Yes, it’s a tiny house thing!

Along this journey we are learning a lot more about tiny homes in general and specifically the tiny homes we have here at TE.  As we grow through the different seasons, we find things here and there that would make a difference to anyone if you were building a tiny home yourself.  We have a variety of homes from people like the family who wanted a weekend project, retired folks looking for a hobby, independent women, homes built from career and technical schools, also from trained professionals like architects, engineers, contractors and to those aspiring to become professional tiny home builders themselves.  With the vast mix of individuals and companies building homes and varying degrees of differences, we understand when people ask us “Is it just a tiny thing?”

The simple answer to most of those kinds of questions is “yes, it is a tiny thing”.  Usually, during check in we may have to do a little additional explaining to our guests, for instance, the cook-top in the house is fueled by propane and if the knob is turned on, propane will run.  We then further explain that there is a carbon monoxide detector in the home, in the event that you would turn it on unknowingly, an alarm will sound if it detects propane building up in the home. Operating a propane cook-top- although common in many regular homes, are more widely used in tiny homes than electric, so It’s kind of a tiny house thing.

And speaking of cook-tops another thing to note, is that induction cook-tops pull a few amps and if you don’t have a designated wiring for your cook-top, you may not be able to use other electrical appliances in your home at the same time.  Induction cook-tops only work with special induction pans and the size of the pan must match the size of the burner.  Most people may know this, or don’t but we have a few tiny homes with induction cook-tops and it’s usually a reason people will call us and ask about using the cook-top. So, induction cook-tops might not be only used in tiny homes-but it’s a thing, and we sometimes must explain it.

Vacuums too, a lot of them will pull 11 to 12 amps which is a lot. You may find yourself unplugging things or tripping breakers just to vacuum your floors, if you don’t have high enough amp service for what you need, and additionally, it needs to be wired correctly for the use of certain appliances.  Toaster ovens too, although seem small, will pull a lot of amps.  Your electrical needs will be something very important you will need to discuss with your tiny home builder, so they understand what you will be using in your tiny house so they can have it wired appropriately.  This is not something you will find out after you built your tiny home. Balancing electrical use-yes, again, it's a tiny house thing.

Water pressure is another thing we get some questions about.  When a tiny house has an on-demand style water heater, it requires a certain amount of water pressure to push out hot water.  In the case that you do not have enough pressure, you may need to create more pressure by also opening another faucet in the house and letting it run while using the other faucet for hot water.  Usually, this is not an issue for everyone or in every tiny home with an on-demand hot water system, but it is something that can occur, and is easily remedied.  No hot water- yes, it’s a tiny thing.

Doors rubbing or not opening and closing easily? Barn doors sliding open?  Well, tiny homes when parked need to be leveled out and sometimes they can shift, and you may have to adjust the leveling here and there.  Depending on what type of ground your house is parked on you can level out more often than usual.  This is easily fixed with a few cranks on a jack.   Yep, it’s a tiny house thing.

Are you cold but running your split on high and on a warm temperature? Splits are generally installed high on a wall in a tiny house, and as we all know heat does rise. Depending on where your split is located and the size of your tiny home, you may need to supplement with another type of heating source. Having an additional heat source will also be good for the pipes in your tiny home in the cold winter months where there is a chance of freezing. If you have a ceiling fan, changing the direction of the blades so it pushes air down will help distribute the rising heat back down to the lower areas of the home. Chilly? -It could just be a tiny thing.

Have you ever actually used a washer dryer combo?  If not, be prepared to wait, it can take up to four hours to wash and dry one load of clothing in a combo unit. You may find yourself doing laundry a lot more than your used to, simply because it takes much longer to stay on top of things.  Daily laundry could be normal depending what you are using.  Washer/dryer combo laundry waiting, yes, another tiny house thing.

The above, mentioned issues may sound like a lot, to someone not familiar with tiny homes, however, they are simply just minor adjustments to a different way of doing things, and different doesn't always mean it's negative. It's just different.  I would guess that if you’re making the transition from large to tiny you are already anticipating a huge adjustment, and that’s good. You can try to plan to be prepared for everything, but there are things you need to familiarize yourself with before you build. 

We will always encourage people to do as much research as possible.  Reach out to tiny home owners (easily found on social media), or tiny home communities, most people are more than willing to share their experiences to help a potential new tiny home owner.  The perspective of a tiny home owner will more than likely be different than that of a tiny home builder, so do yourself a huge favor, and find some good resources to get genuine information from. Staying in different types of tiny homes is a good investment into your future tiny home.  There's no better way to know what it's like without experiencing it as much as possible. 

 The examples of some of the quirks and adjustments of tiny living we shared, really are just simple fixes and adjustments that are typical of tiny homes and in the grand scheme of all things tiny, they are tiny too.  

Want to try tiny?  TE is offering a winter special, you can stay in a tiny for 30 days over the winter and get the full experience of tiny living for 50% off the regular price, and tax free as well.  Submerse yourself into tiny life here at TE, and leave an experience you'll never forget.