Thermal Mass vs Insulation
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to write more on specific tiny house design considerations. This first post is about two things that often get confused, thermal mass and insulation. Both can help regulate the temperature inside a home throughout the seasons but they work in very different ways. Together they can provide the best performance for keeping your home comfortable.
Sawtooth Saltbox
The following is a guest post and house design from one of my regular readers, Craig Moorhouse. As you can see the design isn’t exactly tiny but contains so many great ideas and detail I asked Craig if for permission to share it with you. Thanks again Craig!
I sent a handful of Google SketchUp drawings of a modular container home concept that I’ve had for a few months now to Michael at his Tiny Home Design website. The home has a floor plan of just under 1000 sq. ft and isn’t tiny (or small for that matter) but Michael found worth in these drawings because of the work I put into the home’s detail and because it showcases the possibilities of what can be done with this 3 dimensional drawing tool.
Usonian Inspired Home by Joseph Sandy
Usonian homes were originally the invention of Frank Lloyd Wright with the first example, The Jacobs House, which was completed in 1937. He imagined these as small low-cost single-family homes that were designed unlike many of the common homes of the day. Like most of Wright’s work Usonian homes inspired much of what is considered modern architecture today.
Usonian homes featured flat roofs, open living areas, small bedrooms, limited storage space, a passive solar design, and were often “L” shaped to provide a central exterior courtyard. While there were few Usonian homes built by Wright they have inspired architects and designers interested in frugality for decades. Joseph Sandy just posted this small 350 square-foot home on his blog which was inspired by the Usonian concept. Here is a sample of Joseph’s design.
