SafeT Homes

**SARKY** · 05-30-2013, 12:35 AM

I just found this web site www.sukup.com . They make farm equipment and grain silos. One of their products is called a SafeT home which is a short grain silo with a door and windows. It is 18 feet in diameter and 8 feet from ground to bottom of roof edge. This is something you could put together yourself. It looks like it would make a great wilderness cabin. It even has water catchment built in.

**Winnie** · 05-30-2013, 03:59 AM

Hey! where you been?

I want one of those, not sure what I'd do with it, but I want one nonetheless.

**Rick** · 05-30-2013, 06:21 AM

You gotta love a company that thinks out of the box AND has a sense of humor. Cool product.

**SARKY** · 05-30-2013, 11:24 AM

Life, just dragging me to and fro. They make up to 48 foot diameter silos so I see no reason why they couldn't homes up to that size. The 48 footer would be about 1900 sqft of floor space. not bad.

**1stimestar** · 05-30-2013, 12:11 PM

Cool. Like a metal yert.

**hunter63** · 05-30-2013, 12:16 PM

There was a write up in the latest Mother Earth News about these.......so ya beat me too it...but yeah great idea....was thinking in the lines of storm shelter?
Thanks for posting.

**finallyME** · 05-30-2013, 04:18 PM

That is kinda cool.

**hunter63** · 05-30-2013, 04:48 PM

Trick is to find furniture and cabinets with curved backs, to fit......Looked into domes years ago....was a common problem to fit stuff in or you had a lot of wasted space.

**Rick** · 05-30-2013, 07:46 PM

And forget finding a corner to pee in. Moving right along.....

I wonder if you could bury that thing and use the top as an access with ladder? Hmmmmm.

**Jimin** · 05-30-2013, 08:41 PM

This is actually really cool! Does it come in blue??

**SARKY** · 05-30-2013, 08:43 PM

Paint it what ever color you want! I asked them if it could be earth bermed, still waiting for an answer.

**intothenew** · 05-30-2013, 09:02 PM

Keep in mind that silos are used at ambient temp, inside as well as outside of course. Heated internally, cooking with any heat source(especially propane or natural gas), even body evap especially when sleeping, will cause condensation. That shelter will sweat like a.....a.....well....a fallen flower in church.

Ever woke up with your hair, or socks, frozen to the wall?

**hunter63** · 05-30-2013, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by intothenew

.......

Ever woke up with your hair, or socks, frozen to the wall?

Yeah, but that was in a tent......buddies teeth were froze in the glass on the floor.

Tin/metal buildings are like that with condensation....and are noisy when the sun heats the out side up, when the inside is still cooler.

**George Harkenrider** · 05-30-2013, 09:08 PM

Originally Posted by intothenew

Ever woke up with your hair, or socks, frozen to the wall?

Thats why I quit using dome tents

**intothenew** · 05-30-2013, 09:24 PM

Tents, dome or otherwise, should be lined either inside or out.

A four season dome will have adjustable vents on the tent proper and a full vented fly.

For a four season tent, I prefer a lined mil gp.

You can help things some, with a less than adequate shelter, by using fan fold insulation. You still need to assure air flow between that and the structure proper. The latent heat of evaporation, and phase change, is a lose lose situation.

**old2531** · 07-17-2013, 12:01 AM

solar cells and heaters on roof wouldnt hurt

**Mr Jim** · 08-26-2014, 10:11 PM

The Safe T Home mentioned by Sarky (At Sukup's website) looks remarkably similar to a design that is found at the following link www.architecturebysynthesis.com in the site's portfolio section This design has been copyrighted for many years. The similarity of this design to "The Safe T House is certainly a remarkable conincidence. The designer at the above website has done extensive work over the years to create insulated versions that maintain even temperatures and use minimal energy for heating in cold and warm climates. As can be seen on this site, the designer has developed multiple uses and applications and variations on the design. The creative use of the grain bin form can be used not only for simple, quick housing creation, it can also be used in commercial applications and additional modules can be added as needed.

I am sure that the designer of the structures at architecture by synthesis could provide some very enlightening information regarding the history of the relationship between himself, "Sukup" and his original designs.