Global Sun Oven an Option for Tiny Houses?
If you need a small oven that does not take up lots of space and uses the sun to operate the Global Sun Oven may be what you are looking for. Following are features that make this solar oven stand out and is worth looking at for an oven for your tiny house. The cool thing is that this is also made here in America.
One Piece Collapsible Reflectors
The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® can be set up for use or taken down for storage in a matter of seconds. The reflectors literally fall into place at an angle that allows you to maximize the power of the sun.
The reflectors are made of highly polished, mirror-like anodized aluminum that can be cleaned quickly and easily with glass cleaner, and they will never oxidize or rust.
Spill-Proof Levelator
There is never any need to worry about your food spilling in a GLOBAL SUN OVEN®. While cooking, your food rests on a shelf that self adjusts to always stay level as you refocus.
Easy Temperature Monitoring
A built in thermometer allows you know the temperature at a glance.
Self-Contained Leveling Leg
As the sun is at different points on the horizon the GLOBAL SUN OVEN® can readily be adjusted to follow it. A simple adjusting leg allows you to choose from 9 angled positions.
Extremely Well Insulated
A thick batt of non-toxic insulation retains heat. Food cooked in the sun and left in the oven will remain hot for hours. Cold air is held out allowing the GLOBAL SUN OVEN® to be used on sunny days year around regardless of the ambient temperature.
Light Weight, Easy to Carry
The GLOBAL SUN OVEN® weighs only 21 pounds (9.5 kg), folds up like a suitcase, and is equipped with a handle for easy transport.
To learn more visit http://www.sunoven.com
I have also seen a couple of videos on Youtube for building your own sun oven so this could also be an option.
Watch how it works in the videos below.
Tiny Arizona Casita
When architect Lila Cohen and designer Teina Manu purchased a lot with a bungalow in Arizona, they decided not to live in the bungalow, but to make it their architectural office. Their home then became the 450 square foot shed at the back of the property. According to Lila and Teina, the shed was most likely built around 1916 and they wanted to retain the original style by re-purposing many of the items and materials found in the little structure.
Manu, who is a designer who creates custom furniture, wanted the home to be eco-friendly as well.
“Little and low-priced to me is green,” he said to Arizona Central.
The tiny house contains a small kitchen/dining area, a living room, one bedroom with a walk-in closet and a bathroom with a sunken tub. From the front door of the house, every room is visible except the bathroom. A full size washer and dryer are inside a closet and a tiny office area utilizes a vintage sewing-machine cabinet as a desk. In the kitchen the appliances are smaller than average and the eating area is a steel breakfast bar. The couple had a stove custom made and they use Japanese shoji screens to separate the bedroom and living/cooking area. In fact, every door in the house is a sliding screen door. Continue Reading »
SinkPositive an All in One Solution
Recently we looked at a folding shower and Greg a reader of the blog sent me a link to this interesting concept that could help conserve space in a tiny/small bathroom. The SinkPositive is promoted as a way to:
- Conserve Water – Fresh water for your hands, grey water for the bowl.
- Save Money – Put money in your pocket by detecting costly leaks and reducing water bills.
- Manage Small Spaces – Get more elbow room with the ultimate small space solution.
- Touch Free – Eliminates interaction with germs on faucet knobs and handles.
- Engages all Ages – Convenient and immediate visual cue inspires hand washing of even the smallest hands.
As a retrofitted sink basin, SinkPositive replaces a toilet tank’s lid to enable a touchless hand wash with clean, supply line water before redirecting the used (grey) water to the toilet bowl for the next flush.
Learn more about the SinkPositive at their website. http://sinkpositive.com
Please tell me what you think of this option for your tiny/small home.
Tiny Guesthouse Challenge
Another of my jobs (besides writing for the Tiny House Blog) is taking care of my elderly mother’s five acres, located in the high mountain desert of Nevada. The property consists of a 2,000 square foot house, a large yard with hundreds of trees, a barn and a tiny house located at the back of the property.
The house was built in the 1980s as a guesthouse and has been used for numerous guests and visiting family members. It is 12 feet by 8 feet, single story, on a cement slab foundation, insulated, and has electricity and a wall mounted heating unit. The interior is a single room with a tile floor, three windows that look out on the nearby Tahoe Range and the garden and skylights that face south. The ceiling has charming rafters and is decorated with items from my mother’s native Denmark and Sweden. Continue Reading »
Folding Shower for Small Spaces
For a tiny house or small studio apartment a folding shower just might be the answer. This shower when folded up looks like a built-in cabinet. It is easy to install and remove and comes in several different colors. The shower uses thermostatic valves to pour hot and cold water for a relaxed shower experience. You can learn more at the Supiot website. If you are the do-it-yourself type person, take this idea and create your own version.
Space Saving Kitchen from Kitchoo
I don’t cover appliances very often on the Tiny House Blog and I really should. Owen brought this one to my attention recently and I thought I would share it with you. If you are going to live in a tiny house a small kitchen is also part of the deal. Now that does not mean you have to settle for a camp style kitchen, there are some very modern ones available too. Kitchoo offers the Mini Kitchen, though not cheap at $7,500 it has most everything you will need.
The Mini Kitchen is a super compact and hyper-equiped kitchen that is also highly functional and stylish. When put away your guests will wonder where you made your wonderful meal. The Kitchoo Mini Kitchen is made in France so I’m not sure that they are available in North America. Go to Kitchoo to learn more.
Ajustable Modular Stairs
Alice discovered these neat stairs that are great for small tight spaces. Called the Mini Plus, the structure is completely modular, this allows easy assembly of the components and makes it easy to adjust for the steepness of the climb. For added rigidity some special lateral supports attach it to the wall.
Made of solid European beech wood with a thickness of 1.5 inches with beveled round edges. It is both attractive and very stable. Steel tubing makes the railing sturdy and it is accented with solid beech wood. A very attractive solution for a small space. No price was listed and more research should be done if you consider using these. Here is the Stairs by Design website. Thanks Alice for sharing this great find with us.
