Great setup! It's amazing how much you can save simply by situating the house correctly and putting some thought into designing things like the eaves or the size and placement of your windows. As a bonus, after construction costs, there's negligible cost (except for normal structural maintenance) for the savings.

Do you heat your water with solar or with gas or electric or some other option?

It's so different than here where people put zero thought into the efficiency of the house because the weather is nearly perfect year round. No thresholds or seals on doors, no weather stripping, single pane glass with no coatings, etc..