The Ultimate Guide to SETTING UP A TINY HOUSE Off-Grid
Tiny houses have captured the imaginations of many Australians – and for good reason.
A tiny house made by Häuslein makes for a very comfortable and liveable home –as far off the beaten path as you want.
And since your tiny house is on wheels it is such a flexible option – you aren’t setting your plans in stone.
Now, living off the grid isn’t for everyone. You need to become robust and resourceful.
In this guide to off grid tiny houses, we’ll cover the cost breakdown and the six main areas that you need to consider:
Site Access - where will you place your tiny house and how will it be towed into position?
Preparing the site - how will you prepare the ground under your tiny house?
Power - how will you keep your tiny house powered?
Water management - how will you keep clean drinkable water flowing?
Waste management - how will you manage blackwater and greywater waste?
Rubbish - how will you dispose of household rubbish?
Site Access
You’ll need to think about how you get from the main roads to the site where your tiny house will be parked on your property. It can be within easy access or it could be nestled away on your property far from any neighbours. Either way, you need to think about how you’ll get your tiny house into position – ensuring that there is enough room for the delivery truck to manoeuvre the tiny house into position. Some trees and branches may need to be trimmed back. Big potholes will need to be filled in and difficult terrain prepared ahead of delivery. Additionally, if your tiny house is in a paddock on a rural property you’ll need to think about how you’ll drive in and out to your tiny house on a daily basis – you don’t want your vehicle to get bogged.
Preparing the Site
Once you’ve picked out the best spot for your off grid tiny house, you’ll need to clear a level pad area roughly the same size as your tiny house – at least 2.5m wide x up to 9m long. This cleared area could be anywhere which captures the best views on your property or somewhere nestled away near trees etc. Ideally, if you lay a concrete pad then we recommend it to be at least 100mm thick. Alternatively, concrete footings under the adjustable landing legs are also fine – 450mm x 450mm x 500mm deep. Or if you choose to lay gravel, crusher dust or road base then it needs to be compacted down to 100mm thick. You don’t want your tiny house to subside in one corner and no longer be level.
POWERING YOUR OFF-GRID TINY HOUSE
Harnessing renewable energy sources is crucial for off-grid living. Tiny houses are designed with a strong focus on energy efficiency and require much less energy compared to traditional sized homes or sheds. Solar panels are eco-friendly and cost-effective, which makes them an excellent option to power your off-grid tiny house. A local solar installer will be best placed to assess your potential load and expected kWh consumption and help you choose the appropriately sized solar power system to generate more than enough electricity for daily use and redundancy for use during cloudy days or at night.
Water Management
Living off grid requires efficient water management. Start with some guttering to catch your rainwater and direct it into an adequately sized water tank. To keep your water pure for drinking, cooking and washing you’ll need a filtration system to prevent bugs, dirt and leaves from entering the water tank and purifying it in the tank. You’ll also need a water pump to supply the water from the tank up into your tiny house.
Waste Management
You have a number of viable options for dealing with waste from an off-grid tiny house: a normal flush toilet plumbed into a septic tank, a composting toilet connected into a greywater system, or a gas or electric incinerator toilet. Composting toilets have become a sustainable alternative to traditional flush toilets and are also eco-friendly as they turn waste into nutrient-rich compost. They are relatively low-maintenance and odourless - making them a practical choice for many tiny house owners going off-grid. If your toilet is near a creek, river or dam then an incinerator toilet may be the only option you are allowed to do.
Rubbish Management
You have a number of viable options for dealing with the collection of household rubbish. Depending on where you are located you can order household bins from your council or private collection company for weekly or fortnightly kerbside collection. Otherwise you may need to collect and sort your household rubbish for disposal at the local rubbish depot.
Hauslein customer off grid tiny house deep in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia
off-grid Tiny house COst Breakdown
Solar Power System
$15,000 - $25,000
This will be the most expensive part of living off grid. You'll need at least 6 x panels or more, 4-8 Kwh battery, at least a 5,000w inverter, and an autostart backup generator just in case you have a run of bad weather. We recommend that if possible you locate your solar panels on a rack or a trailer in the open sunshine, away from any shade in order to capture the most energy year round. At Häuslein, we recommend you work with a local solar installer to get set up and help you with maintenance. Entire off-grid solar power systems can be sourced from Commodore or Skybox and then installed by a licensed electrician.
Guttering Kit and Downpipes
$250
Guttering and downpipes are essential for rainwater collection at any off-grid tiny house installation and must be fitted after your tiny house is delivered and installed.
Rainwater Water Tank
$1,000-$3,000
You’ll need at least a 5,000L water tank to be a sufficient source of water for 1-2 people or a small family. The bigger, the better. You’ll need a standard water pump too. The roof size of your tiny house is limited but will be able to capture some rainfall. However, it probably won’t be enough so you need to think about collecting rain water from a nearby shed or refilling by a water truck during times of prolonged dry weather.
Rainwater Water Filter
$2,000
A lot of people will be fine drinking rain water harvested from their roof without any extra filtration. But if you want to fit a UV rain water filter to disinfect 99.99% of the bacteria commonly found in rainwater tanks it’ll cost approximately $2,000 to buy. Expect to pay up to $250 - $500 for a plumber install the water filter system. The water filter cartridges should be replaced every 6 - 12 months while the Ultraviolet Lamp should be replaced every 12 months.
Greywater System
$500-$1,000
To deal with the reusable wastewater from the kitchen sink, shower, bathroom sink, dishwasher and washing machine you’ll need a greywater system to efficiently direct that water away from the house. The grey water system in comprised of the greywater pipe leaving the house into a filter, a slotted pipe, grease trap and gravel trench. This will mean using environmentally friendly cleaning products free from harsh chemicals. We can connect you with a greywater specialist for a 1-hour consultation to show you what to do at your site.
Composting Toilet
$2,000+
You'll need a composting toilet to manage your toilet waste. We recommend the GreenLoo GL90. Composting toilets are low-maintenance and odourless - making them a practical choice for an off grid set up. It will need to connect to your greywater trench for any black water overflow. Installing a tiny house near rivers and creeks may mean that you’ll need to install a gas or electric incinerator toilet – which cost a lot more (approx $7,700). You’ll also need get a plumber to fit the toilet off, and connect the toilet pedestal, canister, fan, exhaust pipe, and other parts of the system to the greywater system.
Gas Bottles
$200 per year
For full off grid installations, we recommend you choose gas for your hot water and cooktop – that way there's less potential power load being drawn from your solar power source.
Wood Fire Heater
$4,500+
For people in colder areas of Australia they will enjoy the warmth of a wood fire heater in their off grid tiny house. Not only does the wood fire heater add coziness it means you'll not be relying entirely on the air con for heating. You can even cook on top of it. We recommend the Charnwood Aire 3. The flue can only be fitted by a plumber or roofing plumber after your house is delivered and installed.
TOTAL COST
$25,000 - $35,000
For your tiny house to be completely self-sufficient off the grid you need to budget for approximately $25,000 - $35,000. The biggest cost by far is your solar power system. The bigger the system, the larger the cost.
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Explore insightful stories from happy Häuslein customers across much of Australia who showcase how they’ve installed our range of tiny houses for a wide variety of purposes.
OFF GRID TINY HOUSE FAQ’s
Q: Is it legal to live off-grid in Australia?
Yes, there’s no law that specifically prohibits off grid tiny house living. So long as you are in the clear to put your tiny house on wheels on your specific piece of land then there’s no problem.
Q: How much does an off-grid tiny home cost?
In addition to your Häuslein Tiny House starting at approx $100,000, you need to budget an extra $25,000 - $35,000 to set up your tiny house 100% off grid for water, power and waste. By far, the biggest additional cost to go off grid is your solar power system.
Q: Do I need to put my solar panels on the roof of my tiny house?
No. You don’t have much space on the roof and it's usually going to be much better if you put your solar panels away from the house in an open space where they can get uninterrupted sunshine year round. From there, safely run a 240v 15amp power cable across to your tiny house which can be located in the shade or partial shade or wherever the best views are.
Q: How do you connect a tiny house to the grid?
The power input for our Hauslein tiny houses is conveniently placed at the back corner chassis rail. The input is a normal 240v 15amp plug and play power input. Connect it from your solar power system or your on-grid power output.
Q: How long does it take to get everything ready to live off grid?
Most people need to reasonably allow a couple of weeks worth of work to get everything ready. Depending on where you park your tiny house you may need to clear a road to get the site, trim trees and hedges back, clear the installation site, lay a concrete slab or footings, dig a grey water trench, set up a water tank and set up a solar power system. Then you’ll be ready to actually park and level the tiny house, install appliances and fit off any plumbing for guttering, grey water, wood fire flue etc.
Q: Does my off grid tiny house need to have a BAL Rating (Bushfire Attack Level)?
Because tiny houses are not a traditional fixed house they don't have a BAL Rating. However, in order to comply with BAL Ratings our tiny houses may need to either have wood cladding replaced or coated with fire retardant and all gaps closed to 5mm or less. Flyscreens may need to be changed to aluminium instead of fibreglass. You can inspect the BAL rating of your land on the relevant State Government Bush Fire websites.