Pool table deck and the Hoso Suite. This is the dividing line for the mini-split modes.
- Rapunzel Suite at the top of the house