Wash.
Pump showers
Solar water heating
Solar distillation
Carry it. Pump it. Heat it.
See the system →Systems for a small shelter
Opt out
Free plans and guides for the systems
that make a shelter work without the grid
or the pipe.
- Water
- Heat
- Cold
- Cooking
- Washing
- Waste
The whole shelter
everything
a shelter
needs.
Nothing it needs to connect to.Off gridpower
heat
cold
cooking
Off pipewater
washing
sanitation
wastewater
Six ordinary needs
The systems.
Organized around what you need to do—not what you need to buy.
Keep warm.
Sand batteries
Open-vessel hydronic heat
Make heat when energy is available. Store it simply. Use it when it isn't.
See the system →Cook.
Insulated solar-electric cookers
Insulated ovens
Keep the heat in, and cooking begins to require much less energy.
See the system →Keep cold.
Built-in 12V chest refrigerators
Built-in 12V chest freezers
Top-opening. Highly insulated. Low voltage.
See the system →Go.
Compost toilets
Dry sanitation
Don't add water to what doesn't need it.
See the system →Return.
Constructed wetlands
Greywater treatment
Landscape reuse
Treat water close to where it was used and return it to the landscape.
See the system →Design principles
Built to be
understood.
- 01
Common parts.
Understandable, replaceable, adaptable.
- 02
Small loads.
Reduce the problem before increasing the system.
- 03
Low voltage where possible.
Keep useful systems close to the electricity the panels and batteries provide.
- 04
Store energy simply.
Water. Sand. Insulation. Thermal mass.
- 05
Separate systems.
A failure in one shouldn't take down the house.
- 06
Minimal supply chains.
Build from materials available almost anywhere.
- 07
Repair over replacement.
If you built it, you should have a reasonable chance of fixing it.
Plans, parts lists, diagrams + experiments
Free to build.
Plans, parts lists, diagrams, experiments and what we've learned.
Take them. Build them. Change them. Make them better.
Explore the guides →