porta-cabin - love shack

Looks really cool thanks for all the info. Is there any bracing between the skids to prevent the whole house from flexing if you drag it over any uneven terrain? or is it not meant to be moved? Thanks.

There is bracing underneath the skids if you look here you can see what the skid structure looks like as it is very similar.

Thank you thank you thank you! I'm in the process of building a tiny house right now and have been contemplating whether it's feasible to use a RMH! I have been also trying to integrate this as a passive solar heating thermal mass! I've done the winter sun calculations (nanaimo, BC) and it's looking very possible!

Any thoughts?

ps. I'm a little new to this concept :S

Aaron Emberson wrote:Thank you thank you thank you! I'm in the process of building a tiny house right now and have been contemplating whether it's feasible to use a RMH! I have been also trying to integrate this as a passive solar heating thermal mass! I've done the winter sun calculations (nanaimo, BC) and it's looking very possible!

Any thoughts?

ps. I'm a little new to this concept :S

I would think it has just been the past two weeks that the act of cooking in a well insulated tiny house would not have provided enough heat and since last wed. the temperature has gone up again. (I'm just up the coast) Are you looking to build under the 103sqft? or putting it on wheels? to get past code. Or just far enough off the beaten path? (don't say where exactly ) If you really want something that uses even the heat from a 6inch RMH then under floor with insulation under that is what makes sense.

I guess you're right! maybe I'm being a bit over prepared! haha It will be on wheels and maybe that's why? taking it to whistler for a ski strip might need a bit more powah! I've been thinking that maybe a water tank for thermal mass would work best? then it could be drained when I want to hit the road again... but.. water brings a whole new element of over heating the thermal mass I would think? uncharted territory for me!

Aaron Emberson wrote:I guess you're right! maybe I'm being a bit over prepared! haha It will be on wheels and maybe that's why? taking it to whistler for a ski strip might need a bit more powah! I've been thinking that maybe a water tank for thermal mass would work best? then it could be drained when I want to hit the road again... but.. water brings a whole new element of over heating the thermal mass I would think? uncharted territory for me!

I know in our part of the world water is considered endless, but I don't know about sending perfectly good water down the drain every time I moved. Maybe you are not thinking about moving that often and so that is not a problem. Your tiny house has become an RV and you need to make sure it does not attract the wrong kind of attention on the road. You need to take extra care to make sure everything will stay attached when being moved over a wheeled house that will be moved once from building site to living site... probably at slow speed. You would need to be careful where you dump the water if it is frozen outside as you might leave an ice slick that could be dangerous to others. RVs often carry water (new and used) for some distance, but they do so with the water down low. You would want it higher up to be inside your living space, but still as low as practical as you may need to move with the water intact at least to a dumping site. For portable use you may also need to bring drinking water... water hookups via hose when it is frozen outside would be problematical... this is something to watch out for even in a more permanent location. The porta-cabin above gets around this by not using any water as the occupants are expected to use group bathing and eating facilities.

Water as mass could be fine. It should be smaller than cob or brick because it stores more heat. It also wants to be smaller because you are (even at Whistler) in a warmer part of the country. The water should not be capped or pressurized and the heated part of the loop needs to be level and designed so that no steam pockets are formed... In a small scale unit like you want, it may be best to heat the tank directly rather than running a coil through the flue gas. You would also want to design your water holding mass to be able to be frozen without breaking... air space on top and sides that slope out towards the top. You may never intend it to freeze, but life happens.

good points! I've always found myself to be a bit nomadic.. Perhaps that's why I've focused on the transportation factor. I've been contemplating sizing down even more then this for more ease of heating/transportation/and general cost. But the main issue I keep coming back to is heating! for instance.. could i heat the cap/cover of a truck with a renewable heat source without having a large cost? would a mini pocket rocket work? is there even a possibility of a functional thermal mass in a space that small?

I've been thinking about insulating a very very small area so it could be heated very simply without fossil fuels.. perhaps electricity (battery bank and solar panels?) would be the best solution?

Aaron Emberson wrote:good points! I've always found myself to be a bit nomadic.. Perhaps that's why I've focused on the transportation factor. I've been contemplating sizing down even more then this for more ease of heating/transportation/and general cost. But the main issue I keep coming back to is heating! for instance.. could i heat the cap/cover of a truck with a renewable heat source without having a large cost? would a mini pocket rocket work? is there even a possibility of a functional thermal mass in a space that small?

I've been thinking about insulating a very very small area so it could be heated very simply without fossil fuels.. perhaps electricity (battery bank and solar panels?) would be the best solution?

Look in your local used boating store for a diesel fire place/heater. Use veg oil ...

The problem with a small space is clearance. So high mass makes sense. Need something with a small flame. Like a 3 or 4 inch rocket _stove_ put a big stock pot (12 in diam. by 18in. high) of water on top. Vent both the rocket stove and the pot outside to keep moisture build up down (it will be enough of a problem with you breathing already). A smaller pot of tin may work if it is sealed. get it up to melting point and put a blanket around it to keep it from leaking heat too fast.

I lived in a van for my first two months here, but I had power (free) and a heater. I found vehicles are not insulated very well but I got by fine.

So I was talking to Paul about that very Idea and he says it is a terrible idea to have water as part of the mass. The first reason being that whenever he has seen water as part of a mass it has always wound up springing a leak. Also there are certain tiny tiny critters that really like dark wet warm places to grow such as legionella and many other bacteria. There is of course the whole concept of BOOM SQUISH which is extremely deadly and can cause death and is deadly! This is caused by a unvented container of water being heated up and creating steam, When that steam has no where to go it winds up going BOOM and SQUISHING everyone and thing in the house! (DEATH) Also another problem is that if you have water as part of your mass and it is vented where are you going to vent it? If you go outside the water won't hold any heat at all, If you vent it inside then you have a steam room in your house (which isn't all bad if it is a sauna) but it would also increase your mold population. Water is a great thermal mass but it has an inherent problem evaporation and steam. If the water you heat up is left pressurized then the steam will build up so much that it will explode however pressurization is the only way to keep that steam from escaping. If the water you use is unpressurized (think a bathtub) then the water will gradually evaporate and even though you can refill the water in the tank/tub the evaporation is a major factor in cooling the water in the tank. So those are the current problems with using a water as a thermal mass.