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.
Tiny Dogtrot House – Part 2
I got so much great feedback on the last Tiny Dogtrot House design concept that I decided to whip up a revision. Below is a slightly modified variation that now includes a screened porch between the two 8′ by 12′ sheds, a solar box around the water tank, radiant floor heating, and a tiny gap between the roofs of the two sheds. Justin at materialicious reminded me that a true dogtrot house has a contiguous roof. I wanted the two buildings to be independent structures; so I figure a tiny 2-inch gap seems like a reasonable compromise.
In addition to the porch and tank changes I extended the deck and roof a little too. It seems like a good idea to have a screened porch for buggy days and nights but it also seems like a good idea to have an open deck for sitting outside under the stars. Continue Reading »
Improved Solar Panel Set-Up
Honestly I’m trying to keep this simple, no really. I could just slap an RV photovoltaic (PV) panel rack on the roof and be done with it but it just seems like that would be harder to live with day-in and day-out. PV panels need to be kept clean and tilted toward the sun to be most efficient. So it seems reasonable that a mobile tiny house should have some kind of flexible mount that is easily accessed, quickly deployed, adjusted, stored for transport, and mounted in a way that makes it hard to steal.
After posting a few other ideas and listening to all the great feedback I think I have stumbled on a really simple solution that meets all the requirements I just mentioned and could be built out of 2×4s, a sheet of plywood, and door hinges. I think these sketches illustrate the simple idea. In fact I think Kieran might have suggested this and I’m just now figuring it out. But thanks to everyone for all the great input. It all added up to this latest design.
Above: The panels mounted to a bi-fold set of 2×4 frames, folded away for transport.
Below: The panels folded out toward the glass-side of the house, assuming that side is facing the sun. The panels themselves would be mounted to a metal rack with hinges at the top so they can pivot up. A piece of wood or metal could be used to hold the panels at the correct angle.
Above: Now the bi-fold mount is opened to face the other direction assuming that the homeowner wants the windowless side of the house to face the sun, like during in the hottest days of summer.
I think this could actually be built easily and inexpensively. It could also be added to virtually any tiny house design. PV panels come in a lot of different sizes so before constructing the frame you’d want to buy your panels and build the frame to fit. If you’re handy with a welder it would actually be better to build this out of metal, but 2×4s with ample cross-bracing would work too, especially it you boxed the 2×4 frame in with exterior grade plywood. The whole thing would be fairly heavy so use heavy duty door hinges. So… did I solve the solar panel mounting issue? Please let me know.
Oh… as far as wind power and this tiny solar house, I think I’m going to have to leave that out because from what I’ve read you really need a tall pole and guide wires for a wind turbine. This would be very difficult to add to a mobile tiny house. I suspect a wind turbine installation is just as permanent as a micro-hydro set-up. Please chime in if you know of a mobile solution.
