Tiny House Update

Not much has happened in the last few weeks, since we are scrambling to prepare the big house for the market. I've acquired some salvaged materials from an old house being torn = a bathtub & some beautiful old wooden doors (including a glass insert door) are now shoved in the corner of our basement. I've called around to some spray foam insulators (like EnviroFoam, a soy-oil based + recycled plastic closed cell insulation product) and got really high quotes. For our 12' x 16' house it would cost $4000 to get an R28 rating around the entire building. The con (obviously) is that it is a huge part of our budget, and I'm not sure we could afford it. The pros are that with such high insulation, we would need only an in-floor radiant heating system (instead of a pricey wood stove) and we could cut our lumber costs by 1/3 at least, since we wouldn't need 12 inch exterior walls to fill with less efficient insulation batts. So in the end the increased cost may be worth it, especially since I'm not even sure we would have the floor space for even a tiny wood stove:

(There is an open loft above the bathroom/storage closet for a mattress)

I think double pane windows would be sufficient, especially if we orient the majority of the windows to the south side. With such high insulation in the walls though, I would hope the area immediately surrounding any windows wouldn't be uncomfortably cold (being much "draftier"). Visiting Happy Harry's, a used/discounted hardware store here in town, we have found windows in an assortment of really nifty shapes, some being low e/argon too. It looks like a vinyl window manufacturer has sent the store their "practice windows" because there are about thirty circular windows and the same amount of arched windows, all with slightly blemished or uneven vinyl casings. If you can get past the slight dings and wobbles, the window shapes themselves are all quite whimsical. We both agreed that we would enjoy having a house of arched & rounded windows, even if they weren't in perfect condition. The only problem is that the windows with the coolest shapes don't generally open, so we need to temper our desire for whimsy with the necessity for safety. There were plenty at the store with arched tops and casement opening, but they tended to be much bigger. Maybe there is something in between that we haven't found yet. I hope so. Yay for hobbit houses:)