Ready to "downsize" How about an 89Sf House

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Seasoned Oak

Minister of Fire
Oct 17, 2008
7,215
Eastern Central PA
I love these things, they are like a RV that has everything except wasted space.
How about less than $100 a year in utilities.
Probably not good for families.

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
 
Pretty cool.


Check this site. The Wayzalot was in my area a few years ago. I just looked at the site and apparently it was involved in a bad accident, thus ending its' use. I was bummed out reading it. The owner put his heart and soul into building that thing.

http://www.wayzalot.com/index.html
 
Negative reaction to a small house puzzles me, especially from the retired crowd in our area that head south or west during the winter, often for 6 months, and live in a trailer home, RV or 5th wheel. When they come back all a person hears are raves about how great it is. Yet many have 3000 sq ft to sky's the limit homes to come back to, and these same people then complain about how they need more space! I suppose it's self-justifying behavior -- whatever some of these people do is always the "best" or "better" than someone else.
 
Every time I read one of these threads, I regret not knocking down 2/3 of our current house before starting the rebuild. I would have been done already, spent a lot less money doing it, had 1/2 the operating costs going forward, have a lot less crap and been at least as happy. Should have considered it more seriously before dismissing it as destroying value.
 
I figure my house is just under 1000 SF currently. If we have another child we'll need to add at least one bedroom, which I would keep to the same size as the original bedrooms (about 11x14)-If we added two more bedrooms plus an additional bathroom the house will still be under 1500 SF and we could comfortably fit a family of four or five. What people do with 3000 (or 2500 for that matter) SF homes with the same family size as us I don't know. Well, except work overtime to meet heating and cooling bills :lol: The other thing is (and it took some explaining but my wife eventually got it ;) ) is that when you have a small home you realize how much more affordable it is to have top of the line finish work. I replaced all of the doors and moulding in my home with pretty nice stuff. I did the work myself for just over $1000 all material costs. A home of double the size would literally be double the price!
 
Hah, I thought it said 895 SF, and figured I could definitely do with that!

89 - well, a little tight.........

We lived for three years in a army tent which was 12x20...not too bad in temperate weather. We started to build a frame house nearby, which was 14x20 with a loft......

I think the climate has a lot to do with this. Up here in New England I think we should like (not need, like) about 1500 sq. ft. to have plenty of room plus a guest bedroom.
 
Just me with a 1400 sq/ft house and it wouldn't hurt to be larger. My garage is only about 700 sqft, wish it was double that.
 
Friends of ours just moved from their 1300 ft² starter house to a 3100 ft ² house. It is nice and big, but I wonder if they have any idea how much more it is gonna cost to heat and light the new place. He is hoping to offset the increase with the fireplace, but he has no wood on hand and it is one of those prefab jobs. My house is 1800 ft². If it were better laid out, we could live with this size. I finished basement would help.
 
I just about tripled the size of my house in a rebuild/remodel that was finished in June of this summer.

I like the extra space. Tried to be as eco friendly as I could.
 
mecreature said:
I just about tripled the size of my house in a rebuild/remodel that was finished in June of this summer.

I like the extra space. Tried to be as eco friendly as I could.

So do i ,you can have a larger space that use less resources if its done right. I have a 12000 SF commercial building i would love to convert to a home.(the wife is against it) The green people would burn me at the stake. Its just used for storage right now.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.