jeannacav Cav

Thannks Len,
I guess this is right about the burning anything.

It was as bad or worse with the oil lamp perhaps because it was even colder.
So after that,
I just cranked up the little buddy and drove the temperature to 62 and today the weather changed and it is drizzling and 45 outside, so I am grateful for the breather...
Also, the clover will be better able to grow tall under the tarps.

I wonder if clover is the best choice for deep roots to hold the berm together.

Anybody know?

jeanna

Hi everybody,

I was bumped from the forum somehow.
I got back in by saying I forgot my password. Oh well whatever works.

I have bee wanting to make today's comment for a while.

Last summer the straw began to decompose and the interior of the container got quite warm.
That was the good news...but...
The seeds of grasses had not grown much at all, and when the torrential rains began this fall, the berm started to slide.

It is really quite sickening to watch all that hard work and warmth and all the rest that berm means make landslides all over.

I bought 3 clear painter's tarps and covered the berm with them, so for now, the berm is safe.
It is also warmer.
The cold rain was making the room cold.
Also having no berm at all in places made it cold and noisy.

I plan to re-seed it in the spring.
For now, the biggest problem is moisture at the door and windows.
I am heating with candle heaters , which are excellent, and if the berm were fully there, I am sure would be sufficient, but
The inside temperature is frequently 51 which is too cold for me, and 30 minutes with a mr buddy will bring it up to 60, which is fine, but,
the humidity coming from the propane is not!

I just have a supply of cloths and wipe it down.
Last night I used oil lamps to add warmth without propane.
They were OK, but I do not like the smell.

Actually, this is a lot of fun and a great adventure.

OK thanks for listening,

jeanna

Hi everybody,

I had a surprise this summer and even before I post more pix I want to share this.

Did I mention that I made soil because I couldn't get enough behind and around the containers (without cutting more trees) ?
I made soil by interleaving soil with bedding straw knowing it would decompose the straw and in the end I would have soil.

I called it a huegel-berm for laughs.

Well, indeed it is a huegel-berm. It started to put out heat and the heat collected in the insulation and it is now a steady 69 degrees inside hot day by cold night, It is in fact a little too warm for me and I need to sleep in my summer jammies!

So, I will try to get some pix together.

Oh one more thing, the composting toilet is making flies.
I sealed off the room with tape and later,I will remove the toilet and give it its own house once the flies are finished proliferating.


so--- I am living off  the grid and I do not visit here much, so if you ask a question please be patient.

jeanna

Donkey wrote:
Wow.. Looky here, it's my fridge!!
Well, ALMOST my fridge.. The description here is a little off.
There's no cob in it..

Basically it's a big swamp cooler fed by incoming underground air. It's very well insulated, has flue adjustments for incoming and outflowing air and it's got cheap beer in cans for thermal mass. I chose aluminum cans because they are nicely conductive and won't inhibit or insulate. The whole mess is powered by a solar chimney.
It works pretty well and is MARKEDLY cooler inside than outside ALL of the time. It's NOT going to get 40 deg. inside during the summer, though when the flue adjustments are just right it will provide more than a 10 deg drop in temp..
Using the word "refrigerator" on this thing is a mismatch.. Calls to mind a standard appliance with constant temperatures etc, which this is NOT.. We call it the pantry. It's basically an above ground root cellar and we can keep most things in there though we have a small trailer fridge for meat, dairy and whatnot.

What I need to do to it is improve the solar chimney. It's in an unfinished state and it's likely that right now it's just acting like a regular old chimney. Some of my earlier tests created a noticeable updraft and I'm not seeing as much of that in my gizmo as I'd like. Within limits, the hotter the chimney, the more the updraft, the cooler it should get in the box.

Hi Donkey!

I am so glad to see you are here and that you responded to (my mention of) your fridge design.

Here was my original post with my  drawing of your fridge.
https://permies.com/bb/index.php?topic=2124.msg34490#msg34490

I thought it was clear that there was cob in the beer can area, but maybe not.

When I took your class and you shared this fridge design with us, you were working out a design to get the drip to be self regulating.
Did you get it to work?

And, what IS the temp in the cooler in the summer?
10 degrees cooler than outside? What is that?

Funny, I was just telling someone today about your wet sloppy cob and how fast it was and so much easier on the hands. 

jeanna

@Paul,
That was a fun video.
These containers are so flexible.
I love how they used 2 containers for the outer walls of that barn.
All they need is to insulate and the heat won't be so bad.

@all,
I have made some more progress on the traincar, now.
I decided to make 2 partial walls, which allows the perception of 4 different areas.
It happened because I have some bookshelves that would make the room an awkward size if I just put a wall for them, so there is half a wall for the bookshelves (on the left) and 16 inches behind that wall is another wall on the opposite side. The doorway between them is on an angle.
And, the tools that will be behind the wall won't be seen from the front room, which is nice since that front room is to be a library reading sitting in the sun room.

I hope these words help make the picture more clear.
This is the room as seen from the front door.

jeanna

Thanks everybody,

This is very exciting today.
It is not absolutely finished, but I got the door locks in, and it feels wonderful.

I will put the finishing coats of paint on and when that is done I will offer another pic if it looks different enough.

Then the traincar is next.

The terrible smell is worse underneath the container.
I stuffed straw temporarily between the bottom outside edge and the gravel to see if it would stop the smell, and it did completely.
So, I have been making cob to permanently replace the straw .
This will probably take a week or 2 along with everything else, but I am glad to be able to make a little cob.

And, the nettles are tender and delicious, because it is spring!

jeanna

Oh I forgot only 2 pix per post.

Here are the others:

jeanna

Wow Larry,  Your shipping container is truly beautiful.

I have a couple of pairs of pix to show some progress.
This is just on one container.
I will leave it as is for a while and work on the other one...

...I decided to make another room or pantry sort of thing

So, out of 20 x 8 feet which became 19 1/2 x 7 once the studs and walls were in,
I have a toilet room  (2 1/2' x 7'),
and from the 17 feet remaining I took 6' for a room of shelves (6' x 7')
this leaves the entry room as (11' x 7').

It is amazing that it can feel spacious.

I used B-I-N which is pigmented shellac and which is a fabulous sealer and leaves a semi gloss finish. It is bright and cheery.
I will add a tiny amount of color to the final coat but this is all for now.


So, here is the room with the wall started then finished. ..2 pix...

Followed by the shelves as just started then finished... 2 more pix...

the studs of this extra wall are 2 x 2 to save on thickness of wall.
They are all screwed into the studs and across the top into the ceiling studs.
The shelves are some cedar fencing which is about 1/2 inch x 3 inches which are screwed in as slats.

jeanna

Thank you for those details, Larry.
Also thank you for doing that experiment!
It is exactly what I need to prove that this is very significant.

10 degrees warmer is excellent, and 23 degrees warmer than the outside is even more telling.
I do not want to even know how to figure this but since the insulation was at the former temperature, it took some time warming up the insulation before it could start raising the room temperature.

Wow it was really cold there!

thank you,

jeanna

Thank you Larry.

This is exactly what I was hoping to hear.

jeanna