you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

And of course you have the delicate thing that you have to explain why there is a bedroom and kitchen in your 350 square foot "chicken coop".

Every bedroom is a guest bedroom :) Then the permanent bed is in the trailer (that you may or may not actually use). That's the way I'd do it.

I agree with your rules, I think those are good rules to follow.

We're in a valley, so that won't be an issue.

Ahh that's one downside to living in Texas, we don't have those.

Our state has a department of ecology and they publish a list of allowable wood stoves due to smog.

Ahh that's one upside to living in Texas, no one gives a damn about stuff like that. :)

Interesting about the rocket mass heater stove. I have a little rocket stove, I'm guessing it's just a larger version of that? I'll have to read about them

[–]yetanotherone_sigh[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Right, it's a very large rocket stove with a lot of mass. They run the stove pipe horizontally underneath what is essentially a couch seat made of cob and adobe. You can sit on it, or, more likely, it will become a dog bed. Also has a place to cook, although it is slow regulate changes to heat.

Pic: https://www.lowimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/rocket_stoves.jpg

If I build one, it will probably not be nearly as "southwest" as this. Maybe brick.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Wow that's cool, I'm surprised I haven't heard of this before. I guess the long horizontal section is what allows for more complete combustion. I like building it in to furniture, that's a very cool idea.

[–]yetanotherone_sigh[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yep. The basic idea is low fuel consumption, almost 100% combustion and low emissions, you can cook on it, and you can sit on a warm bench seat. They were invented by permaculture groups down in the southwest, where it's ideal to have a lot of mass to keep your house warm at night. You don't have to get up and stoke the stove.

The only downside is that they're pretty big. But they're cheap.

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Interesting, very neat idea. In the south we need thermal mass to keep us cool through the heat of the midday. Then at night you'd "stock up" on cold by storing it in the thermal mass. It's not nearly as perfected a system as trying to keep warm.