Going Green - The Tiny House Project - Trailer Design CRITICAL IMPORTANCE (Part One)

My current job, it is not mentally demanding and it allows me time to think through problems and find different solutions.  This often means that a design I figured out the day before goes in the filing cabinet and a new modified design or a entire new design is born to solve the same problem.

SEGWAY, case in point, just got off my shift, but during my shift I mentally calculated my Minimum Critical Build Height requirement.  This excludes trailer bed height, and thickness of the floors and ceiling.  My critical required minimum build height is 10' 5", and can squeeze to 10' 2.5" but I will be making energy efficiency trade offs that I would prefer to avoid

The Problem - A Tiny Home on wheels requires a trailer, the size, dimensions and load characteristics of the trailer greatly effect the end design of the Tiny Home.  The end result is the Tiny Home is often designed to fit the trailer and not the trailer designed to fit the Tiny Home.  To get the MAXIMUM design space we need to design the trailer to FIT OUR NEEDS and not fitting our Tiny Home design to the trailer specification.

PROs - It maybe cheaper to construct the trailer than to buy a custom trailer or even a stock trailer.  The trailer construction will be designed to fit the needs of Tiny House Design.  The trailer will be design so it can be reusable.  By reusable, I mean it will be a simple process to jack the Tiny Home up and drop the trailer and then the Tiny Home could be lowered and leveled on to blocks.  So in theory you could design a Tiny Shed and attach to the trailer and move it, then attach a Tiny Green House and move it and the then attach your Tiny Home and move it.  One Trailer serving all you Tiny Homestead moving needs.

Since I actually plan on doing a storage shed and Tool Shop/Work Shop shed and I also want to do a Tiny Greenhouse and external vegetable garden boxes it makes sense to design one trailer to move all these objects.  So if I move from one plot of land to another I will only need one trail.  Moving day will require multiple trailer trips, but then again, most moving days do anyways.

It may also prove to be a major cost savings if we do this our selves.

CONs - We will have to go through the hassle of registering the trailer with the MTO and make sure it complies with ALL HTA codes.  We will also need to source and purchase all the parts and we will need to design and build the frame and all the mechanics for raising and lowering the Tiny Home and designing the connection and securing points.

MAXIMUM Tiny Dimensions

Since the Tiny Home we are design is meant to moved on the road without special permits, we have to comply with the HTA,  I am designing for Ontario, but the HTA none-special load restriction are uniform with all regions in Canada, and I believe the USA as well.

Load Restriction  Ontario HTA Section 109

There are weight, length, width and height restrictions that are all addressed under the HTA, the ones that are critical us are WIDTH and HEIGHT.  Weight is also important, but as long as your Tiny Home is within the weight restrictions of the trailer frame and axle limits we are fine in that department, I seriously doubt anyone's Tiny Home will exceed 65000 Kg (a special HTA weight limit)

1. Maximum Length - 23 meters or 75.4 feet (includes towing vehicle 19 feet)
2. Maximum Width - 2.6 meters or 8.5 feet
3. Maximum Height - 4.15 meters or  13 feet 7.25 inches

The Length Limit here is the combined length of the trailer, the trailer's tail overhang load and the length of the towing vehicle and the length of the trailer tongue and the length of the towing connection points.  A Ford F-250, F-350 and F-450 all have the same vehicle length 19 feet.  So we really don't need to worry about the length limit here

The Width Limit is not something to screw around with.  The width limit includes wheel axle assemble, the load on the trailer, the trailer frame, the trailer wheel fenders.  If you exceed this 8.5 foot limit you may be in for a world of inconvenience.  Getting special permits in Ontario is easy enough, providing you don't exceed other special over size limits, but if you want to go to another Province or to the USA, you will need special permits in each State or Province.

The Height Limit is another one not to screw around with.  If you get caught with an over height load the police can remove the plates and tags of the trailer right on the spot.

For the Tiny Home Design, it is the width and height that are critical design limitations, every inch is worth its a mile and the lose of a single inch in width can make or break a kitchen design.  Trust me on that one, going from walls with 2 by 4 studs to walls with 2 by 6 studs will cost you 4 inches in internal width, that lose of four inches was enough to completely trash my initial kitchen design. The difference in R value for a my 2x4 walls design is R=23.5 the 2 by 6 wall has a R=33.5.  So there are trade offs to be consider, loose 4 inches but get a 40% improvement in wall's ability to resist heat transfer.  The recommend R-Value for Southern Ontario is 28, so it is worth considering.  While Tiny Homes are NOT subject to building codes if they are on a trailer, you still may want to consider getting as close to or exceeding the building codes them if you can.

As for Height, it is best to limit your design to 13' 6" and this from the ground to the tippy top of Tiny Home WHILE it is on the trailer.  The critical trailer design characteristic here is your trailer bed height.  The lower slung the trailer the better.  Many off the shelf trailer designs have beds that start at 20 inches and go as height 30 inches.  That is a lot of lost height and can make or break you bedroom and storage loft areas.  So anything we can do reclaim from the trailer bed height is living space we can add to our Tiny Home. 

• A trailer bed with a 30" high bed is an 18.5% lose in living space
• A trailer bed with a 20" high bed is a 12.4% lose in living
• A trailer bed with a 12" high bed is a 7.5% lose in living 

The lowest deck height I could find in a trailer were those that are used to transport cars, from my limited search the lowest was 18"  I think this will be very best we can do in the design, but further research is required, but I think with specialty design for tiny homes I can get it down to 16", that and possible cost saving, the trailer designed to fit our needs and some other added design benefits, I believe it worth while to invest further research time into this area.

On a related note, just got the final design for the Kitchen and Bathroom completed.  I don't want to boast, but it is pretty awesome and fully functional.  Counter top space galore and plenty of room to move around in,... for one person.  Only one Chef allow in my Kitchen at a time,... and it be me!!!

Related Articles

1) December 3rd, 2015 -  The Tiny Home Project
2) December 5th, 2015 - The Tiny Home Project - The General Plan
3) December 7th, 2015 - The Tiny Home Project - Minimum Requires For Going Off Grid

Going Green - The Tiny Home Project - Minimum Requires For Going Off Grid

PLANNING FOR THE PLAN

Well not without a plan and money.

Going to a Tiny Home and living off grid is a little more complex than going camping for a weekend or even camping for week.  It is basically "I'm going camping forever, but still want all the nice things we enjoy in our technological society"

So my plan is to build a initial, quick and inexpensive Tiny Home in early spring of 2016 or sooner if I can manage it.  To do this there are a several basic things I will need and I have broken them down into a four basic groups.

1. Sanitation - Pooping, Shower, Washing, Water Supply and Hot Water
2. Kitchen - Cooking and food storage
3. Power, Heating and          Lighting - I need more power Scotty!!
4. Construction - Building material and putting it all together.

UPDATE : Well I have had a little change in plans, I am just going to do the one Tiny Home.  This doesn't change the general plan here thought.  It just means the final finishing on this home will be more expensive and take longer.  It also means I will need to either make or purchase the correct custom trailer.

1) Basic Sanitation - Cause Everybody Poops

You need to take care of your basic sanitary needs, pooping, showering, washing (both dishes and yourself)  To achieve this, here is what you will need.

1. A 55 Gallon Water Barrel.  Ignore all those stupid, fancy chic looking rainwater collection ones.  Those are for people who want their gardens to look nice.  Costco has the simple blue ones for $199.99.  This will give you 200 liters of usable water.  You maybe able to shop around on Kijiji and get a used for cheap.  Segway - My final water system will have a 500 to 1000 gallon cistern that will be used as the final storage point in my water collection system.  The 55 gallon blue barrel will end up being reused in the collection and filtration process.
2. You will need an internal water pressure tank. I highly recommend getting a precharged Air Bladder Water Pressure Tank.  This type of tank delivers near constant pressure at your desired pressure requirement. Bur-Cam makes some nice ones in a variety of sizes.  I want small but still with enough capacity to run a shower. 
3. You will also need a water pump.  For items two and three I have selected a Bur-Cam tank and pump combo.  The tank is 6 gallon (20 liter) air bladder tank and the pump is 1/2 HP shallow well pump. Cost $469.00.  DO NOT CUT CORNERS HERE!! This will be installed in the kitchen area above the fridge/freezer.  It is small enough to to fit into a 2' by 2' by 2'2" box with room to spare, this is basically the depth of a kitchen counter and the witch my fridge/freeze.
4. A low-floe shower head, many option here and you can spend anywhere form $25.00 to several hundred.  I will budget $65.00
5. You will also need a shower enclosure.  These can run you from couple of hundred dollars to over a thousand. If you go cheap you also need to do tile work and since this is a movable home, you really want to avoid things like tile work if you can.  Ok, I love my showers, and this is one place where I am willing to spend some cash. Aston does a very nice, fully enclosed shower enclosure that fits into a 36" by 36" space.  I have selected the rounded sliding door unit, at a cost of  $679.00 and we need to add a base to that at a cost of $219.00.  You can cut costs here by about $600.00 if you shop around and don't mind doing some extra construction work. So either more labor and less cost or more cost and less labor.
6. DO NOT BUY A BATHROOM SINK!!!  For hand washing the kitchen area sink will do just fine.
7. THE POOPER cause everybody poops.  There are two options here, a bio toilet or a low flow toilet.  If you go with low flow, you will need a holding tank and septic system and all the required connecting material, this is ultimately the best way to go, but we need to poop with as little fuss and cost as possible, so a dry/venting bio-toilet is the quickest easiest option to install, but they are pricey, about a $1000.00.  So I am going to cheap and smelly and I will initially buy a camping toilet.  With a Camping toilet you will need to get one that seals or one that you change the bag after every use.  This is not my ideal solution, but for the short term it will work. I will be going with something like a Dock Edge Visa F268101 Portable 24-Litre Toilet, cost about $150.00.  Clear off-grid pooping requires a lot more research.  Who knew pooping was so complex? This will be a temporary, I think the bio composting toilet will be the very best solution in the end since it requires no septic system.
8. On Demand Hot Water Supply - These things are great, no space wasted on a hot water heater and they are extremely energy efficient.  You want to get one that can service a shower, this will also service the kitchen as well.  The smallest one that will meet our needs is the Stiebel Eltron DHC-E 8/10 9.6 KW Point of Use Tankless Electric Water Heater, and runs for around $347.00.  You only expend electricity when you use/need hot water, they are incredible small (5x8x15 inches).  This will be our single most energy intense use object when it is in use, but it will provide enough hot water for a shower and easily keep up with any kitchen use.  They are incredibly simple to install and you can preset the water temperature to meet your exact shower tastes.  If you don't mind cold showers, you can save money here, but screw that, I want hot showers, thank you very much!
9. Everything, including the kitchen sink.  You need a place to wash up dishes and you hands and shave.  You will want a small single or small double sink with faucet, the basin will cost you anywhere from $185.00 and up.  Since I love to cook, I am going with an Ikea BOHOLMEN Double-bowl inset sink, stainless steel for about $199.00. For the faucet and Ikea - ELVERDAM - Single lever kitchen faucet, pull-out, stainless steel color for $199.00.  Again, you can cut costs here and go cheap and still have all the require functionality, maybe save about $150.00

Clearly the sanitation requires are the single most costly area in the build, you can cut corners and costs, but you may regret it in the future.  I think it is better to spend the little bit extra and have properly function bathroom with pressurized water system and hot water,  You should also set aside about an extra $200.00 to $300. bucks to cover piping, wiring and other little things like wall hooks, toilet paper roll holder and other miscellaneous expenses that will be encountered.

WORTH NOTING : With this setup, if you use the bio composting toilet, all the waste water from your Tiny Home is GRAY WATER.  This mean you can filter it and clean it somewhat and then store it.  You could even make it potable again, but that would require some chemical treatment.  At the very least you can use this gray clean for watering plants in your garden, washing the car and watering your lawn. If you go with a tradition toilet, you can have separate run offs, one for the toilet to the septic system and one from the sink(s) and shower.  This will help you conserve your rain water or pumped in water costs.

2) Kitchen - Cooking and food storage

We already have water supply and hot water covered.  We just need some basics

1. Refrigeration - We want a small, but not too small refrigerator that is good on power.  Personally I like the Danby DAR440 a large mini fridge that can fit easily under the kitchen counter space.  It is all refrigerator, though you can get other Danby's in the same size that do have a small freezer section, I might switch it up.  The Danby Fridge/Freeze is the more costly of the two at $260.00, so we will budget for that.  You might be able to kind a cheap one on Kijiji. SEGWAY - This is not the final fridge for my build, it is temp for the short term.  This will get reused in tool shed and work shop, nothing is wasted.
2. Cooking, the smallest possible microwave, this will serve as quick way to heat food. Cost, if you shop around you can get them for $100.00 to $200.00.  Go with the smallest foot print you can find. Kijiji is a good place to save some bucks here.
3. Single Burner Camp Stove - $50.00 to $200.00 depending on where you shop, Kijiji is a good place to save some bucks here. SEGWAY - This is not the final cooking solution for my build, it is temp for the short term.  This will get reused in tool shed and work shop for heating coffee and tea. Nothing is wasted.
4. Popcorn popper, do it old school, in a pot with oil.

That is the kitchen taken care of more or less. I plan on making a special cutting board that will fix over the sinks to allow me to reclaim counter space for food prep.  You may also want to look at some shelving and what not, but I am saving that for once things are all put together.  Initially the kitchen counters are just going to be plywood, I will work extensively on the counters and cabinetry over the course of the next winter.

3) POWER, Heating and Lights

Ok, this is rather critical and the number of option available to us are very large and prices can vary just as much.  I am going to go with the minimal solution that will allow for future expansion and complete reuse of the systems we purchase, while keeping the costs to a minimum at the start.

1. Batteries - There is no way around it, you will need batteries.  Ideally the best solution is the Tesla 7KW or 10KW Powerwall units, but you are looking at $3000.00 to $3500.00 USD for those and Telsa is already back order for a year on them and they will  not be available until late 2016.  So next best solution are 12 Volt, deep cycle Gel Batteries.  Again Kijiji is your best friend here.  I have found 12 Volt, 105 AH, deep cycle Gel Batteries, used, selling for $100.00 to $120.00 a unit.  I plan on getting two to start and expand to four.  I still need to do a little math on the power consumption profile my Tiny Home will generate, but four batteries will allow for lighting, cooking, on-demand hot water, charging cell phone and iPad, running the fridge and should (here is why I have to check) allow for recharging my Electro-Ped (electric bicycle, not an E-Bike). So set aside $500.00 for this.
2. Battery charger control unit, power DC/AC Inverter.  You want something reliable here and that will meet the power profile of your Tiny Home, $350.00 should cover the initial build here, but you will need to upgrade once you start serious solar and wind power generation.
3. Power Generation.  Ideally a portable 200 to 300, 12 Volt Solar power kit here would be best. Coleman make a nice 300 Watt kit for around $860.00.  The 200 Watt kit is $650.00.  Solar I will put on the wish list, if I have the cash available it would great to start out with from the get go. Again, in the short term it is possible to do without this, but it will cost you a little more in fuel costs in the long term, so weigh your choices here.  This is one area where you have time line flexibility and the Solar solution can be add last.  Also make sure your solution is portable or at least part of it is.
4. BACKUP POWER GENERATION - no way around, you need this option, specially when you are in the construction phase.  You can pick up new 1 to 2 KW Gas Genny for $350.00 or you shop around on Kijiji and get them for $100.00 to $200.00.  Budget $350.00, any saving is bonus.
5. Lighting - Easy-Peazy, so many solutions here.  The place is not big, you want an external light and few DC HP LED lights.  You could go with AC here, but since we have a DC power source, might as well run it directly off the batteries, this is more energy efficient.
6. Heating, again so many options here, but I am going with a small wood burning heater/stove.  You can pick them used off of Kijiji for $50.00 to $200.00.  A very small wood stove will do, but get one that has cold air intake controls and is fuel efficient.  My ultimate solution is called the Salamander Hobbit, it serves as fireplace, heater and stove all in one, and is extremely small and efficient,... it is also rather pricey, about $1500.00 with shipping, but I think it is worth the extra money for my final Tiny Home build, but for my starter home, I will go with cheap and functional here.  Budget $150.00 and about $70.00 for a cord of hardwood firewood, YES HARDWOOD!!!  More on that later and why. SEGWAY - This is not the final heating solution for my build, it is temp for the short term.  I will be purchasing the Salamander Hobbit when I have the available cash.   This will get reused in tool shed and work shop, nothing is wasted, yes the tool shed will eventually get a cheap insulation job done to it and be turned into a mini man cave.

Ok, so that is power generation, power storage and controls and heating taken care of, lastly

4) Construction - Building material and putting it all together.

Putting is together, just two basic things here, three if you want to get fancy.

1. The trailer, you can shop around on Auto-Trader and Kijiji and pickup a used trailer for around $500.00 to $750 that will suit our needs.  Basically you want to get it as low as possible and as wide as legally allowed under the HTA.  The maximum width of your build that will require no special tag permits is 8.5 feet and that is from outer side wall to outer side wall.  You also want a minimum length of 8 feet (that is the bare freaking minimum)  Ideally if you can a 10 to 12 foot length trailer, it will do nicely.  If you can 16 foot, you are going to love it!  Make sure any trailer you buy has OWNERSHIP paper work, and is already register with the MTO and conforms to the HTA. 
   PLAN MODIFICATION - I after much thought last night, I am only doing the one Tiny Home so I will not be settle with just any old trailer, I will either be buying it new or making it myself.  If I can make it myself for less, then that is the way I will go.  I will get exactly what I need for this highly specialize purpose and hopefully at a reduced cost.  More on this later, the trailer is a critical element in any design and it is worth of at least one full article.
2. Building materials. this will run you about $1000.00 to $1500.00, depending on the insulation you use, the type of wood you use, flooring, siding, roofing and windows.  Again, kijiji is your friend here, I have seen some great deals on stuff people have left over and want to get rid of.  One place I recommend not to cut corners is the insulation if you plan to living in this in the early spring, late fall and winter time.  I plan to use 2 by 4 walls with "Isofoil" R15.5 Vapour-Barrier Insulant. The floors and Ceiling will be 2 by 6 with "Isofoil" R15.5 Vapour-Barrier Insulant (3 inches in thickness) and with "Isofoil" R11 Vapour-Barrier Insulant (2 inches in thickness).  The finished walls will have an R value of 20 and the floors and ceiling and R value 29.  This is as good or better than most older homes.  My Final Tiny Home build will have wall R values of 35 and Floor and Ceiling R values of 50, which is superior to even modern homes being built today.
   PLAN MODIFICATION - With my modification to my plan, I will be looking at redesigning the walls to try to get a R28 out of them, this will cause the walls in increase in thickness and I will loose a few highly valuable inches to the internal width of the living space, but the added R value will be worth it.  The floors and ceiling I will be able to get up to R40 without any problems in the new design.  It is also worth noting that design will require a fresh air exchange to the outside, basically this Tiny Home is as close to air tight as you can get and this is required by building code for home.  While Tiny Homes on trailers don't need to follow the building code, you don't want to DIE!
3. This is optional, and if I have the cash at the start I will do it.  Build yourself a 8 by 12 work shed.  Not finished, not insulted, not heated.  This is a place to store tools, construction supplies, your genny and other miscellaneous crap.  You can get away with an 8 by 8 as well.  Cost $500.00 too $750.00.  You can later improve the crap out of this with cheap insulation, a cheap wood fire heater/stove, paint or siding,...  But at the beginning you just want to place to store stuff.  This type of shack can be built in 4 to 6 hours if you are handy with tools.
   PLAN MODIFICATION - Ya, definitely building this right from the start, at least the 8 by 12 unit. 

There we go, the general and rough material and cost plan.  This plan and be put into action for about $9500.00.  If you cut some corners maybe as low as $6000.00.  Plan to have at least 60% of your budget ready to spend, that is $3500.00 to $6000.00 in the bank ready to go, I can alter my plan and shave $2000 of the total cost when starting and thus allowing me to start $4500.00 in the bank.  I have estimated the construction time line to be about two to three weeks, allowing for work and availability of workable daylight hours.  If you want to go out and have some fun, well add another week or more.  I plan to work as hard and as much as possible on this once I have started.  Given the minimum cost requirement and my current income the earliest I can start this is the end of March with allowances of finding the ideal plot of land, which means money will be the slowing factor and it will take me until the end of April to complete and the middle of May to finish off all the details.  That would work just nicely, cause then I could start my greenhouse and build my vegetable garden boxes and have them ready for planting at the end of May.
PLAN MODIFICATION - If I can build the trailer, then the plan is still good to go at the end of March, If I have to buy the trailer, end of April.


Next Installment - The Floor and Construction Design.  How to put it all together and not violate an of the laws (ya that is kind of important).  Anyways if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comment section and I will do the best I can to answer them.

UPDATE - December 8th, 2015 - I know I said I was going to do the floor plan next, but to do the floor plan correctly I need to know the exact dimensions of the trailer. So the next article will be on Trailer Design and Selection

Related Articles

1) December 3rd, 2015 - Going Green - The Tiny Home Project
2) December 5th, 2015 - Going Green - The Tiny Home Project - The General Plan

*1-1 - (55 gal) Barrel Water Storage System
*1-2&1-3 - 1/2 HP Shallow Well Jet Pump with 6 gal. Tank
*1-5 - 36 Inch x 36 Inch Round Bypass Shower Enclosure in Chrome
*1-7 - Dock Edge Visa F268101 Portable 24-Litre Toilet, Grey
*1-9 - Ikea BOHOLMEN Double-bowl inset sink, stainless steel
*1-9 - Ikea - ELVERDAM - Single lever kitchen faucet, pull-out, stainless steel color for $199.00
*3-3 - Coleman 300 Watt Solar Panel Kit with Charge Controller and Inverter
*3-6 - The Salamander Hobbit
sdsd

Going Green - The Tiny Home Project - The General Plan

Many people are looking at tiny homes.  This solution is not for everyone and it requires a good deal planning and prep-work.  One of the very first things you need to do is down size.  I mean down size with a vengeance!!!  I have already accomplished over the course of the last few years and I still need to do some more, but I am good to go in this department.

MY TINY PLAN!

I had planned to move forward on this project in the spring, but if I can manage to get the right piece of land I will start in the dead of winter.  My plan has four stages to it.

1. Acquire a wooded lot, 1/8th to 1 acre in size in the region of Simcoe-Port Dover-Turkey Point.  This is my preferred area, it allows me to keep my Car Pool Ride for work and is still near all the things I need.  Maximum Price for rental/lease agreement $250.00 per month.
2. Build a quick and very small Tiny Home for immediate living.  Minimum requirements, Shit, Shower and Shave. Cooking, Sleeping Area, Plan/Work area and place to get dressed. Minimum Heat, Power Generation and Water. More on this initial build tomorrow.
3. Save money to buy the ideal custom trailer for the my ultimate Tiny Home and building materials and begin construction as soon as resources permit.  At this point my monthly living cost is be between $800.00 to $900.00 a month, thus leaving ample left over income to save and then buy required building materials.
4. After building and completing the Final Ultimate Tiny Home, save like a mad man so I can buy my own land in the area, thus reducing my living costs even more.

I will discuss the costs and bare minimum requirements for the first build in my article tomorrow.  I just want to point out I will actually be building TWO Tiny Homes.  The first one will be a quick and very rustic Tiny Home, which will end up being my Tiny Home Away from my Tiny Home.  In the end, it will serve as a guest house and for when I want to travel around and do road trips.  It will be no where near as energy efficient or as large as my final Tiny Home.
 

Going Green - Rechargable Battery Packs

In my first article about Going Green - Transportation I touched on Electropeds/Electro-Peds and the battery requirements and costs.  That was on November 22nd.  The thing that was burning my butt was the cost, a 48volt, 1500 Watt - 20Ah battery pack that uses Lithium-Manganese based chemistry was expensive ($850.00 USD) and I seriously got to wondering if I could construct one of these bad boys myself?  Could I make a better design?  Could I make it cheaper? Could I make a higher power density Battery Pack(BP)  The answers are yes, yes, yes and theoretically yes.

Cost of Battery Pack Technology

There are four major components to Battery Pack(BP) Technology you have to consider

1. Cost of the cells.  Typically you are looking at 100s of individual cells in each pack.  This will vary according to the voltage of the motor, the power the motor draws (Watts) and amp-hours you require (how long the battery will last on full charge).  For the Electro-Ped I am designing from scratch, I will need 48volts at 1500 Watts, switchable to 3000 Watts and as much amp-hours as I can pack into the size.  It seems that the best cell tech right now is the 18650 cell configuration and they are costly. 
2. The BCM, Battery Controller Module.  Now some people say you don't need a BCM other say you do.  I say it is mandatory!!!  The first reason is safety, the pricier 18650 Cells you can buy claim to have circuitry protection built into each cell.  This protection is limited at best being chiefly short circuit, open circuit and thermal protection.  For this level of protection you can end up spending $20.00 per cell, low end $10.00 per cells.  How good is this circuitry?  No idea, you would  have to buy a couple of these pricey cells and dissect one and then test several to failure to find out.  I have seen about a dozen youtube videos of one guy doing this and unless you are buying TOP OF THE LINE, you are wasting your money.  Also this type of cell protection only makes economic sense when you are using the cells in limited number, in expensive electronic equipment and using a crappy charger.  Since I want a cheap BP, a good BCM is mandatory.  More on BCMs in another article.
3. The BP Housing.  Some people go with making their BPs as small and as light weight as possible.  In order to do this you sacrifice maintainability, serviceability and safety.  Basically, they connect the cells in various parallel and series connections and make the connections with nickel metal strips and spot weld them directly to the cells (say good bye to maintenance and serviceability).  They bundle the cells into what are called offset parallel cell configuration and hot glue them all together(say good bye to maintenance and serviceability again).  This makes for a smallest and lightest weight parallel cell configuration possible (don't worry, in yet another article I will go into great detail about connect the cells and you will not need a freaking spot welder, and by that I mean parallel-series design).  This small, light design has a serious safety design flaw.  If you have a single or multiple bad cells in your pack (this can happen with a faulty cell(s) or a cell(s) that has aged into failure) it can cause a run away discharge and cause your BP to catch fire or even explode.  Remember we are talking about a very high density power source here, it can go all explody-wody and going BOOM!  With this in mind, it seems to make sense to put in a few extra design features that will increase safety and allow for serviceability.  Again, this will be another entire article,... maybe several. Ain't Engineering Design grand?
4. The Battery charger.  Ok, no sense beating around the bush here, buy a very good one, and one that will meet your BP Technology charging needs.  You want safety, testing and rapid charging capability, you may also want a good portable charger as well if you plan longer trips where you will need to charge on the road.  Sorry kids, cheap charges are just that CHEAP.  Even with a BCM on your BP you still don't want to risk it, cause things can go BOOM when charging as well.  Annnd once again, this will another article. 

So you kiddies have three (maybe more) boring articles on EV-Cell rechargeable technology to look forward to.  I know this might sound boring, but understanding this technology is key when you want to do solar, wind, alternate energy production and alternative transportation.  In the long term it makes you a smarter consumer, saves you money (I hope) and provide you with greater degree of safety.  There are some many variables at play here and juggling them all at once is a bit overwhelming if you don't have the math and sciences to understand them.  Hopefully I will assist you in this regard.

The first article I will be doing will by BP Housing and and BCM design/selection.  Since these two things are the core of a safe Battery Package.  "Wait, hold on a second Grumpy Hobbit, what about the cost of the battery cells?" you all cry.  Well problem solved, I have found a source for inexpensive 18650 Cells.  I plan to buy about 600 cells in January.  Before I reveal the cells in questions, I first want to test them, see how they fail, when they fail, under what conditions they fail and how Explody-Wody they are. Also I will need to test their safe discharge/charging and power performance (this is kind of important)  This will involve a video or two and maybe a trip to the hospital,... don't worry I will be using extreme care and safety measures when I do this, I is a Engineer after all.

A Word on Safety

This should be address, please DO NOT attempt this stuff yourself, some of the things I'll be doing require a high degree of Engineering Science, Education and Experience.  One of the reasons why I am doing this series is to help you understand the risks and if you choose to build your own BP, provide you with the safest and easiest construction design for the end product.  Many of the tests I will be doing will be done to demonstrate the problems, risk and dangers of cutting corners.  I have seen some pretty piss poor designs for BPs on the web and if you follow those designs without understanding the risk, you could easily kill yourself and I am not exaggerating here one bit.

Related Articles

• Going Green - Transportatio, November 22nd, 2015

Going Green - Transportation

Back in 2014 I gave up my car.  It was mainly due to very limited cash flow, but also desire to be more eco-friendly.  While I was still living in Toronto, getting around was not an issue. Public transit, cycling and walking worked just fine, and in many case it was far less time consuming and less costly.

Now I live in Simcoe Ontario and public transportation is none existent, walking can be little bit too time consuming but cycling is still a viable option.  Thankful I am not completely stuck, one of the kids where I work has offered to pick me up and drop me off so I can get to and from work with little effort or cost, he only asks for $10 a week for the carpooling, which is a bargain. 

Yet I still plan to cycle in the from late March into late November, weather permitting.  Yet I need a little more flexibility and power in my cycling kit to make this work.  Things tend to be more spread out here in Simcoe, almost any cycling trip will be a minimum of a 10km round trip.  I was looking at buying a used Jeep, but that is still at least $8500 for the Jeep, then there is gas, insurance and maintenance, so owning even cheap vehicle would end up running about $400 bucks a month.  So after looking around at used Jeeps and thinking it over I decide to stay green and go with another solution. The solution?

THE ELECTROPED

An Electroped is not an e-bike, it is normal bicycle that has had a kit conversion applied to it.  The kit conversion has two major componets

1. A Electric Motor hub that is either on the rear or front wheel, and
2. Battery.

The huge benefit of the electroped is that it is still a fully function bicycle with a proper gear train.  An e-bike may have peddles, but if you ever had to peddle one of those things you would be hard pressed to call it a bicycle.  The electroped is very best of both worlds; if you want your electroped to be a pure bicycle again,  it only take about five minutes to drop out the electric motor wheel and pull the battery and control system (leave the wiring in place).

Costs of the conversion will greatly vary depending on the type and power of the electric motor wheel you install and what type of magnetic braking and pedal power assist option you go for.  The cost of these motorize wheels can go for as little as $250.00 and as high as $850.00.  The battery system is another great cost variable, and is dependent on many factors:

1. The power requirements of the motor 
2. Your desired range before recharge
3. How much extra mass you want to carry
4. How quickly the battery can be recharged
5. Lifetime of the battery system

The cheapest up front option on the battery are lead-acid cells, but they are extremely heavy, shorter recharge cycle life and not very environmentally friendly.  After much research I have opted to go with the top end type of battery.  The Lithium-Manganese type of battery, but even these you have to research carefully, cause not all lithium-manganese batteries are equal.  In the end, I have opted for 48 volt, 20Ah Lithium-Manganese battery cell.  Comparing Lithium-Manganese to a lead-acid battery array and you see why the extra cost is worth the extra up front cost.

Comparison Of Lithium-Manganese vs Lead Acid

Voltage of all Required Cells	48 Volts	48 Volts
Amp Hours of all Required Cells	20 Ah	16 Ah
Power of all Required Cells	960 Watt●Hours	768 Watt●Hours
Charge Time from Dead	Depends on charger you use, but a reasonably cost 48V 15Amp charger will do the job in about 2-2.25 hours	Depends on charger you use, if you only have a charger that can handle one cell at a time it will 16 hours for the total array. If you have really good charge 4-8 hours
Cycle Life	1000 to 1500 charge cycles, some people claim as high as 2000 charge cycles	300 to 500 charge cycles
Number of Cells Requires	1	8
Size of All Require Cells	Per Battery Length 10.84 inches Width 7.17 inches Height 3.17 inches One Battery Required Length 10.84 inches Width 7.17 inches Height 3.17 inches	Per Battery Length 5.94 inches Width 2.56 inches Height 3.70 inches For the Eight Required Batteries Length 11.88 inches Width 5.12 inches Height 7.4 inches
Mass of Required Cells	Per Battery 11.7 lbs One Battery Required 11.7 lbs	Per Battery 6.5 lbs For Eight Batteries 52 lbs
Cost	$840.00	$18.50 per battery $148.00 for eight and shipping cost will be on top of that
Cost Per km* (*not adjusted for extra mass) (a car cost about $0.60/km)	$0.219	$0.193
Cost/Size/Mass/Life/Power Index (the lower the better)	1.24	5.60

The last two rows are what it all boils down to, the average cost per kilometer and CSMLP Index.  I guess I should explain CSMLP Index number. It is a calculation that takes into account the cost, size, mass, Charge Life Cycle and Power the resulting calculation allows you compare the all the variables. The lower the CSMLP Index number the better, but it must also be compared to cost per kilometer.  The cost of the lithium-manganese is about $0.026/km more than the lead-acid batteries, but the CSMLP Index Lith-Mang is 4.5 better, I think the Lithium-Manganese batteries are far superior given that your ride will be 40 pounds less top heavy.  If you should get stuck with dead batteries and have to manually peddle home, believe me, those 40 extra pounds is a huge ass amount extra weight to move around.  Yet is you looking for a dirt cheap solution, then the lead-acid battery is the best route in the short run (ie, the up front costs).  In the long run, they cost just about the same.

Anyways, more on this later and I will be following up with the custom design Electroped I am planning to build and hope to have on the road in the late spring.