We have 'self build' schemes where people do much of the building work themselves. People can also buy plots of land with planning permission and build their own house; my cousin has just done this while living in a caravan. It is just rare because it is actually difficult to get the planning permission.
Legality of living in a yurt in the UK...
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I would love to go off the grid and live in a yurt, but where would I plug in my ECM Mechanika Espresso machine?
Buy a bunch of solar panels. Buy a charge controller. Buy a bunch of deep cycle batteries to store the juice.
Buy an inverter (square wave, modified square wave, pure sine wave?) that will supply the wave form power that you need.
Heavens! This should set up your yurt for less than $10,000 to do whatever.
I have a small system which does all that. Not cheap. Essential.
Buy an inverter (square wave, modified square wave, pure sine wave?) that will supply the wave form power that you need.
Heavens! This should set up your yurt for less than $10,000 to do whatever.
I have a small system which does all that. Not cheap. Essential.
People in the UK are allowed to build their own houses. In fact we're actively encouraged to do so since the government will refund the VAT on services and materials for any self builder as well as a number of other benefits. I built my own house and can vouch that it's a great way to get decent quality housing for a lot less money than buying already built. If you do a lot of the work yourself you can ensure the standard is high and future proof to your heart's content (or to what your budget allows).
But: Decent plots of land are hard to come by and developers will snatch up any decent plots and thus drive up the land prices. They want to build the best houses they can on the land to maximise their profits so will generally build 'executive' homes or bungalows for the retirement market since those people have more money to spend. The 'housing crisis' we apparently have is a lack of decent affordable starter housing for first time buyers. If these people could have a house like mine for the money I paid they would be over the moon. This is where planning departments should step in and open up chunks of land for self build starter homes with a cap on land prices and a strict code for housing densities. Massively increase up the taxes on second homes to fund it and that would also help solve the problem. Planning works for the people making a profit though not for the good of the people.
We built our own house here. Bought the building plot. Put the services in.
Own design, polished by architect, we selected the building company.
I made all hardwood flooring, built the kitchens, wardrobe interiors, interiors in the bsthoomd.
Wife painted all walls and ceilings.
We saved tons of money doing that. Tons!
Is that a self built?
Own design, polished by architect, we selected the building company.
I made all hardwood flooring, built the kitchens, wardrobe interiors, interiors in the bsthoomd.
Wife painted all walls and ceilings.
We saved tons of money doing that. Tons!
Is that a self built?
Technically a self build doesn't need any input from the owner to qualify for the cash back. You just need to prove you live there for the first few years.
Timber frame housing really suits the self builder. Once you've got the frame up and windows in then a lot of the internal work takes very little skill. I got really stuck in with mine. Taught myself to drive a mini digger and did all the drains and landscaping, installed all the insulation and fitted the plasterboard etc. UK planners are a bit hung up on traditional materials though so we had to pay a brickie to do the outside. If we'd have been allowed timber cladding I could have done that too.
I've seen some housing estates where self builders have been allowed much more free reign and even have on-site tradesmen who teach you how to do various jobs so you can learn skills as you build. It always looks like it creates a great community where people can help each other out and get discounts on bulk purchases. I'd love to see more of that. It kind of works where I live since most other self builders are tradesmen of some type so my one neighbour was my brickie, another did a lot of the more skilled carpentry for me, the guy over the road was the plumber etc. No one wants to live next door to a job they bodged so that always helps too.
Timber frame housing really suits the self builder. Once you've got the frame up and windows in then a lot of the internal work takes very little skill. I got really stuck in with mine. Taught myself to drive a mini digger and did all the drains and landscaping, installed all the insulation and fitted the plasterboard etc. UK planners are a bit hung up on traditional materials though so we had to pay a brickie to do the outside. If we'd have been allowed timber cladding I could have done that too.
I've seen some housing estates where self builders have been allowed much more free reign and even have on-site tradesmen who teach you how to do various jobs so you can learn skills as you build. It always looks like it creates a great community where people can help each other out and get discounts on bulk purchases. I'd love to see more of that. It kind of works where I live since most other self builders are tradesmen of some type so my one neighbour was my brickie, another did a lot of the more skilled carpentry for me, the guy over the road was the plumber etc. No one wants to live next door to a job they bodged so that always helps too.
Be realsitic when spec'ing a system.
If you are relying on power being stored locally, then you have to budget to generate as much as you will used, on the dullest of winter days.
Batteries will allow you to average out the dull and not so dull days. But in a UK winter, you are going to get dull weeks and the batteries will get flattened. And batteries for this kind of service are very expensive, so having weeks worth of capacity may not be possible.
I have some DIY solar stuff at home (south coast UK). It only generates some power to offset some of my mains useage.
In summer, it works ok, but in winter I see very little
Today it is grey but bright, and I am seeing 200watts, from 1600watts worth of panels. I may only get this for 8hours today, and this is still autumn. So that is 1.6kWhrs of power per day. That would allow me to be using an average of 66watts, if I were relying on just that.
I'm not saying that solar is not viable, but go into it with your eye's open.
Gonzo: how about a winter solstice sunset at 1:52PM? That's what I see.
I knew exactly what I was in for. Many people don't.
Deep-cycle batteries are expensive. I know the prices!
I need "emergency" power, approx 500 watts @ 117VAC, in winter temperatures of -20C.
The neighbors all know it. When the power fails and the houses chill down,
they are welcome to bring some bedding and stay at my place.
I bought what was needed and it has paid for itself many times.
The next thing needed is another pair of 6VDC batteries.
I knew exactly what I was in for. Many people don't.
Deep-cycle batteries are expensive. I know the prices!
I need "emergency" power, approx 500 watts @ 117VAC, in winter temperatures of -20C.
The neighbors all know it. When the power fails and the houses chill down,
they are welcome to bring some bedding and stay at my place.
I bought what was needed and it has paid for itself many times.
The next thing needed is another pair of 6VDC batteries.
I live in the Caribbean, so loads and loads of sun.
When I built my house I wanted to go Solar, but the calculations done by the solarpanel supplier ( very optimistic calculations) shown I would basically break even after 7 years.
That was 8 years ago. Earlier this year I had them do the same. Break even after 6 years as the panels are a little bit cheaper now.
BUT on the old quote they estimated the panels and battery banks would need to be replaced in around 9 to 11 years.
THIS HAS NOW DROPPED to 8-9 YEARS.
So not much saving compared to buying the electricity.
Also the system needs maintenance like washing the panels once a month, checking the batteries every 6 months.
I will not do it. I do have solar (cheap crap) lights in the garden though. Mood lighting.
When I built my house I wanted to go Solar, but the calculations done by the solarpanel supplier ( very optimistic calculations) shown I would basically break even after 7 years.
That was 8 years ago. Earlier this year I had them do the same. Break even after 6 years as the panels are a little bit cheaper now.
BUT on the old quote they estimated the panels and battery banks would need to be replaced in around 9 to 11 years.
THIS HAS NOW DROPPED to 8-9 YEARS.
So not much saving compared to buying the electricity.
Also the system needs maintenance like washing the panels once a month, checking the batteries every 6 months.
I will not do it. I do have solar (cheap crap) lights in the garden though. Mood lighting.
The biggest saving you can do is by adopting the Scandinavian insulation codes. We did that. Not to keep the cold OUT, but to keep the cold INSIDE.
The only difference for us is to place the humidity barrier on the opposite side from Scandinavia..
We have 15-18 cm spray on closed cell foam on the walls and 30-40 cm in the cathedral celings. Energy glass with an extra reflective layer.
To build with the british 'cavity wall' system is an outdated, archaic craziness.
Architectural studwalls, fully insulated, inner plasterboard. Outside wall cladding you can do with whatever material. Pressure treated, stained or painted wood is the cheapest. Brick or stone the most expensive.
The only difference for us is to place the humidity barrier on the opposite side from Scandinavia..
We have 15-18 cm spray on closed cell foam on the walls and 30-40 cm in the cathedral celings. Energy glass with an extra reflective layer.
To build with the british 'cavity wall' system is an outdated, archaic craziness.
Architectural studwalls, fully insulated, inner plasterboard. Outside wall cladding you can do with whatever material. Pressure treated, stained or painted wood is the cheapest. Brick or stone the most expensive.
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Thanks. That answered my question well. I asked because I had a cousin build his own as well in Mississippi. But I meant "built" his own by his own labor; not a contractor. Practically everybody here will choose the contractor to build to their individual design; far fewer outside the starter home market would buy a ready made home (other than those trying to get into a preferred neighborhood)
See my above comment. I meant actually building your own, not contracting a building company.
We accomplish something similar (or at least we "try" something similar) in the reverse way. Rather than having a base tax rate and INCREASING it for second homes we go the opposite way; we have a base rate and DECREASE it for your primary residence (it's called Homestead Exemption) Either way, I agree with you about the concept.
I recently attended a seminar showing the type insulation you describe (also the most common here) to be outdated as well. The products they demonstrated were foils with high heat reflectivity rather than thick insulators such as foams or glass fibers.
Canadian winters can be unpleasantly cold. One afternoon this summer, my outdoor thermometer, in the shade no less, was reporting +47C.
The west wall grape vines protect me from that. Maybe 27C in the kitchen. A couple of chilly nights at -34C, mostly -10C or so.
I don't care who built the house, cold nights like that are just not fun. We just hope for a another couple of feet of snow on the roof,
it makes quite a difference.
My home was ready made. As in built in 1975. I bought it in 2000. Insulated and vented to better than code now.
Very quiet at my end of the village street. In 6 houses on either side of the street, 1 person each.
The guy next door is a journeyman carpenter. I watched him build his house, mostly by himself.
Must take a singular determination to buy, build and otherwise live in a yurt with no bathroom.
The west wall grape vines protect me from that. Maybe 27C in the kitchen. A couple of chilly nights at -34C, mostly -10C or so.
I don't care who built the house, cold nights like that are just not fun. We just hope for a another couple of feet of snow on the roof,
it makes quite a difference.
My home was ready made. As in built in 1975. I bought it in 2000. Insulated and vented to better than code now.
Very quiet at my end of the village street. In 6 houses on either side of the street, 1 person each.
The guy next door is a journeyman carpenter. I watched him build his house, mostly by himself.
Must take a singular determination to buy, build and otherwise live in a yurt with no bathroom.
All hardwood flooring, about 4500 sq ft, cupboards, 2 kitchens, bathroom furniture..
Took me close to a year.
Impossible here to build the whole house with your own hands unless you are a multi skilled builder. My house has 60 piles, reinforced concrete, that go down 27-34 feet. Walls of reinforced concrete.
Hurricane area. Stricter code than Miami-Dade.
You can not build a shack style house in UK, too wet, cold.
Just saw a series on Swedish TV about a guy that built his own home, US log cabin style. Took him 4 years of more than full time work.
And he was in his 30ies, young and strong.
Took me close to a year.
Impossible here to build the whole house with your own hands unless you are a multi skilled builder. My house has 60 piles, reinforced concrete, that go down 27-34 feet. Walls of reinforced concrete.
Hurricane area. Stricter code than Miami-Dade.
You can not build a shack style house in UK, too wet, cold.
Just saw a series on Swedish TV about a guy that built his own home, US log cabin style. Took him 4 years of more than full time work.
And he was in his 30ies, young and strong.
Not really. It just isn't the full system.
You have to consider what it is dealing with and what it is good at dealing with and that is damp. Lots of damp.
When you have a high relative humidity environment and cool temperatures, there is a dew point at which condensation forms. In a good system, this is taken into account so that the condensation is either somewhere where it can do no harm, or it can be taken away by free air flow.
Just sealing up a house and having solid walls with high insulation values leads to a very damp environment in the house with mould forming. Not healthy and terrible for the house and inhabitants.
A modern take on the cavity wall system can be using a timber framing with good insulation on the framing and a brick cladding. The dew point is 'in' the insulation, so no condensation forms there, a cavity is between the brick and the frame and brick with a free air space to prevent bridging and damp.
Heat exchangers bring fresh cool air from outside, take stale air from inside the house and transfer heat between the two.
There is a gap close to the damp proof layer.
Scandinavian houses are built fir similar humidity conditions, plus colder climates. Northern Germany, The Central European plateau, Holland very similar to UK.
Lots of patients in UK wore clothes that smelled of mildew. Very few in Sweden.
Scandinavian houses ( and German, Austrian) erected in UK do not have any problems.
The standard wall is, from the inside, between and around the studs and joists:
Plaster board, chip board, 70-100mm rockwool or similar, diffusion blocking layer ( plastic), 195-250mm Rockwool or similar, air blocker ( stop wind penetration, type a special paper), airgap, outside cladding ( wood, brick or stone).
Further North thicker insulation.
I had to look it up, as I never built a house back home, just renovated a few.
Scandinavian houses are built fir similar humidity conditions, plus colder climates. Northern Germany, The Central European plateau, Holland very similar to UK.
Lots of patients in UK wore clothes that smelled of mildew. Very few in Sweden.
Scandinavian houses ( and German, Austrian) erected in UK do not have any problems.
The standard wall is, from the inside, between and around the studs and joists:
Plaster board, chip board, 70-100mm rockwool or similar, diffusion blocking layer ( plastic), 195-250mm Rockwool or similar, air blocker ( stop wind penetration, type a special paper), airgap, outside cladding ( wood, brick or stone).
Further North thicker insulation.
I had to look it up, as I never built a house back home, just renovated a few.
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The UK is damp, and it's cool, it's not cold. There's a massive difference between island and continental.
Scandinavian style houses are just as damp here as any other. Insulation is brilliant, but it needs to be balanced with airflow.
I have a friend who lives in a yurt full time here in South Lanarkshire. She owns an acre of land that she uses as a smallholding.
The yurt is on a permanent wooden base raised off the ground and with air flow beneath it. Otherwise the damp soaks in. No airflow and the mould grows. The yurt needs to be pretty much permanently heated here (and no, it doesn't take 'five cords' of wood to do it; we burn hardwoods here, not pine which is crap firewood) except in the height of Summer. The stove heats the house, but it's build into a clay and tile heat mass that absorbs heat from the stove and the flue and slowly gives it off as a kind of central heating.
Plumbing is one pipe (off the mains water supply) up into a wally sink, drainage from that goes to a small reed bed soak away that waters fruit trees. The loo is a wooden structure on the same wooden platform, but outside the yurt. It's a composting toilet, with sawdust and peat dust as the soak up medium.
There are huge issues disposing of such material in such a small area. It needs a lot of rotting down before human fecal bacteria is considered to be 'dead'….look up http://www.eco-toilets.co.uk/faq-storage-and-composting/
and needs to be kept on site for at least half a year….after it's 'composted'.
It's actually easier to have a long drop loo, but she couldn't do that right next to the yurt, and since she's getting older and finds that she gets up at least once in the night for a piddle, didn't want it too far from her warm home.
There is potentially connection to the mains sewerage just a couple of hundred metres away from her yurt, but it's expensive to dig the trench, supply the pipe, and get hooked up…..community charges are paid anyway, so no extra fees really. I believe that it's on the books to do the hook up and just have a normal loo, but 'flush' it with a bucket of water and a jug, but the septic tank is more usual and would actually be easier to do. It's a question just now of which route she wishes to go. I think the septic tank will win out, but it's expensive.
Damp is the one constant issue, unless the stove is lit.
She has two cats, and they keep the vermin away/hunt them down.
Airflow/ ventilation is a necessity of life. Get the balance right and it's a very comfortable home.
Planning permission was applied for, and granted, the biggest issue was sewerage but she's dealing with that. That she lives alone means that there's not a lot of it to deal with anyway, but a family might be a very different matter.
Didicoy's comments are very relevant. My friend was fortunate to be part of a site which already embraced the ethos, so to speak, and the planning officers treated the yurt as a 'static caravan being used as a agricultural dwelling' because she lived on her one acre small holding.
I have two other friends who have yurts. Both are set up on permanent wooden platforms, but since neither has planning permission as full time dwellings or holiday homes, they dismantle their yurts once a year, and lay them down for a month.
They take the time to clean the platform, true up the frames, reproof the roof cloths, etc., In a wet summer it's not a fun job though.
All latter two yurts are made of wool felt (the ladies are felt makers) and are warm, and much easier dealt with re mould and damp than the canvas ones. They are however in need of constant vigilance re moths and insect infestations. Neither lady wants everything drenched in insecticides, and generally go for the organic alternatives, the permithrin plant based dusts and the like.
Living in a yurt can be a lovely home, but it needs constant attention. It's drier than living in a caravan in our climate though, mostly because of the airflow and the stoves that deal with the condensation issues.
On balance a small wooden cabin would be a much better solution. The ones sold as holiday chalets do make very comfortable homes, but trying to get planning permission for such is not always easy since they are permanent residences.
Condensation and damp are permanent issues here. I live in a modern centrally heated home. It's well insulated, double glazed, etc., and I've just opened the blinds, and lo and behold, there's condensation on the windows. We have no heating on yet (the thermometer in the kitchen is reading 17.6 this morning, but 7.9 outside, we aim for around 20 in Winter and in the evenings. Daytime I'm in and out all the time and the back door is mostly left open, so no point heating the great outdoors) though, so I'll just open the windows a little bit and let it air out through the morning. The heating will go on full time in a couple of weeks and that stops the condensation since it drives the air exchange that shifts the moisture.
Get it wrong and mould grows. It's just a fact of life. Dehumidifiers are a win/win for our climate. They take out moisture and they give out heat as they do so.
I'm told that if you build a base platform on short piles, but fill in with shingle to close under the floor platform, that the stone mass cuts the draught but allows airflow and acts as a kind of heat mass too. I don't actually know anyone who is doing that though.
cheers.
Toddy
Scandinavian style houses are just as damp here as any other. Insulation is brilliant, but it needs to be balanced with airflow.
I have a friend who lives in a yurt full time here in South Lanarkshire. She owns an acre of land that she uses as a smallholding.
The yurt is on a permanent wooden base raised off the ground and with air flow beneath it. Otherwise the damp soaks in. No airflow and the mould grows. The yurt needs to be pretty much permanently heated here (and no, it doesn't take 'five cords' of wood to do it; we burn hardwoods here, not pine which is crap firewood) except in the height of Summer. The stove heats the house, but it's build into a clay and tile heat mass that absorbs heat from the stove and the flue and slowly gives it off as a kind of central heating.
Plumbing is one pipe (off the mains water supply) up into a wally sink, drainage from that goes to a small reed bed soak away that waters fruit trees. The loo is a wooden structure on the same wooden platform, but outside the yurt. It's a composting toilet, with sawdust and peat dust as the soak up medium.
There are huge issues disposing of such material in such a small area. It needs a lot of rotting down before human fecal bacteria is considered to be 'dead'….look up http://www.eco-toilets.co.uk/faq-storage-and-composting/
and needs to be kept on site for at least half a year….after it's 'composted'.
It's actually easier to have a long drop loo, but she couldn't do that right next to the yurt, and since she's getting older and finds that she gets up at least once in the night for a piddle, didn't want it too far from her warm home.
There is potentially connection to the mains sewerage just a couple of hundred metres away from her yurt, but it's expensive to dig the trench, supply the pipe, and get hooked up…..community charges are paid anyway, so no extra fees really. I believe that it's on the books to do the hook up and just have a normal loo, but 'flush' it with a bucket of water and a jug, but the septic tank is more usual and would actually be easier to do. It's a question just now of which route she wishes to go. I think the septic tank will win out, but it's expensive.
Damp is the one constant issue, unless the stove is lit.
She has two cats, and they keep the vermin away/hunt them down.
Airflow/ ventilation is a necessity of life. Get the balance right and it's a very comfortable home.
Planning permission was applied for, and granted, the biggest issue was sewerage but she's dealing with that. That she lives alone means that there's not a lot of it to deal with anyway, but a family might be a very different matter.
Didicoy's comments are very relevant. My friend was fortunate to be part of a site which already embraced the ethos, so to speak, and the planning officers treated the yurt as a 'static caravan being used as a agricultural dwelling' because she lived on her one acre small holding.
I have two other friends who have yurts. Both are set up on permanent wooden platforms, but since neither has planning permission as full time dwellings or holiday homes, they dismantle their yurts once a year, and lay them down for a month.
They take the time to clean the platform, true up the frames, reproof the roof cloths, etc., In a wet summer it's not a fun job though.
All latter two yurts are made of wool felt (the ladies are felt makers) and are warm, and much easier dealt with re mould and damp than the canvas ones. They are however in need of constant vigilance re moths and insect infestations. Neither lady wants everything drenched in insecticides, and generally go for the organic alternatives, the permithrin plant based dusts and the like.
Living in a yurt can be a lovely home, but it needs constant attention. It's drier than living in a caravan in our climate though, mostly because of the airflow and the stoves that deal with the condensation issues.
On balance a small wooden cabin would be a much better solution. The ones sold as holiday chalets do make very comfortable homes, but trying to get planning permission for such is not always easy since they are permanent residences.
Condensation and damp are permanent issues here. I live in a modern centrally heated home. It's well insulated, double glazed, etc., and I've just opened the blinds, and lo and behold, there's condensation on the windows. We have no heating on yet (the thermometer in the kitchen is reading 17.6 this morning, but 7.9 outside, we aim for around 20 in Winter and in the evenings. Daytime I'm in and out all the time and the back door is mostly left open, so no point heating the great outdoors) though, so I'll just open the windows a little bit and let it air out through the morning. The heating will go on full time in a couple of weeks and that stops the condensation since it drives the air exchange that shifts the moisture.
Get it wrong and mould grows. It's just a fact of life. Dehumidifiers are a win/win for our climate. They take out moisture and they give out heat as they do so.
I'm told that if you build a base platform on short piles, but fill in with shingle to close under the floor platform, that the stone mass cuts the draught but allows airflow and acts as a kind of heat mass too. I don't actually know anyone who is doing that though.
cheers.
Toddy
The research organization, funded by Canada's forest industry, is called Forintec.
They can prove beyond any shadow of a doubt, that conifer wood, weight for weight, releases more heat in burning than any hardwood known.
Otherwise, I would be burning crap hardwoods. Instead, I burn ultra dry, compressed & manufactured sawdust pellets.
The scandanavian countries have known this for years = they buy boatloads of Canadian pellets.
You must never see quality conifer softwoods as firewoods, let alone pellets, in the UK.
Look at the globe. They are buying pellets from Pinnacle and others, not far south of me,
to be transported all the way across Canada and the Atlantic Ocean and they have a good deal.
They can prove beyond any shadow of a doubt, that conifer wood, weight for weight, releases more heat in burning than any hardwood known.
Otherwise, I would be burning crap hardwoods. Instead, I burn ultra dry, compressed & manufactured sawdust pellets.
The scandanavian countries have known this for years = they buy boatloads of Canadian pellets.
You must never see quality conifer softwoods as firewoods, let alone pellets, in the UK.
Look at the globe. They are buying pellets from Pinnacle and others, not far south of me,
to be transported all the way across Canada and the Atlantic Ocean and they have a good deal.
You are burning processed wood, that's not a comparison to the effort of cutting five cords versus a small woodpile.
My brother heats his entire house with a stove. Less than one cord of wood does a year.
One oak log, or better yet, one ash log, will last all night long in a stove. Feed it pine and you're doing it all night long.
That's our reality, regardless of what flash heat pine gives off. It burns hot and fast and most of the heat is gone too quickly and is not sustained through the night.
M
My brother heats his entire house with a stove. Less than one cord of wood does a year.
One oak log, or better yet, one ash log, will last all night long in a stove. Feed it pine and you're doing it all night long.
That's our reality, regardless of what flash heat pine gives off. It burns hot and fast and most of the heat is gone too quickly and is not sustained through the night.
M
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