It all depends on what you want and need out of your house. I have a friend who lives in an upgraded rv. He works as a hiking climbing and rafting guide all over the country. For almost 10 years he just lived out of his truck. So his tiny home is huge compared to what he was used to. But he also spends the vast majority of his time outside. We just downsized our house by about half. And honestly it is more enjoyable."Tiny" must be around 400 sq ft by my rule....or less. Anything over that is considered a "real" home.
Think about it: 400 sq ft is a space 20' x 20' . The Jotul 602 will heat that.
But who really wants to live in a 20x20 space for life ? Maybe live alone, no partner, no kids, no dog.
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Tiny homes don't need to be for life, unless you like it a lot. They can be starter home, low income home, remote cabins, etc.. the design can also be modular so that it can be added on to later.
I think I may have been living in a tiny home before it was cool to do so . . . after I graduated from college I lived in what I affectionately called "The Camp" -- approximately 12 x 16. No running water. No indoor toilet. I eventually expanded it with a 12 x 12 addition to make a bedroom and bathroom with a working shower and toilet.
A lot of cities have minimum square feet requirements for free standing homes.
In Athens, Georgia:
Hopefully that will change:
In Athens, Georgia:
Hopefully that will change:
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sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
So basically, like everyone else in Maine?
If you want to poop,,,take the river downstream.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
Don't they really have those codes to squeeze trailers out and raise tax revenue?
Towns can easily zone an area for tiny homes. That's not hard.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Tax revenue may be a thought, but NIMBY is likely the dominant factor, in such decisions. I wouldn’t want that mess moving in next door to me.
Mojappa
Burning Hunk
You are likely correct. However, does not the picture above show a trailer surrounded by trash? I have a "small" house, but nothing like that mess. That would not be allowed in our town. Some towns do have zoned trailer parks, but that rig doesn't look like it would pass D.O.T. muster.
sportbikerider78
Minister of Fire
I'd rather have some tiny and once in a while "trashy" homes near my house than an over-reaching town telling everyone what to do all the time. I can't stand nosey towns always looking for permits and codes to enforce. Get a life!
The end all be all is not to die with a home that is worth 1% more than you paid 20 years ago. Everyone is so obsessed with home value that they want to tell all their neighbors what to do all the time. That's what HOA's are for.
The end all be all is not to die with a home that is worth 1% more than you paid 20 years ago. Everyone is so obsessed with home value that they want to tell all their neighbors what to do all the time. That's what HOA's are for.
Mojappa
Burning Hunk
I’ve seen more than plenty of regular sized homes surrounded by trash, what does House size have to do with cleanliness? Trashy people live in all sorts of places.
Mojappa
Burning Hunk
But their backyard isn’t your backyard so unless you have squatters setting up tiny homes on your property it’s still nothing to do with tiny homes.Not in my back yard they don't!
You are 100% correct, and I did misspeak. Tiny homes are perfectly fine as long as I can't see them from my back yard, side yard or from across the street. I think that is a very reasonable request.
Just sold a home to get away from the long noses of neighbors and the selective enforcement practiced by the city. Least expensive way to regain my sanity and avoid playing in the courts.Even if you win you lose. ( If fact my new neighbors (at the home I just sold) next door got clipped in the same fashion)
Mojappa
Burning Hunk
Still not sure why the size of your neighbors home matters in any way. They’re not all janky little trailers, most of them look rather nice, they’re just not unnecessarily oversized for their needs. If the amount of trash around their house (regardless of size) is the issue then this has nothing to do with tiny homes
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Did you look at the photo? Tiny house doesn’t necessarily equal shanty town, especially with the new yuppie/hipster interest in them, but I see a lot more dead refrigerators and vehicles rotting in the front yard of small ranch houses than I see in front of the typical two story colonial. Maybe just a local issue, as I still see lots of nicely kept small houses when I travel to less-affluent areas of our state.
“Poor but proud” is something that seems to have gone almost extinct in our local area, with my grandparents’ generation.
And in this area we see that around big old farm houses allot more than anything else. It has absolutly nothing to do with the size of the house. Or even money in many cases.
Mojappa
Burning Hunk
Same here, not there there aren’t smaller houses that are also kinda dumpy looking. But at the end of the day they’re not doing anything that affects me so I could give two sh!+$ about how they keep up with their stuff
Mojappa
Burning Hunk
When we were struggling to heat our house from the basement woodstove I considered a tiny home stove to put up in the loft/bedroom so at least some form of heat made it to the room we needed it in most. Hopefully the new wood furnace will deter me from following through but I still think they’re pretty cute little stoves.
When originally built in 1946, my post war come was around 800sq ft. In the 50s, a garage and room was added onto the side of the house. It became just over 900 sq ft.
My parents moved into this in 1974. I inherited it in 2009 and finally finished off the attic.
There are thousands of tiny homes up here. I'm thinking a big concern was heating in winter. I found my father's heating records for 1980 and 81. He used 1000 gallons of heating oil to heat a 900 sq ft cape! The trend towards more insulation and better windows and doors is a positive one!
My parents moved into this in 1974. I inherited it in 2009 and finally finished off the attic.
There are thousands of tiny homes up here. I'm thinking a big concern was heating in winter. I found my father's heating records for 1980 and 81. He used 1000 gallons of heating oil to heat a 900 sq ft cape! The trend towards more insulation and better windows and doors is a positive one!
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