[A/S] Re: gadget geek in an Airstream

["Maurice Riggins" <maurice.riggins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Find the manufacturer and model of your furnace and someone here can 
probably get the exact details.  Go to Msg# 24641 and follow that 
thread.  Sorry if the following gets OT, Hunter.

Frankly, if I was going to try to live "off the grid" using AE, an 
Airstream would be the LAST thing I'd try to do it in.  An 18'X18' 
building would have more floorspace than my 34', and being square, 
would have less exterior surface area for the square footage.  Even 
if it were only R-13 2X4 walls with double-pane windows, it would 
have less than 1/4 the heating energy requirement with decent ceiling 
insulation.  Divided down the middle, it would have two 8.5' X 17'3" 
interior sections, which could be divided up into rooms like a 
trailer.  

You could also use an RV or Servel LP refrigerator, but I'd opt for a 
demand type LP water heater rather than an RV tank type.  Heating 
could be an LP convection type centered in the building, with much 
lower amperage fans to move air around rather than ducting.

I'd also turn it into a cube, (even more efficient) with a basement 
below it, where the floor would could be gaining heat from the ground 
7' or so deep (insulate the higher parts of the basement wall), not 
to mention staying cool in the summer.  I would want it on a hillside 
so the basement footer could drain by gravity rather than needing a 
sump pump.

You could use either a septic system, or a composting toilet, leaving 
only gray water to deal with, and the fresh water storage tank could 
be buried in the ground below the frost level where it wouldn't 
require heating, feeding into the building below the basement footer.

You'll spend a LOT more trying to feed an Airstream with AE than you 
would building this small house... and frankly, I'm not sure having 
to rely on Hank Hill at Strickland Propane is _really_ living off the 
grid.

--
Maurice
WBCCI 5446