With the rising cost of living, it’s not surprising that people are seeking more cost-efficient alternatives. One of those is installing solar on tiny homes, a two-in-one deal that addresses exorbitant housing and utility prices.
The tiny house industry is booming, with thousands turning their backs on large houses and even larger mortgages, choosing instead to seek a simpler life in a home of significantly reduced size.
While some might struggle with a tiny house’s constrictions, they are proving the perfect remedy to our modern-day situation for many. But if you want to go the full mile and make your tiny house as off the grid as possible, you’ll need a solar power kit to help you along the way.
How Much Does It Cost to Go Full Solar on a Tiny House?
If you’re looking to power your entire tiny house using solar energy, the good news is you’ll almost certainly need much less of it than in a traditional-sized home.
A tiny house is typically categorised as anything under 56 metres squared, though many come in at less than half that figure. While size doesn’t automatically equate to lower costs, it’s generally a good rule of thumb. A traditional house might use 30 kWh per day — with a tiny home, it’s probably more like 16 kWhs.
Powering an entire tiny house using solar energy sounds straightforward, but in reality, it is relatively complex and time-consuming in the early stages. To get everything right, you’ll need plenty of additional equipment apart from the solar panels, including batteries, control panels, an inverter, and breakers.
All in all, you’re probably looking at between £13,000 and £18,000 to install an entire solar system on a tiny house. It is a considerable upfront expense, but tax credits for clean energy consumption can lessen the burden and lead to future savings.
EcoFlow Power Kit—The Cost-Efficient Way to Power Your Tiny Home
One of the most cost-effective ways to power a tiny home is with one of EcoFlow’s Power Kits, designed with a small footprint and off-grid living in mind.
EcoFlow’s integrated Power Kits provide everything needed to power a tiny home in a compact unit, and installation is easy. You can install it yourself or have a certified technician do it for you.
You can use the EcoFlow interactive calculator to calculate how much power you need for your tiny home.
For example, a tiny home under 56 metres squared that uses modern appliances — microwave, TV, air conditioning, cooker, water heating, etc. — would use roughly 16.16kWh per day. For this level of energy consumption, you would do well with the 15kWh Get Set Kit. The system costs around £15,000, but significant discounts are often available.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Using Solar for a Tiny House?
Buying a tiny house and setting up a solar system to live out your days mortgage-free and with blissfully low energy bills sounds idyllic, but what are the pros and cons?
Pros
Future Energy Savings
While the initial investment can be high, the savings you can make in the long run are undeniable. Compared with energy consumption in a traditional-sized home, you could save tens of thousands of dollars by choosing to live in a reduced space with a solar energy system.
Energy cost savings are particularly relevant these days with how volatile energy prices can be. Some analysts predict energy prices could rise by as much as 50% by the end of 2022.
Making the jump to solar is one way to escape the energy market’s complicated, maddening prices.
Clean Energy
The realisation that the world needs to loosen its grip on our rapidly diminishing stockpiles of fossil fuels appears to be finally dawning. Unfortunately, progress has, by and large, been incredibly slow.
While there have been drops in worldwide CO2 emissions, much of this was down to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Now, several countries are producing more CO2 than they were in 2019.
You can’t save the world by yourself, but installing a solar energy system for your tiny house means you’re doing your bit to reduce your carbon impact.
Cons
High Initial Costs
A solar energy system will undoubtedly save you money in the long run and mean that you can stay clear of further price increases. There are often attractive tax credits and subsidies available for homes using solar panels, but that doesn’t change the fact that setting up a complete solar power system from scratch can be expensive.
Many people assume it’s all about putting a couple of solar panels on the roof. In reality, a significant amount of equipment goes into setting up a high-quality solar power system.
Dependent on Solar
How big of an issue this is, depends on where you live and how many solar panels you use. We’ve all seen quaint Instagram images of a tiny house in the woods with just two panels neatly attached to the roof, but while this might look great, in a practical sense, it might not cut it as a total off-grid power solution.
Two solar panels will probably produce around 600 watts of electricity, which isn’t much if you also need them to heat your tiny house. To remedy this, many choose to add solar arrays on the ground to generate much-needed extra energy. Of course, this raises overall costs and depends on your available space.
And finally, we come to what many believe to be the major downside of using solar energy — what happens when there’s no sun? The truth is that while you’re somewhat reliant on the hours of sunshine your location receives, solar panels can absorb light even on cloudy days. It makes the switch to clean energy a decision with relatively few downsides.
Conclusion
Adding a solar energy system, such as the EcoFlow Power Kit, can be one of the best decisions you ever make for your tiny house. It is a game-changing solution that will almost certainly bring long-term savings and help contribute to a brighter and cleaner future for our planet. Whether you’re looking to power your compact home, a boat, or simply something to take with you when you go camping, EcoFlow has the solar power solution to meet your every need.
