Two Tiny House Insulation Mistakes

Have you heard enough about tiny house insulation? Never!

We’re Building Science Geeks.  We’re constantly searching for ways to improve the tiny house shells we build for our customers.

When it comes to insulating your tiny home, there are two major mistake people make when it comes to insulation.

1 – It’s a small space!  It’s super easy to heat and cool such a small house!

This isn’t actually wrong.  It IS easy to heat and cool a small insulated tiny house, but it might be costing you a lot more money than it should.

Most Insulation:

  • Loses R-Value over time
  • Expands and contracts
  • Sags inside the wall cavity
  • Is subject to thermal bridging (which can vary depending on the framing material)

This means that the denim insulation (as an example) that you paid a pretty penny for, might have lost 15% of it’s R-Value, and is sagging 4 inches in your wall because of expansion and contraction thereby creating a huge “Heat Hole” in your wall!  So, yes, it might be quick for you to run the heat and get your tiny home up to 70 degrees, but it might be running through a propane tank or an excess of electrical power (or solar power) to do that because it’s running way too frequently!

 

2 – Spray foam will make this place airtight and super-insulated!

Spray foam is a great insulation to create an air barrier in any structure, including a tiny home.  But it actually can suffer from the same problems of #1 in this post.  Spray foam is especially subject to loss in R-Values and this can be greatly exacerbated by being in a thin 2×4 dimensional wall.

Did you know that many types of spray foam insulation will lose up to 50% of their R-Value in a VERY short period of time?    Why would you care if you can get  R-7 per inch of spray foam if you might lose up to 50% of that insulating value in a short period of time?

Did you know that spray foam (depending on the type) can have high expansion and contraction rates?

Did you know that poor spray foam can “settle” in a wall over time causing a cavity at the top of your wall with ZERO insulation?

Spray foam is a fantastic product that can provide you a great insulation for your home. But do your research first. Make sure you’re getting the right spray foam for your climate and building type!


Have you ever heard or thought one of these two things? Lets talk about it!