Off-Grid Home Ecocapsule To Hit the Market This Year

Kristine Lofgren writes: If you dream of living totally off-the-grid anywhere in the world, you need to get your hands on this home. Nice Architects just unveiled their incredible egg-shaped Ecocapsule, and announced that the tiny solar and wind-powered dwelling will be available for sale later this year, with units shipping in spring 2016. From the website: "Despite its small form each Ecocapsule is fitted with all essentials necessary for a comfortable prolonged stay without a need to recharge or re-supply. Ecocapsule is powered by a built-in wind turbine complemented with an array of solar cells. Dual power system and a high-capacity battery ensures that you will have enough power during periods of reduced solar or wind activity. Spherical shape is optimized for the collection of rainwater and dew and the built-in water filters allow you to utilize any water source.

Comments

Small wind does not work!

[SuricouRaven]

The energy output of a wind turbine is proportional to the cross-sectional area, and to the cube of the wind speed*. This means that to provide a useful amount of energy they need to be big, and they need a lot of wind - that means a high mounting point. These little pinwheels on short poles are just a gimmick - you'd be lucky to get 20W from them on a very good windy day.

*Think about it. (m*v^2)/2 will get you half-way there.

Re:Small wind does not work!

[Shoten]

Lots of boats like yachts and cruisers have wind turbines and even small ones can get 25W and peak to 60W. Combine with solar and it's probably sufficient to run a small fridge continuously and lights and small power draw devices at night.

Those yachts and cruisers get most of their power from their engine, and many also have an onboard generator. The wind turbines are a way to get an extra boost while having a fallback solution (ALWAYS crucial for long-distance sailing) in the event that another system fails. The turbines in no way provide enough power to sustain normal life on a prolonged basis in the absence of any other power source. And this is in a living space without things that pull a lot of power like microwave ovens, large refrigerators, washing machines/dryers, desktop computers, etc. A home needs WAY more power than any yacht I've ever been on...which is why at docks you'll see people hooking up to 30W power feeds and being all set. According to current NFPW code, that entire dockside feed would be the equivalent of what you would require for a single large household appliance.

Oh, and I'm not sure where you're seeing wind turbines on yachts that can put out 60W; yachts that I've seen that were big enough to have electrical systems that could even handle that wattage didn't have turbines at all...they were all huge power cruisers for whom engine fuel consumption was so obscene that running a generator sufficient to power the whole yacht was an inconsequential expense in comparison to simply cruising for an hour at 5 knots. If it exists, I've never seen one on a boat.

I've lived on a yacht for a prolonged period of time...and while I loved it, I wouldn't even give a moment's consideration to a house where I had to live like that. The "small fridge" and "small power draw devices at night" combination isn't a realistic way to live one's life on land.

And I know what you may be thinking..."but a lot of yachts have solar panels too!" Yes, they do...but even the wind/solar combination, together, only helps. It's not enough on its own.

Stupid shape is stupid

[DrXym]

The oval shape of this thing wastes so much volume that could have been used for storage, shelves, cupboards etc. And the gull wing door is just begging to be ripped off its hinges or even risk tipping the house over in strong wind.

I'm sure it wouldn't look so showy if the "world's first ecocapsule" (which is totally not a caravan without wheels) had a more conventional shape but it would have been a lot more practical, and doubtless cheaper to build too.

Just convert a shipping container

[sjbe]

The picture on the website shows it can be put on a transport platform and drawn around by a car.

Or I could just buy a camper that is already "on a transport platform" and get a more practical design while I'm at it. Seriously, this is the sort of stupid concept "designers" are getting WAY too much money to come up with. The clearly started with the external appearance and a checklist of features and worked from there rather than actually spending time considering any functional considerations.

How do you propose to get this thing "on a transport platform"? It's clearly not meant to be dragged. There is no obvious hookup for a hoist. It apparently fits in a shipping container but that raises the question of why not just convert the shipping container to living space? It's more practical, modular, goes right on a truck and almost certainly is cheaper to make and convert. Plus probably more durable and recyclable. The transportation infrastructure is already available and it's not exactly a challenge to put solar cells and a wind turbine on the roof.

Re:Just convert a shipping container

[Penguinisto]

Agreed.

I had done something similar with a 30' camping trailer years ago. It began as a rescue project - I paid $1 (literally) for the thing and dragged it home. After stripping it to the shell, I rebuilt it from the inside out - extra-thick insulation, salvaged RV appliances and cabinets, solar panels on the roof, a pair of Group 4D 12v batteries (the size used on fire trucks), a 150 gallon water tank (to replace the puny 25-gallon one), two massive (80#) propane tanks up front, a *real* queen-sized bed, extra weatherproofing and a new coat of paint, etc. Even kept a computer + LCD monitor in it, which consumed less power than a tube TV.

By the time I was done, that $1 investment cost me an additional $3.5k or so, but it was already road-worthy, and it allowed me to spend a literal month in it to bracket two hunting seasons (in Utah - first Elk, then Mule Deer) without having to replenish supplies from in-town. The windmill would have been nice, but I already had the panels, a generator and plenty of gasoline stored in the truck bed...

I barely used the generator or the propane until it began snowing, though... Speaking of which, I wonder how this little egg thingy would do at 10k' ASL in a snowstorm, with the temperatures well below freezing... seems like it would be pretty cramped and cold considering no visible heating source.

To your point, though: when I was ready to go home, I just stowed the stabilizing jacks, hooked it up to the truck, and drove off. No muss, no fuss.

Everything about it is wrong

[drinkypoo]

The amazing micro-dwelling is perfect for nature lovers, scientists, photographers, rangers and anyone who

...loves to waste space on shapes which are good for eggs but stupid for houses, and who wants to be kept up all night by their wind turbine.

If it's supposed to be eco-friendly, shouldn't it be made out of recycled materials? And there's absolutely nothing about the shape which makes it easy to collect water. In fact, it's much harder to deal with on a shape like that.

Here's how you get eco-friendly: You get a used shipping container for two grand, the energy cost of its production is already sunk. You get it delivered to your lot for 1-2 grand more, most likely. Then you start haunting demolitions and recycled construction material sales for materials. That's eco-friendly. You can't just go buy eco-friendly at a store with a big price tag on it. That stuff is never eco-friendly.

Re:Why no wheels?

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

I don't know, but given its shape I'm assuming it will come in a carton of 12.

Eco-friendly and economical shipping containers

[sjbe]

Not so much, once you cut holes in a shipping container it's very hard to move it.

Not unless those holes are so large they affect structural integrity. It is almost trivial to put some windows or extra doors into a shipping container without affecting structural integrity. The entire thing is made of steel so you can weld whatever reinforcements you need permanently or temporarily and steel is pretty much 100% recyclable.

If you plan to move your shipping container home, you'll also need to budget for a trailer to move it on.

This pretty much falls into the "duh" category. You don't have to own said trailer however.

About the cheapest I've seen a container trailer is five grand, and I didn't go look at it so I don't know what kind of condition it was in.

Or you can just hire one for a relatively modest fee unless you plan to move it around constantly. One of the beautiful things about using standardized containers is that there is enormous existing infrastructure for hire to move them about. You can put them on a truck, a train, or a boat easily and economically take them almost anywhere you want. You can even have them lifted by helicopter or crane with no modifications or special equipment.

If you're going to have a home built into it, you're talking about some real weight there.

Real things have real weight. Unlike this stupid pod however it would actually be functional for something more than glamping.

All this wandering isn't all that eco, it takes energy to drag a house around.

Sure it does but if you are wandering there presumably is a reason you are doing it. A standardized container is FAR more economical and eco-friendly than this stupid egg pod thing.