Plumbing & Hot Water Service!
Plumbing in a shipping container Tiny House, living off grid is definitely not a cookie cutter plumbing job!
When I was designing my bathroom and kitchen all I really considered was choosing taps and sinks and how big my rain shower could be and about how the design would all work together and I didn’t give much thought to the practical side of the plumbing!
The indoor plumbing system was all a standard type installation and although I did spring the rain shower and unusual vanity design on the plumber all of the installation went well. Of course the plumbing inlets and outlets are already on the council permit plans but something I didn’t consider is where all the outdoor pipes would go! My Tiny House is not externally clad so the pipe work had to be exposed! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before it was happening…being so caught up with the design work this practical necessity completely escaped me! So my Tiny House has all service plumbing pipes attached to the back of the Tiny House! This was a last minute “oh no I have no choice” decision because as I said it was something I just didn’t think about! After all of the work was complete the pipes were painted over to match the colour of the Tiny House and then covered with thick bamboo plants! I am happy that the plumbing pipes have been able to be camouflaged into the Tiny House but if I were to do it again I would definitely consider my options for a much neater finish! If you are at the planning stage of a shipping container Tiny House and you have the opportunity to discuss options with your plumber for the outdoor plumbing pipes then ask the question to see if they can advise you on how to minimise the “messy” look!
Choosing your taps, vanity, and other parts of your indoor plumbing system is all part of the design you will have chosen for your Tiny House! My Tiny House design incorporated a bathroom rain shower, a black round bowl vanity sink and exposed pipes under the vanity to give the industrial look in the bathroom! I decided on flick mixer taps in the shower and pull down tap in the kitchen over a round stainless steel sink. My design choices are all a little different to fit in with the industrial design theme and I am really happy with how they all worked together!
I also had an outdoor shower installed, the idea was to be able to use it after coming home from a beach swim but it has proven to be fantastic as a shower when the horses need a wash! Eventually I will have my outdoor bath put in…something that has been on my wish list for some time, I think I have probably mentioned it a few times now in my blog posts…I will look forward to being able to share that one with you when the time comes!
Ok, how about the Hot Water Service? Being off grid for my power it was important to get a Hot Water Service installed that would be efficient enough to run with my solar system. The first Hot Water Service I had put in was not ideal! In fact it was almost impossible to run as it drew so much power and I often would end up with no hot water…cold showers are not fantastic! I had to have it replaced with something energy efficient! Despite almost everyone telling me to go gas for my hot water I was adamant that I did not want gas installed so I persisted with the electrical options! I was recommended to try a heat pump system after doing some research I decided to make the switch! It is absolutely fantastic! So energy efficient I can have it running all the time and is uses very little power, I never run out of hot water, and the system itself has been completely problem free! There is an electronic indicator on the tank that tells you the current water temperature and if you are wanting to set it up on a timer to only heat at certain times that function is available. Highly recommend this system! I have included a photo of mine on this post and here is the link if you want to check it out!
These last three weeks posts I have focused on Plumbing & Water Services…Rainwater Collection, Septic Systems and today the Plumbing & Hot Water Service. I hope I have been able to give you a good insight to my experiences in having all of my incoming and outgoing water services installed, both good and bad, and what I would do differently if I were to do it again!
If you are at the design stage and thinking about your water systems I would love to hear from you with what you are planning on doing if you’d like to share? Or if you have already got your system up and running and want to share it also let me know! I learned from Vlad @downsizedminimalists on Instagram about their grey water system a few months back, there’s always something new to learn and it’s great to share!
If you have any questions you’d like to ask me please send me an email via the “Contact Me” page on this blog, I’m happy to answer and help as best I can.
Thanks for reading!
Jen 🏡