Getting to know Matt Ferrell

Posted by Paul Braren on Feb 1 2024 in

I think this interview video will help you get to know Matt better, gaining a better appreciation for just how much dedication and focus he has poured into his content creation business, and the training and experience it took him to get where he is today.

Please feel free to leave comments below this article and/or video. We would love to hear what you think!

Video

TinkerTry YouTube Channel - Feb 01 2024 - Getting to know Matt Ferrell

This video and article are not sponsored content.

How this video came to be

It was a cold and dark wintry night when I received an intriguing email from Matt. He was ever-so-politely asking if I might be interested in recording video for an upcoming Undecided with Matt Ferrell video. The idea was related to his build (new home) and my buy (renovated used home) approaches to creating sustainable places to live. The focus will be on the crucial solar energy portions of our projects, and how each of us decided to go with the particular solar and battery storage systems that we did, comparing and contrasting our design decisions.

I did not hesitate to respond with a yes, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing his video come out in a few weeks. It will have Matt's signature features - a compelling narrative and maybe a pun or two. His high-quality production and narration skills should be fun to contrast with my on-camera struggles to express myself clearly in a short amount of time. The video footage that we collected together included an outdoor walk-around in windy 14°F/-10°C (2°F/-17°C wind chill) conditions, so I think his camera's stabilization and his microphones' windscreens will be tested to near their limits. Perhaps it will feature some of the trials and tribulations my wife and I endured to get to where we are today, with our one-story home's roof blanketed in solar, and our 2 EV garage adorned with batteries, as revealed here.

I had met Matt once back at the US's first Passive House certified hotel, the Hotel Marcel. This chance to meet again sounded like quite a great opportunity for some real fun, with Matt offering to film on a Saturday to get around my busy workday schedule. After all the work of collecting footage and stories and photos were done, I asked him (in advance) if he'd be okay with recording a short interview with him while at my home featuring the TinkerTry workbench/studio from my previous home. I'm thankful he said yes.

What we have in common is an eagerness to share our sustainability journeys with others. We also hope to spare folks from a bit of the pain felt with such projects, in hopes of inspiring others to consider a more sustainable living situation for themselves.

If you are interested in a series of deeply technical articles and more videos about all the challenges that went into ripping out our baseboard heat and natural gas lines to go all-electric, please use the Follow links listed below.

Special thanks to my son Andrew Braren for helping me convert the 4K HEVC/HDR video from my iPhone 15 Pro Max into something I could edit, and not just the default "Most Compatible" crappy 720p format that iCloud download offers as a work-around. Oopsies! He even flipped the stereo channels so each of us is heard from the correct speaker. Nice saves Andy!