Pics thread 2

submitted by yetanotherone_sigh from self.OffGrid

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[–]yetanotherone_sigh[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I had a couple of thoughts along the way. The buildings that we put up (if they were larger than 200 square feet) are on pier pads instead of a permanent foundation. So you could argue that those are temp structures and not under the jurisdiction of building codes. Might be totally wrong about this. And of course you have the delicate thing that you have to explain why there is a bedroom and kitchen in your 350 square foot "chicken coop".

For real, the best way is to keep it quiet.

Build in a county with small government presence and somewhat lax building codes, sparsely populated, poor and rural.

Build under cover of trees.

Spread the buildings out.

Keep all the buildings under 200 square feet so they won't attract attention.

Don't annoy neighbors. They could turn you in if you piss them off. Bake some cookies and act friendly.

Be LOW KEY. We're not setting up a zombie apocalypse bomb shelter.

New: If you are using a wood stove, make sure you don't have a lot of smoke that can be seen for a long distance. We're in a valley, so that won't be an issue. Our state has a department of ecology and they publish a list of allowable wood stoves due to smog. Anything that is not on the list cannot be bought or sold or installed or used in the state. I looked over the list and bought a model used on craigslist that is allowable, so nobody can give me any grief about that. Thinking about the next structure, I may put in a rocket mass heater stove, which basically has no exhaust at all besides warm C02 and water vapor. Extremely low emission. You would never be able to get a permit for one but they are basically invisible due to not emitting any visible smoke.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

And of course you have the delicate thing that you have to explain why there is a bedroom and kitchen in your 350 square foot "chicken coop".

Every bedroom is a guest bedroom :) Then the permanent bed is in the trailer (that you may or may not actually use). That's the way I'd do it.

I agree with your rules, I think those are good rules to follow.

We're in a valley, so that won't be an issue.

Ahh that's one downside to living in Texas, we don't have those.

Our state has a department of ecology and they publish a list of allowable wood stoves due to smog.

Ahh that's one upside to living in Texas, no one gives a damn about stuff like that. :)

Interesting about the rocket mass heater stove. I have a little rocket stove, I'm guessing it's just a larger version of that? I'll have to read about them

[–]yetanotherone_sigh[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Right, it's a very large rocket stove with a lot of mass. They run the stove pipe horizontally underneath what is essentially a couch seat made of cob and adobe. You can sit on it, or, more likely, it will become a dog bed. Also has a place to cook, although it is slow regulate changes to heat.

Pic: https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/rocket_stoves.jpg

If I build one, it will probably not be nearly as "southwest" as this. Maybe brick.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Wow that's cool, I'm surprised I haven't heard of this before. I guess the long horizontal section is what allows for more complete combustion. I like building it in to furniture, that's a very cool idea.

[–]yetanotherone_sigh[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yep. The basic idea is low fuel consumption, almost 100% combustion and low emissions, you can cook on it, and you can sit on a warm bench seat. They were invented by permaculture groups down in the southwest, where it's ideal to have a lot of mass to keep your house warm at night. You don't have to get up and stoke the stove.

The only downside is that they're pretty big. But they're cheap.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Interesting, very neat idea. In the south we need thermal mass to keep us cool through the heat of the midday. Then at night you'd "stock up" on cold by storing it in the thermal mass. It's not nearly as perfected a system as trying to keep warm.