Sold my three bedroom, two bath house and acre of land last year, bought a 2006 Jayco 8'X30' travel trailer for 35% new (previous owner had damaged the roof and traded up rather than fix it, the dealership rebuilt the damage and recovered the roof). The trailer has no slideouts-the lack of standing space is more than made up for by the lack of seal maintenance and the sturdier (and lighter) construction. The trailer was listed as 'bunkhouse-style', which meant that there was a double bed in the bedroom, a couch that unfolded into a bed, a table that converts into a bed, and a single bed bunked above a double bed in the back...
Being blissfully single I decided I had too many beds, and since I had purchased the trailer used I had no compunctions about removing the master bed, turning the new space into a walk-in closet via the magic of a cedar dowel and a curtain, and using a small table and two bookshelves to create a computer/office/library. I then removed the mattress from the top bunk, sawed the bunk into a 'U'-shaped wraparound multimedia shelf and replaced the table-bench build with a collapsible breakfast nook with folding chairs...this leaves me with a cozy double bed complete with open ceiling, and a couch-bed for guests/emergencies, plus a nice, uncluttered floor for futons if the need arises.
I am very, very happy with my new(to me) home.
Now for the downsides...my usual 'Ecomodding' tricks will not work in a trailer. The walls are as insulated as they will ever get, although slipping in one inch thick foam board in the cargo pods helps a bit. The ceiling has room for more foam IF I drill holes every three feet or so and squirt it in-I may decide to do that this spring, but i'll have to repaint after plugging. I did screw some 1X2's to the bottom of the existing floor from below, create another sub-floor of varnished marine-grade ply between the wheels and inject lots of foam in the space between...I suspect i've added at least R12 or so to the R11-rated floor. I would like to insulate the water heater but it is a dual gas/electric so no-go on that, and the only way to insulate the inside piping is by prying up the couch and popping open the wheel well coverings...I may do that later this summer. My outside water and waste lines are wrapped with enough foam to be mistaken for HVAC ducts...also, the trailer is actually TOO watertight, and I need a dehumidifier in winter to keep things dry-I use a $3 disposable chemical absorber twice a month and let the AC take care of things in summer.
As I mentioned the Water Heater is dual-use, as is the fridge-the stove and internal heaters are both propane. I haven't used a single whiff of gas since I took ownership-I placed an oak cutting board over the stove and have a deluxe toaster oven there (easily as big as the oven below it) and I heat the entire place with a 1500 watt heating cube-I have never needed any of the higher settings on that heater to feel comfortable in the coldest day of the year (about 24 F in NC in February) and the AC is electric...despite the lack of insulation I am regulating a much smaller area, and as a result my biggest power bills to date have been $71 in the dead of winter and $46 at the height of summer. I have plenty of room for my belongings and have installed an 8X8 shed outside as a workshop.
If I move to a sunnier park with less shade in the future, a Solar Thermal panel hooked into my heating intake would work wonders in winter, and I would consider a second battery and PV panels to be essential. Right now though I am in an area with far too much shade for solar, and I don't see moving anytime soon-in fact I love this place so much I am pinned down and wheels off, and am paying yearly rent rather than monthly (YAY 43% DISCOUNT FOR YEARLY RATES!!!) and am happily building and selling guitars as part of my fledgling business venture.
If I am
ever to the point where money allows, I intend to build a Tiny House of roughly the same proportions as the 8'X30' but with a (possibly more efficient) Ecomod redesign complete with removable composting toilet, and with a slightly smaller workshop/guesthouse connected by a roofed porch/walkway...and a patch of land one half-acre or less where the zoning laws permit me my construction eccentricities and a solar/wind bank with a battery house built into the small tower...might never happen, but who knows?
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