This Off Grid Tiny Smart Home is Next Level
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Kenton Zerbin had been involved in the construction of Tiny Houses before he did his own. With four years of experience and $20K of sponsorship, he eventually made it for a total cost of 85K. From the beginning, his Tiny House was meant to be super efficient and solar panels on the walls and the roof provide him with a 3KW solar system. They fold over in order not to bother when he hits the road. Because of the cold climate in Canada, he oversized the system by about 1KW and also installed evacuated solar tubes which reflect and absorb the heat, keeping his propane build very low and basically providing free water heating.He has got two propane tanks that he uses when he's on the road and a generator that kicks in when the power is dropping. Kenton says that the solar system is so sufficient that he hasn't used it in four years! He also has one bigger propane tank – one fill-up here costs him $260 and lasts for one year, covering house and water heating and cooking.
The Tiny house is 28 feet long and about 8 feet wide on the inside. There is a lot of functional yet stylish storage room, underneath the stairs and inside the walls, accessible through small doors and almost unperceived. In the corner of his kitchen, he installed a small CUBIC mini wood stove, with an additional heat shielding around to keep the heat. Knowing that insulation can be a big debate, Kenton went for spray foam and two inches of rigid foam around the entire exterior, so that the cold cannot transfer through the walls and cool off the house. His Lunos Ego 2 air exchanger balances the chemicals and the moisture inside his house. It takes chemicals that accumulated inside out and pulls fresh air in, without loosing any heat inside. A second Lunos does the same job in his bathroom, helping to dry his clothes at the same time.Kenton also did a clever job storing all the water inside the house: 1500 liters are hidden underneath the back counter in his kitchen, another 500 liters underneath his custom built couch. In the bathroom, he has got a Webasto ISO temp combi boiler that stores 75 liters of hot water.
His powerful solar system allows him to have a regular AC fridge, as, according to him, a DC would only save very little extra power, cost more in the end and break down more easily. In his living room, he has a beautiful wooden table from Truwood Artisans with magnetic legs that can transform it into a free standing table with a built-in bench. On the wall, two very efficient thermostats: one Veesman controller telling him the temperature inside the tubes outside – that in that moment were at 14°C despite the 0°C outside temperature – and an Ecobee thermostat, connected to his WiFi and notifying him about changes in humidity, carbon monoxide levels or temperature drops.Concerning his Nature's Head Composting Toilet, Kenton says he would have built his own if it was not for his partner at the time. “Learn the basic science of it and go ahead and try building one for yourself!”, he advises and warmly recommends The Humanure Handbook.
“It takes time – and you want to put that time in, you love your house then!”, Kenton says. In his opinion, everyone needs to find their “power reason” on why they want to go tiny, as this will determine the house design. The design will be very different if your main purpose is to travel than if you leave it stationed somewhere. For Kenton personally, it was to escape debt and at the same time not compromise on his own values or rich living experience. Right now, he is in the process of making a high-end super portable Tiny House, built and documented in order to educate, entertain and have an impact on others. He will not tell us more about this project as it is a surprise. “All you get to know is this house is going to be phenomenal, and if you want to be involved, there's ways!”.
