We managed to get the house closed up in time for winter! We had it sheathed with plywood and we draped and attached some Tyvek onto the roof to keep water out.
The finishing touches (completed after the first snow had come) were to temporarily put in some of the second hand windows we scored and to put up some temporary string lights.
We now had it set up so that we could work on the interior of the house during the winter. Our plan was to do as much as we could on the inside during the cold months and then finish the exterior in the spring.
While we did get a few things completed inside, the cold weather made researching and focusing on gathering materials more appealing. Perhaps it was the cold that lead much of our research towards our heating options.
When we had first started looking at tiny houses we saw the Dickinson Marine stove used in many of them. It's beautiful design and flame viewing window make it an aesthetic dream. However, after some research we learned that the stove is not necessarily meant to heat tiny houses during a Calgary winter. After reading Ethan Waldman's book where he outlines his experience with the Dickinson Marine stove and his decision to replace it with something more efficient, we were convinced to do more research.
We ended up deciding to use the same propane furnace that Ethan eventually chose, the Williams direct vent furnace. It turns out that all of the furnace options are large and hideous and this one is no exception, but because Trotsky is sometimes at home alone, we need the benefit of having heating that can be thermostatically controlled.
This seemed like the most practical option but part of me still ached for the romance of a wood stove. One day I stumbled across this tiny wood stove and realized we could have the best of both worlds!
We decided that when Trotsky is home alone we can use the furnace on the thermostat. This will also come in handy when we are too tired or busy to actually make our own fire, but then when we feel like cuddling up in front of a wood stove we will still have that option.
Having the wood stove will not only be good for our souls, it will also save propane and we can potentially get a slightly smaller furnace than we would have to get otherwise.
I ordered the wood stove online and was so excited when it arrived!
While we did get a few things completed inside, the cold weather made researching and focusing on gathering materials more appealing. Perhaps it was the cold that lead much of our research towards our heating options.
When we had first started looking at tiny houses we saw the Dickinson Marine stove used in many of them. It's beautiful design and flame viewing window make it an aesthetic dream. However, after some research we learned that the stove is not necessarily meant to heat tiny houses during a Calgary winter. After reading Ethan Waldman's book where he outlines his experience with the Dickinson Marine stove and his decision to replace it with something more efficient, we were convinced to do more research.
We ended up deciding to use the same propane furnace that Ethan eventually chose, the Williams direct vent furnace. It turns out that all of the furnace options are large and hideous and this one is no exception, but because Trotsky is sometimes at home alone, we need the benefit of having heating that can be thermostatically controlled.
This seemed like the most practical option but part of me still ached for the romance of a wood stove. One day I stumbled across this tiny wood stove and realized we could have the best of both worlds!
We decided that when Trotsky is home alone we can use the furnace on the thermostat. This will also come in handy when we are too tired or busy to actually make our own fire, but then when we feel like cuddling up in front of a wood stove we will still have that option.
Having the wood stove will not only be good for our souls, it will also save propane and we can potentially get a slightly smaller furnace than we would have to get otherwise.
I ordered the wood stove online and was so excited when it arrived!