Tiny House Blog

I am excited to introduce to you Roger Lehet and his new Made in America Kimberly Stove. I have been communicating with Roger since back in July when he contacted me about his soon to be manufactured stove. Though initially designed for boats, he felt it would work great in small and tiny homes. Roger’s design really intrigued me and I was impressed with the extreme efficiency of this unit. Roger has asked me to become a distributor of this stove, and future variations, to the Tiny House community. I am excited to take part.

This multi-fueled wood burning cook stove was originally designed for cooking and heating in small spaces. Spaces such as boats, cabins, yurts, RV’s, and ice shanties. This extremely efficient cook stove boasts performance levels much greater then EPA certified wood stoves available for residential use. It’s compact design, measuring 30 in. tall and 10 in. diameter allows it to be installed and used efficiently as well as cleanly on an averaged sized boat (30 ft). This unit can also be used to heat up to 1500 sq ft of living space.

It’s flexibility in fuels allows the owner/operator to regulate it’s heat production for different operating modes. In cold weather a 5lb extruded pressed log performs the best. It gives you an 8-10hr burn time with the cook top temperature exceeding 1150 degrees Fahrenheit. For Spring into Summer weather use, 1lb of standard charcoal a day will run the stove at a lower temperature range with an even cook top temperature. Pellets and gases/oils are also optional fuel choices.

This stove is completely portable including its venting system, weighing about 65lbs. This unit would be easily deployed during disaster relief efforts. Where this stove differs from rocket stoves would be our patent pending secondary combustion system. In this area the stove gasses from the primary fire are funneled through our all fuel combustor pack. During this process temperatures up to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit completely incinerate soot and smoke before either hit the chimney. Due to these efficiencies our stove burns far less fuel then any rocket or primary burn stove. Although our stove as well as the rocket stove produces clean burns, our stove stands apart when it comes to consumption of that fuel.

Brill Metal Works is an amazing state-of-the-art computer-controlled metal fabricating company http://www.brillmetalworks.com/  and their artisans do a fabulous job of building this stainless-steel Kimberly Stove.

Some things to consider about the Kimbely Stove:

• Latest Technology
• Durable
• Eco friendly
• Convenient
• Low installation cost (around $250)
• Easy installation
• Made In America
• Time saving
• Return of investment (heat for years to come)
• Attractive
• Warranty (the best)
• All stainless steel (cool to the touch)
• Multi fuel (wood, coal, etc.)
• Safe
• Pride of ownership
• Green construction
• Nice ambiance with windowed door
• Dry heat
• No smoke (stop smoking after 15 minutes)
• Cooking on stove top
• Baking (oven coming soon)
• Power production (coming soon)
• Hot water (coming soon)
• Security
• Perfect for off grid locations
• Sustainable
• Tested and retested
• no planed obsolescence

Here is a link to the Unforgettable Fire llc http://www.unforgettablefirellc.com/website with all the detailed information or call Roger at 206-850-2322. The attached photo is of Roger and his wife Bridget celebrating the arrival the K6 Stove. Mention Coupon Code THB25 and receive $25 off of shipping charges when you purchase the Kimberly Stove.

Download a Kimberly Stove brochure here: Kimb_Brochure2

One of the perks that comes with writing a blog is that occasionally I am approached to write a review about a product that a company feels would work in the tiny/small house world.

Recently, I received a big package in the mail with a NewAir AC-14000H Air Conditioner in it. It had been recommended to me for use in a small house. To be honest, I was surprised at the size of the box as it seemed huge. I opened it and found that it was double boxed for protection and was a little smaller than I first thought.

The NewAir AC-14000H Air Conditioner is a 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner with a built in heat pump. It produces serious air-conditioning for an area up to 525 square feet. Perfect for a small house. This particular unit also heats but I have not tested its ability in that area yet.

The unit has adjustable air louvers, allowing you to direct the air where you want it. It also has a remote control so you do not need to get up to make changes but can do it from where you are sitting. It also has a built-in ionizer that removes airborne pollutants, thus allowing you to breathe cleaner, healthier air.

It is built of high quality industrial design so should last well under normal use.

Here is my experience with the unit. It was well packaged and had all the components it said it should. It is not a small unit so it takes a little hefting to get it out of the box. It does have wheels so will roll around fairly easily once out of the box. Continue Reading »

Here is a new invention that may help Tiny Home owners achieve independence from propane or electricity for cooking their meals, The Natura Lite stove by Lodge-tech, it uses 100% vegetable oil.

It operates similar to a water cooler by keeping the fluid level the same, the yellow flame of the stove burns at a much slower rate and lower temperature than the blue flame of propane or other gases, so the saving are as much as 30-50% or more, even if it seems a gallon gas or pound of propane is less expensive.

It does not boil large amounts of water very quickly, but it is wonderful for cast iron skillets or small dutch ovens and fantastic for steaming any meal piping hot in 30-45 min.

It is very safe to operate and will usually will self extinguish if knocked over, the oil bottle has strong magnets at the base to keep it firmly in place, and storing the oil is vastly safer than propane or other fuels.

The stove is available at www.lodge-tech.net.  Lodge-tech also makes yurts, domes, greenhouses and a low cost earth toilet.

Case Turner an avid outdoors person, small camp boater, and Design associate for a Architecture firm is always looking for smaller more efficient products and ideas for everyday life! Case contacted me about these alternative cook stoves and I thought they might be useful in a small space.

StoveTec was created in the fall of 2008 as a not-just-for-profit entity to act as the technology transfer recipient for the Aprovecho Research Center. ARC has worked for 30 years to design and build improved cook stoves and has completed over 100 projects in 60 countries. ARC designed StoveTec stoves with cooks to assure that cooks all over the world would love the stove.

StoveTec Stoves use 40-50% less fuel and reduce emissions by 50-75% compared to cooking with an open fire or unimproved cook stove.

Each stove prevents 60%, or 1.5 tons, of green house gas emissions every year it is used.

You can purchase a Stovetec stove or donate stoves to a country in need by going here. More information on how they are used for humanitarian needs visit the Aprovecho website.

Matt came across this on youtube the other day. A type of rocket stove I think. It would be very cheap to make and operate.

A sawdust burning stove which burns smokeless, unattended for over 8 hours per charge. Perfect for a woodworking shop or other small space.

I did a little more research and found a great article on Mother Earth News on building sawdust stoves. Here is the link to the article.

Alice found this one. These are designed and made by Kisangani Smith Group in Tanzania. They have a sustainable forestry and teach youth blacksmithing skills.

If you live in a small space you need a way to heat and cool the space one way is through efficient space heaters. Todd Erend contacted me about his company called Climate Right and they have recently developed a heating/cooling unit made specifically for small spaces. I am going to let Todd tell you more about it.

There is now a solution for heating and cooling small enclosures economically and easily. A company called Tacom Limited in Columbus, Ohio, manufactures and distributes this unit, which they call Climate Right.

The unit runs on standard wall socket (extension cord) power and pulls so little energy that they say you can let it run 24/7 for a cost of about $10/month. Climate Right both heats and cools, and also dehumidifies any small indoor or outdoor enclosure up to 9′ by 9′.

You set it down, turn it on, set the temperature and that is about it. The unit recycles the room air, and heats or cools it to about the temperature you want it.

The unique thing about Climate Right is that it is made specially for small spaces, and both heats and cools. It can be set automatically keep steady the environment. You do not need to oversee it, or constantly adjust it. Other heaters or air conditioners either overpower the space, or are not reliable to leave alone.

This unit is safe (no risk of getting too hot) and eco-friendly (no flourocarbon emissions). The company says it can operate continuosuly for less than $10/month, so it is economical. The manufacuturer offers a one-year warranty on all parts and replacement if anything goes wrong.

To get the full details and learn if this is the right heater/cooler for you go to the Climate Right website.

Hey Kent,

First off, thank you for this opportunity as guest article-author on your blog, and and additional thanks to yourself, and the others out there (Janzen, Kahn, Stiles, Pino, etc) who have been very helpful and supportive of what I’m doing (in regards to my 100% independent tiny housing book, and video/tv show).

As for the “Tiny Yellow House” series on youtube, the vegetable oil space heater (woodstove alternative) that was briefly shown in Episode #2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmR3kx660gw is something that I understand you (as well as I) have gotten a ton of email questions on.

All in all, since its rather difficult to just blurt out every constructive detail of the heater, I’ve sent you a hand sketched diagram of it instead, that was drawn as part of my follow-up to the book “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks…” which I’m still working on as we speak…er…as I type. The sketch, albeit busy and detail laden, should help give people the general idea I came up with, and I’m sure there ultimately will be twenty better ways to build this thing. All in all, while using a multi-wick system (more flames = more heat), this veggie-oil heater gives off a rather decent amount of heat that should be adequate for well-sealed tiny cabins, or should at least prolong your season or stay in a cabin, depending on your climate, naturally.
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