Those living in a tiny home understand that life is just different. The majority choose tiny home living because it declutters and simplifies their lives. Others choose the lifestyle because it is cheaper and offers them the flexibility to move around. Regardless of your reasoning for choosing to make the transition to a tiny home, chances are you made the right call.
For better or worse, tiny home living requires some different thinking skills. Even more important than where all of our favorite books are going to be displayed is how well the home can handle changing weather conditions. An equally serious concern is how to keep your home safe and secure when it is small enough to fit on the back of a large trailer and be hauled off.
Thinking through and preparing for some of these difficult problems is one of the key components to successfully transitioning to tiny home living. Things to think about in your tiny home include things such as winter weather preparations; home health considerations such as heating, cooling, and air quality; digital protections for an automated home.
Winter Weather Prep
Perhaps one of the most important aspects to the design of your tiny home is making certain that it will survive the winter and keep you and your family warm. Go through the normal winter weather checks for every home such as checking smoke detectors, plumbing, and heating system to make sure all are in working order. Doing so can help to avoid major catastrophes that could spell the end of your tiny home life.
Then get down to specific tiny home-related weather issues. When designing your home be sure to take into account the potential for freezing pipes in the winter and take steps to make them easy to winterize if necessary. Likewise, spend the extra money and time to make sure your roofing and insulation are quality.
If your tiny house is on wheels be sure to account for inclement weather conditions before traveling. Adverse weather can damage your tiny home, especially when on the road, because they are smaller, lighter, and often oddly shaped on a trailer. Make sure everything is securely fastened and ready for whatever Mother Nature sends your way.
Home Health
The next things to be concerned about are less structural but equally important for keeping you warm, happy and healthy at all times of the year. First and foremost, prepare by making sure you have the right heating system for your tiny home. Systems that small are easily installed out of the way such as a fireplace mantel could be the right move for your tiny home.
Other options could vary in usefulness by region. For instance, some tiny homeowners really love the heat produced by a pellet or wood stove. These also have the benefit of being environmentally friendly and alternative cooking space. Others are all about the propane heater systems because they are cheaper and easier to manage in a lot of ways.
Tiny homeowners may also have to contend with humidity in their small space. Constant humidity issues can lead to mold growth, which has been noted as a problem with tiny houses because of the small spaces. Fortunately, humidity and mold can be dealt with easily in a tiny home with the right precautions such as a dehumidifier and regular mold checks.
Home Automation Security
Finally, another concern for many tiny homeowners is security, after all the home is small which can make it an easy target for theft. Some of the best prevention mechanisms for tiny homes are similar to those for normal-sized houses – security systems. With such a small space to manage, it will likely be a lot more affordable and require less equipment to purchase a quality security system that covers the entirety of the house.
Many people are now also turning to smart devices to help manage their home and home’s security. An automated tiny home can make life a lot easier in many ways as it is possible to install devices that allow you to control the temperature of your home, the lighting, the security system, and many other things directly from your phone. It is important to be aware though that these smart devices are prone to hacking and should be used with some level of caution.
Much like any other home, it is important to make sure your internet and wifi are secure within your tiny home, especially if it is hooked up to any automation system. Protecting your internet with a strong password and some level of cybersecurity awareness can help you to avoid social engineering attacks which can lead to all sorts of personal and financial problems down the road.
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There are many things you can do to help improve the safety and security of your tiny home. Some precautions like standard winterization checks and home security are similar to those of normal houses. However, with a tiny home, there are special precautions to be taken in order to ensure you are winter-ready and that you are able to heat and dehumidify your home properly. Good luck!
Fire safety should be addressed as a real concern in tiny homes. Today’s furnishings burn hotter-faster and produce copious amounts of toxic smoke in a fraction of the time of legacy furnishings. Tiny homes further enhance these dangers due to the rapidity which the smoke, heat and toxic gases can fill the space. Worse yet are the majority of tiny houses built with sleeping lofts that are not separated from the rest of the space. A fire on the lower level will make descending the open stairs/ships ladder nearly impossible, and opening a window for escape will draw the heat smoke and fire to the vent point in seconds. No home without a barrier between the sleeping area and the rest of the home should be built without sprinklers to control fire and heat growth. Smoke alarms are not enough and all too often become a nuisance and are disabled or removed.