Going Off-Grid: Your Tiny Home Guide to Water, Power, and Sewer Without Traditional Hookps

Let us begin by inviting you to imagine a common tiny house scenario.

You find a beautiful piece of tiny house land for sale. It has gorgeous rolling hills, a stream, and wild roaming deer. It’s zoned as unrestricted land, and the county has approved your plan to park a tiny house legally.

There is just one problem.

This tiny house parking spot has no utilities. And what’s more, it would be wildly expensive or even impossible to put them in.

So now what? Can you still park a tiny home without access to full tiny home hookups?

Fortunately, yes, but you might have to go off-grid.

But how would that work? And are off-grid tiny houses even a good idea?

Let’s explore off-grid tiny homes, so you can buy land to legally park a tiny house, even without traditional tiny home utilities available.

Should You Buy an Off-Grid Tiny Home?

Before we get into off-grid utilities for tiny homes let’s start with the overarching question: should you buy an off-grid tiny home?

Off-grid living is one of those things that’s easy to say, but a little trickier to do. Still, an off-grid tiny house could be right for you if:

  • You’ve found the perfect piece of land to park a tiny home legally, and there aren’t utilities on the property.
  • Installing traditional tiny house hookups would be prohibitively expensive.
  • You’re excited by the prospect of going back to simpler times, and you find the idea of living in an off-grid tiny house exciting.
Fortunately, our team at Mint has worked hard to explore off-grid utility options for tiny homes. So if you were looking for off-grid tiny home builders near you, you’ve come to the right place!

 

Power for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

Our tiny house RVs and park model tiny homes typically come with “shore power,” but if you don’t have electricity on your tiny house land, you’ll need another plan. Luckily, there are plenty of power options for off-grid tiny homes.

Solar Power for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

If you live in a relatively sunny area and can find tiny home parking that isn’t too shady, solar is probably your best source of power.

Our team can easily accommodate your solar needs and build panels onto your roof to allow you to harvest energy from the sun.

Not only will you not require shore power, but you’ll be lowering your carbon footprint in the process!

 

Generator Power for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

 

Our tiny house RVs and park model tiny homes typically come with “shore power,” but if you don’t have electricity on your tiny house land, you’ll need another plan. Luckily, there are plenty of power options for off-grid tiny homes.

If you want to buy land to park a tiny house, and that land is remote, it’s not a bad idea to have a source of power you can trust.

Generators are nice because they will run even on cloudy days when you can’t rely as heavily on solar. They are a tad noisy, but they will get the job done. Even if you rely on solar most of the time, a generator can be an excellent backup option to power your off-grid tiny home!

 

Propane-Powered Appliances for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

At Mint Tiny House Company, we are huge fans of propane-powered appliances for tiny homes.

Even if you don’t have plans to live off-grid in your tiny house, propane-powered appliances will lighten your overall electrical load, and still function even if winter storms take out the electricity.

And in the case of off-grid tiny houses, propane-powered appliances become even more valuable!

Did you buy land to legally park a tiny house, but it’s on the remote side? If so, we can help you choose the best propane-powered appliances to keep your off-grid tiny house up and running!

Getting Water to an Off-Grid Tiny House

Water is the life force, so no matter what type of tiny home you choose or tiny house parking spot you find, you’ll need to get water! Here are a few ways you might obtain water for your off-grid tiny house.

Tiny Home Wells
 
Living “off-grid” means that your utilities are not connected by pipes or cables, but it doesn’t exclude wells!
 
In fact, if you buy land to legally park a tiny house and that land is remote, a well could be an excellent way to make water easily accessible.
 
In the case of a well, you will need a pump to bring pressurized water into the house, but rest assured that plenty of tiny home dwellers have done it before!
 
Rainwater Collection Systems for Tiny Homes
 
We’ll preface this section by saying that rainwater collection is not always legal. You’d think so, but it’s not, so be sure to do your research before building your own rainwater catchment system.
 
There are many systems you can buy to harvest water for your off-grid tiny home. Most will involve large cisterns or holding tanks that can be above or below ground.
 
Just remember that like with the well scenario, you’ll still need to pump water from the cistern to your off-grid tiny house.
 
Freshwater Holding Tanks for Tiny Homes
 
If wells or rainwater collection systems aren’t a great fit for your tiny house land, a freshwater holding tank might be your best bet!
 
We install freshwater holding tanks for tiny homes all the time. Some clients fill up while on the road, and others choose to truck water in. Either way, freshwater holding tanks for off-grid tiny homes will ensure you have water available.

Waste Solutions for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

Improper waste disposal can create hazardous conditions, so let’s talk about how to dispose of waste in an off-grid tiny house.

Toilets for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

There are many types of toilets for off-grid tiny homes. There are incinerating toilets, composting toilets, and waterless toilets for tiny houses that dehydrate waste so it can be composted later at proper facilities.

When you meet with our tiny home design team, we’ll help you weigh your tiny house toilet options. Just know we won’t rest until we find the best tiny house toilet for off-grid living that suits your needs!

Greywater Disposal for Off-Grid Tiny Homes

Even if your tiny home won’t produce blackwater (sewage), you’ll still need greywater disposal.

If your county allows, you may be able to build a greywater disposal system on your tiny house land. That being said, do plenty of research before embarking on that adventure!

Another option is to use a greywater holding tank. Greywater holding tanks for off-grid tiny homes will need to be emptied, so if you go this route, be sure to look into pumping services.

Final Thoughts: Off-Grid Tiny Homes

Can’t decide between an off-grid tiny house and one with traditional utilities?

No worries. We can build you an on-grid/off-grid tiny home that’s ready for any adventure!

Our team can build your tiny house to use holding tanks when you need them, and bypass them when you don’t. We can also make your home “solar ready” without installing panels, and even double-plumb your tiny house so you can swap toilets as necessary.

This kind of flexibility opens up tiny home parking options, and contributes to tiny home resale value!

Whatever you decide, our team at Mint Tiny House Company knows that buying a tiny house is a big decision. So would you like help discussing your options? Just use the link below to set up your free tiny home consultation.

Thanks for reading our tiny house blog, and we can’t wait to meet you!

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