Positioning and Directional Placement of your Tiny House for Energy Efficiency as well as Maximising your Views!

We’ve talked about insulation in a Tiny House and I mentioned a few other contributing factors to consider when making your insulation plan, one of which was directional placement! The direction your Tiny House faces, will determine how hot or cold your Tiny House will be and it’ll influence your energy efficiency rating! 

Proper directional placement, can help reduce your need for heating and cooling. Prioritise your heating and cooling needs, are you in a climate that requires mainly heating, cooling, or a combination of both? Take into account summer and winter variations of the sun’s path, the type and direction of winds, shade and the times of day it will be present. 

My Tiny House is mostly Northern facing and my ground mount solar panels are also North facing. Because I’m off grid solar this directional placement is super important as it allows me to maximise the winter sun for warmth in my Tiny House and gives maximum exposure to charge my solar! 

Other factors I took into consideration were the huge gum trees that I could surround my Tiny House with providing maximum shade and wind direction for cooler breezes in summer. 

Although it’s important to get your directional placement right for energy efficiency I think maximising your views in a Tiny House is also really important! For me it was about finding a spot on my land that I could enjoy the awesome views as well as being practical! The balance of the two is something I think is so important to consider, people often ask if living in a Tiny House is claustrophobic, I’ve never felt like I’m in a space that’s too small because my windows and views are so big! 

The other question I’m asked a lot is if my windows are too big and let in too much sun in summer! The answer is yes! There are days when the weather is extremely hot…high 30s – low 40s and the sun coming in the windows is awful! I did have curtains which helped but I’ve recently switched to blinds and so far I’m liking them better…I’m yet to go through a summer with the blinds so I’ll let you know when I do! The air conditioning I have in my Tiny House keeps it cold in the summer no matter how hot it gets outside…we’ll talk about heating and cooling in an upcoming blog post! 

So when deciding where to put your Tiny House, get some facts on the sun and wind variances for where you live, take some time walking around your property to soak in the surrounds and views and check out what times of the day the trees provide shade! You’ll be able to pick your favourite spot that’s going to work best for you and your Tiny House! 

If you have any questions you’d like to ask me please send me an email via the “Contact Me” page on this blog, I’m happy to answer and help as best I can.

Thanks for reading! 

Jen 🏡