About a month ago, I brainstormed a list of what I love about our house. I promised to come up with another list, one that addresses what we would have done differently (and/or simply remembered to do). Here goes:

1. Venting. Air exchange keeps moisture and carbon monoxide levels down, especially important in a well-insulated tiny house with draft-free windows. We didn't start looking at ventilation systems until we started building; then, we looked at a few units that were too pricey, too big or too something else. We just kept building, and stopped trying to figure out how air was going to move in and out of our house in winter. We have no exhaust fan in the bathroom for shower moisture, no hood to vent when cooking and, most critically, no air exchange unit for the winter when all the windows are shut. Don't do what we did! When our CO detector goes off (and it does periodically), we have to open windows and doors, no matter how cold it is, to vent the house. We're finally getting around to a retrofit, and just had an EVR air exchanger (a Vents TwinFresh Comfo "single-room reversible energy regeneration ventilator") shipped to us. We'll let you know how that goes in another blog.

2. Winter-proofing our water supply. Last winter, we blogged about our "water woes." We never got around to undergrounding the water hose running from our neighbor's house, and we hadn't insulated the faucet where the water comes into our house or the pipe that runs water under the floor to the kitchen. The result? No running water once the freeze set in. One winter of hauling in water was enough to get our attention. Don't do what we did! (I'm repeating myself). First off, we know now that the pipe running to the kitchen could have easily been a heated potable water hose in place of the pipe. End of story. And we'll do that eventually, but for now we better insulated the pipe and put a light bulb in the channel where it runs to add a little heat. As for the rest of our water setup, we installed three 78-gallon  barrels inside an insulated, heated box, which get filled from our friends spring fed water supply through a hose, as needed. That water runs to our house through an insulated, underground hose. Where the hose comes out of the ground, we wrapped heat tape to keep it from freezing. The faucet now has an insulated box, too. The result? Running water, even on the 8 degree day last month.

3. Heating. We were so excited about buying our beautiful Kimberly wood stove that we neglected to give much thought to heating. Were we really going to keep the stove burning 24/7 through the winter? Nope. So, we plugged in a space heater and set it at a base temperature, using the wood stove when we were here to bring up the temperature. But one heater didn't do the trick. So we plugged in another at the other end of the house. They suck electricity and they take up floor space--not exactly an elegant solution for heating a tiny house. With a little research, we realized we could save both energy and floor space with a wall-mounted convection heater. So far, we've installed one Envi heater in our bathroom, and we love it. Time to order a second one and get rid of the last space heater. Finding wall space and retrofitting the wiring is a lot harder than it would have been to plan for them from the start.

4. Undercoating/flashing. Because we didn't plan on moving our house, we decided not to pay for underside metal flashing. Instead we brushed Thompson's water seal on plywood to have a waterproof base to the house. On top of that went the floor joists. Though we haven't had moisture issues in the house (knock on wood), I've heard enough sad stories about mold that on a do-over we would do a lot more to create a moisture barrier under the house. (For example, Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life, put a lot more thought into moisture issues from the start of his build.)  At this point, with the house seated inside a wrap-around deck, our options are limited. Current plan for the spring: 1. Put some gravel down and cover it with tarps/plastic. The idea here is to prevent moisture from coming up out of the ground and to give any ground water a place to run under the tarp.  2. Re-seal the plywood (and the trailer metal) with either Flex Seal, more Thomson's or....(We're still researching this.) 

5. Ceiling panels. We decided to use light-weight panels for the ceiling, thinking it would make things fast and easy for the two of us lifting and attaching them. We went too light-weight. We have gentle waves in our ceiling. I really don't notice them any more, but I wouldn't do the same thing. Bill would use light-weight drywall if he were picking out a ceiling now. I've seen so many beautiful ceilings of reclaimed wood, that's the way I'd go on a do-over. It would require more time upfront cutting and attaching each board, but when you add in all the time we've spent trying to get the panels to lay flat and caulking and repainting cracks between them, they weren't the "easy" fix we thought they were. 

6. Bracing the stove pipe. Maybe we won't get three feet of snow again, but we did last year. The snow was heavy enough to push the stove pipe, unseal the hole around it and pull it out of its connection to the stove inside the house. In addition to fixing the damage, we now have a stainless steel brace that securely anchors the pipe to the roof of the house. 

Those are the big ones. As I think of more odds and ends, I'll add them. The big lesson for us was keeping ahead of the stage we were at. The good news: there are a lot of resources out there to help you do just that, and that will be the topic of an upcoming blog...

Yesterday, I came across a journal I started January 1st, two years ago. At the time, we had built the shell of our house, but had stopped work on the house in December. It was just too cold to enjoy the build.

So, we stayed warm inside a rented studio space—and researched and shopped and sketched out interior plans. We ordered our Kimberly woodstove, Dometic alcohol-burning stove, Eco-Privy kit and our SolSolutions solar generator. We resumed our tiny house build in April of 2015, and it took just three months to finish the interior space. We moved in that August.

This New Year marked our 18th month of living in the house. I'm happy to report we love it even more than the day we moved in. Yes, there are some things we would do differently (see below), but there's so much that makes living here better than any of our previous houses. We've learned it's absolutely possible for two adults to live comfortably in an intentionally designed, 250-square-foot space. 

Now, a list of the first ten why-I-love-my-house reasons that come to mind: 

1. Cleaning and upkeep. In a half-hour I can vacuum, dust, wash dishes and do any general tidy-ing up needed. No stairs to run up and down (as in our previous houses), no unused space to maintain. 

2. Climate control. When it's hot, our many windows (including six clerestory windows) plus three ceiling fans keep us compfortable. It doesn't hurt that we're on the side of a mountain with trees for partial shade. In the winter, the clerestory windows let the warmth of the sun into our space. For cold winter nights, our wood stove keeps things cozy. The rest of the time an oil-filled, radiant heater is enough to keep things at a base temperature. (More soon on the new heater we're installing.)

3. Light. With three glass doors and 11 windows, our space is light-filled even in winter. And I'm someone who needs sunlight! 

4. Seamless indoor/outdoor space. The windows also make the forest feel like an extention of our living space. Having three exterior doors means we can be outside in a second from anywhere in the house. And with a deck wrapping around three sides of the house, we walk out the doors to rocking chairs, an herb garden and spaces to grill and eat. 

5. Ground-level sleeping. Yes, our bed takes up significant floor space, but I'm happy we don't climb a ladder to get to bed. And Bill is especially happy not to sleep in a confined space. Lofts work wonderfully for many people; they're just not for us.

6. A spacious kitchen. We have a giant sink, which we use all the time whether doing the dishes, washing things out, soaking labels off beer bottles (for homebrewing!), etc. We can put butcher block inserts over the sink for more counter space, but even without the inserts we have abundant open counter space, because our dining table doubles as an extension of the counter. With more than four feet of space between the counter and the opposite wall, nothing feels cramped in the kitchen area.

7. Extending over the sides of the trailer. For people not planning on moving a house much (or at all), it makes such a difference going wider than the 8.5-foot width of a trailer. Tiny houses that stay inside the wheel wells, are even narrower, with about 7 feet of interior width. Our house is more than 11-feet wide inside. Yes, we'd need a "wide load" permit to move this house, but we'll deal with that if/when the need arises.

8. Shower elbow room. We could have saved space in the bathroom by going with a smaller shower, but we're happy we didn't. Our 54" x 24" stall feels just right, and we're generally happy with the corrugated metal walls in the shower.

9. High shelves. I kept a lot more things than true minimalists do. I have my grandmothers' china and silver, my uncle's old books, souveneirs from our travel, beautiful artwork by my sister Jill Jensen and much, much more. Some of these "treasures" sit on shelves over the bedroom windows. More on shelves over the kitchen windows and more still on shelves over the TV and sofa. Though we have a lot packed into this house, we have sufficient storage for non-decorative items, and we work to keep the house uncluttered otherwise.

10. Our screen house. OK, techinically this isn't part of the house, but our 160-square-foot, freestanding screen porch is a big part of why our house doesn't feel small. In good weather, we spend much of the day in this open-air space. Built partially out of reclaimed materials and left primitive (no electricity, no running water), it was cheap and quick to build. It feels as though we're sitting in the middle of the forest—just without the bugs or rain.

Are there things we would do differently? Yes! And that will be the subject of a future blog...

Please click on the pictures below for more details.

We had a massive house to heat in Philadelphia six winters ago. Consequently, our gas bill for January 2011 was $523. We also used our mini-split system for supplemental heating as needed, running our gas and electric total up to $704. And that was after we spent $30,000 replacing all the old, drafty windows in the house.

​This January, our total utility bill should be about $35. That's the difference going tiny can make.

What keeps us warm here on the mountain as the temps drop?

A woodstove. When we told one friend we paid more than $4K for our woodstove, he told us that was more than he paid for his car. Do you have to pay that much for a woodstove? No. Are sorry we did? Also, no. Ours is a Kimberly woodstove from Unforgettable Fire. It's pretty (that matters!), it's efficient, and it's easy to use and clean. An added bonus: we can cook on top of it. We supplement wood found on our property with kiln-dried logs we cut down to size. (That adds another $10 to our monthly "energy" bill.) 

Radiant space heater. The Kimberly keeps things as toasty as we could want. But. We can't keep a wood stove burning when we're not here (nor would we want to!). We keep a DeLonghi oil-filled radiator (aka space heater) running at around 60 degrees when we're not here. A little higher when we're just stepping out (64 degrees) and higher still when we're here (as high as 70). When the Kimberly's running, the space heater doesn't kick on. This has been a cold month; monitoring the heater reveals it's costing us close to $30 a month.

Convection heater. We just ordered the Envi panel heater, which is designed to be an efficient room heater for up to 130 square feet. We're hoping it's going to replace the radiant space heater and use less electricity. We'll mount it in the bathroom—the opposite side of the house from the woodstove. 

Sunlight. On the south side of our house, 8 windows and a sliding glass door allow winter's low midday sun to warm the house, while roof overhangs block much of the sun when it's higher in the sky in summer. (Our Jeld-Wen windows and door are double-paned with gas between the panes to improve thermal performance.)

Rugs and slippers. We put a couple layers of rigid foam insulation between the floor joists. Still, the floor is by far the coldest zone of the house. Rugs on the floor make a big diffence. So, do slippers. We can also use the ceiling fans to circulate warm air down. 

Wool blankets. We keep a thick Pendleton blanket on the sofa, where we usually sit. Putting the blanket across our laps means we don't need to heat up the entire house when we want a little more warmth. Another wool blanket and a down comforter let us keep the heat lower at night, too.

Hot water. A hot shower is just the right ticket on a cold damp day, but we don't keep our hot water heater on all the time. It just takes 30 minutes to warm the water, so we flick on the heater a half hour before we shower. Even then, we don't heat more water than we need. Our 12-gallon Whirlpool tank provides a six-minute, hot, full-pressure shower. We've found that's enough time for a satisfying shower. We keep a smaller heater (2.5 gallon Bosch) on all the time under the sink, so there's always hot water for washing.

There's always more we could do; I'll save that for another post. Please click on the pictures below for additional details.