Small Living Journal

I’m excited to announce the launch of a new bi-weekly webzine called the Small Living Journal: the focus is on the small home movement.

The brainchild of Stephanie Reiley of the Coming Unmoored blog and a group of small living advocates, designers, and bloggers. The initial writers are Stephanie Reiley, Greg Johnson, Michael Janzen, Tammy from RowdyKittens, Hillary from ThisTinyHouse, Amanda from Constructing a Simpler Life, and Kent Griswold.

The first issue is an introduction of the members and how they became interested in the tiny house movement. The next issue on April 8 will focus on downsizing.

Go and check this out. I think you will find this another useful resource in your quest for living small. Be sure and sign up to the RSS feed or join the email list so you don’t miss an issue.

Will’s Tarleton

Will Pedersen from Abbotsford, BC, Canada is just finishing his Tumbleweed Tarleton.

It has taken Will about 5 months, working mostly by himself, to construct this masterpiece. Will has mostly adhered to the Tumbleweed plans and used materials that are available and in stock at local lumber/hardware stores. The windows, door and countertop are all custom made. Will says that he just loves the feel and design of the house.

Will has done most of the work himself, except for the hookup of the water and drain lines where a plumber friend assisted him. He also hired someone to do the electrical work and install the lights and outlets and hook the house up to the grid. You can view some pictures of the construction on the Tiny House Blog.

Will kept track of his expenses and lists them here: (Click on image to enlarge)

Approximate cost U.S. Dollars is $13,500. Of course this will vary across the country, but gives you a good idea of what to expect here in the U.S.

Will took lots of pictures during his construction and you can view pictures of the process at Will’s project on Flickr.

Will lives and works at Glen Valley Organic Farm, a cooperatively owned farm in Abbotsford, BC. The co-op wants people to work and live here, but only one single family house (already housing 5 people) is permitted on the 50 acre farm. So, a small mobile house is a perfect solution to farmer housing. The co-op sells at farmer’s markets in the greater Vancouver area (carrots, potatoes, beets, strawberries, raspberries and more).

Cooling Your Tiny House

Last week we looked at four ways to heat your tiny house and the question was brought up as to what is the best way to cool a tiny house in a hot climate. I thought we would look at a few options available to the tiny house builder to keep your home cool.

Jay Shafer lives in a very mild climate in Northern California and he uses just a small fan for cooling in his loft at night on those warm days. However, if you live where you have extreme hot weather you will need more than a fan! [Read more]

Heating Your Tiny House

Four Ways to Heat Your Tiny House

When you build your own Tumbleweed, heat is one issue you need to think about. The type of heating you choose will depend upon where the final destination of your tiny house will be.

Normal central heat or large wood stoves, etc., just produce too much heat for your small space. So what are some of your options? In this article we will look at some ideas for using four types of heat. Wood, gas, propane and electric heat.

Wood

The original Very Small Woodstove is the Jotul 602, from Norway. This model is a mere 12 inches wide, 19 inches deep. They are found most often in cottages and cabins in the woods, where the 602’s good looks are a highlight. It’s been around almost forever. Although very small it can heat amazingly well.

Jotul 602
12 x 19
$700

Available from Jotul
[Read more]