This is a story about freedom.  A family decides to build a simple cheap ecological house that will let them concentrate on living.

We will be making a documentary and keeping a blog to document our experience.

We are building an EkoHus in Sweden.

READ MORE IN OUR BLOG

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A timber frame small house built on a layton camper trailer bed.

The camper is from the70s and was bought for $100.
The owner did all his own building, with the help of his brother, an experienced framer.
I wonder how heavy those large timbers are.

For those contemplating stripping a used camper bed-

You need to calculate carefully the costs of stripping a trailer for a frame for building a small house.

One must inspect the trailer bed carefully before purchase, and you need to make sure the camper is road-worthy. Can you even get it to your new location?

-stripping / deconstructing new trailer cost of labor and time

-old trailer remains /garbage disposal

-transportation to new site (you will need to rent a truck if you don’t have a pick-up)
-repainting the trailer bed

Camper Trailers (or trailers of any kind) are much more expensive in Sweden than the US, so I am not sure what the alternative is here.

source: Minimal Mansion

details by maker:

The whole project cost around $15 from HomeDepot. There is one bolt that goes through the hub, and a coupling that links that to a bolt that is half metal threads and half wood threads. That’s really about all that it takes. The pots hang off of simple stainless hooks attached to the rim and spokes.

Detailed instructions

some other space saving ideas:

• magnetic knife strip

(get some magnets from old harddrives or refrigerator doors for free!)

alternatively, it’s $8 at ikea
and some clever hacks for it

But the Shaul family has been living off the grid for the past 10 years, making their own electricity using a water-driven Pelton wheel. The Juneau family enjoys modern conveniences, and lives in a 1,500-square-foot home that looks like any other house.

“The first thing we saw was the creek. We ended up buying two lots to get the creek,” said Leon Shaul, describing the property he purchased in 1987.

Shaul’s system collects water from the creek and filters it through an underground pipe. Gravity pushes the water downhill through 300 feet of pipe and a 39-foot drop in elevation. The water emerges from four nozzles at 17 pounds-per-square-inch in a small shed.

The pressurized water pushes a Pelton water wheel, which is attached to a bus alternator that creates the electricity. Shaul installed the system himself, at a cost of about $7,000.

A pelton water wheel is a very efficent construct.

The Shaul family has been living off the grid for the past 10 years, making their own electricity using a water-driven Pelton wheel. They live in a modern 1500 square foot home, which looks like any other house but uses a minimal amount of electricity.

“The first thing we saw was the creek. We ended up buying two lots to get the creek,” Leon Shaul said, describing the property he purchased in 1987.

The creek runs down hill and could be described as a gently flowing brook. Water is collected from the creek and filtered into an underground pipe. Gravity pushes the water downhill through about 300 feet of pipe and a 39-foot drop in elevation. The water emerges from four nozzles at 17 PSI in a small shed.

The pressurized water pushes a Pelton water wheel, which is attached to bus alternator that creates electricity. Shaul installed the system himself at a cost of about $7,000.

Pelton wheels are among the most efficient types of water turbines. It was invented by Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s, and is an impulse machine that extracts energy from a jet of fluid.

“I didn’t come naturally skilled. I did a lot of research,” said Shaul. “I gathered a library of small hydro (information).”

Shaul said that installing the system required specialized knowledge beyond basic household wiring.

During his research, Shaul read about a government report that was a bible of information on alternative energy. The report was written by a government scientist during the Carter administration and oil crisis. With his A to Z guide on alternative home energy in hand, Shaul installed a hydropower system, which produces 24 volts of DC current.

“We have a battery bank of eight fork lift batteries,” he said. “They hold about 18 Kilowatt hours (KWh) of storage.”

A converter installed next to his washer and dryer changes DC current into standard household AC current.

According to AEL&P, the average Juneau home consumes 20 KWh of electric per day. In comparison, the Shual family home uses only 3 KWh per day, which would cost $55 dollars per month at the current rate of 55 cents per kilowatt hour.

However, their hydropower system creates 7.5 KWh per day, and the surplus electricity is dumped into an electric hot water heater. Shaul said that all of the electricity has to be used with a hydro-power system.

Juneau resident Leon Shaul uses a downhill creek in his backyard to generate hydroelectric power. The Pelton water wheel he installed produces 24 volts of DC current, which is then converted into an AC current to power his home.
The super-efficient home is possible because the Shaul family dumped into an electric hot water heater. Shaul said that all of the electricity has to be used with a hydro-power system.

installed the most efficient appliances they could find. They use a propane stove for cooking and their clothes dryer runs off propane and electricity. Their refrigerator uses 80 percent less electricity then a typical refrigerator.

The Shaul family installed switches throughout the house to cut down on “phantom loads” used by idle appliances and fixtures. The home is heated by wood, and an air exchanger circulates heat throughout the house. An antique wood fired cooking stove is used for some of the cooking. Hot water pipes have been welded along the length of the chimney, heating water for household use during cooking.

Shaul said it took about four months to get permitted and obtain water rights for his hydro electric power plant. He used the Alaska Coastal Zone process and recommended that people contact John Dunker at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to find out about the permitting process.

Greg Cheney, who is a planner with the city of Juneau, built a similar hydropower project thirteen years ago for a house he built on Shelter Island. Cheney estimated his system cost $5,000 to install.

“It was a big challenge,” he said about installing his system.

Cheney hand dug a 300-foot trench to lay pipe and transport water from a creek to his home’s power station.

“It took a lot of work digging through a forested area,” he said. “The pipeline was a tremendous amount of work.”

Cheney said he believes there is potential for a small number of Juneau home owners to create their how hydroelectric power, but he didn’t know whether it would be cheaper than the cost of electricity provided by AEL&P.

Seaton said there are net metering laws in 42 states. Utility companies would be required to provide consumers with a credit for surplus power produced.

“We need to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their energy needs,” he said. “If they wish to invest in renewable energy then we should encourage that.”

The city of Juneau has established a sustainable development commission. Information about these efforts can be viewed at: www.sustainablejuneau.blogspot.com.

Shaul said he will assist other residents with advice and guidance who also wish to generate hydro power. Questions can be submitted to smallhydro@hotmail.com.

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Simple and un-flashy, the owners moved out into the New Zealand woods to build their house with recycled lumber, windows and doors. An organic vegetable garden and a wood-burning stove are just a few of the ways they intend to live as simply and sustainably as possible…

The owners bought the lumber from a mill with unused logged trees that had been sitting there for years. All the windows and doors were sourced from thrift stores, dumps, and the side of the road. The wood-burning stove provides all the necessary heat for the home: it warms the rooms, heats all the water, and of course, it cooks as well. Rainwater is collected in tanks and then run through the home’s plumbing system. Right now the bathroom is outside (!), but there are plans to complete an indoor bathroom soon, and to make it a sawdust composting toilet.

It’s inspiring to see people taking this life so seriously, and it can be a little overwhelming as well. Clearly moving out to the bush is not an option for many of us, even if we wanted it. That’s why Kimberlee of Anemone reminds us that there are still things we can do, however small, that help “lighten the load.” Try to use less. Less space, less resources- less waste. Shop locally. Support small businesses. Try not to commute too far, or at least carpool or ride the subway. Share your resources, like public transportation, parks and libraries.

It might not be a house in the woods, but it’s something.

via
re-nest

Michael Janzen:
I’ve embarked on a little experiment. I’m building a tiny house that’s cross between Henry David Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond and a Tumbleweed-like Tiny House on wheels, the only difference is that it will cost nothing. Any money I spend on building materials will be recouped by selling discarded things I find and most of the wood will come from old shipping pallets.

tiny free house

Ben owned a third of the sweet-chestnut woodland and rented the rest. The house he designed was to be made almost entirely of wood, with an A-frame made of tree trunks, a wooden platform for a floor and oak shingles on the roof.

All the timber would come from the surrounding trees – sweet chestnut is a strong hardwood, ideal for this kind of building.

Because Ben coppices trees instead of removing them, roots and all, new growth would quickly replace the old.
The Vision

The house would comprise: a single large living room, rising all the way to the roof, including a kitchen area; one bedroom on the ground floor; and a bathroom. Ben came up with some simple drawings and appointed architect John Rees to advise him.

Volunteers were invited to come and stay in the woods and help build the house in return for food and drink and some tuition from master-carpenter Viv Goodings. With no builders’ wages, and the wood being free, Ben aimed to build the house, complete with sun and wind powered electricity, for £25,000.
Natural Beauty And Strength

Building began in May, and Ben’s ambition was to move in by the time the winter weather arrived. The hand-crafted approach meant taking time over details. For instance, much of the wood was being left in the round. This meant that it kept its natural beauty and strength, but special joints were required for fixing curved surfaces together. And the pace of work altered according to how many volunteers turned up.

The A-frame went up in a day – an extraordinary feat, involving hand-winching pairs of 30 foot ( nine metre) tree trunks. But filling in the frame with floors and a verandah, and adding rafters and internal walls, involved slow and steady work that lasted months. Then there were the 12,000 oak shingles, all hand-cut by Ben, to be nailed on to the roof.
Sleeping Indoors

In autumn, recycled newspaper insulation went under the floor and into the roof, and oak-edged boards were fitted on to the outside of the house. Then barley-straw bales, which had been bought from a neighbouring farm, were stacked in between the timber fame and the internal stud-work to create thick walls. Ben installed a wood-burning stove, bath and hot-water cylinder, and started sleeping indoors.

Cabling, wrapped in copper to proof it against fire and rodents, was run through the straw. Using clay from his pond, Ben built a fireplace and covered the internal lath walls with clay plaster. Finally, glass went in to the windows, the straw bales were covered with lime plaster, and the house was weatherproofed – just as the November storms arrived.
Window, Sussex: The Woodman’s Cottage, Grand Designs
The Detail

The house is a hymn to wood. Inside and out, wood displays its beautiful variations of size, colour and texture. Pieces are fitted together with hand-crafted pegs. The oak shingles of the roof ripple with natural curves. The big arched window echoes the shape of house.

Light floods in and shadows of beams and laths move across the walls. Eventually, storage platforms will be installed high up at either end of the house.

The living-room walls, covered in lime plaster, are a gentle yellowish-cream. Lime wash mixed with iron oxide and turmeric has turned the bedroom walls red-orange. Some surfaces are curved, where the straw bales beneath the plaster had been shaped with a chainsaw.

A tall, curved clay fireplace mirrors the shape of the arched window. Curved niches for candles are set into the chimney breast.

Bathroom and kitchen have all Ben needs in the way of luxury. An enamel bath connects to the hot-water cylinder. Iron pots hang above a black Rayburn.

The house runs entirely off natural energy, and even some of the technology has recycled parts. Solar panels previously used in the Big Brother house provide electricity, which is stored in second-hand submarine batteries. Together with a few wind turbines, they will power Ben’s lights, stereo and laptop. Rainwater and a nearby spring supply the taps. And soon the composting toilet will arrive.

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I have had several search engine visitors asking- “how they make ecological green homes in Sweden“.
I would have to say that they don’t.

We are nowhere as advanced as builders of earthship and strawbale houses in other parts of the world.

Often, when you read about an “ecological house”, they just end up saying they used non-toxic materials in building the home.

Non-poisonous building doesn’t mean green in my book!

But let us think about this very important question- where do you start in building an ecological house?

My answer is very simple- do your own homework! Every single ecological house I have heard of has received some kind of end user criticism.

People building earthships in harsh northern climate have complained of cold, humid area dwellers are complaining of heat, and straw bale construction has brought complaints of mold.

However, a smartly planned ecological home can save you money, health, and make you financially independent at an early age, if you are willing to rough it and homestead.

Here is where to start

1) Decide what you want.

People often do not know what they want. This is where the kind universe comes in and beats you on the head until you at least know exactly what you do not want.
If you don’t have money, you will probably want to build your own home (which you can, a la Simon Dale).
If you are making lots of money and have no time, you can hire someone to do it for you.

Do you have health concerns? Are you allergic to certain materials or electricity/wi-fi (some people are). Do you need constant hot-like warmth in your house, or are you content with wearing warm clothing?
Is there enough wind and sun in your area to provide for off-the grid living? (Surprisingly, deserts are energy-plentiful, what with hot sun and strong winds)

Every single aspect of your life will determine your needs, and thus your house.

Do you know how much of a commitment to the house you want to make? Planning every aspect of the new green dwelling, is this something you will enjoy? Are you a happy shopper or a happy maker?

Ecological is a term that is often too broad to give any definition.
Think of it as a sliding scale that should fit around your life.

On one end, you can grow your own food, make your own electricity, recycle all your water (so you do not need sewage connection), and need no heating.
On the other, you can simply use energy efficient appliances, better insulation, LED lights and use of sun’s energy to cut your heat and energy bills in half.

The start with green solutions is in realizing that green truly is the color of simplifying your life.
With a bit of careful planning.

Stay tuned for your future articles on
2) Planning your green home

3)Homesteading
How to stop renting and live at the site of your future home- right now.

Helpful Hint: After doing all of your homework on you ecohouse, you will most likely want to protect it. To find certain deals in your area you could do a search such as “ADT Seattle” and see what potential offers and installation they provide.

Earthship Design Principles:

1)Thermal/Solar Heating & Cooling

2)Solar & Wind Electricity

3)Contained Sewage Treatment

4)Building with Natural & Recycled Materials

5)Water Harvesting

6)Food Production

Some more little houses we like. Making a small house to live in using the cheapest materials is the best green house alternative for people with time and money constraints.

My first introduction to little houses happened many years ago. I saw a Japanese Tea House. The whole concept of living in small space, so common in Japan, was quite appealing to me.

Later on, as far apart as Amsterdam, Holland, Bangkok, Thailand, and Broklyn, New York, I saw floating homes.
The concept is quite appealing, but the costs can be quite hight.

Then we have the humble trailer/ RV / camper home
and it’s recent offspring, the tiny house on a trailer.

With all these examples, the idea that smaller is better and you can do it yourself started to blossom in my mind.

I also started becoming more and more aware of certain opressive regulatory forces in society.

For example-

The Smallest House in Great Britain

can be found on the Quay, in Conwy, Wales. It has its own entry in the Guinness Book of Records. This house is also known as the Quay House.

Its dimensions are 3.05 metres x 1.8 metres.

It has been lived in since the Sixteenth Century. It was even inhabited by a family at one point[citation needed]). It was lived in until 1900, when the owner was a 6ft 3 inch fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully and he was eventually forced to move out when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation. The house is still owned by his descendants