Hello! My name is Rob, and I live in Canada. I am building a very different kind of house for myself. It is a used transport trailer that has many miles to it. I am converting it into an off the grid tiny house. So basically I will re purpose this trailer that would most likely been turned into scrap into an affordable home.
It will be powered by the sun via solar panels. I currently have it re located to a small piece of land that I rent out for $50 dollars a month. However when I fully move into the place the rent will rise to about $85 a month but it includes my water and internet. This is very affordable and I eliminate a lot of debt that the average person would have to struggle with for most of their lives.
The reason for this project or reasons I should say are so many that just think for yourself what all the benefits would be to you if your monthly bills were only $85 a month. Back to the tiny house, I should explain more of how everything works so it will be comfortable to live in. First I have a composting toilet that requires no water what so ever. I add peat moss to the chamber of the composting toilet every once in awhile to help with the compost process. My experience with it so far is very positive. It has no smell what so ever and yes I have been using it.
Moving on to other creature comforts. I have plumbing system and shower which I think every person would need to have to be comfortable long term. So I created a gravity powered water pressure system using gravity and the weight of water itself to feed my water pressure to my kitchen sink, and laundry area. Yes I even have a washing machine and spin dryer. Heating and cooling the tiny house is very affordable as well. Since I put a lot of insulation in the build of the project. It gets to a max of 80 degrees Fahrenheit with around 40-50% humidity max in summer. In winter it does get cold and I need to add skirting to the bottom of the trailer to help with that. I don't have air conditioning yet, but I am working on that via a solar powered solution.
I heat the tiny house with a free standing propane fireplace. The amount of fuel it takes is not very much at all. I fill a 100 pound cylinder for about $100. The cylinder which I have not mounted yet will have a twin so I will be able to have 200 pounds of propane to use until they empty. I have yet to test out how much the tanks will last with my setup, but that's because i have not moved in full time yet. The propane feeds my fireplace, hot water portable on demand system, and will feed a future propane cook top.
I will be moving into the tiny house this coming spring of 2017. And I hope all goes well. I do document my daily activities in and around the tiny house when I can. They are on my you tube channel which anyone can view and subscribe to.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7TwABArXzPUBb6kUyQTLTw
I have a small channel but that goes perfectly with my small house. If you found my story interesting please feel free to come watch me as I continue my journey to living affordably with modern comforts but not modern bills.
Thanks For Reading !
Love your post as I love living in tiny houses. Tinyhouse is a great tag community we should build and it saves u a tag as compared to tiny house. Thankyou for informing the people about the eco viability of living in a smaller space and creating it for yourself, Such an awesome path to educate about.