Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Little House

I enjoyed this post about building a very small house.  Not everyone needs large amounts of living space.
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  • 16 comments
siege

siege

March 15 2010, 04:06:52 UTC 11 years ago

I like the idea of a tiny house; and in fact, I would love to have one with a somewhat fantastical design. However, I live a larger lifestyle than most tiny houses can accommodate, and I'd have to be a master of personal organization, which at the moment I am not.

On the other hand, a three-story turret with a two-story expansion, with walkable parapet... Tiny Castle for the win. Five rooms might be big enough for me, and I'd have a turret and a sunning-place. Combine with high-efficiency solar roofing and a small wind-powered generator, plus a waterfall generator from the gutters to the cistern or spout... and maybe one of those amazing fuel-cell power boxes, too. Supagreen cassel. :)

Heck, I might as well look into architecture. Maybe I can design some award-winning houses in which I can hang my impending Nobel medals. ;)
dormouse_in_tea

dormouse_in_tea

March 15 2010, 04:43:10 UTC 11 years ago

... *!!!!*

*___*

I admire your theories and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
siege

siege

March 15 2010, 16:48:44 UTC 11 years ago

I'd be honored. I've always wanted to live in a house with a turret; I just hadn't figured out the best way to put one in. I started with an A-frame house, with an attached tower, and my ideas have been evolving from there.

Though all those power-independence items would get a little costly. Solar roofing tiles and a wind generator would run ~$2k-3k together. The other two items would total ~$4k (those fuel cells are pretty expensive right now). Fortunately, a Tesla disc-based water pump would be a reasonable hobby project, if you had a good workshop available; just run the water through it instead of pumping the water, and attach a generator to the drive shaft. Still ~$200 for raw stock, parts, labor, and machine tool access.

Then again, you can build a wind generator from a pair of hula hoops and some cloth, hung on a pole and attached to a car alternator. Just gotta use the right charging circuit.
ysabetwordsmith

Okay...

ysabetwordsmith

March 15 2010, 21:57:20 UTC 11 years ago

How do you build a wind generator from hula hoops and cloth?
siege

Re: Okay...

siege

March 15 2010, 22:16:24 UTC 11 years ago

I can't find any references for it; they must be buried right now. Anyway: Start with a pole on which you will hang your vertical turbine, two hula hoops, and cloth. Just as with a hanging wind ornament, you sew strips of cloth, binding the hoops together, and each strip has a single twist in it (in the same direction). Next you choose the top hoop, and tie cords/spokes from the rim to the center, so you can hang it on the pole tied to a frictionless bearing. I don't recall whether the bottom hoop is also tied around the pole; I think so.

Anyway, that is your turbine. You then link the turbine to a car alternator (using a gearbox or geared transmission), which provides the current. From there, you add an electronic charging circuit so your batteries receive what they need and no more.

dv_girl made one for Burning Man last year.
ysabetwordsmith

Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith

March 15 2010, 04:47:24 UTC 11 years ago

I love castles. I also admire the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and his ability to make a house blend with its landscape.