On today’s show, we will be exploring the possibility of heating your tiny house with compost. Not long ago, I came across a book called The Compost-Powered Water Heater. It's only about 140 pages and I read it in one sitting. Author Gaelan Brown details the experimentation and the work that has been done in harvesting the heat from a compost pile and using that to heat a greenhouse, barn, or even a hot tub. I was surprised to find out that the author also lives in a tiny house, built on the back of a flatbed truck, named the Dodge Lodge.
In This Episode:
- Who was Jean Pain and what were his important contributions?
- How the Agrilab approach differs from traditional composting
- The uses for the heat harvested from compost
- The financial and environmental impacts of using heat from compost.
- Using compost for heat in your own backyard
- An overview of the science involved in composting
- Gaelan’s tiny houses: The Dodge Lodge and Steady Betty
Links and Resources:
- https://www.instructables.com/id/Compost-Heating-System/
- C-Head compost toilets
- Agrilabtech.com
- The Compost-Powered Water Heater
- thetinyhouse.net/ask
Guest Bio:
Gaelan Brown
Gaelan is a Jack of all Trades Slave To None and author of The Compost-Powered Water Heater book.
He lives with his wife and son in a tiny house he built on the back of a big old flatbed truck and an old Airstream trailer in the sleepy hot springs town of Truth or Consequences New Mexico.
Originally from Vermont, he has travelled and lived in many places across N. and S. America, Europe and the Caribbean. In the past he was VP of Sales and Marketing for Agrilab Technologies, the world's leading engineering firm for compost heat recovery systems and he previously held several senior management roles with companies like groSolar, 1% for the Planet and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.
This week's Sponsor:
Tiny House Forum
Are you frustrated by how fragmented tiny house information is online? Tiny House Forum is an online community for exchanging information, ideas, and resources related to the tiny house movement, all in one central location. At Tiny House Forum you can have conversations with others that are interested in the tiny house lifestyle, those currently living the tiny house lifestyle, and tiny house businesses and organizations that can provide guidance along the way.
Tinyhouseforum.com is 100% free to use and joining is easy. Head on over to tinyhouseforum.com to participate in the discussions or start a new topic of your own today.
If that didn’t already sound great, right now you can be entered to win $500 cash by joining Tiny House Forum and making your first few posts.
Thank you to Tiny House Forum for sponsoring today’s show!
More Photos:
Subscribe to the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast:
