From a building efficiency standpoint, these make little sense as standalone structures; I think they may actually be worse than normal-sized homes when looking at construction resources consumed versus square footage. Where they would come into their own is when multiple units are combined to create a condo or apartment building.

I agree,absolutely.but i always tend to see things how they should be not the way they are..im a dreamer..i mean you could easily put another european population in russia and still have three ''slots'' left

+1 I am a dreamer, too. And many other people. But those without power cannot live their own dreams. Many things should be different, but it is simply the human factor and nature, that always has to ultimately kick in and ruin almost everything... Thankfully, most dreams have very cheaper substitutes...

That's very true, I only included that in the list because most folks in the US won't go without one.

Fridges on boats are a nightmare, they drain power (mine can empty the battery bank in less than a day), are expensive, small, and break all the time. I have friends that sail longer distances and they have built up iceboxes that can go a week+ on a 10lb block of ice. Then there is the question of whether or not you need to refrigerate anyway, which some folks I've met don't, especially if they are on smaller boats and sail long distances.

You kind of answered this (and it doesn't obviously apply to some perishables) but when I'm my boat I keep all my cans overboard where the lake keeps them nice and cold; have you done that? Obviously this doesn't work if you are moving and or not way up north like myself.

BTW I kind of like how this has turned into a HOW TO thread. :D

For a single person or maybe a couple, I think it's a great idea. I'm all for alternative housing as long as it's affordable.

I've never tried it before, I have heard of people dragging some stuff behind their boats, usually dirty laundry and dishes ;)

Never tried drinks though, I am not sure it'd work well in FL :) (and I'm not sure I'd want to drink it after it was dunked in the river...)

XD Yeah skip that in Florida. If you are ever on Superior though it works great. Just make sure you pull it in before you head back into shore. :P As for laundry that sounds iffy. Some animals might be attracted to that nasty odor and have at it.

I will never call a place without windows at all, a home. (even if it had windows and the windows were obstructed... would still be better.)

That design is so ugly, they say 10x10... but to VIEW the tv that they show there, you would need 10 more feet on that side of the house... you couldn't put those cells side by side...

Even though we are very over populated now, I don't think this will ever be come popular.

If people where THAT crammed together, then each person would not need his or her own laundry machine, dryer, dish washer, toilet, shower etc.

It makes 100000x more sense that if people lived in such small areas, that ecomoically the bathroom, laundry room, and even the kitchen be communal.

I hope the company that prefabbed that house goes under. Seriously.

edit: after rereading the article, it seems that 10x10x10 cell is supposed to be placed in what they call a 'shell', or an outside layer building thing, such as PROPER walls and celieng.
Then it is more viable in my opinon, then what I thought it was orignally, a single home made to fit as many people into a small area, but each having their 'own home'.

You must really hate MACs. :P

Many people in Asia already live in small apartments like this. Then again, their apartments don't natively support GameCube games like this does...

Y'all realize, of course, the huge opportunity for turning the homelets into large-scale pixel art...

You mix several different things here.

Smaller volume needs less energy to heat. That's always true, irrespective of what you heat.Try heating up a cup of water versus a litre.

How well something retains heat depends on insulation. Bring a cup of water to boil in two pots, each, and put a lid on one but don't on the other. See how quick either gets to boil and how long they retain heat after.

Surrounding climate makes a difference, but again insulation and how you deal with that is part of this. If something is insulated well enough you keep outside humidity out, too.

So both building quality and size matter. Add location and architectural 'cleverness' to that, too. Many micro-houses have one large sun facing window and lots of smaller ones (or none) on the opposite side. Would be awful in a normal house with many rooms but works wonderfully with these. The sun naturally heats the house during the day, much better than it would a stone / non-windowed house. If all that is also insulated well than the heat will be retained well. As many microhouses are new-builds we can design them quite well on that end - certainly far more efficient than many old builds are.

Warm air rises to the top - which is why many microhouses have their beds on a 'second story' level. The heat from the day lingers there and it's possible to trap hot air there if the house is constructed well. Add to that that our body temperature drops a little while asleep and you reduce heating needs further, overnight. [Similar principle, by the way, behind building snow holes or igloos. Igloos entry faces down from the central area - so cold heavy air escapes and warm air is trapped. Snow holes usually have a 'living' quarter at a higher elevation than other parts of what you dig out to, again, trap warm air.]

..thats what they all say -_-

But slightly more seriously, ive got two friends-of-friends, good ones so i dont doubt them, who have had rather kind relatives. One got "surprise inheritance" from distant relative he didnt even know: Car and house in Vantaa - the dude didnt have kids and was in bad relationship with other close relatives apparently, so he just decided to make testament where he gave what he could just so. Totally randomly.

The other married young and his granma gave him and his bride apartment from very center of Hki "because no one has used it for two decades, so maybe you could". Next to parliament house, so its worth -alot- of money.

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There were actually some statistics how much there are empty apartments in Finland capital area, that are usually owned by older people own who just keep them empty year after year. Apparently around 25% in some richer areas. People either are lazy or are just waiting that the prices raise and dont want to deal with renting stuff.