The container build has been progressing, in fits and starts. I think back to how long I thought I'd take to build it out, and laugh at myself.
I tend to make time estimates for how long things should take me assuming I know how to do those things. But I almost never do projects that I already know how to do. The container is no different. I even did my research on ways other people build out shipping containers, and came up with a different idea than any of that. I don't even have someone else's build to reference.
I'm fine with that, I'd just like to get even slightly more realistic with my time estimates.
Window
Windows are expensive. I don't like using plastic or vinyl products if I can get away with it. Wood windows are very expensive. Salvaged windows can be hard to find if you're up in the mountains in the middle of a pandemic and your girlfriend runs off with your truck. Plus, I just wanted to build my own window.
I used a redwood 2x6 as the sill, and burnt pine 1x4's as the jambs. I routed grooves in cedar 2x2's for the frame . I ordered a dual pane, low-E coated glazing unit. (And then I shattered it by dropping a clamp on it, and bought another one.)
A couple of hinges, some scrap 1x strips, and I've got myself a window!
Heat Recovery Ventilator
An HRV exchanges heat between the air leaving a space (exhaust air) and the air entering a space (supply air), reducing the amount of heating or cooling that needs to happen. In winter, the exhaust air is warm and the supply air is cold. Inside the ERV, heat transfers from the exhaust air to the supply air, warming it up before it gets to the space.
I work with HRV's all the time for work. Back in the day I incorporated them in to my designs, and now I just make animations about them. This animation is showing an Energy Recovery Ventilator, which is like an HRV’s fancier cousin from the city.
Traditionally, HRVs use a crossflow air to air heat exchanger, which is shaped like a box.
HRV's are beautiful devices because they stack functions.
They bring fresh air in to the space.
They remove moist air from the space.
They re-use heat to condition the incoming air. Most HVAC systems simply dump heat to the outdoors - they use the heat once, and then throw it away. An HRV is like a heat recycler - it takes that "waste" heat, which is mixed up with moisture and CO2 that we do need to get rid of, and finds a way to introduce that heat back in to the space.
Best of all, the HRV just uses geometry to accomplish this - no compressors, refrigerant, or moving liquids. You need the fans anyways to move the air around. It's just a little bit of extra duct, so the embodied energy of a HRV is very small, and it recycles a ton of operational embodied energy.
Finally, the HRV allows you to downsize your heat generation equipment. If you weren't recycling "waste" heat, you'd have to generate heat to warm up the cold outside air you're bringing in. Since the HRV allows you to bring in air at, say, 60F instead of 20F for free, that's 1.08*40F*CFM heat that you don't have to provide. You can spec a smaller heater.
Beautiful.
Okay so that's what HRVs are. All of the HRVs you can buy consist of boxy air to air heat exchangers, which are bulky and awkward, and I haven't found anything that's sized for less than 300sf. So I built my own.
This guy build a concentric, or tube within a tube, HRV out of PVC pipe and dryer vent duct. Nice! I basically copied his build, except I wanted to use sheet metal duct. I avoid PVC whenever I can.
Furniture Mitosis
My roommate was getting rid of an old dining room table that was way too deep for a shipping container space. I sliced it in half and turned it into a desk for Robyn and a kitchen counter.
Internal Framing
You may have noticed the nice 4x4 framing in the previous pictures. My roommate free-hand chainsaw milled cedar downed on his land for the container’s framing, because that’s just the sort of nonchalant badass he is.
The Future
I’m leaving in less than a week. Pressing matters require my attention on the family land until about the end of May. I’ll move Serenity there, button up the container, and likely not return here until the Fall.
When I do return, I won’t bring Serenity. The shipping container, while far from complete, ought to be functional. I’m really looking forward to spending the warm months roaming, reconnecting with friends I haven’t seen in far too long, and generally having less on my plate than I have the past several months.