Insulation for your Tiny House | Our Essential Guide

Let's talk insulation!

Due to our unfortunate wet, cloudy and usually cold climate, insulation is needed in every home to moderate the living temperature all year round. To do this, we need to know a thing or two about insulative materials, which options are best for blocking areas that would usually let in the outdoor air and the insulative performance of each one.

A well-insulated home completed to a high standard will allow for a cool temperature in the summer and a warm environment in the summer further reducing your energy bills and saving the environment. So, let's look into tiny home insulation options including roof and underfloor insulation and which materials offer the best insulative properties.

Tiny Home Insulation Thickness

First, to understand insulation, you'll notice when doing you research that each material has an R-value to determine how insulated it will keep your home. 

For example, new building regulations on a standard home in the UK need to have an R-value of insulative performance in the following areas; 

Roof R -value: 5  or U-value = 0.2

Wall R -value: 3.33 or U-value = 0.30

Floor R -value: 4 or U-value = 0.25

Party Wall R -value: 5 or U-value = 0.2

Windows & Doors R -value: 0.5 or U-value = 0.2

Note - the U.K sometimes uses both R & U-values. The higher the R-value, the more insulative it is. Conversely, the lower the U-value, the higher insulative it is.

Living in the UK will require you to attain this level of insulation (above) to meet building regulations. This will be easily attainable with some standard insulation which we will cover a little later. However, we do feel in order to reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint, you can double, or even triple this number as we feel that for an air-tight home like tiny homes, which are pre-fabbed, you can easily surpass the UK standards to ensure your home is warm and cosy all year-round. 

For a comparison as to what the Americans are doing, check out America's regulations. For a similar climate zone, we’re insulating MUCH less than they are.

Insulative Materials & Their R-Value

Here is a brief overview of some materials which can be used to create high R-value insulation within your home. 

Tiny Home Insulation Options

• Batt/Roll Insulation - such as Rockwool, Earthwool can fit into cavity walls or timber studs, can be cut to size to fit roofs and walls. This is something that is readily available, and relatively cheap. Rockwool can be bought from a hardware store such as B&Q, and over 1-2 years you can typically recoup the expense.

• Polystyrene Foam Board (EPS) - This is similar to what you may get in shipping boxes or your old chippy container, but with less bubbles. It’s a high-performing insulative material which is cheap and effective.

• Polyurethane Foam Board (XPS) - XPS board is like EPS, but it’s designed for underfloor insulation. With a high-insulative value, it’s favoured by many builders to ensure less heat is lost through the floors.

• Open/Closed Cell Spray - This is a wonderful way to insulate a home, possibly an older one to reduce heat loss. It can get into tough nooks and crannies, but for new builds it’s hard to use and requires professionals to get the most out of it. With a high U-value, it’s a great way to insulate a home but not as easy to use as EPS or XPS boards.

• SIPs - Structurally insulated panels - The panels consist of an insulating foam core sandwiched between two structural facings, typically oriented strand board (OSB). SIPs are manufactured under factory-controlled conditions and can be fabricated to fit nearly any building design. The result is a building system that is extremely strong, energy-efficient and cost-effective. Building with SIPs will save you time, money and labour.

• Blown in Celluose - For larger builds or older buildings, this can be an effective method however we don’t tend to use this nor do many other tiny home builders.

• Other options also include wood fibre insulation, Mycelium insulation, Wool insulation, Hemp insulation and cellulose insulation. All come in batts or rolls, and have a variety of different uses. It’s always important to not solely look at the u-value, as there are other factors to consider, such as the ability for materials to retain heat or release it slowly, as well it’s ability to wick moisture or whether it’s hydrophobic.

So there you have it - a fairly definitive guide to what you should use for your insulation when building a tiny home or having a company, like ourselves, build it for you.

If you’d like to ask us a question about insulation or any other question regarding tiny homes, we’re always happy to help. Drop us an email at contact@thetinyhousing.co or leave us a message via live chat (the blue button on the button right corner).

Thanks for reading! Until next time.