Originally Posted by tony1679
After doing years of homework on this subject, we've determined we absolutely could live in a tiny home (definitely NOT a sailboat), and plan to do so in the future.
Off grid is NOT an option though. Solar is a complete waste here. 3"+ hailstones don't play nice with them. I'd like to try wind, but it just seems too unreliable and costly.
That said, based on some very interesting first-hand experiments, we can't live in a typical tiny home. 4" plywood on the roof, >R100 under the roof (or spray-in)... that kind of excessive. This allows you to save money elsewhere, such as HVAC. You won't need a 3.5 ton unit in that home, unlike my current house, which is actually undersized and struggles in the peak of summer. I'm seriously considering not even using a central system. One or two "window units" should be plenty... but I'd build themninto a wall. In the window is stupid... You'll also save on electrical costs. You won't need 25 different circuits and 5000 feet of 12-2. This also saves on windows (fewer of them), roof materials (won't need a whole pallet of shingles)...you get the idea. If everything goes according to plan, or even allowing a 15% margin of error, this should be
Considering I'm currently in a 1,775 square foot house that was entirely made by a carpenter (stellar framing, but a carpenter isn't an electrician, plumber, etc. and doesn't even remotely consider efficiency), yeah, all the other departments are horrible. My windows are original to the house. 1961. The best things about this house (aside from the framing) are things I've upgraded. I've converted 98% of lights to LED to de-stress this ancient, dangerous electrical system, added [a little] extra insulation, etc. So not much. That said, my electric bill last month in the peak of summer was $92. Yeah, less than $100. And I keep my thermostat at 73°. So if done correctly, I fully expect
I'd love to live out in the middle of nowhere, but I'm realistic. I'm not getting younger, and will probably need to be somewhat close to a hospital in my later years, so location is the last remaining question. I refuse to live somewhere where I can't pee off my porch, haha. Still haven't figured it out.
Moral of the story. It can be done. It should be done by the masses. But assessing your needs and living within them isn't a strong suit for 99.999999% of the world. Look at all of the 2,500+ square foot cookie-cutter junk "smart" houses with the super wasteful vaulted ceilings being built six inches apart from each other. It's maddeningly wasteful, and people wilingly dive head first into that side of the spectrum. Why not the small, efficient side? People love the image of living rich. Why not BE rich by NOT being house poor?
My wife and I had a custom 2940 square foot home built on 5 acres. We did 6" studs, Rockwool insulation, plywood, cedar, no OSB crap, impact resistant windows... . We keep our thermostat set at 75 in the summer and the highest electric bill we've had was $106. No solar, no wind turbine, just built super efficient.
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