Shipping Container Homes

[MN Renovator]

Originally Posted by stevehull

These conversions are incredibly easy to heat and cool. With R-30 insulation, and controlled ventilation, a 12K BTU heater is enough to handle a 60 degree-day heating load in a single container. One problem with stacking them is that thermal stratification must be overcome with forced ventilation. Hard to find a small enough unit to do this.

An inverter mini-split allows for some very small loads and some can handle extreme cold conditions for heating too.

Shade for the summer and insulate well for all seasons.

If thermal stratification must be overcome, a ceiling fan with a loft configuration, or a ducted exhaust-type fan(Panasonic Whispergreen uses a miniscule amount of power) are low operating cost options and generally not that expensive of a purchase in general. A recovery ventilator with ductwork configured with thermal stratification in mind could handle part of this too. ...with that said, I live in a 4 level house and the thermal stratification thing seems to be a little overblown. In the winter, put most of your heat to the lower level, in the summer cool the upper level. I don't even do that in my house at all, the heat and cooling remain in the same configuration year round.