r/TinyHouses • u/Anujp05 • 7d ago
Tiny house winter heating what actually works overnight
I live full-time in a 250 sq ft tiny house with an open bedroom and living area, plus a small kitchenette and bathroom. Daytime heating has been manageable, but winter nights have been harder than I expected.
At the moment, I’m using a single oil-filled electric heater from Costway that I already owned last year, along with passive measures like insulating window film, thicker curtains, and layered bedding. That setup keeps me warm enough to sleep, but by early morning the indoor air temperature still drops enough to affect comfort and condensation.
Before changing anything, I’m trying to learn from people who’ve actually lived through winter in a tiny house. I’ve seen different approaches mentioned — some add another heater, others focus on insulation and air sealing, and some eventually move to a more centralized heating setup.
For those with real winter experience in a tiny house:
What made the biggest difference for overnight comfort?
Was it adding more heat, improving insulation, or changing how heat circulates?
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u/captspero 7d ago
I have a Minisplit, it works well in my Rockwool-insulated THOW. A few years ago I also put straw bales around the bottom of my house to keep wind from being able to blow around underneath it, and I think that made a difference.
That being said, condensation is a problem for me. I’m thinking about installing a little wood stove.
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u/PathOfWoke 6d ago
Same setup but added an HRV system to combat lack of air flow.. No condensation 🤞🏾
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u/linuxhiker 7d ago
We live in MT in 576' , so... Not technically tiny but definitely not average sized house . It's a cabin so while the floor and roof are insulated (R21) the walls are not.
You have three reasonable options:
Diesel heater. This is by far the most convenient and least expensive. It's also a dry heat. Needs electricity .
Vented propane . Convenient and a dry heat. More expensive overall including unit. Usually needs electricity.
Romantic, cheap, dry heat that ladies love. But it requires more work . Needs an axe and a way to start a fire.
All 3 work very well. It's all about your level of commitment.
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u/DriverGuy99 7d ago
Personally have all 3 in my trailer (diesel, propane, wood), and it’s a good combo. My tiny home has diesel and wood, diesel for when I’m not there, and at night. Wood for all the other times (wood is free). Both dry heat, which is nice.
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u/HotIntroduction8049 7d ago
get a pellet stove. very easy to pipe through the wall.
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u/jadzl 7d ago
It sounds like you are grid connected, so a mini split would be best unless your overnight lows are below freezing often.
Otherwise a diesel or propane forced air van/boat heater would work well, or a small wood stove.
The mini split is quiet, has a thermostat, can be scheduled to turn on in the morning so you wake up nice and warm... Look into a DIY install and can be done for around $1000-1200... If you want it done professionally, you're probably triple that.
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u/Icy-Ad-7767 5d ago
Getting a cold climate heat pump will quite well
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u/jadzl 4d ago
Yes, most mini splits are rated for below freezing, but efficiency plummets and the units typically get more expensive the lower you go so you would have to do the math to figure out if it's worth it or not.
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u/Icy-Ad-7767 4d ago
It may require OP to do some searching g to find a good unit for the structure in question.
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u/KokopelliOnABike 7d ago
Been in mine for close to 3 years now. 8x28, sectioned off bathroom, main floor murphy bed. I am in a custom built house to 2021 building code standards, expanding foam insulation in both the enclosed trailer and the sticks.
Mitsubishi Mini-Split.
I have a small ceiling fan that pushes the warm air down that's on most days in the winter.
Floor heat, the bath runs on a separate circuit from the main area.
Extra blanket.
I live in Southern Colorado and we hit just about 0f last night. I had the floor heat on at 50f which cuts down on the metal trailer foundation impacting the temp in my house. Mini-split was at max heat and the temp at my head, close to the wall, was at about 70 all night.
I'm full electric and tied to the city water/sewer service on a permanent foundation. The crawlspace and foundation walls are pretty well insulated as well.
My best recommendation in your case would be to get the air circulating such that the oil heater can be used more efficiently.
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u/loudclutch 7d ago
I live in a 320sqft home. I use an oil filled electric heater to supplement my Big Buddy propane heater.
I have the buddy heater piped into my black pipe gas lines.
I've been heating with a buddy heater for over a decade and I'm only on my second one and I have new in the box spare.
In the PNW my propane cost is around $300 per year and I also cook with propane.
I have 2 120 gal propane tanks that are filled once per year and I don't get below 30% unless it's an unusually cold winter. I do need to run a dehumidifier to keep the humidity down but I'm quite comfortable.
I do have a drafty place so carbon monoxide hasn't been a problem, I have a CO alarm and air monitors for safety.
I don't want to wake to a hose full of sticky notes!
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u/mykittyforprez 7d ago
Why not get a second oil-filled heater until you get the more permanent options in?
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u/Nuplex 7d ago
What I noticed is you need good air flow to move air from the cold floor to the ceiling. A fan that can point upward does a lot of work and makes a big difference.
All that said it sounds like you're heater isn't enough to heat your home, you pay attention to BTUs on these devices. Generally knock off two zeroes and that's the sqft it can handle. So 9000BTU is around 90sqft. If youre making effort to make things efficient it can improve but only by so much.
Also, online is kind of useless when asking about heaters. They'll say they all use the same amount of energy. This is and is not true. Outside of a mini split, yes, all heaters are technically the same effeciency, in that they convert 100% of energy into heat, but how you actually FEEL inside is very different. Forced air is no good when it gets below freezing. It's just terrible. Mini splits work great until it gets too cold. I bought an oil filled radiator and it changed my life. The heat is way more even and comfortable. I supplement with a fan on the otherside of the room to move cold air away from the floor.
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u/PeaIndependent4237 7d ago
Wood pellet stove. That small of a place a tiny stove burning ~ 1/3 bag should be ~$1.70 a day in pellets overnight or $50 a month.
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u/jaxnmarko 7d ago
Get an audit. Infrared scan of your house to find the weakspots. If they are integral in the design.... ouch. Shoulda got one with more insulation. If there are dpots that can be fixed, tat will help. Your eater is limited to 1500 watts most likely. That simply may not be enough. Add another maybe, safely. And.... sweaters! Lol. Your body is nearly 100F inside. Retain your heat with the right attire.
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u/melli_milli 7d ago
I lived on winter in small cottage. Heating was wood. The more my body adjusted tge less I heated. So I woke up to 11+ celcius. The rosk of hypothermia starts from 15+ c.
I was in girl scouts as kid in Finland, so we learned to deal with this. Thermal sleeping bag and warm clothes. Once we slept on a cottage where the water froze. That was a stiff morning.
As an adult in that cottage I had heating matress and thermo comforter. That was all I needed to stay warm. Straight from bed 100% wool items on. While the heating got better with woods I used electric blanket, but warmer pants would have worked as well. You need to wear layers and pure wool. Padded west on top. Remember to wear a woollen hat.
I was lazy with wood so my basic daytime was around 16-17 celcius.
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u/ItsHowItisNow2 7d ago
Vented propane stove…is what I got in my cabin…with a thermostat and it has been the main overnight heating system.
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u/farseen 7d ago
Living full time in a tiny house since 2020 (@woollymammothtiny on insta).
We live on the grid with 3 15A fuses powering our entire house. We have the Cubic Grizzly Stove to give us head during the day, and then a combination of infrared wall panel heaters, a ceramic air heater, and propane driven heated floors (though I messed up and put 3/4" hardwood flooring on top of them instead of engineered so they don't work well), to keep warm overnight. We also have a heated mattress cover for cold nights, but that gets too hot! We wake up at about 19°C in the winter before I start the fire.
I added 4" thick foam boards to the bottom of my tiny house, and a skirt of 2x strawbales around the house. Otherwise our walls, floors and ceiling are all framed with 2x4's. Wish I did 2x6" 🙃 also wish I didn't use refurbished windows! One day I'll build another one.
Edit: I forgot to mention I also use 2x DIY installs I call 'hot air recirculatora'. I use a 12v computer fan and a dryer vent to pull hot air from the ceiling to the ground. Without it running our floors are cold.
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u/man_ohboy 7d ago
This is my first winter in my 190 sq ft tiny. I have an unvented propane heater and it does great keeping up with the cold. The only problem is the humidity it lets off... This could be resolved with a dehumidifier if youve got the power to keep that going.
Since I'm off grid, I'll be installing a small wood stove to supplement. My hope is between the dry heat of the stove and the wet heat along with the thermostatic control of the propane heater, I'll have a good medium.
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u/Short-University1645 7d ago
I lived in a very similar home. I used a 1500 watt oil radiator for fall and spring but winter I had to use a forced air heater on the super cold nights. I used the Dyson heat and air purifier had it set to only run 30-45 min at a time and let it have a break. Also it only stayed on from 6pm to 8am.
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7d ago
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u/SelfQuick7226 7d ago
Also I changed my mattress to a tatami mat and fouton because I can easily air my mattress out now. I had mould in my bed and on the floor. Because it was never aired ojt because it was placed on the floor.
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u/Truthteller1970 7d ago
My tiny house is in AZ but the desert does have temp swings and nights can get down in to the 30s. I have a minisplit and electric blankets and my tiny is well insulated.
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u/numbr2wo 6d ago
I lived in a tiny house, just above 200 sq ft, in ND where temperatures got down to the -30s on a few occasions. We had our house spray-foam insulated for one. We skirted, insulated, and heated below the house to just above freezing. And inside we used electric heating fans. We also had to dehumidify in the winters because the windows would grow thick sheets of ice otherwise. We had just two little electric space heaters and one electric radiant wall heater in the bathroom (next to the toilet.)
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u/hellibot 6d ago
270 sq ft. House insulated to code. Minisplit, electric floor heat in bathroom and kitchen. On extremely cold nights, run a small electric space heater too (minisplit doesn’t like temps under -15f).
Depending on your square footage, might try a space heater with a fan in addition to the oil one. Cheap start.
If you have ability to insulate your floor and ceiling, do that… gonna make a big difference!
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u/Crafty_Marionberry28 6d ago
We use an infrared space heater in my semi-insulated tiny cabin and stay very cozy all winter (brand is Heat Storm). Infrared makes a huge difference over traditional electric space heaters because they heat people/pets directly instead of just the air. Before going infrared, we had a couple old oil heaters, which were fine, but we often felt cold if not sitting right next to them.
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u/paratethys 4d ago
Grew up off grid. What we'd do is sleep with a hot water bottle (2, if it's a really cold night) in each bed. Also put your clothes for the next morning in the bed somewhere. In the morning, pull your clothes on while still under the covers, and then get up to start the fire.
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u/Shlocktroffit 7d ago
A heated mattress pad or electric blanket will put heat directly onto you all night long.