Douglas Campbell

Hi;
Interesting build.
I just did a rough, guesstimate on my (new) materials cost to build something similar:
$C3088
Scavenging would lower some costs, but takes time in a low population area; stainless steel barrels are not common.

I  wonder about the space; from the video it seems the installation + offsets takes about ?3' x ?10' which seems a fair share of the tiny house.

Estimates (in Canada, we still use imperial for building supplies.):
Stainless steel barrel, 50 gallon, $C1250 (ULine.ca)
8" stove pipe (black), $C23/18" x ~30'/1.5' ~ $C460 (HomeHardware.ca)
6" stove pipe (black) $C24/36" x ~ 10'/3' ~ $C80 ((HomeHardware.ca)

8" stove pipe take outs $C57 x 3 = $C171 (HomeHardware.ca)
8" stove pipe elbows $C25 x 2 = $C50 (HomeHardware.ca)
6" stove pipe elbows $C20x 3 = $C60 (HomeHardware.ca)
6" to 8" stove pipe increaser $C29 = $C60 (HomeHardware.ca)
8" rain cap $C37 (HomeHardware.ca)
Aluminum foil tape ~ $C24 (HomeHardware.ca) (adequate?)

SteelSheet 24GA 0.024 $C0.03/sq inch x (48" x 24") x 2 ~ $C69 (metalsrus.ca)
(There may be cheaper appropriate heat shield materials?)
Pea gravel x 0.24 yard ~ $C30

Uninformed guesstimates on quantities
2" thick 2600F wool forge liner 12 sq ft $C216 (https://canadianforge.com/)
9" x 4.5" x 1.25" firebrick $C9 /each X ?20? $160 (kent.ca)
2" x 4" x 8" brick $C3.33/each x ?100? = $C333 (kent.ca)
2" x 4" x 96"  lumber $C4.4 each x ?20? = $C88

Christopher Weeks wrote:

Douglas Campbell wrote:Then I slowly make a digusting layer cake of poop, woodash and worms, with daily shoveling.

I don't know if "digusting" is a typo or intentional, but I love it -- a portmanteau of digesting and disgusting!

From the French 'Dégustation', a tasty treat from the point of view of the worms :)

Hi;
The standard recommendation for solar panel angle is your latitude;
ex. 45 latitude; 45 angle from horizontal
Panels work best when perpendicular to the suns rays, so 45 from horizontal is a
a compromise between summer (45 + 23 = 68) high angle sun with optimal panel angle of 22 from horizontal, vs.
winter (45-23 = 22) low angle sun with optimal panel angle of 68 from horizontal.

But I do not think the latitude angle works best for typical situations.
i) Grid tie:  This depends upon the utility deal.
My jurisdiction pays 1:1 for energy exchange, cand cancels any excess export above consumption  to 0 at the end of the year.
I should  maximize annual production up to consumption, at minimum capital cost.
In my climate that means a lower panel angle, towards summer optimum, because that maximizes annual production per panel & racking.
Coincidentally, bungalow roofs are less than 45, and so approximate a good summer angle for 1:1 grid tie.
From the utility point of view, they would prefer me to maximize winter production when demand is higher here; eventually regulations will likely push that way.

ii) Summer use off grid: similar to grid tie; optimize near the summer angle to minimize investment in panels & racking required.

iii) Year round off grid:  panels near winter angle will maximize scarce winter production, and shed snow better.
The cost of panels is now low,  so 'wasting' panels in summer is not a big detriment.
But panels need racks, and rack costs have not decreased, even if home built.

I get 250 l plastic barrels, with snap ring lids, and drill holes in the bottom.
I put them in a shady place where nutrient leachate will be helpful or at least not disruptive.
I put a mess of chopped brush in the bottom.
Then I slowly make a digusting layer cake of poop, woodash and worms, with daily shoveling.

Ice builds up in winter, wading through snowbanks builds character ;)
Once full I use window screen and the snap ring to cover.
Wait 0.5-1 y and I have a mass of odourless worm casings for shrubs etc,
along with seething masses of worms.
The barrels can be rolled to destination.
Passing through worms greatly lowers pathogens.
This all requires some room to work.

Hi;
The maritime Acadians built dykes with brush/log cores, faced with marsh sedge & grass sods.
When they cut the sods they cut on an angle, much deeper than a 'normal' sod, with a cap of leaf blades on a narrow top edge.
Then they laid the sods on their sides, with the leaf blades facing out to the air.
The roots in the soil would turn to grow downwards into the sod below, locking the whole thing together.
The image shows the cutting process.
Then think of tilting each cut sod so the long 'soil' side is horizontal, and the short leafy side is at the angle of the face of the dyke.
The spades they used were long and narrow and sharp.
Doing this with terrestrial sods would be more difficult, but maybe worth thinking of the direction of future root growth to lock together the roof surface.
cheers Doug
ps. Dr. Sherman Blakney (RIP) was my wonderful chordate anatomy prof, before he got interested in marsh lands & dykes.

Thank you John, this a valuable paper!

A completely different option is an EV with vehicle to load option.

John: If connected to the grid the EG4 battery self heat would be a minimal draw.

We have 3x 10 kWh EG4 self heated batteries.
They work but it is, so far, tough to figure out the power consumption of the self heating.
I think/fear it just keeps the batteries above a setpoint whether charging is imminent or not, which was an issue during a prolonged cold/dark stretch last year.

'BattPack' sells all in one portable units for low temperature.

Hi Nancy et al.
It would have been more robust & flexible to:
-drape the large sheet of EPDM from the marsh, over the lip, down into the pool (as done)
-then use a separate sheet of EPDM under the marsh, up over the lip and down the edge.
The edges and the marsh are the biggest risks of puncture, so ability to replace a sheet under the marsh would help.
Not a big deal.

I am still using left over scraps of EPDM for other projects; marvellous stuff.
cheers Doug

Hi
I failed to document the process, but here are two images of the outcome.
The artificial marsh is along the back.
In one image an artificial island is visible at left.
It was fascinating to watch nutrient fluctuations with the duckweed fighting for N & P with the artificial marsh; depending upon the year one or the other one would yellow through deficiency.
I used a pool dip net to harvest the duckweed for compost, or a scythe to harvest the marsh for mulch.
Mistakes:
i) I did not rinse the pea gravel I used as filler in the artificial marsh, so the system got a big dose of stone dust as fertilizer, making it eutrophic initially (would have been OK if the goal was to maximize biomass)
ii) I used a single sheet of EPDM roofing/pond liner, which is great stuff.  I should have used a separate sheet for the marsh, and 'shingled' it down over the edge for resilience.
iii) I did not layout the water circulation through the marsh optimally; I probably should have made the marsh more shallow to keep the full depth active, and used a pump/drain cycle to maintain oxygen.

It is critical not to create a gas/water tight pocket between layers of liner.  I left the old pool liner in place as a cushion but made many cuts and holes for drainage.  There are videos of ghastly pond prolapses when gas built up between liner layers...

It was a fun project, and less work than maintaining the equivalent pool, or even equivalent lawn, once setup.
The frogs & toads thanked me.
I got quite a few side eyes in our suburban neighbourhood for 'converting that lovely pool to a swamp...'
Then we moved away.