FAQs

A tiny house is any type of house that is much smaller than a traditional house.  They are often between 200 and 400 square feet, or possibly smaller.  Micro houses is another term that can be used interchangeably and often refers to the smallest tiny houses out there.

Micro houses are usually built on trailers so that they are mobile and easily moved around.  They can also be fixed on permanent foundations or on top of pontoons for a floating house boat.

A trailered tiny home offers you the mobility that a traditional home can’t. It affords this mobility without feeling like you are living in a tin can with paper thin walls. A tiny home can be a great path to owning your very own dwelling without having a life defined by the mortgage you have to pay (we want you to keep your kidneys).

Tiny homes have tiny utility bills. Some are currently as low as $35 a month for water and electricity combined. If you’ve ever wanted a vacation house on a lake or in the mountains, a tiny house on an undeveloped piece of land is an inexpensive way to make that happen.

RV’s are great at what they are designed for, towability. The problem with living in an RV is that you FEEL like you’re living in an RV. Many RVs have the aesthetic inspiration of a styrofoam cooler and are built as cheaply and quickly as possible. RVs are also not designed to meet the demands of full-time living – they are often poorly insulated, thin walled, and can be very expensive to heat and cool.

Most tiny house dwellers choose to live in a semi-permanent location, possibly moving their tiny house a few times a year. However, they can be quite towable and can be travelled in full time if they are designed properly (suggested: gooseneck or 5th wheel trailer, lighter materials).

Our standard toilet option is the Nature’s Head Composting toilet. It is a very good option for those that are willing to change their habits slightly and desire an eco-friendly alternative. Below are some other options to consider as well:

• Round bowl flush toilets for those connected to sewer/septic
• Incinerating toilets
• High-end composting toilets
• Sawdust/ Low tech composting toilets

Deciding on the toilet that is the right fit for you is finding a balance between what you can afford, what your needs are, and convenience.

You can most likely park a tiny house on your own property or on your friend’s or family’s property. However, check with your county or city to find out about specific codes and restrictions. Many times there are simply no laws regarding where you can or cannot park a tiny house.

As a general rule of thumb, parking your tiny house in a rural location is going to be an easier route than finding a friendly urban or peri-urban location. It is also possible to park them at an RV, mobile home park, or campground depending on the rules and restrictions of that individual park. 

As long as you meet road requirements, you don’t need any special permit to move your house. In order to be legal to tow, a tiny home can’t exceed 13’6″ in height and 8’6″ in width. It must also have a registered license and working tail lights and turn signals.

You will be LEGAL if you do the above things, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other considerations to make when preparing to tow your tiny house. As mentioned above, you should be sure that you have a truck with a sufficient towing capacity and set-up to handle the weight you will be towing. Many tiny houses can weigh up to 15,000 lbs or more.

The question is not, “Will I be able to tow my tiny house?” The question should be “Can I SAFELY tow it?” and more importantly “Can I safely bring the tiny house to a stop?” Most large block gas engines (v8 or v10) or diesel engines (Cummins, Powerstroke, or Duramax) can TOW a tiny house, but you also need to ensure that you have to capability to hook up trailer brakes to the truck, that your truck has the proper transmission for towing, and that YOU have the skills required to tow it.

A traditional bumper pull trailer is generally cheaper to purchase and offers a great platform to build a tiny home on. If your tiny house is going to be placed in a fairly permanent location or won’t be towed great distances, this a good option. A traditional bumper pull will also allow for a more traditional aesthetic. Depending on the weight of your trailer, you may be able to tow a bumper pull tiny house with a 3/4 ton truck or you a 1 ton truck.

A gooseneck or 5th wheel trailer, while generally a bit more expensive, is safer to tow. It makes towing longer distances much easier because of the added stability and maneuverability. Gooseneck trailers also allow you to keep the house one story (no loft, the bed goes over the trailer hitch and is accessed by a couple of steps). This type of trailer will require you to have a truck that has a gooseneck or 5th wheel hitch in the bed and can handle the weight.

Towing features you should have include: big block gas v8/v10 engine or diesel engine, upgraded towing transmission cooling, heavy duty suspension, dual rear wheels are recommended but not necessary. Of course, all of this depends on weight and length of the tiny house, and you should consult the manufacturer’s towing specifications on any vehicle you are towing with to make sure it can handle the load.

Many people use small propane heaters or space heaters. Another option is radiant heated floors. While this option might not heat the entire home to the ideal temperature, it will come close and will also feel good on your feet since tiny homes have open air space beneath them. Another option that some opt for is a small fireplace that offers added ambience (modern wood stoves are highly efficient and wood scraps can often be found at low or no cost).

In many cases, you can keep your tiny house cool with strategically placed fans and windows with screens, or if you live somewhere extremely hot and humid, a small AC unit can be installed in the wall.

It depends. You will need 220 volt (v) service if you will be using large traditional electric appliances like a washer/dryer, electric oven, and a tanked hot water heater, but this can limit a tiny home owners flexibility.

Our standard practice is to use propane appliances for the large inductive loads (hot water heater, heater, cooking range) and then to use only 120v efficient appliances and LED lights. This allows you to minimize the electricity needed to power your tiny house and gives you increased flexibility with where you can and cannot connect to power.

All our homes are designed to be plugged into a standard 30 amp or 50 amp RV connection.

If your desire is to have a fully off the grid capable tiny home then you would need a solar system with a battery bank. In this case we would use the propane appliance method to decrease power usage and you would have a fully self contained solar system that would power lights, small appliances, and outlets for charging. Off grid solar systems require modifying your power usage habits.

We typically don’t wire anything using 12v in a tiny house. Inverters are used to convert everything to 120v like a standard house.

The smaller solar systems in the $5k-8k range, depending on your usage needs, would be to run lights and small appliances in outlets (fan in composting toilet, charging computers, cell phones, and low draw appliances) and would include 1-4 panels and 1-3 off grid batteries, and you wouldn’t have much more than a day of autonomy if it was a cloudy day. With this system, you would rely on grid power most of the time and the solar would augment the grid power.

If you wanted to have the ability to be off grid for short periods of time, but would have access to grid power, a hybrid system with a minimum size for this would be in the $10k-$12k range depending on your usage needs. This would allow you to have a few days of autonomy to run small appliances (you could possibly run the refrigerator on a timer) and would include 6-9 panels and 4-6 batteries.  This is the largest solar system Wind River would be able to install on your tiny house.

If you were planning on being exclusively off grid and wanted to run larger appliances on a regular basis (AC, refrigerator, washer/dryer, etc) you would be looking at a fairly large system with a large battery bank and this type of system can cost anywhere from $20k plus and would include lots of batteries, a generator, a large array of panels, and a large, whole house inverter.  This size system won’t fit in your house and would need to be a ground-mounted solar array.

Tiny homes can be built for anywhere between $20,000 – $100,000 or more. A few major factors that decide the majority of the costs include:

• Length of the trailer the tiny house will be built on (12′ – 30’+)
• Quality of the materials used for interior/exterior siding
• Type and quantity of windows in the home
• Quality of appliances & fixtures
• How much custom work is done (ex: custom made cabinets & countertops, built-in shelving, custom stairs with built-ins, radiant heated flooring, multi-use custom made furniture, etc.)
• Type of systems you choose (propane, electric, solar, etc.)

To put it in perspective, a basic 12′ tiny home built using simple materials would be closer to $40,000 while a 30′ home with high quality materials/appliances and lots of custom work could cost closer to $80,000 – $100,000 or more (could be a lot more if you wanted a gold-plated bathtub, for instance). An average sized tiny house (8.5’x24′) with midrange finishes will be $55k to $75k.

Lightstream, a division of SunTrust bank, now offers no-hassle financing up to $100,000 for Non-RVIA certified tiny homes.

As a general rule of thumb, local credit unions and banks that you have a relationship with are some of your best bets.

The Tiny House Movement is rather new which can make the process of getting financed a little challenging. If you’re unable to obtain financing from the above places, we’d suggest reaching out to a friend or family member who you might be able to borrow money from. If you offer to pay someone interest instead of the bank, it’s a win-win situation!