Building a Shipping Container Home | EP05 Connecting to Electricity and Water

In this episode of Building a Shipping Container Home I will start by going over to connect a shipping container to water and electricity. I will also show how I added mechanical systems to heat and cool the shipping containers with mini split ductless heat pumps.

Link to the drawings for the container house: https://www.themodernhomeproject.com/#/floorplans/

This is going to be a technical episode covering some boring but really important topics:

How to transform raw land to house with utilities
I looked at a lot of different properties on Zillow and got frustrated but the lack of information provided about utility hook ups. I found that getting the APN# and reaching out directly to the providers was the quickest way to get solid answers.

An overview of the electrical systems
I went all electrical for everything including cooking, heating, cooling, and hot water. Gas systems can be really efficient but that involves installing different infrastructure and I like having all the power one system.

How I connected the shipping containers to the electrical grid
We connected the house to electrical pole that was about 70 feet away from the house.

Why I went grid tied instead of off grid
I used a battery backup system from Goal Zero. They are not a sponsor, but I love how easy and versatile their products are.
https://www.goalzero.com/

An overview of plumbing systems
We used an Electric Tankless Water Heater by Rheem and it has been great!

Rheem Performance 27 kw Self-Modulating 5.3 GPM Electric Tankless Water Heater
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-27-kw-Self-Modulating-5-3-GPM-Electric-Tankless-Water-Heater-RETEX-27/300800755

Heating and air conditioning installation
I used the Home Services team from Home Depot to design and install Mitsubishi mini split ductless heat pumps. Here is a link to their site but I recommend calling 1-800 HOME DEPOT to get a free in home consultation.
https://www.homedepot.com/services/
During the free in-home consultation, their experts will provide multiple options based on your comfort and efficiency priorities as well as your budget. Minisplit units can start as low as $3,000-6,000 for a single head, which can often heat and cool a tiny house the size of a shipping container.

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#shippingcontainerhome
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Here are the components of the system we installed:
THE EQUIPMENT INSTALLED FOR THIS PROJECT WAS 2 MITSUBISHI MULTI ZONE DUCTLESS MINI SPLITS

ONE SYSTEM WAS A 2 ZONE HP SYSTEM WITH THE OUTSIDE UNIT MXZ-2C20NAHZ2
INDOOR UNITS
1ea. MSZ-GL09NA & 1ea. MSZ-GLO6NA

ONE SYSTEM WAS A 3 ZONE HP SYSTEM WITH THE OUTSIDE UNIT MXZ-3C30NAHZ2
INDOOR UNIT
1ea. MSZ-GL09NA & 1ea. MSZ-06NA AND A 12K CEILING MOUNT CASSETT (MODEL NUMBER UNKNOWN )

Link to the company i bought my shipping containers from: https://www.containerdiscounts.com/buy-shipping-containers-and-build-a-container-home

Link to my electric motorcycle / motorbike
https://www.onyxmotorbikes.com/

This project was sponsored by home depot
Shop the Container Home: https://www.homedepot.com/c/openhouse
Explore the Container Home: http://www.uncontained.house/

Follow us on instagram for project updates: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminuyeda/

link to my architecture firm:
https://zeroenergy.com/

resources i use for research:
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heat-pump-systems/ductless-mini-split-heat-pumps
https://www.buildingscience.com/

#ShippingContainerHome
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