Off the Grid Homes

Here's a site with some pretty clever ideas for using shipping containers as homes.



You Can Turn A $2000 Shipping Container Into An Epic Off-Grid Home

 

Ive seen some giant culverts and semi trailers made into interesting homes too.

 

Old school busses are a better choice, the arch in the roof makes it a hell of a lot stronger compared to a shipping container which you would have to reinforce if you were to bury it under 12 inches.

 

I always find these interesting to look at. In reality, however, in my area, you can still buy a 50's-70's era cookie cutter house for what these "low-cost" homes cost.

 

This one is considered to be the Most expensive RV or Bus you can buy. Oh, and you can go completely off the grid.


The Chevy Corvette car and speedboat hybrid might be the slickest amphibious vehicle on the planet, but when it comes to campers, nothing compares to the luxury the Elemment Palazzo offers. The mere mention of campers and RVs invokes images of cramped living quarters that can house only your essentials. But the Elemment Palazzo with its lavish fixture and ornate designs obliterates that notion completely. As it should, what with a coronary-inducing price tag of $3 million.

Austrian company Marchi Mobile designed Palazzo as part of its Elemment line of luxury vehicles that very visibly displays the trappings of wealth. You'll see in Palazzo what you never thought you'd see inside an RV. Master bedroom with an adjoining bathroom? Check. Leather interior? Check. Rainfall shower, fireplace, and 40" TVs? Check, check, check.



Master bedroom with an adjoining bathroom? Check





Rainfall shower, fireplace, and 40" TVs? Check, check, check.....snip~




http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/3-million-luxury-camper-40-mobile-mansion-220233175.html

[video=youtube;T8E7ti1U-7U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8E7ti1U-7U[/video]

 

That is the ugliest vehicle ever built.

 

The structure of the dwelling is the easiest part of goingboff grid.

A livable shed would be just as cheap and easier than pissfarting about with raggedy shipping containers.

as trendy, ecobuild projects though, the OP displays heaps of awesome ones.

 

Well they say.....if you can't get people to live next to one another. Then on top of each other, will work.

 

What the devil is that supposed to mean!

 

if you add the total cost of building what is in the picture you will find out it is not that much cheaper than building a home the same size out of normal building materials...the materials are not the most expense..its the labor...so build it yourself and save big time..and learn something worth whiled in life..

 

Just what it says.

 

Granny says if we ever lose the trailer...

... we gonna get an ol' boxcar an' fix it up...

... an' ride the rails.

 

Are there any states that permit tiny homes (the ones on trailers) on land, even outside of city limits or other places where they won't bring down the value of nearby homes? They're a great concept for living cheaply, but so many places ban them based upon code (minimum square feet or minimum number of rooms) or local requirements.

 

Cheapest way to have a nice home is to own acerage with timber, buy a little sawmill to make your own lumber and start pounding nails. Worked for me!

 

Electricity is the greatest challenge of living off-grid, particularly if you want air conditioning. Truly living off the grid also tends to require minimalist living.

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Tiny houses are nonsense. Why not just buy a used travel trailer? Its the same thing only better built.

 

They're much better insulated for year around living whereas most travel trailers are not. Plus the tiny home is structurally stronger.

 

I suppose you could build one out of a Home Depot outbuilding. They have two-story ones as well. Just throw in some insulation and sheetrock, and buy you a composting toilet and you are good to go.

 

Actually shipping containers are designed to be stacked up to 7 high, so they are very sturdy structures, my hunting property utilizes 3 8X20' containers with four entrances/exits, one I am able to drive into. The whole structure is buried with a front garage, rear walk out patio and a couple of side exits.

 

My friend lives in a 10 Acre property. His house is completely solar and wind powered, electricity, heat, etc). His water comes from a nearby river and he has a water purification system on the property. He has a large garden and grows both food and medicinal herbs. He also raises, cows, goats, chickens, and rabbits for food. He grows industrial hemp (no thc so it can not be used for marijuana, and is legal here) and uses it to make clothing, diesel fuel for his vehicles, and other products.

 

Even off the grid homes are under the jurisdiction of county governments so all zoning and building codes apply on these container homes. IMO it would be wiser and cheaper to build from scratch a small-footprint home. The primary problem is most people are incapable of a small-footprint home and larger means more costs...

 

I plan to build in about 5 years and it may be off grid. I intend to put up a metal building and spray in polyurethane insulation and framing inside. It should be maintenance free and very efficient. I still need to research using the ground to precool my air. Heating can be done by wood burning stove. Avoiding air conditioning is going to be tough in Texas heat. Any extra power from solar or wind will be used to pump water to a holding tank for pressure. I can get free used batteries from work if I am off grid. If I'm intertied then I won't need much for batteries.

 

I've heard that those geothermal systems are outrageously expensive to install. Let us know if that is true or not when you get to that point.

 

I'm hoping for about 10+ acres so I could run my ductwork horizontal and maybe dig it myself when I do septic system and water lines. I may do a heat exchanger with a core submerged in a nearby stock tank. It will depend on my options at the time. I'm hoping to buy the land in the next year or two to make planning easier. (layout of trees, hills, sun and wind exposure, ponds, etc......)

 

I think they mostly coil it in a very deep hole these days, though I would assume they have more lateral systems still.