Wife and I built 8 room motel in Philippine town, we went with full solar with batteries and that has proved very reliable and super cheap. We ordered entire solar kit from China and it went up easy.. AC, fans keeps it all very cool for about 7 to 10 dollars a day and we loan electricity to the city offices a couple blocks away. Vila Vita Grata - Thanks for your show, I have learned about the good attitude it requires to live in some of these countries.
I’ve been off grid for 3 years in the USA. It’s in the 90’s now and I’m doing fine. I bought dual axis solar trackers off eBay, cheaper than Amazon. The first summer I used a propane generator to run my ac and I spent 150.00/ month max. I’ve spent a little time in Mexico and it looks a lot cheaper there!! Most things cost more in Mexico than the USA so I’m looking around.
I am so grateful that you are taking the time to do this because I'm interested in one of these houses too for different reasons and they are not the easiest thing to shop for online because most builders are strictly communicating in Thai ...Thanks Lou!
I have one these knockdown houses up in Yasothon. I would recommend getting a bigger one where you could fit a real bed. I have a sofabed and its not comfortable spending more then a few days. Also a tip is to insulate the gaps in the door and windows to keep the bugs out, thanks for yet another great video!
Loucous, your better half sure is having an influence on your options !! Never thought you would rough it this much !! Luck to you both for sure if you do this !! It would be interesting for future video's for sure and a new chapter !!
We all will be looking at this type of housing. Country living selling eggs and garden items. Low taxes, maintenance cost low, get back to nature and travel more ! We don't need big and higher maintenance cost. This was a great video. Thank you!
solar+ gas generator. All you have to do is make sure you have enough battery for a day or two, split unit acs are pretty efficient. A generator can charge your batteries in 2 hours, one gallon could last you a few days.
We just had evaluated the solar part too. 5 KW panels (9x450 W) Solar charger/inverter in one box and a 48 V 280 Ah LiFePO4 battery. That will be enough. YOu have to run the AC during the day to cool down, so that during the night, it will have only little work to do. You will have to go for the modern Inverter ACs which consume less energy, so the BTU is not the absolute number but the kW it will use during night. Don't set the temperature below 24°C, helps to save energy too. I'm not happy with their insulation material. There are two classes of polystyrene foam, the cheap burnable one and the more expensive fire-retardant (SE class) one. There was no label printed on them - irritates me as the fire-retardant ones have it printed on them. Check that they use the fire-retardant one, otherwise go for glass fiber or rock wool.
9x450 is 4,050 watts not 5k watts so you are basically getting a 4kw system. I would also make sure the panels are facing south to get maximum exposure to the sun. Also realize the NOTC rating for the panels is a much more realistic rating for power production in the rainy and cool season than the STC.
@@oldthaiexpat Thank you for correcting my mistake. Yes, the panels deliver 4 KW, the electronic system is able to deliver 5 KW output when a battery is connected. All the panels I did see have the STC rating on them but it is hard to get the NOTC rating. The shops all import the panels directly from China and know only the specs on their label (STC). The costs of the systems we looked at were between 140k and 170 kBhat incl. all materials and installation. You have to provide a sufficient roof surface for it or concrete poles to build it on which can serve as your car port. Basically you have on sunny days good output between 9 am and 4 pm. If you want to prolong/improve it 1 axis tracker system is needed, can be manual - morning, midday and afternoon position. I see this on our well pumps which are directly solar powered. Still full voltage, but instead of 9 A, only 1 A in the late afternoon if the panels are fixed.
I had a boat with about 2kw of solar on it. I could run a marine electric AC unit all night long, plus my induction cooktop, starlink internet, watermaker, lights, and 3 refrigerators off of a 25kw/h battery bank. Your A/C system will be a LOT more effecient than mine was, and there's no insulation on a boat. :) Definitely suggest making sure you have enough room in one of those sheds for a REAL bed. Sofabdeds suck and tend to kill your back after a while.
I like those houses. And I also like the idea of having a brand new house with everything I need. The price is something any foreigner could afford to purchase.
Love these! Without doing any calculations, I'd estimate that you'd need/want more solar panels than can fit on the roof, but you could setup a small solar farm on the ground. LiFePo4 batteries can be very reasonably priced, especially if you can build the battery system yourself. Having said that, you'd at least double the cost of the building doing this, but you'd be properly off-grid without compromise and that's awesome!
Here in Aus we call them portable Granny Flats! If it was me I would go for the larger one (7.45mins in) though a few bucks more, at least you would have the extra storage, more room to move & most of all a lesser chance of cabin fever & saying, we should have chosen the bigger one in the first place!!! 🤔
Your "standard" size battery would run an air conditioner for an hour. You can of course upscale your storage but it will be expensive. If you had a 12kW panel system you could run the AC and probably everything else for free during daylight hours.
The energy solution has to be a system. Not just solar, you need enough storage batteries to keep the house going for several days of cloudiness. There are easy ways to calculate your battery needs. Storage Batteries can be the least expensive chemistry which are Iron phosphate. There are also solar panels that can still charge on cloudy days using different UV light waves from the sun.
The solar and battery system alone would cost more than the house. Add a backup generator, fuel, and maintenance - gets expensive very fast... I assume one would want AC in the house which is the huge driver on the cost of solar and a generator. Better to rent - especially given foreigners can't own land - unless of course you're going on the super cheap and getting this for a Thai family member that has land to pop it on. Another issue with these - almost zero insulation! It would be like an oven on the inside without AC or persistent shade under a tree. Awe, what about a shower, kitchen, water, etc. Guess as the saying goes - you get what you pay for in most cases..
I like the unit you picked. I would have them make you a Flat Roof. This way you could take all that metal from your gable roof and Beef up the roof for a walking Deck. You could then build a little Para pit wall around the sides on top of your roof and put some side steps and you would gain double of your living space. Actually a nice View. You could then build a nice deck that wraps around your house with a big Palapa on the roof just like they do in Mexico.
I would totally go with solar just add a second battery to a standard package and good to go, use the newer inverter air con units that draw way less energy for a bigger unit. an extra suggestion would be to buy or build a very small external shed to store your batteries and electrics in.. if your only going to be there once every other weekend better having those away from the house where there is less chance of fire especially when you consider the batteries could be holding 2 to 3 weeks of charge
Good luck with your new house of what you choose. Also, you can get a shed for your bike and whatever you want to store in it. Good luck to you and Lon
@@BazzaOTW I'd take a fairly educated guess at around $60,000 to $70,000 plus installation.(electrical contractor) depending on size but roughly from a good guess at the size the loads already submitted.
Re: Solar power. I think you really need to have a backup in case the sun doesn't shine and/or the batteries run out. Not sure how this translates to Thailand cost-wise but in Australia a lot of places have solar (sized for the house), and a battery as well if they can afford it. They are also connected to the grid as a backup. In the case of being 'off the grid' as in the case with some farms due the exorbitant cost of getting power lines run to them, having a generator (typically diesel) in place of a grid connection is the way to go. One guy I know with a farm has never used his generator in anger, but you should fire it up periodically just so you know it will be there if you need it :)
I'm with you man....yeah, sure, you could build something bigger and better for less.....BUT....only if you have the right contacts and knowledge........going this route you know what you are getting and is still not so bad on the pocket :) Great video
IF I only had Solar in a rural area so are electric does go off sometime. And YES I have a generator big enough to run most of the house.. They do sell A/C units that are made for solar. Soft start and low usages.
really cool little units! When you first showed them, my thought was, "oh, you could totally do solar!" I don't have personal experience with it. I have watched a LOT of RUclips channels/videos about stuff like van life and solar power. Different animal, but the concept is the same. With enough of a battery bank, I think you could do the AC overnight. A lot of the RV and Skoolie folks that are in the same boat often use a small portable generator as an emergency/back up. Can't wait to see what you end up doing!
What's not been mentioned is solar heating, wind turbines and propane gas. Metal tanks filled with water, baking in the sun and heat. Wind for pumps and a large propane tank for the fridge and aircon.
One thing to consider with these units Solar gain as they are steel framed Result is very hot in current temperatures Use & cost is then high About 60m2 with an external patio & kitchen Note There are some eco villages in the North Try one for a weekend or a week or two F yo really want to proceed consider whole cost estimate with simple furniture If your only a visitor Choice of furniture is important as bugs take over My guess is 15k is a reasonable budget & upgrade the insulation to 150 mm on the external walls as it helps the internal temperature Get insulated water storage We had a well installed 60k baht all up with filtered water 🙏👀 Good luck Enjoy
Solar can power a whole country. If it's spec"d right I'm sure you'll be right. Go for salt ion batteries, newer, cheaper, can handle faster charging and discharging, far more safe than li-ion. Lead acid and AGM are very dated now
Lucas, great idea ;o) Solar is very good, a Tesla Power Wall set-up would work fine for aircon, you just calculate the power you need and buy the number of Power Walls necessary. Of course the problem is theft. If you invest so much money it would be a bummer to come home to... nothing.
if you use solar off grid make sure you have a genarator backup for the rainy season. you need to make sure you get soft-start for your a/c so it does not strain your inverter.
@@Rides4Kickz I had another thought about the houses. You could get one to use as a living room kitchen and get a smaller one use to be a bedroom. I guess you could get them made the way you want so you could get the one for living in with just a 1/2 bath and the bedroom with a full bath. Just a thought.
Very nice Lucas. I do have a traditional tear down but prefer having one like you showed having updated construction techniques. Would definitely be cool to buy additional buildings if you needed to in the future. Best wishes. 😀
Yes, Nice setup to customize a Home , off the Grid ect. Curious if you would need an Earth Ground connected to metal structure, encase of Lightning Strikes ?
Loucous put a cuboard in there and your things you will fined there is no room. All steal framing will conduct heat through to the inside and the only way to stop that was to put a wood batton on top of the steel to stop the heat travling to the inside like a radiator .😊😊
With the correct size system electricity is not an issue. Even with clouds . To do it right, so you never have to think about can get pricey. You have no electric bill of course.
it is a good time to buy if you are using dollars. 37 to 1. I just bought a condo in bkk. Power capacity should give a general idea for how long you can go without charging, but solar is probably not the best idea unless you are doing it for fun. You know the options already. I am sure that you know about empty or vacant houses in the countryside. Enjoy.
If you want to explore solar power and battery solution for off-grid, you should explore DC power air-conditioning rather than the usual AC home type. DC air-conditionings are mire power efficient and very popular with mobile homes and camper vans.
That would be fun having a get away place in the country. If ya put solar panels on a carport/covered patio facing south id think you'd get plenty of power from a solar system with about 8 Solar Lithium cells, i read in Thailand a 15degree angle is optimal for panels being so close to the equator. Others mentioned a small storage shed for the battery rack to keep it away from the house, that would be a smart idea just as a preventative measure, than a propane or diesel generator as a backup. Looking forward to the videos about the build, you should get a guard dog 🐕
Hey Lucas Lan, happy house hunting , too small for me $5000 $ 6500 look fine though hope it works out for you guys up Country with these houses ! Nice info yet again Lucas thank you Chris
Metal and steel in Thailand just sounds hot. Might be wrong about that because I don't know how they're constructed. Certainly warm weather in TH. Good luck!
Will Prouse even charges his Tesla from a Solar and Battery setup, so, it is absolutely "doable" just have to have more solar (and maybe a small wind turbine, to help charge too) more electrons than you need to use, plus the extra that goes to waste heat and you got it. Maybe go for a system that is about double total calculated need.
Of course solar would work. You just need to size the system correctly. Clouds aren't a problem. A good panel still makes about 80% of the power when it's cloudy as opposed to sunny. Figure out how much power the AC will use, and build a battery system that will easily power it. Add enough panels to charge. Maybe add a cheap Honda inverter generator to help if the weather is really bad. I'd worry more about the rats and snakes in those things. Especially the snakes. :shivers:.
:) WOW! Great share and Video! Looks like they would be GREAT Tiny home known as an ADU here, Additional Dwelling Unit for back yards in US :) ALL the BEST and Cheers :)
perfect idea...rent a piece of land for 30 years and put one knock down house... I would like do that in Chumphon. Keep us updated.... im interested to know how you could solve the electric problem for the aircon during night with solar.
It depends on how much you want to spend but for the price of the house you can have an amazing solar setup You can have a seller center for about three grand US that would completely power that little place and run the AC Yes look up signature solar in the US I believe they have dealers in Thailand for similar products do you want EG4 You get two EG4 batteries and couple thousand watts of solar on the roof and you'll be using just solar during the day the batteries will be charged fully and easily make it through probably 2 days with no sun sometimes you do have to adjust but solar in Thailand is a no-brainer
We are curious. Do they have plans for buying multiple and connecting them with a doorway or short hall? Of course, by the end of the episode, Maura asked, "What about the kitchen?" 🤣
Get yourself a cheap electric car like an MG4 that has V2L you could plug that into your house in seconds and easily power that house for a week or more including aircon between charges.
i wouldnt be so scepical on solar , solar in the usa or uk then yes id agree but thailand has 12 hours of sun a day hook it up to a suitable battery bank along with maybe a wind generator and i reckon you would be good to go , you should need to run aircon all night i never did while i was there
Now I need to try Barracuda Fish n Chips !!! Those portable houses are a fantastic option. I guess ut would depend on the location would they truck the whole ready-made house to the countryside OR build it from scratch there? I mean if there are just trails but No roads,??
A very interesting concept not only for there but on worldwide homelessness solutions. Top marks for this one Lucas. Love your comparison price tk a new bike ..555. Bushyboy Oz.
The restaurant is pronounced Oak-a-jew. They have a couple places in Chiang mai. One has a big organic farm right behind the restaurant the other is in town. Pork chops and ribs there are great, as is everything else on the menu.
I imagine your pumpkin bread would be similar to the pumpkin scones one gets down under here in Aus. Not that they taste of pumpkin at all, just very moist and good tucker. We've had solar here now for 8 years, no problems. However it is a grid connect system, not what you refer to as a fully independent system. Under the latter, you would be looking at batteries with sufficient capacity to drive your a/c for a few times more than the days without sunlight. Anything that draws yonks of power such as a/c, electric ovens and cooktops and instantaneous hot water systems should be avoided like the plague. Battery systems can be very expensive and I would not go that way. You could be looking at 20 to 30,000 bucks just for batteries. Then you need the solar array sized to charge that bank of reserve power, possibly 6 to 8kw or more. They certainly would not fit on the roof of that one man dwelling you show. Look for a power line somewhere, anywhere......... or relocate if a/c is an important factor. Taking a good look around those small relocatables, I think I would tend to go for conventional build on our land. They seem cheap and nasty to some degree (the roof material looks like sheet fibro). Plus one never knows what is behind those walls all sealed up.
There's a more prominent Knockdown house company in Thailand with more quality buildings and a bit more expensive plz check 1.Area perfect house 2.The wild house 3.Modi house These will blow your mind
You just said you just bought a piece of land in Korat, big enough to put a house on, im guessing thats In your ladies village. As you can't own land in Thailand,, I wonder whose name the land is in ?
You are CRAZY about not wanting to run solar. They make Solar A/C packages that are super easy to install. Solar still works even on cloudy days. As far as battery #1 You need a super Energy efficient A/C unit as well as a SUPER Efficient Refrigerator. Then figure out large of a battery bank you would need to run both appliance for 10 -12 hours. Order them from wherever and have them shipped direct to your nearest port. Sounds like a little bit of work but well worth it. Just think NO MORE BROWN OUTS. You could even purchase a Star Link and you would be set. LED Lights burn very little energy.
Well solar power is hooked up to batteries that charge when it's dark you run your house of the batteries and would be free power if you have enoupgh solar panels a d batteries for charging
Wife and I built 8 room motel in Philippine town, we went with full solar with batteries and that has proved very reliable and super cheap. We ordered entire solar kit from China and it went up easy.. AC, fans keeps it all very cool for about 7 to 10 dollars a day and we loan electricity to the city offices a couple blocks away. Vila Vita Grata - Thanks for your show, I have learned about the good attitude it requires to live in some of these countries.
Pay 10$ everyday in electricity is very expensive thats 300$ month
I’ve been off grid for 3 years in the USA. It’s in the 90’s now and I’m doing fine. I bought dual axis solar trackers off eBay, cheaper than Amazon. The first summer I used a propane generator to run my ac and I spent 150.00/ month max. I’ve spent a little time in Mexico and it looks a lot cheaper there!! Most things cost more in Mexico than the USA so I’m looking around.
I am so grateful that you are taking the time to do this because I'm interested in one of these houses too for different reasons and they are not the easiest thing to shop for online because most builders are strictly communicating in Thai ...Thanks Lou!
👍👍👍
I have one these knockdown houses up in Yasothon. I would recommend getting a bigger one where you could fit a real bed. I have a sofabed and its not comfortable spending more then a few days. Also a tip is to insulate the gaps in the door and windows to keep the bugs out, thanks for yet another great video!
Nice, Thanks
Loucous, your better half sure is having an influence on your options !! Never thought you would rough it this much !! Luck to you both for sure if you do this !! It would be interesting for future video's for sure and a new chapter !!
We all will be looking at this type of housing. Country living selling eggs and garden items. Low taxes, maintenance cost low, get back to nature and travel more ! We don't need big and higher maintenance cost. This was a great video. Thank you!
👍👍👍
I think it would be awesome to have one like this out in the country for weekends!
solar+ gas generator.
All you have to do is make sure you have enough battery for a day or two, split unit acs are pretty efficient.
A generator can charge your batteries in 2 hours, one gallon could last you a few days.
Thanks for the video. I appreciate the prices. Awesome idea! Cool houses!
We just had evaluated the solar part too. 5 KW panels (9x450 W) Solar charger/inverter in one box and a 48 V 280 Ah LiFePO4 battery. That will be enough. YOu have to run the AC during the day to cool down, so that during the night, it will have only little work to do. You will have to go for the modern Inverter ACs which consume less energy, so the BTU is not the absolute number but the kW it will use during night. Don't set the temperature below 24°C, helps to save energy too.
I'm not happy with their insulation material. There are two classes of polystyrene foam, the cheap burnable one and the more expensive fire-retardant (SE class) one. There was no label printed on them - irritates me as the fire-retardant ones have it printed on them. Check that they use the fire-retardant one, otherwise go for glass fiber or rock wool.
Thanks for the info
9x450 is 4,050 watts not 5k watts so you are basically getting a 4kw system. I would also make sure the panels are facing south to get maximum exposure to the sun. Also realize the NOTC rating for the panels is a much more realistic rating for power production in the rainy and cool season than the STC.
@@oldthaiexpat Thank you for correcting my mistake. Yes, the panels deliver 4 KW, the electronic system is able to deliver 5 KW output when a battery is connected. All the panels I did see have the STC rating on them but it is hard to get the NOTC rating. The shops all import the panels directly from China and know only the specs on their label (STC). The costs of the systems we looked at were between 140k and 170 kBhat incl. all materials and installation. You have to provide a sufficient roof surface for it or concrete poles to build it on which can serve as your car port. Basically you have on sunny days good output between 9 am and 4 pm. If you want to prolong/improve it 1 axis tracker system is needed, can be manual - morning, midday and afternoon position. I see this on our well pumps which are directly solar powered. Still full voltage, but instead of 9 A, only 1 A in the late afternoon if the panels are fixed.
I had a boat with about 2kw of solar on it. I could run a marine electric AC unit all night long, plus my induction cooktop, starlink internet, watermaker, lights, and 3 refrigerators off of a 25kw/h battery bank. Your A/C system will be a LOT more effecient than mine was, and there's no insulation on a boat. :)
Definitely suggest making sure you have enough room in one of those sheds for a REAL bed. Sofabdeds suck and tend to kill your back after a while.
Thanks, yeah real bed all the way.
I like those houses. And I also like the idea of having a brand new house with everything I need. The price is something any foreigner could afford to purchase.
Love these!
Without doing any calculations, I'd estimate that you'd need/want more solar panels than can fit on the roof, but you could setup a small solar farm on the ground. LiFePo4 batteries can be very reasonably priced, especially if you can build the battery system yourself. Having said that, you'd at least double the cost of the building doing this, but you'd be properly off-grid without compromise and that's awesome!
You need about 24 sqm to hold 10 to 12 @550W panels. A solar power system will cost as much or more than the house you are considering.
That is what I suspected 😂👍
@@MrEye4get agreed. I was assuming panels only on one side of the roof, so not enough area. I think it's still a good value proposition.
It’s all very interesting. Looks like a good project plan 🙏🙏
Here in Aus we call them portable Granny Flats!
If it was me I would go for the larger one (7.45mins in) though a few bucks more, at least you would have the extra storage, more room to move & most of all a lesser chance of cabin fever & saying, we should have chosen the bigger one in the first place!!! 🤔
I love the Auzie names for stuff 🤣👍
Your "standard" size battery would run an air conditioner for an hour. You can of course upscale your storage but it will be expensive. If you had a 12kW panel system you could run the AC and probably everything else for free during daylight hours.
Love that restaurant. Been there twice now. Their organic menu is amazing. Best ribs too
These houses are the future. This could seriously solve the housing crisis around the world.
That's incredibly depressing
@subotaiKhan but very true. Try opening your eyes 👀
They don't want to solve the crisis. Open your eyes.... Way too much money involved... love the enthusiasm though
The energy solution has to be a system. Not just solar, you need enough storage batteries to keep the house going for several days of cloudiness. There are easy ways to calculate your battery needs. Storage Batteries can be the least expensive chemistry which are Iron phosphate. There are also solar panels that can still charge on cloudy days using different UV light waves from the sun.
nice 👍
The solar and battery system alone would cost more than the house. Add a backup generator, fuel, and maintenance - gets expensive very fast... I assume one would want AC in the house which is the huge driver on the cost of solar and a generator.
Better to rent - especially given foreigners can't own land - unless of course you're going on the super cheap and getting this for a Thai family member that has land to pop it on.
Another issue with these - almost zero insulation! It would be like an oven on the inside without AC or persistent shade under a tree.
Awe, what about a shower, kitchen, water, etc.
Guess as the saying goes - you get what you pay for in most cases..
I like the unit you picked. I would have them make you a Flat Roof. This way you could take all that metal from your gable roof and Beef up the roof for a walking Deck. You could then build a little Para pit wall around the sides on top of your roof and put some side steps and you would gain double of your living space. Actually a nice View. You could then build a nice deck that wraps around your house with a big Palapa on the roof just like they do in Mexico.
New subscriber: I enjoy following your travels and most of all your narration! Calm, informative and easy going.
Thanks and welcome 🙏
Pumpkin bread with mixed seeds. Yummy, I would like to try that.
Thai tiny houses.. awesome. Pair wind and solar.. hydro would be best if you have water on the property (moving).
I would totally go with solar just add a second battery to a standard package and good to go, use the newer inverter air con units that draw way less energy for a bigger unit. an extra suggestion would be to buy or build a very small external shed to store your batteries and electrics in.. if your only going to be there once every other weekend better having those away from the house where there is less chance of fire especially when you consider the batteries could be holding 2 to 3 weeks of charge
Thanks
Good luck with your new house of what you choose. Also, you can get a shed for your bike and whatever you want to store in it. Good luck to you and Lon
Yes, a big outdoor area with a cover, kind of wrapping around the house is what I'm thinking
A hybrid electrical system with solar panels, storage batteries, and gas/diesel generator should be enough. You can switch between them as needed.
So, how much do you think your recommended system will cost?
Would be interested to know how much such a system would cost in Thailand.
@@BazzaOTW I'd take a fairly educated guess at around $60,000 to $70,000 plus installation.(electrical contractor) depending on size but roughly from a good guess at the size the loads already submitted.
Put a small back up generator incase your battery don't charge up ...but big enough battery you will be fine
Unless you plan to live in the house full-time, investing in an expensive solar power system doesn't make sense.
Great video
These houses badly needed in Dublin Ireland now ! Though the weather might not suit 😅
Re: Solar power. I think you really need to have a backup in case the sun doesn't shine and/or the batteries run out. Not sure how this translates to Thailand cost-wise but in Australia a lot of places have solar (sized for the house), and a battery as well if they can afford it. They are also connected to the grid as a backup. In the case of being 'off the grid' as in the case with some farms due the exorbitant cost of getting power lines run to them, having a generator (typically diesel) in place of a grid connection is the way to go. One guy I know with a farm has never used his generator in anger, but you should fire it up periodically just so you know it will be there if you need it :)
I'm with you man....yeah, sure, you could build something bigger and better for less.....BUT....only if you have the right contacts and knowledge........going this route you know what you are getting and is still not so bad on the pocket :)
Great video
IF I only had Solar in a rural area so are electric does go off sometime. And YES I have a generator big enough to run most of the house.. They do sell A/C units that are made for solar. Soft start and low usages.
Thanks 👍
Nice little house have a great day Lucas
Thanks Robert
really cool little units! When you first showed them, my thought was, "oh, you could totally do solar!"
I don't have personal experience with it. I have watched a LOT of RUclips channels/videos about stuff like van life and solar power. Different animal, but the concept is the same. With enough of a battery bank, I think you could do the AC overnight.
A lot of the RV and Skoolie folks that are in the same boat often use a small portable generator as an emergency/back up.
Can't wait to see what you end up doing!
Yeah, I think a generator would give me more piece of mind
Are they quiet enough? Don't know.
Termite food
Watch J,C, in Thailand ,he has one that is hooked up to solar.
What's not been mentioned is solar heating, wind turbines and propane gas. Metal tanks filled with water, baking in the sun and heat. Wind for pumps and a large propane tank for the fridge and aircon.
Nice idea for visitors coming to see you and have their own privacy.
One thing to consider with these units
Solar gain as they are steel framed
Result is very hot in current temperatures
Use & cost is then high
About 60m2 with an external patio & kitchen
Note
There are some eco villages in the North
Try one for a weekend or a week or two
F yo really want to proceed consider whole cost estimate with simple furniture
If your only a visitor
Choice of furniture is important as bugs take over
My guess is 15k is a reasonable budget
& upgrade the insulation to 150 mm on the external walls as it helps the internal temperature
Get insulated water storage
We had a well installed 60k baht all up with filtered water 🙏👀
Good luck
Enjoy
Looks awesome bud! 😊
I have a big lot in Nevada. Room enough for 2 of them. Maybe. Thanks for your great vlogs.
Solar can power a whole country. If it's spec"d right I'm sure you'll be right.
Go for salt ion batteries, newer, cheaper, can handle faster charging and discharging, far more safe than li-ion. Lead acid and AGM are very dated now
These are nice for a get away cottage type place I like them
👍👍👍
Lucas, great idea ;o) Solar is very good, a Tesla Power Wall set-up would work fine for aircon, you just calculate the power you need and buy the number of Power Walls necessary. Of course the problem is theft. If you invest so much money it would be a bummer to come home to... nothing.
You could also have one put in for a maid house or guest room if you bought a house with property corpo style.
Always very interesting! 😊
if you use solar off grid make sure you have a genarator backup for the rainy season. you need to make sure you get soft-start for your a/c so it does not strain your inverter.
That's what I'm thinking 👍
@@Rides4Kickz I had another thought about the houses. You could get one to use as a living room kitchen and get a smaller one use to be a bedroom. I guess you could get them made the way you want so you could get the one for living in with just a 1/2 bath and the bedroom with a full bath. Just a thought.
Very nice Lucas. I do have a traditional tear down but prefer having one like you showed having updated construction techniques. Would definitely be cool to buy additional buildings if you needed to in the future. Best wishes. 😀
Nice 👍🙏
Great channel glad to find you
Yes, Nice setup to customize a Home , off the Grid ect. Curious if you would need an Earth Ground connected to metal structure, encase of Lightning Strikes ?
Loucous put a cuboard in there and your things you will fined there is no room.
All steal framing will conduct heat through to the inside and the only way to stop that was to put a wood batton on top of the steel to stop the heat travling to the inside like a radiator .😊😊
That looks very cool good luck getting it all together. Building new homes has some hurdles I'm sure you will overcome. 👍😊
Thanks 👍
With the correct size system electricity is not an issue. Even with clouds . To do it right, so you never have to think about can get pricey. You have no electric bill of course.
Enjoyed the vid. I have a small off-grid place and had a Tesla powerwall installed. Not sure if that is available in Thailand.
it is a good time to buy if you are using dollars. 37 to 1. I just bought a condo in bkk. Power capacity should give a general idea for how long you can go without charging, but solar is probably not the best idea unless you are doing it for fun. You know the options already. I am sure that you know about empty or vacant houses in the countryside. Enjoy.
Yes, good rates right now.
If you want to explore solar power and battery solution for off-grid, you should explore DC power air-conditioning rather than the usual AC home type. DC air-conditionings are mire power efficient and very popular with mobile homes and camper vans.
Thanks
You need to consider humidity and mildew if you're going to leave it vacant for periods of time.
Yes, very true.
That would be fun having a get away place in the country. If ya put solar panels on a carport/covered patio facing south id think you'd get plenty of power from a solar system with about 8 Solar Lithium cells, i read in Thailand a 15degree angle is optimal for panels being so close to the equator. Others mentioned a small storage shed for the battery rack to keep it away from the house, that would be a smart idea just as a preventative measure, than a propane or diesel generator as a backup. Looking forward to the videos about the build, you should get a guard dog 🐕
Nice, Thanks
Hey Lucas Lan, happy house hunting , too small for me $5000 $ 6500 look fine though hope it works out for you guys up Country with these houses ! Nice info yet again Lucas thank you Chris
Thanks Chris
Nice... I wish they had more info available. I found a facebook page but nothing in English.
we have those homes in the states we just call them tiny homes some are even made with shipping containers
Metal and steel in Thailand just sounds hot. Might be wrong about that because I don't know how they're constructed. Certainly warm weather in TH. Good luck!
Will Prouse even charges his Tesla from a Solar and Battery setup, so, it is absolutely "doable" just have to have more solar (and maybe a small wind turbine, to help charge too) more electrons than you need to use, plus the extra that goes to waste heat and you got it. Maybe go for a system that is about double total calculated need.
Hi very nice video, thanks you for little house 👌👍🏡
I'm just wondering, with the heat and metal studs once you get it cool down with aircon if it would make condensation between the walls .
Of course solar would work. You just need to size the system correctly. Clouds aren't a problem. A good panel still makes about 80% of the power when it's cloudy as opposed to sunny.
Figure out how much power the AC will use, and build a battery system that will easily power it. Add enough panels to charge. Maybe add a cheap Honda inverter generator to help if the weather is really bad.
I'd worry more about the rats and snakes in those things. Especially the snakes. :shivers:.
Get solar and have a generator as a backup to charge batteries and run AC if needed
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:) WOW! Great share and Video! Looks like they would be GREAT Tiny home known as an ADU here, Additional Dwelling Unit for back yards in US :) ALL the BEST and Cheers :)
Thanks Marty
good luck in finding a house you like and love ! :) But that is small !!!!
perfect idea...rent a piece of land for 30 years and put one knock down house... I would like do that in Chumphon. Keep us updated.... im interested to know how you could solve the electric problem for the aircon during night with solar.
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Very interesting, Thanks for that
Glad you enjoyed it
It depends on how much you want to spend but for the price of the house you can have an amazing solar setup You can have a seller center for about three grand US that would completely power that little place and run the AC Yes look up signature solar in the US I believe they have dealers in Thailand for similar products do you want EG4 You get two EG4 batteries and couple thousand watts of solar on the roof and you'll be using just solar during the day the batteries will be charged fully and easily make it through probably 2 days with no sun sometimes you do have to adjust but solar in Thailand is a no-brainer
Thanks, will do.
Homestays I believe I rented one of these in some random place. People must use them for Homestays
It’s looks like a great house to be I can c that catching on if u buy one it’s hard to find a home form home 😊😊
We are curious. Do they have plans for buying multiple and connecting them with a doorway or short hall? Of course, by the end of the episode, Maura asked, "What about the kitchen?" 🤣
I'm a big fan of small houses.
Fortunately for u, solar power can EASILY POWER your electricity needs for a tiny home even for the AC.
Get yourself a cheap electric car like an MG4 that has V2L you could plug that into your house in seconds and easily power that house for a week or more including aircon between charges.
Not a bad idea if land is cheap in northern Thailand in the mountains where it is cooler. A little cottage retreat on some river or lake .
i wouldnt be so scepical on solar , solar in the usa or uk then yes id agree but thailand has 12 hours of sun a day hook it up to a suitable battery bank along with maybe a wind generator and i reckon you would be good to go , you should need to run aircon all night i never did while i was there
That's true, if you are going to use solar, this would be the place 🤣👍
Really cool video Thanks
If you are concerned about batteries going flat , get a small generator. Solar and batteries with 3 days power storage works for me never generator
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I ate in there with my son, great food!
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Now I need to try Barracuda Fish n Chips !!!
Those portable houses are a fantastic option. I guess ut would depend on the location would they truck the whole ready-made house to the countryside OR build it from scratch there? I mean if there are just trails but No roads,??
Interesting great video 🙏
Great video 👍
A very interesting concept not only for there but on worldwide homelessness solutions. Top marks for this one Lucas. Love your comparison price tk a new bike ..555. Bushyboy Oz.
4 x 40 foot Sea Containers about 12.2 mtr x 2.59 mtr ( 8 foot )= 126 sq mtr all joined side by side
The restaurant is pronounced Oak-a-jew. They have a couple places in Chiang mai. One has a big organic farm right behind the restaurant the other is in town. Pork chops and ribs there are great, as is everything else on the menu.
I saw the ribs, they were very tempting.
Cheers mate,
🙂
Wow what a great price. That would be 30,000 in the States.
that air con will convert to 12 Volt instead of 120v....battery storage is what you want
I imagine your pumpkin bread would be similar to the pumpkin scones one gets down under here in Aus.
Not that they taste of pumpkin at all, just very moist and good tucker.
We've had solar here now for 8 years, no problems. However it is a grid connect system, not what you refer to as a fully independent system.
Under the latter, you would be looking at batteries with sufficient capacity to drive your a/c for a few times more than the days without sunlight.
Anything that draws yonks of power such as a/c, electric ovens and cooktops and instantaneous hot water systems should be avoided like the plague.
Battery systems can be very expensive and I would not go that way. You could be looking at 20 to 30,000 bucks just for batteries.
Then you need the solar array sized to charge that bank of reserve power, possibly 6 to 8kw or more.
They certainly would not fit on the roof of that one man dwelling you show.
Look for a power line somewhere, anywhere......... or relocate if a/c is an important factor.
Taking a good look around those small relocatables, I think I would tend to go for conventional build on our land. They seem cheap and nasty to some degree (the roof material looks like sheet fibro). Plus one never knows what is behind those walls all sealed up.
There's a more prominent Knockdown house company in Thailand with more quality buildings and a bit more expensive plz check
1.Area perfect house
2.The wild house
3.Modi house
These will blow your mind
Have you thought about buying/using one or more shipping containers?
Not really, maybe will explore that option soon
You just said you just bought a piece of land in Korat, big enough to put a house on, im guessing thats In your ladies village. As you can't own land in Thailand,, I wonder whose name the land is in ?
The 5000 baht tiny house would be perfect for the time you will be spending in the out country. Looks great.
Not 5,000 baht? $5,000 US dollars.
You are CRAZY about not wanting to run solar. They make Solar A/C packages that are super easy to install. Solar still works even on cloudy days. As far as battery #1 You need a super Energy efficient A/C unit as well as a SUPER Efficient Refrigerator. Then figure out large of a battery bank you would need to run both appliance for 10 -12 hours. Order them from wherever and have them shipped direct to your nearest port. Sounds like a little bit of work but well worth it. Just think NO MORE BROWN OUTS. You could even purchase a Star Link and you would be set. LED Lights burn very little energy.
Thanks 👍
Well solar power is hooked up to batteries that charge when it's dark you run your house of the batteries and would be free power if you have enoupgh solar panels a d batteries for charging
Reminds me of the dog house on Tom and Jerry,Spikes house
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I like to know what tshirt sizes are for you both thankyou.
XL and M 👍