Sunday, August 17, 2014

Tentative plans for solarium

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This is the next post in the off-the-grid series.  The series began as a brainstorm that involved using a modified conex as a living quarters.  This has morphed into a modified storage shed that will be mounted on a trailer, and therefore will be a type of RV.  This is not intended to be permanent, but could house me for a long enough period to build permanent quarters.

One problem with the storage shed is that it won't keep out cold or hot air.  It is probably leakier than a sieve.  Thus, a way will have to be found to patch up these holes and make it good and comfy.

The front door could be modified, or maybe it could be attached to a solarium, which would come in handy in the winter.  The sun shines a lot out there, so a cold day can be manageable by using for that purpose a PVC Greenhouse setup that I wrote about in one of the first posts.

The Greenhouse will serve more than one purpose.  It will warm the shed in the winter and cool it in the summer.  It will accept the grey water and evaporate it, thus recycling it into potable water.  It will help grow some grass that will serve as the driveway on which the "RV" is located.

If water doesn't become too big of an issue, I may make PVC greenhouses all the way back to the entrance where the driveway meets the street.  In those greenhouses, I can grow my own food.  The greenhouses can be dismantled, if necessary.  I may need to for one reason or another.

For that matter, since the "RV" is on wheels, it can be removed from the property as well.  This gives some flexibility if the situation warrants.

Update:

A lot has happened since this post, which is almost a month ago.  I found a place that sells trailers that are designed specifically to have tiny houses built on them.  Also, the PVC greenhouses don't have to be exactly like the one in the video that I linked to here.  On that video, he recommends two people constructing it.  Since I may not have the luxury of a second person with me, I may have to design one that requires just little 'ol me doing all the work.

Update:

Adding more information as time goes on--this is 9/17/2014 as of this update.  This swamp cooler got some positive reviews, so I am adding the link to this post.  Some of the reviewers mentioned that you may want to keep the doors to the outside open.  This may impact my plans to recycle the water.  The commenter may not be correct anyway.  There's a big swamp cooler in a warehouse that I visit from time to time during work.  That thing works great with the doors closed.


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