House vs Camper

[mariesnowgoose]

I wonder if one way of living may be be a bit greener than the other?

I guess once a house is built, if it's a modern one and follows all the 'eco' guidelines such as facilities for recycling grey water, insulation, heating etc., then it ought to be gentler on the environment & waste fewer resources than older 'inefficient' houses that take a lot of heating etc.

How would a motorhome compare side-by-side, or is that just a silly comparison that can't be done and v. tricky to measure? I know it's a complicated subject, but I have a tendency to ponder daft things like this from time to time

For example, if you know you do a certain number of miles every year in your camper, how does burning engine fuel, maybe gas for cooking & heating, use & charging of leisure batteries (solar, mains or by running engine) and all the other 'energy burning' devices we use compare with staying at home in a typical house when it comes to our 'pollution' footprint?

I would love to think that you can be a bit greener by being on the road. Seems an oxymoron, I know... is it just wishful thinking?

Answers on a postcard, as usual :lol-053:

 

[Debs]

Time to get yer togs on, get yer tools and go and do some gardening. :lol-049:

 

[guerdeval]

Well this is a can of worms, a house 'can' be environmentally neutral but probably never is, the basics, ie bricks, plastics, wiring etc have a cost but following that,with enough solar panels and a reed bed sewage system and a spring you could get pretty close to leaving this Earth in a better state than when you arrived and if mankind is still in charge of this planet (and I for one hope not) in a few centuries time we may all achieve this nirvana.
Motorhomes, well there's the thousands of polluting parts to start with, many made in China or Eastern Europe using low cost labour but of course that's of no concern to us or the natural habitats destroyed in the process. Despite protestations on this site there is always a cost with follow on things like waste disposal, water supply etc but as long as it's a cost to someone else we can again ignore it. What we cann't ignore is the thousands of miles travelled just for the fun of it which a house doesn't require. So, I would argue in favour of the house being more environmentally friendly as it will last for another generation or two so I think instead of pondering life, the universe and everything you should get on with the housework.:lol-053:

 

[mariesnowgoose]

:lol-049::lol-049::lol-049:

Housework? Housework?! How dare you use swear words like that!

You're spot on Debs, I'm going slightly stir crazy with all this frozen weather and short, dark days

See you at Moffat?

 

[Nabsim]

I believe I saw something for an upcoming program on tv or a news article about the country’s (?) first environmentally neutral new house somewhere near Macclesfield. I may be wrong, (often am) though. The camper would win hands down against a house Marie, you don’t need to drive it. Then again you could well insulate a shipping container or build a hobbit hole house

 

[Channa]

I would think a log cabin somewhere would beat a conventional house and van

channa

 

[GeoffL]

FWIW, I had this discussion some years ago on a cycling forum! Someone suggested:

Of course if you want to minimize your carbon footprint, don't take unnecessary journeys whether it be by foot, bicycle, car, train or plane. Work from home and dig your allotment.

To which, I replied:

Someone once accused me (as a caravanner) of having a humongous carbon footprint each time I towed my tin tent a couple of hundred miles. They preferred to drive their small, economical car and stay in hotels. However, their argument went out of the window when I did some calculations as it turned out that running an average hotel room produces so much CO2 that a couple who caravan with a diesel Landcruiser have a smaller carbon footprint than a couple who stay in a hotel provided the journey is short enough (IIRC ~ 50 miles per night) without taking account of the hotel-users' mode of transport. So, a fortnight's caravan holiday towing with that Landcruiser probably has a smaller carbon footprint than a fortnight's cycle-touring staying in hotels!

It shouldn't surprise that the carbon footprint of most homes is larger per day than a hotel room. So shutting up home and going on an 'unnecessary' LeJogLe etc. more than probably reduces your carbon footprint. Of course, the key there is the prerequisite that (energy-wise) you shut your home down for the duration of those trips and hence it doesn't work if you 'leave the home fires burning'!

Since the carbon footprint of a motorhome is probably similar to that of a similarly sized caravan outfit, fulltiming in a motorhome should be 'greener' than a bricks-and-sticks existence!

 

[Nesting Zombie]

I’m not really qualified to give an opinion (Having NEVER ‘lived’ in a house my entire life) but from what I have seen it’s the inhabitants that let the ‘Eco’ side down as they either get Lazy or just don’t realise everyday things that Maybe Fulltime Traveling Livaboards are conscious of in everyday life.
Most Houses have at least Two Vehicles nowadays, They Leave Taps running unesassarily, Leave Hose pipes running when Watering the Flowers, The Lawn, or even washing the carS !, Not fixing that Leaky Tap Washer , Leaving the Heating On, Leaving The Hot Water On, Leaving Lights On, COVERING their house in Fairy lights at Christmas, Not really concerned with what happens to their Waste once it hits the wheely bin, Flushing a gallon at a time or more when having a pee, running the tap when brushing teeth or rinsing a Mug & So On...
So whatevervthe ‘Green Credencials’ of the House it’s probably the Occupiers that let the side down for convenients in their lives sake !.

 

[vwalan]

I’m not really qualified to give an opinion (Having NEVER ‘lived’ in a house my entire life) but from what I have seen it’s the inhabitants that let the ‘Eco’ side down as they either get Lazy or just don’t realise everyday things that Maybe Fulltime Traveling Livaboards are conscious of in everyday life.
Most Houses have at least Two Vehicles nowadays, They Leave Taps running unesassarily, Leave Hose pipes running when Watering the Flowers, The Lawn, or even washing the carS !, Not fixing that Leaky Tap Washer , Leaving the Heating On, Leaving The Hot Water On, Leaving Lights On, COVERING their house in Fairy lights at Christmas, Not really concerned with what happens to their Waste once it hits the wheely bin, Flushing a gallon at a time or more when having a pee, running the tap when brushing teeth or rinsing a Mug & So On...
So whatevervthe ‘Green Credencials’ of the House it’s probably the Occupiers that let the side down for convenients in their lives sake !.

but many houses have sceptic tanks or cess pits .. catch rain water for toilets and washing etc . some drink the rain water.
some have bore holes to underground water or natural springs .
solar is getting very common or small wind turbines .
its nice living in the country.
shame so many that get out and about in caravans and m,homes do make such a mess .
think its all about learning to be friendly to the country-side .
think training was never given to them by parents or schools etc.
shame so many waste so much doesnt matter if in a house or in a camper.
been like it for generations , certainly the late 50,s and onwards.

 

[silverweed]

I have noticed in recent years the absolute obsession with brick extensions and glass extensions on houses ranging from the posh to the not so posh sizes. This I think is the enemy of eco. I see a couple living in a house and they are still making it bigger, do we really all need so much space. More heating, more lighting, more furnishings. I looked at a new house the other year when my daughter moved and all three bedrooms had an on suite plus the family bathroom and the downstairs loo. REALLY!! Do we truly need that many bathrooms in a house, what a waste of space.

 

[yorkslass]

Something i've never understood about the older generation, they still want to live in property that's too large. Downsizing to a park type home/caravan/motorhome has got to be more eco friendly,
Something you do learn if you wild in a motorhome is to use your resources carefully. It probably never crosses most peoples minds how much is wasted. Something else that needs to be taught in school.
My grandparents and parents generation didn't enjoy the disposable income that a lot of people do today, so had to be careful with everything from power etc to repurposing clothing,and not wasting food.

 

[colinm]

Build a house the size of a motorhome and it will be better for the environment and could last for centuries.

 

[vindiboy]

Something i've never understood about the older generation, they still want to live in property that's too large. Downsizing to a park type home/caravan/motorhome has got to be more eco friendly,
Something you do learn if you wild in a motorhome is to use your resources carefully. It probably never crosses most peoples minds how much is wasted. Something else that needs to be taught in school.
My grandparents and parents generation didn't enjoy the disposable income that a lot of people do today, so had to be careful with everything from power etc to repurposing clothing,and not wasting food.

Well as an older person still living in a 4 bedroom property that is too big for the 2 of us I guess we fall into your category but we can afford to do that and still have a good life, we travel a lot in our Motorhome , would never contemplate a park home as they are far too expensive for what they are and one is at the mercy of the park owner , I would never feel that I owned the home if I had one as if the park owner decided that the park was to be sold / closed etc what is a pitchless park home worth, scrap value probably, and someone else would be making the rules that I would have to live under, , I know friends who have park homes, all started off lovely but over time the parks came under new owners and now friends are beginning to regret their decisions. not for us thank you.

We do not waste anything , never throw food away, shop frugally but live very well , have a reasonable Motorhome and a car, could easily buy new but see no point in that when what we have suits us ,have no debt, have savings and a good income from careful planing whilst working and have been retired for 19 years ,retiring at 55 cost me a lot of money in reduced pension but that was planned into the equation when I made my choice , but the nineteen years of freedom for us has been priceless and well worth doing, the thought that folks these days have to work till they are 70 fills me with dread.

I would however like to get some of the capital out off my property at some time but not yet , we will downsize at some point , but would miss our large garden and space we have where we live but realistically downsizing will be inevitable.

I am not particularly eco friendly as we have wood burning stoves in our home and burn wood , but whilst doing that our Gas central heating is not burning gas, [fossil fuel ]
and saving us a lot of money,our wood is scrap wood so that keeps it out of land fill, we have 6 rain water butts in the garden so use less water on garden watering we compost all our garden waste and veg peelings, our home is well insulated , double glazed and cavity insulated, I did away with the baths in our home and have only showers saving a huge amount of water there,so guess we are doing our bit ??

 

[mariesnowgoose]

Park homes have never, ever appealed to me.

I've always fancied a small house off the beaten track with a reasonable amount of land around it and maybe a barn or some sort of big workshed chucked in on the side for storing stuff and working in.

Housework is a necessary evil, small spaces are easier to maintain & clean imo, and I always prefer being outdoors and doing stuff in the natural environment when the weather is good anyway. In fact, the only reason I'm being a pain in the butt posting willy-nilly on the forums at the minute is because the weather is so rotten I can't get out to do any work anyway - and I'll do anything to put the housework off!

I still feel that the Indie-type projects springing up all over the place have got real legs for the future, especially for youngsters - and a few oldies, too! They won't appeal to the vast majority of folk, but as a way of re-thinking how we live our lives they're a pretty good way to go.

 

[vindiboy]

I recently built some decks , a shed and a play house den for my wife in our garden, I used 90% recycled wood , recycled doors and double glazed windows for these projects , I am fortunate in that we have an industrial estate near where we live and one warehouse imports containers and unload whatever is in them which include American cars. Harley Motorbikes ane all sorts of other stuff, these containers have lots of great timber in them used as dunnage, to help secure the loads, as these containers come from America, all this timber has been treated against insect pests as part of American law so the wood is great for building sheds etc and it is also great for my woodburners , it needs a bit of effort to collect but I have a trailer and lots of time.The doors and windows came from a nearby Double Glazing company who were glad to get rid of the doors and windows which came from properties where they had fitted new , I got all the wood , doors and windows for free.The cladding for the den was recycled wood, I had to buy the deck boards but all the sub frames for the deck and sheds was recycled wood . the most expensive thing for these projects was the deck screws of which I used hundreds, I also got the rolls of roofing felt from our local Council tip heavy duty for a few pounds so all in all I saved a lot of money, lost a fair bit of weight in the exercise and saved a lot of stuff from landfill, the cast aluminum furniture shown on the deck came from our local Freecycle Forum, it is amazing what some folks give away and are happy for someone to cart away.

 

[Robmac]

I would dearly love something like this;

Residential log cabin LANGON 66mm, 107m2

In fact, I would love it if ourselves, and my 2 sons and my daughter would pool our resources, buy a decent plot of land and build 4 of them. Perhaps even a shared swimming pool. Of course if one of them split with their partner, this would lead to legal issues, and of course the council would never pass the plans because they are not like other homes in the neighborhood, so it would never happen.

Plus, Julie said, "I ain't living in a bloody shed!"

So that's that - another dream shattered! sigh...

 

[Wooie1958]

I would dearly love something like this;

Residential log cabin LANGON 66mm, 107m2

In fact, I would love it if ourselves, and my 2 sons and my daughter would pool our resources, buy a decent plot of land and build 4 of them. Perhaps even a shared swimming pool. Of course if one of them split with their partner, this would lead to legal issues, and of course the council would never pass the plans because they are not like other homes in the neighborhood, so it would never happen.

Plus, Julie said, "I ain't living in a bloody shed!"

So that's that - another dream shattered! sigh...

Rob, apologies if i`m being stupid but why is the Winter Sales deal £22.499.00 dearer than the Price after Winter Sales £19,999.00 :rolleyes2:

 

[mariesnowgoose]

I would dearly love something like this;

Residential log cabin LANGON 66mm, 107m2

In fact, I would love it if ourselves, and my 2 sons and my daughter would pool our resources, buy a decent plot of land and build 4 of them. Perhaps even a shared swimming pool. Of course if one of them split with their partner, this would lead to legal issues, and of course the council would never pass the plans because they are not like other homes in the neighborhood, so it would never happen.

Plus, Julie said, "I ain't living in a bloody shed!"

So that's that - another dream shattered! sigh...

Yup. That would do me fine

 

[Robmac]

Rob, apologies if i`m being stupid but why is the Winter Sales deal £22.499.00 dearer than the Price after Winter Sales £19,999.00 :rolleyes2:

View attachment 69468

Dunno Graham, hadn't spotted that.

I reckon you can double the price for a turnkey version of the building though. Perhaps more depending on the spec I suppose.

Still cheap housing though if maintained properly.

 

[Robmac]

Yup. That would do me fine

Loads of smaller versions at half that price for a couple as well Marie.

Believe me, I've looked longingly at all of them. Would suit a nice location in Scotland.