Bob's caboose build

[S. Heisley]

.
Congrats, Bob! ...Good deal!

[bobhenry]

Well went to Indianapolis last night to spend an evening with Jay Schaffer on a tiny house seminar at Butler University. He is quite entertaining as well as being insightful. The 2 hours passed all to quickly.

During the Q & A session a question of heating and cooling the tiny houses was brought up and I found myself doodling on some note paper I had brought along.

I layed down just long enough last night to get comfortable and the wheels started turning. I could stand it no longer and got out of bed and headed to the kitcken counter with pencil , scale, and paper.

My heating and cooling ideas became based on two 12 volt automotive radiator fans, one intake and one exhaust. I first was simply toying with air in one vent and out the other end.

AND THEN......

I surmised that my home heating system was a good pattern. The heated air enters the room at the floor registers and washes over folks and furnishings as it rises naturally. My cold air returns are in or near the ceiling and return the warm stratified air that would otherwise remain trapped on the ceiling to the furnace via the fan to be warmed again and redistributed. Unfortunatly my household cooling system takes the same path despite the fact we all know cold air falls. So some flow improvement can be made here.

My tiny house will have a fan at each end with both capable of positive and a negative flow by simply placing the fan in the center of the plenum box. They will be connected to both upper (in the ceiling)and lower (under the floor) reqisters and returns of 3" light duty pvc.

In it's simples mode the intake fan will draw in outside air and force it down one side of the house while the exhaust fan will draw air out of the house on the opposite side allowing cool evening outside air to and thru the house. By dampering the fan boxs the outside air discharge and intake could be blocked. Cooled air could then be routed to the suction side of the fan plenum and discharger thru the ceiling vents. Conversely the heated air could be conveyed to the under the floor registers and collected at the ceiling. I know it's a lot to try and convey in verbage. I am having some trouble getting my head wrapped around it also. I am attempting crude drawings to clear it up in my own mind but see it as a very simple and very low draw method of heating and natural cooling as well as some forced AC if the 120v draw is not prohibitive.

[bobhenry]

The caboose will have a barreled ceiling but at the walls there will be a 18" flat ceiling.

The 5 ceiling registers on each side of the tiny house will be mounted in this flat area I wanted the ventalation and at the same time felt it would be a great opportunity for some type of lighting. I have decided to use these simple tap-a-lites as the difuser plate for the HVAC drops. They will be gutted and low voltage LED bulbs will be installed as well as a very low wattage 120 volt 4 to 7 watt christmas tree type bulb. I see no reason why the pvc air duct can not also serve as the electrical conduit to these light. By adding a stand off bracket to the back of the tap a lite and making a quick attachment to the pvc drop. The tap a light will now redirect the stream of air in a more horizontal path.



I mentioned only yesterday needing two 12 volt radiator fans to our delivery driver. I knew he dabbles in scrapping and often is hauling in junk cars to the scrap steel guys. Look what he handed me this morning.....

[bobhenry]

I was watching a video on jay schafer's tumbleweed site and in the background I noticed a tip out window in his sleeping loft. Unlike the usual awning window hinged at the top these seem to have a center pivot point. Working more like a stove damper or the throttle plate in an old style carburetor. I had been racking my brain as to how best to install the 14 new thermopane vinyl window sashs I recently purchased. I entertained making them into slip head types where the sash disappears into a hollow wall cavity above or maybe pocket windows that are similar but slide side to side. The trouble with both of these IS the pocket itsself. There is no way to insulate and still allow you to open the window. I think I have arrived at that next better idea. By carefully drilling a hole in the right and left side of the vinyl sash at mid point and building a 1x4 +/- halo box around the sash and adding stops outside on the top 1/2 of the sash and inside on the bottom half and a couple of bolt at the centers to pivot on I now have an operational single panel tip out window.

OK all is not perfect ........

Now I need to figure out insect control as putting a screen on this might be a bit difficult

[Wimperdink]

Hey Bob, I understand the need for a static heat source, but, have you looked into using a home made Cansolair type solar heater as a backup to a static heat source?

[bobhenry]

Yes (and have I got the beer can collection to do it )

I wanted to have hot air collection and combine it with a tube type solar hot water system as well.

As to my Monday morning weekend update .....

I got lots of toys this week for the demolition of a 16 foot camper......

the donor



bathroom lavatory




cabinet doors



sink



stove / oven



wter heater



And a gas furnace with thermostat and a 15 -20 gallon water tank that I aparently forgot to take pictures of

[IndyTom]

I saw this online and you were the first person I thought of Bob.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30765076/detail.html
Tom

[bobhenry]

EVERY JOURNEY BEGINS WITH THE FIRST STEP !

or so it is said !

The demolition began yesterday. Took a few hours after work and took a full truck load of trash out of the caboose's donor frame. Managed to salvage a bunch of neat little items.







It's sawsall time Sunday

Arrived home and found my little wonder washer waiting at the doorstep.



And Saturday I need to drive about 40 miles to pickup my mini freezer.

[bobhenry]

And the hits just keep on coming !


Got this e mail a few minutes ago

I have a couple countertop pieces and wondered if you wanted them for your newest project. If not I am going to dispose of.

(28X45" island top)



(22X32.5")



(22X45.5")



Have I ever mentioned I love "FREE"

[bobhenry]

Sunday was a fun day !.............

[bobhenry]

Read a good quote yesterday on one of the tiny house sites........................


" My home is so small I have to go outside to change my mind ! "

Well it struck me funny anyway

[IndyTom]

Bob,

I used to say the same thing about the first house trailer that the wife and I lived in right after the wedding.

Tom

[bobhenry]

Well Sunday I got my onboard tanks for the Caboose. Actuall I bought six of these.....



I had been looking on Craigs list all over the state and no luck

Friday on my way home I saw a trailer FULL of them in an open garage so I stopped and asked if any were for sale. I was told $5.00 each and he had 40 of them

So I got his number and told him I would have the cash for him Sunday AM and they are now home

They had had car wash soap in them so there should be no problem rinsing them and being able to use them even for pottable water .

[bobhenry]

POLYCARBONATE ROOF

Tripped over this pic in my internet wanderings........



This set me to thinking (A very dangerous thing)

The caboose cupalo will be approx 6'x8' and it might work nicely as a source for natural light and solar gain for heating. As a queen bed is planned to be able to be raised and lowered from the cupalo it could be utilized as a baffle of sorts. It would stop unwanted solar gain in the warm months. A 12 volt powered vent fan could collect the heat and either exhaust it outside or gather it if needed to direct it to floor registers for free heat.

Construction starts this weekend if I can get the remainder of the demolition done these next few evenings. Hope to have some construction pics very soon.

[bobhenry]

A demo pic showing the scant insullation in the donar carcus...............