Tiny House vs. RV Why?

[slowcowboy]

only problem if is snows for a few days.

on wind a lot of the times and no sun due to cloud over cast.

bettor have a way to fire up a gas generator.

slow

[logman7777]

Small House (500 sq ft) built to Code + specs , Petter diesel Genset, some solar panels 12 volt well pump and a big A** Pole Barn.. RV's are for travelling and houses are for Living IMHO..

[bobhenry]

Somebody mention rv insulation. The donar carcus for my tiny caboose house had about 1/2" of yellow spun fiberglass and a sheet of 1/2" insulboard laid in over an alumimum water and rock guard. What is the "R" value of that combo ?




That's one reason I am building my own little house

[loaderman]

For me in comes down to-
How portable does it need to be?

Moving far or often - trailer, can build with r20 foam insulation
Fairly permanent, maybe getting around codes - tiny house on wheels.

The only thing is the tiny house will probably be 3-5inches or so narrower because of the walls, not much but may make a difference in a small space.

[accrete]

Older thread but thought i'd put my 2 bits in : )

Short version: For my wife and i an RV because we wanted the option of placement in established resorts/parks that a "Tiny Home" would not be allowed when i did my research.

Long version:
My wife and i were getting tired of the 3 bedroom farmhouse on the acre of land...
The nest was empty thanks to the US Air Force taking good care of our two adult kids...
I spent many a day on the tinyhouse blog and similar sites dreaming of downsizing...

Then my wife caught the fever.

I started asking around the area at some of the local rv resorts as to what was allowed as we did not want to own land or traditional home and wanted to let "Good Sam" do the yardwork ; )

So after two years of research we purchased a nice 2006 (in fall of 2011) DRV Mobile Suite.

This is a shot off the web of our same interior on our 38 footer:



It has all the conveniences of our last home except no yard to maintain and the _view_ can be changed anytime we choose.

It is certainly built better than our old turn-of-the-century farm house. Steel frame/chassis and 3.5" walls with dual pane windows, central air, heat, vac, LED lighting, washer/dryer, etc... Power expense during the WET! Oregon Coast winter was ~15 lbs propane and ~800 KW of electricity for the coldest months... summer months have run Zero propane and ~200 KW electricity. WE LOVE the cozy comfort of the tiny interior, though by "Tiny House" standards it is palatial at 38ft long and full wall slides of both sides making the interior space a measured 14' wide.

New our unit sold for ~127K... we bought it from the original dealer for ~35K in pristine condition as the retired couple who owned it wanted a motor-home in trade. I could not have built such a quality "Tiny House" for this amount with the beauty of traditional hickory wood, corian counters, tile floors, etc for the same amount of $$ and then felt it was at all safe to tow down the road at ~18K lbs!! ( < We pay a buck a mile to a local when needed to move it...but we currently are enjoying seeing the flag of the 6th hole on the golf green out our kitchen windows : )

So there's my long version of why an RV for my wife and i.

Happy Trails,
Thom

[Bikerman]

Interesting thread!

I really miss my A frame right on the river, I could sit on the deck and flip a penny in the water less than twenty feet away. There was a large barn on the property for storage and it was a weekender just outside of town. Laid out pretty much as described above. Sold it a got a cabin at the lake, it's just under 1000 sq ft not counting a long sunroom addition and I lived in it for a few years. I found I only use the livingroom with a hide-a-bed couch, a small kitchen and bathroom, about 500 sq ft! The LV was 14x24 and with a wall of windows facing the water so it seemed huge in a way. All of this to say that while we get use to larger dwellings, you really don't actually use much space at all.

Tiny houses, on a trailer are unique. I think they can work well for some people, especially moving to financial freedom. IMO, they should be totally off the grid capable, a good battery bank and solar aray maybe wind as a backup, much like sailors employ.

I'm surprised no one mentioned "Park homes" smaller house trailer/mobile homes, manufactured small homes. I looked at one, they were asking 80K and rented the lot! That just doesn't cut it to me, you can buy a real home for that.

Financially, I believe utility bills will exceed many house payments, take a ranch style 1800 sq ft, with current rates you can have a payment under $400 easily. I'll bet in another 10 years it will cost $400 in this area for utilities on a 1800 sq ft home conventionally built. So, off the grid would be great, having a smaller foot print and cost to live.

As to which one, an RV or TH, whatever trips your trigger. Here, either one would be taxed as personal property, anything that is used as a living space can be considered a mobile home, wheels or not. Lowe's sells a small storage building where one is tricked out as a cabin.

Sorry, I'm rambling, I got up too early!

[cguardsman]

Its been a long time since i have been on here but this subject of tiny houses hit home a little over a year ago. I was faced with a divorce and having a job not the career and money I had once made. I began researching on what was the least expensive way I could build something to live in with most of the comforts of a regular house. Lucky for me my sister had property with little zoning and would allow me to put my tiny cabin on. I bought the shell of the building a 10x20 ft. lofted barn building that was metal sided and roofed already with r-7 insulation. The building was delivered to a gravel pad we had spread out. I proceeded to build out the inside first insulating to r-20 then for the walls used tongue and groove pine for the walls and galvinized roof tin for the ceiling. I of course wired it and hooked up to on-site electric. I put carpet in the front half and loft and where I slept then wood floor in the rest. I left room to add a small shower and toilet at a later date but was able to use my sisters cabin for the 9 months I lived in it full time. I will say this I had a storage building there for off season things and use of my sisters place for showering and such worked out great. My highest heating and cooling bill was $60. I have moved now but I still have the cabin for weekends only now it is on a piece of property I own at Truman Lake. The great thing was that I was able to have it moved for $300 and have it all set back up!