Hello, and cords of wood for 100 sq ft.

Wow,

I want to get off the grid and live in the middle of nowhere, but wow this is totally wild.

I can see that for a hunting shack, but full time living?! Not to sure..
I think it would be a hard sell on the wife!

As far as heating it. Get one of those small heaters that screw on the top of a small propane bottle. The little tiny bottles, not the BBQ ones.

Or just fart a lot

Those buddy heaters are nice for emergencies (a bit more elaborate than the simple bottle top types), I used to always take one along on trips to fairbanks in the winter in case something happened, and I also used it when I was installing the toyo heater in my place and during a cold snap I'd bring it in to be at the ready just in case, but they're far from practical for more than well ventilated special need use as they still do give off a lot of fumes even once the ceramic brick is heated up, and especially in a small place, a good share of moisture.

akbear said:

People wouldn't even blink over doing something like this in Alaska (except maybe those in Seattle's northern suburb Anchorage). There's a lot to be said for tiny and small home living and not being saddled for life with mortgage payments, not to mention the savings on heating. I myself live in a place that is just barely over 2 1/3 times that size and truthfully, a lot of the space goes underutilised. As of this week, I've had this place for 10 years (you can take off a few months for the time that I was finishing off the interior and moving) but since the summer of 2000 I have not lived in anything over 16 x 24 (this one being 12 x 22 after I enclosed the porch that sat under a small sleeping loft)

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Im all for one of those MIni -houses. I will be building one myself top replace a rotting cabin in the woods. But 10 x 10 is too small to be useful for any length of time. Your space even though not that much bigger is about the minimum practical size for a home. IMHO

I already chimed in once about the stove, and like others have said, he has not even commented on this thread that he started. This subject of him living like he is doing has had more interest that I hope he comes back to fill us in.

I put a Morso 1410 Squirrel in a 12x12 non-insulated cabin I built in Erie, PA and when running on a cold day it heated very well. In a 10x10 insulated space I think it would have been way too much heat.

10x10 is almost unimaginable, but the laneway houses in Vancouver are really spurring a flurry of small home ideas and this one in particular caught my attention at how a simple shed design in a 10x10 could work (although I'd be inclined to go 12x12 do a few changes such as swapping the door and the largest window as well as something a little more substantial for the stairway to the loft) http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/nomad/

Sorry to state the blatantly obvious, but for anyone slow in math... 12 x 12 = 1.44x the space of 10 x 10.

Joful said:

Sorry to state the blatantly obvious, but for anyone slow in math... 12 x 12 = 1.44x the space of 10 x 10.

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Yeah, I'm thinking big, 2 more glorious feet each way and I wouldn't have to give up my countertop dishwasher.

Not a single person answered his question, that's why he's not responding.

I'd say 1 cord should be plenty.

See above for concerns about burning that cord.

But, you have to admit, 700 views in 24 hours, that sail caught quite a bit of wind no matter where we were wandering.

I do hope he does come back since I do know of a small house/cabin method of getting a fresh air intake.

Pitroff said:

it will be well insulated and pretty airtight, with only one window.

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Just in case he's listening, I'd be most concerned about the "pretty airtight" part. I hope he designs in some adequate ventilation, especially if burning fossil fuels.

While I greatly admire the spirit of the project, it really needs a bit more thought.

I smell a rat, me thinx.

He gone.......

When your only dealing with ONE room how much trouble is it to go from 10x10 up a little to 12x12 or larger.
Very minimal cost in lumber and materials. 10x10 is more of a prison cell than a home. IMO

Seasoned Oak said:

When your only dealing with ONE room how much trouble is it to go from 10x10 up a little to 12x12 or larger. Very minimal cost in lumber and materials. 10x10 is more of a prison cell than a home. IMO

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This is all perspective, I live in 1100 sq ft, Im considering downsizing to 600 or less...My guess is that you think 600 is too small as well. Even in the winter I dont spend much time indoors, why do I need a large house I dont use?

Augie said:

This is all perspective, I live in 1100 sq ft, Im considering downsizing to 600 or less...

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600Sf is an adequate living space. With room for a commercially available wood stove. Im in the planning stages to replace my cabin in the woods 16x25 with a new one 20x30. Thats just about 600Sf.

I would put that wood stove money towards a really good sleeping bag. I think he might need it.

Augie said:

This is all perspective, I live in 1100 sq ft, Im considering downsizing to 600 or less...My guess is that you think 600 is too small as well. Even in the winter I dont spend much time indoors, why do I need a large house I dont use?

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That's not too far off on how I downsized the second time. I was in the process of looking for property when I came across a deal on a cabin at the state fair for a pre-sell on a guest/hunting cabin they were going to use for the next two months as a temporary office while they moved their operations from the sawmill to their town location. In my mind it gave the perfect opportunity to make the transition much quicker as I'd have a place to winter over in while I settled in and had something larger built. As it turned out the property I finally decided upon had a 12x28 cabin on it already that I could have skipped the building stage (but still would have required needing something else to live in while the rehab was being done), except that after having the new cabin moved to the property and spending some time in it while moving stuff down and outfitting the interior I came to the realisation that I liked the new space, but even more importantly, it occurred to me that in the past year it had been all the space that I actually had been using where I currently lived and the rest was simply space that became storage (most of which could live in a shed rather than a heated space) and if I wanted room for guests, then the old cabin would be better suited for that (so would a motel for that matter, why is it that we always think that we have to provide extra bedrooms for the possibility that they might get used a few times a year?). Anyhow, the point is, downsizing can be something that's planned, happened unexpectedly, or even forced on one at times, but when it comes right down to it, you can only be in one place at any given time and the idea that we need special rooms for every purpose and activity comes at a cost, but whatever space you are in or are going to be in, make it work for you and not simply what others expect it should be.

Ok. New game: Who do you think the o.p. REALLY is?

• Webbie
• Old Spark
• Quads
• A punky pellet pig
• Other random rambunctious forum member
• Member of U.S. Congress posting on the forum during meetings to bring the federal government back online.
• Actual shed dwelling squirrel eater

Pellet pig... hoping to get the answer a pellet stove is the better solution.

I would say his break in fire didn't go so well.

Next summer I am building a 3' x 3' shed to live in. Anyone know of a good air conditioning unit that would be sufficient?

How many kilowatts do you think I may use for one summer?


PS: I sleep standing up.