Hi everyone,
I am presently building a Houseboat that will be my year round home.
I like living close to water and for the past 18 years have owned and lived on my sailboat part of the season. I say part of the season because I live in Canada, so living on a sailboat in the winter is not an easy thing to do.
For many years I've been thinking of a boat design that could be my home in the winter as well as my boat and home in the summer.
I want it to be towable by a minivan, suv or pickup if I need to move it. So it would need to be a maximum of 8 and 1/2 feet wide and would like to keep the weight below 3,500 pounds if possible.
I have a design that has evolve in my mind over the years from my self-taught building, design and fiberglass experience.
I am presently building it but I'm not following any plans or have taken the information from somewhere. So don't ask me where you can get plans for it. It's all coming from my mind as I go.
The houseboats main construction material is rigid urethane foam, which is a lightweight material that can become structural when sandwiched between layers of fiberglass or thin plywood. The other main characteristics of urethane foam is it has one of the highest Insulation value for the thickness. The foam boards I'm using are 3 inches thick which represents R19 in Insulation value. The sheets are 4 feet wide by 8 feet long. The floor and ceiling of the living space will be 6 inches thick and the walls will be 3 inches thick.
If you know about insulation value and construction, you will know how efficient this home will be to heat or cool.
The houseboat will be a multihull, catamaran or pontoon style if you wish. Each pontoons will be about 28 feet long by 2 feet wide. The outside width (beam) will be 8 and 1/2 feet wide. The main cabin will have an internal size of 18 feet long by 8 feet wide. It will contain one enclose bedroom and one enclosed bathroom. The rest of the open space will be 10 feet long by 8 feet wide and will be the kitchen, dinning and living room space.
The outside upper roof will be used as an open deck but will have an above cover (for shade) which will be Solar electric panels used to propel the electric motor to navigate the rivers and waterways at no cost of you know what.
I will have an array of 48 volts 100 amp/hours lithium ion battery bank as reserve for high current maneuvering in and out of port and reserve house power. However, the idea is once under way to adjust the speed so the reserve batteries are not depleted. I should be able to fit about 2 KW of solar panels above the deck. Obviously I'll be navigating during daylight only.
Please note, in the winter the houseboat will be used on its trailer.
I'm making video's of each steps of the building process and will be releasing them as I build over the summer of 2013.
Here is the first video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_3cMqIAG20 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_3cMqIAG20)
Hope you enjoy my build
Luc
Hi Luc,
Looks like a great project you are doing. I wish your new home weathers many storms without any difficulties.
One thing I wonder on your mentioning "enclosed bedroom and one enclosed bathroom": how do you solve ventilation in those rooms, for it is an important issue, isn't it ?
Will you have an area for tinkering? :D
Thanks, Gyula
:) interesting project .... for those interested hull design I suggest these free software :
http://www.delftship.net/delftship/index.php/delftship/delftship-free (http://www.delftship.net/delftship/index.php/delftship/delftship-free)
http://freeship-plus.pisem.su/indexEN.html (http://freeship-plus.pisem.su/indexEN.html)
http://www.getawayconcepts.com.au/trailerable-houseboats/specifications
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/search.php?searchid=2901529 (http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/search.php?searchid=2901529)
added- land or water catamaran au projet
Quote from: gyulasun on May 12, 2013, 09:35:14 AM
Hi Luc,
Looks like a great project you are doing. I wish your new home weathers many storms without any difficulties.
One thing I wonder on your mentioning "enclosed bedroom and one enclosed bathroom": how do you solve ventilation in those rooms, for it is an important issue, isn't it ?
Will you have an area for tinkering? :D
Thanks, Gyula
Hi Gyula,
thanks for your post.
Both enclosed rooms will each have a windows.
My main room will be used for tinkering ;)
Luc
Quote from: wings on May 12, 2013, 11:11:46 AM
:) interesting project .... for those interested hull design I suggest these free software :
http://www.delftship.net/delftship/index.php/delftship/delftship-free (http://www.delftship.net/delftship/index.php/delftship/delftship-free)
http://freeship-plus.pisem.su/indexEN.html (http://freeship-plus.pisem.su/indexEN.html)
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/search.php?searchid=2901529 (http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/search.php?searchid=2901529)
added- land or water catamaran au projet
Thanks wings for your post and links to these free hull design software
Luc
In regards to solar-energy what do you think if the claims by Ronald Ace and his "solar trap" (link: http://www.ryot.org/inventor-ronald-ace-says-his-solar-traps-will-solve-the-worlds-energy-problems/159473 (http://www.ryot.org/inventor-ronald-ace-says-his-solar-traps-will-solve-the-worlds-energy-problems/159473) )? Any ideas what he's doing?
For a solar-powered houseboat it would be great to use high-efficiency panels.
truesearch
Quote from: truesearch on May 13, 2013, 11:37:55 AM
In regards to solar-energy what do you think if the claims by Ronald Ace and his "solar trap" (link: http://www.ryot.org/inventor-ronald-ace-says-his-solar-traps-will-solve-the-worlds-energy-problems/159473 (http://www.ryot.org/inventor-ronald-ace-says-his-solar-traps-will-solve-the-worlds-energy-problems/159473) )? Any ideas what he's doing?
For a solar-powered houseboat it would be great to use high-efficiency panels.
truesearch
Interesting claim but with no details and even a working device ever built!... what is there to say :-\ . One thing to note is, this concept seems to be a heat device which means you would also need a steam turbine or something to convert the heat to electricity.
I'll stay with solar panels even if they are only 16% efficient as they directly output electricity and we know they can work right now and for many years to come. Besides, the price is now down to $1. a watt.
Luc
Hi everyone,
I have a small video update of the houseboat build.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqpsr2JmNIg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqpsr2JmNIg)
Luc
Hi everyone,
I have a small video update of the houseboat build.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08NbhPbfulg
Luc
Hi everyone,
again I have a video update of the houseboat build.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XXzir2-MXg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XXzir2-MXg)
Luc
Hi gotoluc, thanks for sharing, awesome work so far.
Whenever you get time to reply, just wondering what kind of weight that base can support, thanks.
peace love light
tyson :)
Hi Tyson,
I'm sure it could hold and float over 4,000 pounds.
The weight of the houseboat alone (once completed) should be between 3,500 to 4,000 pounds and should be able to hold an extra 4,000 lbs.
Hope this answers your question
Luc
Hi gotoluc, thanks for the reply.
Hope everything continues smoothly for you, with your houseboat.
peace love light
tyson ;)
Hi everyone,
I have another video update of the houseboat build.
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIzrUN92DbQ
Luc
Hi everyone,
I have another video update of the houseboat build.
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jYDA1lA48A
Luc
Hi luc, thanks for sharing progress of your great project.
I remember seeing a video of a guy who made an island home using plastic bottles and then netting to hold them as his floating base, then he used a boat to carry dirt to the floating island and has a house on it and crops, very inspiring.
Guess they declared him an offical island or some stuff, lol.
Carry on with your creative endeavor. 8)
peace love light
tyson ;)
Thanks for your interest and for posting Tyson
The artificial Island idea sounds like a good one!
Luc
Hi everyone,
I have another video update of the houseboat build.
Part 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpxyDc3mtYk
Luc
Hi Luc,
I finally got time to see all your uploaded videos of your great houseboat project.
Thanks for sharing, can't wait until the next video update. :-)
GL.
Thanks for your interest in this project Alex.
The nights are cool now, so I'm back doing the resin on the main hull. Hopefully that should be done in about a week
Luc
Hi Luc,
thanks for sharing your build. I'm really impressed with your innovation and craftsmanship. :)
I have a few questions, I hope you don't mind...
- Have you calculated the heating requirements for the boat on a cold winter day?
i.e. given the R-values, the surface area, and the inside & outside temps - you can calculate how much heat you'll be losing, and hence how much you need to add...
- How will you be powering and heating the boat during winter? Is there any opportunity to have a wind-generator, for example?
- Have you considered using wave-power at all?
It's really easy to have a float connected to a (geared) DC generator, and it works at night too.
Potentially much cheaper than solar.
Not much use in winter, or on a trailer, though...
:)
Tim
Quote from: tim123 on September 08, 2013, 04:31:33 AM
Hi Luc,
thanks for sharing your build. I'm really impressed with your innovation and craftsmanship. :)
I have a few questions, I hope you don't mind...
- Have you calculated the heating requirements for the boat on a cold winter day?
i.e. given the R-values, the surface area, and the inside & outside temps - you can calculate how much heat you'll be losing, and hence how much you need to add...
- How will you be powering and heating the boat during winter? Is there any opportunity to have a wind-generator, for example?
- Have you considered using wave-power at all?
It's really easy to have a float connected to a (geared) DC generator, and it works at night too.
Potentially much cheaper than solar.
Not much use in winter, or on a trailer, though...
:)
Tim
Hi Tim, thanks for your interest and positive comments.
No, I have not calculated the heating requirements. The internal space is very small, only 8 feet wide x 18 long. Insulation value is very high, R20 in the walls and R40 in the roof and floor. I'm integrating a glycol radiant floor heating system which will be heated by a small on-demand propane water heater that delivers 14 KW of heat power at 88% efficiency.
I have no worry that the heating system is more than adequate, even a temperatures of -40.
The boat is powered by an electric drive system which will be powered by a 2 KW Solar panels array (above the top deck). I may use a wind generator in the winter if the panels don't supply enough power, however I doubt that.
Wave power is good if you're in an area with wave action, however, this is not my case, I'm mostly on a river system.
Thanks
Luc
Hi Luc,
14Kw eh? That's more than my house! :D
I've done the calcs. I had to use UK metrics, but it looks pretty favourable... I think the values are right, but it's the first time I've done it - so I could have made a mistake. It's not rocket science though...
For living space 8ft x 8ft x 18ft = 2.5 x 2.5 x 5.5m
End walls - 2 x 6.5 m2
Side walls - 2 x 13.75 m2
R-value for 100mm Kingspan (metric) = 4.5 m2 K / W
Assumed temperature difference: 60 Degrees C - (inside +20, outside -40)
AREA x TEMPDIFF / RVAL = WATTS
End walls @ 6.5m2 = 83 Watts x 2
Side walls @ 13.75 = 183 Watts x 2
Total for all walls = 533 Watts
If floor & ceiling have 200mm Kingspan, they both lose 91 Watts
Total Losses = Heating Requirement = 716 Watts
:)
Tim
PS - that's ignoring any insulation afforded by the fiberglass, glue, plywood, wall coverings etc...
Quote from: tim123 on September 10, 2013, 05:01:44 AM
Hi Luc,
14Kw eh? That's more than my house! :D
I've done the calcs. I had to use UK metrics, but it looks pretty favourable... I think the values are right, but it's the first time I've done it - so I could have made a mistake. It's not rocket science though...
For living space 8ft x 8ft x 18ft = 2.5 x 2.5 x 5.5m
End walls - 2 x 6.5 m2
Side walls - 2 x 13.75 m2
R-value for 100mm Kingspan (metric) = 4.5 m2 K / W
Assumed temperature difference: 60 Degrees C - (inside +20, outside -40)
AREA x TEMPDIFF / RVAL = WATTS
End walls @ 6.5m2 = 83 Watts x 2
Side walls @ 13.75 = 183 Watts x 2
Total for all walls = 533 Watts
If floor & ceiling have 200mm Kingspan, they both lose 91 Watts
Total Losses = Heating Requirement = 716 Watts
:)
Tim
PS - that's ignoring any insulation afforded by the fiberglass, glue, plywood, wall coverings etc...
Thanks Tim for the reply and energy loss calculations.
I know the 14 KW looks high! I got it from the ebay page of the heater I bought: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Haier-Gas-LPG-Instantaneous-On-Demand-Continous-Flow-Tankless-Water-Heater-/261274268626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd528f3d2 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Haier-Gas-LPG-Instantaneous-On-Demand-Continous-Flow-Tankless-Water-Heater-/261274268626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd528f3d2)
I forgot to mention is my ceiling will only be 6-1/2 feet high, but one way or the other the heating requirement looks to be quite low.
One thing I was wondering is how long my propane tank will last. There must be a way to convert propane to Watts output by its weight. I was thinking of using a 15 pound tank.
Here are the average monthly temperatures in Ottawa, Canada, in degrees Celsius:
| Month | ºC
|
| January | -10
|
| February | -8
|
| March | -2
|
| April | 6
|
| May | 13
|
| June | 18
|
| July | 21
|
| August | 19
|
| September | 14
|
| October | 8
|
| November | 1
|
| December | -7
|
So from June to September we don't need heat but the rest of the 8 months we do. Maybe with the above you can find the average daily Watts needed for those 8 months and from that find how long a 15 pound propane tank will last.
Thanks for your help and sharing
Luc
Hi Luc,
For liquid propane
• 4.16 litres= 1 therm = 100,000 BTU = 29.3701 KW
http://www.lpg-solutions.co.uk/how-will-a-supplier-calculate-the-cost-of-lpg-to-an-end-user/
Quote from: tim123 on September 10, 2013, 11:14:35 AM
Hi Luc,
For liquid propane
• 4.16 litres= 1 therm = 100,000 BTU = 29.3701 KW
http://www.lpg-solutions.co.uk/how-will-a-supplier-calculate-the-cost-of-lpg-to-an-end-user/ (http://www.lpg-solutions.co.uk/how-will-a-supplier-calculate-the-cost-of-lpg-to-an-end-user/)
Thanks Tim for the quick reply.
I made a mistake on the weight of the propane tank, it's 20 pounds of liquid propane which is about 18 litres
So from your information it's about 7 KW / litre x 18 = 127 KW per tank @ 88% efficiency, so about 111 KW of heat.
Luc
Hello LUC and everyone
please Luc: explain me how to tranform the water heater on demand you bought
as a floor heating system who works in a closed loop
thanks
Régis :-[
Bonjour Regis,
you would need to make some modifications to the propane heater ignition system so it can be operated by a room thermostat. A small electronic circuit may be needed with temperature sensors to operate the propane ignition system to turn it on and off when the fluid reaches a certain temperature. I have not done that yet but I don't think it will be hard to do. Maybe even the existing circuit can be modified to work. I have not checked whats needs to be done yet as I'm not at that point.
You also need two other parts to make a closed loop. One is a circulation pump and the other is a small storage tank for the fluids (glycol) to be able to expand or contract with the changes in temperature. If you don't add a small tank for expansion, the hose lines will burst open.
That's about all I can tell you at this point. I will later on (when I build it) share a video of how I made it work.
Luc
Hi everyone,
I have another video update of the houseboat build.
Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5exPjMTf0WU
Luc
Quote from: gotoluc on September 12, 2013, 11:32:06 AM
Bonjour Regis,
you would need to make some modifications to the propane heater ignition system so it can be operated by a room thermostat. A small electronic circuit may be needed with temperature sensors to operate the propane ignition system to turn it on and off when the fluid reaches a certain temperature. I have not done that yet but I don't think it will be hard to do. Maybe even the existing circuit can be modified to work. I have not checked whats needs to be done yet as I'm not at that point.
You also need two other parts to make a closed loop. One is a circulation pump and the other is a small storage tank for the fluids (glycol) to be able to expand or contract with the changes in temperature. If you don't add a small tank for expansion, the hose lines will burst open.
That's about all I can tell you at this point. I will later on (when I build it) share a video of how I made it work.
Luc
Luc,
Just a few thoughts regarding your heating plans.
First, why all the extra weight and complexity of the heated liquid loop in the floor as opposed to an air/forced air furnace? I would think you would want to go with minimal weight and power consumption...
Second, it would be unsafe to operate the heater you specified inside the living space due to O2 depletion and combustion gas venting into your living area. Possibly you could mount it outside, but, doesn't Canada have any inspection/regulations regarding the type of boat you are building and/or require marine certified appliances? If not, consider a marine certified (or at the very least an RV certified) externally vented furnace anyway (and at least a couple combination fire/CO detectors as well). Same goes for stove or frig, I'd suggest marine (or RV) certified...
You might consider adding an air to air heat exchanger to allow efficient venting of your living space in cold weather. You can't live in an airtight box!
Regarding your "2000 watts" is that just your panel rating for charging?
How many HP do you plan to have for thrust and how much battery storage to maintain that thrust for how long?
In wind/high winds, a house boat is sorta' like your sailboat, only you can't furl the sheets...
PW
Quote from: picowatt on September 12, 2013, 06:33:16 PM
Luc,
Just a few thoughts regarding your heating plans.
First, why all the extra weight and complexity of the heated liquid loop in the floor as opposed to an air/forced air furnace? I would think you would want to go with minimal weight and power consumption...
Second, it would be unsafe to operate the heater you specified inside the living space due to O2 depletion and combustion gas venting into your living area. Possibly you could mount it outside, but, doesn't Canada have any inspection/regulations regarding the type of boat you are building and/or require marine certified appliances? If not, consider a marine certified (or at the very least an RV certified) externally vented furnace anyway (and at least a couple combination fire/CO detectors as well). Same goes for stove or frig, I'd suggest marine (or RV) certified...
You might consider adding an air to air heat exchanger to allow efficient venting of your living space in cold weather. You can't live in an airtight box!
Regarding your "2000 watts" is that just your panel rating for charging?
How many HP do you plan to have for thrust and how much battery storage to maintain that thrust for how long?
In wind/high winds, a house boat is sorta' like your sailboat, only you can't furl the sheets...
PW
Hi PW
thanks for your post and concerns.
A forced air furnace needs ducts to distribute the heat to each room. I have no space for ducts. It's also difficult to balance the heat evenly as most of the heat will rise and leave the floors and some corners of the room cold. It's also a noisy system.
Radiant heating is just about noise free
Before I do the fiberglass on the inside cabin floor I will cut the 1/2 inch grooves in the foam (with a router) to fit the tubing, so it's very easy to install and takes no space. The big benefit will be that all parts of the floor and rooms will be equal temperature. No more freezing feet.
I don't agree it will be heavier and quite sure the circulation pump will use less power than a forced air system would.
The boiler will be inside a fire proof insulated enclosure which will have its own fresh air intake. In case of Smoke or Propane the enclosure will have a smoke and propane detector which each will operate a relay (instead of horn) to shut off the main electric valve on the Propane tank located outside.
My oven is a new 3 burner propane made for RV. Fridge is also RV 12vdc Norcold which uses 50 watts while operating. I'm building my own insulated box for the fridge which will have about triple the foam insulation then the manufactures version.
I will have 4 new Argon gas filled awning windows, so fresh air should not be a problem.
Once the boat is done it will be certified by an intelligent Marine surveyor for insurance purpose.
The solar array will be 2KW max. A maximum of 100 amp/hour 48volt Lithium Ion will be the battery storage bank.
The battery bank will be mainly used for the house and for extra maneuvering power needed while docking and coming in or going out of port. Once under way I will only use the power the panels can supply, so I back off motor speed till I maintain the voltage on the house battery and that will be my cruising speed. I'm hoping to have about 6 knots of cruising speed from the 1.2 to 1.5 average KW the panels will generate. For emergency I'll have a lightweight and silent 2KW generator.
The electric drive motor will be a 5kw 48vdc with a Ducted Rice Speed Nozzle Propeller drive system.
Hope this answers most of your questions and concerns
Luc
Quote from: gotoluc on September 12, 2013, 11:27:47 PM
... Fridge is also RV 12vdc Norcold which uses 50 watts while operating. I'm building my own insulated box for the fridge which will have about triple the foam insulation then the manufactures version.
Hi Luc, I know a chap who wrapped a chest freezer with insulation - he did leave the back open where the vents are.
When he showed me - I put my hand inside it, and found the whole body of the thing was hot. He then removed the insulation.
It depends on your fridge - maybe its design is ok - but you'd have to ensure all the cooling equipment is outside the insulation.
Hi Tim,
some chest freezer will have a small heating element or part of the condensing coil around the outside perimeter so not to have water condensation on the outside of the freezer. So adding insulation on the outside would not work.
Thanks
Luc
I didn't know that before... Interesting. Thanks ;)
Can you use your fridge as-standard, or do you have to modify it?
Hi Tim,
I bought this used fridge for the compressor, coil and evaporator only. The box I don't care about.
The compressor is good quality and made in Japan.
Not only does it work on 12vdc but it draws only 4 amps (max. 50 watts) while operating. That's very low power consumption for a fridge.
I'll be making my own box to maximize on insulation and to take advantage of all of the available under counter space I have for it.
The fridge will be part of the cabinet structure. It won't be removable once done. I will try to make the compressor removable if ever it needs to be replaced.
Hope this answers your question.
Luc