Denise Ryals, owner of Hummingbird Houses in Danville, Ga., lives in this tiny home with her husband. The house was featured on Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House, Big Living.
Denise Ryals, owner of Hummingbird Houses in Danville, Ga., lives in this tiny home with her husband. The house was featured on Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House, Big Living.
Denise Ryals, owner of Hummingbird Houses in Danville, Ga., lives in this tiny home with her husband. The house was featured on Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House, Big Living.
Denise Ryals, owner of Hummingbird Houses in Danville, Ga., lives in this tiny home with her husband. The house was featured on Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House, Big Living.
Denise Ryals, owner of Hummingbird Houses in Danville, Ga., lives in this tiny home with her husband. The house was featured on Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House, Big Living.

The Tiny House Revolution

June 23, 2017
Do-it-yourselfers may dominate the tiny house market, but some builders are turning to electricians to safely power and illuminate the compact dwellings on wheels and foundations.

For many Americans, living large has nothing to do with square footage. Rather than sinking their life savings into high-cost, gargantuan houses, some are opting to build their own tiny houses.

Unlike the average new American house, which measures an average of 2,687 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, tiny houses cover a footprint of 400 square feet or less. Chris Galusha, president of the American Tiny House Association, estimates that the United States has tens of thousands of tiny houses, and the market is growing at about 10% to 15% per year.

While it’s challenging to pinpoint the exact number of tiny houses, one thing is certain — this movement is gaining traction nationwide, and many key factors are driving the tiny house trend, says Gary Bute, a master electrician and owner of Tiny House Systems in Austin, Texas.

“Some people are downsizing their homes to allow the use of their cash to be used for fun and travel instead of maintaining a foundation-based home and property,” Bute says. “Portability is another driving force. People want to be able to move easily for work.”

Bute, who formerly managed an electrical design business in Vail, Colo., says another key benefit is that Americans now have the opportunity to build their own houses without the same rigorous inspections and codes as traditional-sized houses built on stationary foundations. In turn, however, this is opening the door to do-it-yourselfers, who are attempting to wire their own houses themselves. Bute says he’s seen a flood of YouTube videos, Facebook enthusiasts, and e-books that promote do-it-yourself (DIY) electrical work. Oftentimes, these resources contain inaccurate information, and present huge challenges and safety concerns.

“Even self-proclaimed ‘professional’ builders, along with the DIY builders, are performing installations with wiring errors and poor product selections,” Bute says. “If you want a safe home, you need to hire a licensed and insured electrical contractor that understands the National Electrical Code (NEC).”

He specifically referenced NEC Art. 551, which focuses on the requirements for recreational vehicles (RVs) and RV parks.

DIY safety concerns

James (Bo) Bezdek of Austin Tiny Homes says he would never encourage, or even allow, homeowners to wire their own house unless they bought a shell and he had no control over it.

“It’s simply too dangerous to have people wiring who have no idea what they are doing,” Bezdek says. “Aside from shock hazards, I think the biggest hazard is going to be fire.”

Denise Ryals, owner of Hummingbird Houses in Danville, Ga., says she has heard and seen horror stories about DIY work. For example, Ryals says one individual built a tiny house on a trailer he found in his dad’s backyard.

“It was not constructed to bear the weight of a tiny house,” Ryals says. “There was no one there to say ‘you shouldn’t really build on that because it’s not meant for this.’”

She has also seen the after-effect of poor DIY electrical wiring. In fact, right now, her company is working on gutting, rewiring, and completely rebuilding a tiny house that was improperly built, not up to code, and wired in a “crazy way” by the previous owner.

“An elderly couple purchased this pre-owned tiny house, which was wired from a cord cut off from an appliance,” says Ryals, who worked in residential construction for 35 years with her husband before entering the tiny house market. “They were desperate for help, so we took it down to the studs and then built it back up from there.”

Some tiny house on wheels (THOW) manufacturers offer education to enthusiasts but still advise them to hire professionals. Case in point: Tumbleweed Tiny Homes has presented workshops nationwide to teach enthusiasts how to build tiny houses on its trailers from its build plans. Even so, Tumbleweed does not advise do-it-yourselfers to perform their own wiring, but rather encourages enthusiasts to hire a building contractor, plumber, electrician, and HVAC technician, says Pat Clancy, tiny house specialist.

Oftentimes, however, hiring licensed electricians and other building trades can be cost-prohibitive for do-it-yourselfers and builders, says Galusha of the Tiny Home Association, which has 300 members nationwide. He says a well-written 50-page book could provide a person with everything they needed to know about wiring most of their tiny house. However, he still recommends that a licensed electrician set the service panel and make any connections to permanent power after the work is inspected (see Three Ways to Break into the Tiny House Market below).

 “It’s not complicated, and a lot of people wire their own tiny houses,” Galusha says. “Otherwise, they would have to pass the cost burden of the equipment, liability, and labor to their customers.”

Because electrical contractors are a skilled trade, they are not cheap to hire, and they are pricing jobs high despite the compact square footage of a tiny house, according to Galusha.

“Electricians haven’t figured out how to make a package affordable, and it can seem ridiculous,” he says. “The last gal I talked to said that an electrician quoted her $4,000 to wire a 150-square-foot tiny house, which was not what I paid for a 1,200-square-foot spec house back in 2007.”

Galusha believes electricians may be charging a high amount for their services for two key reasons. First of all, they may be trying to cover their basic expenses for any job — big or small. Second, a tiny house may offer as much trouble to plan and execute as a larger job with a higher profit margin.

On the move or on land

Generally, tiny houses are typically available in two different types — on wheels (THOWs) or on foundations. Clancy says there is room in the market for both types of houses (see Tips and Techniques for Tiny Houses below).

“One travels; one does not,” Clancy says. “Also, one type is attached to land, involving the neighborhood, city, county, state laws, codes, and taxes. They live by different rules, and they’re not built the same.”

If they are built on a stationary foundation, the tiny houses are under the jurisdiction of the municipality where they are constructed, and face local zoning regulations and
ordinances. For example, if tiny houses are considered an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), they must be built on the same land as a larger, more traditionally sized house. In contrast, THOWs are often considered RVs. For example, Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., Sonoma, Calif., builds its RVs to RVIA and Green Build standards and, as such, must comply with more than 500 safety codes. Because they must comply with RV zoning codes, they are welcome in RV parks nationwide. All customers receive a VIN number and title for their RV, Clancy says.

Bezdek says there are many reasons for tiny houses to be on wheels rather than on foundations.

“They aren’t permanent structures so they don’t affect property tax, they can be moved, and they can get around certain development codes since they don’t add to the impervious coverage of a property where that’s an issue,” Bedzek says. “They can also be taken out of harm’s way, like when they are on the coast or along a river that is prone to periodic flooding.”

The challenge with THOWs, however, is that many areas still don’t know how to classify them, and they are still in a gray area as far as zoning, Bezdek says. Technically, if a tiny house is classified as an RV, it is not permitted for full-time living. Ryals says in the future she would like tiny houses to be classified as “tiny homes” rather than lumped under the RV category.

“We would love it if people could live in their tiny homes and not be served with eviction notices,” says Ryals, who lives with her husband in a 250-square-foot tiny home, which was featured on the reality TV shows, “Tiny House Hunters” and “Tiny House, Big Living.”

“A tiny home on wheels is not a travel trailer or a camper that will only last 10 or 15 years, says Ryals. “It’s built like a regular home, just on a portable foundation, and it can be handed down from one generation to the next.”

Tiny house electrical systems

Tiny houses are often wired for electricity the same way average houses are with the exception of the incoming power connection, which is typically a 30A or 50A RV plug, says Greg Parham of Rocky Mountain Tiny Homes, Durango, Colo. However, some tiny houses require a hard-wired connection to an electric utility pole or via underground conduit if they use high-draw appliances, he says. Because most tiny houses are on mobile foundations, they often end up in RV parks, where they usually connect to a 50A max service. Alternatively, if they are situated in a backyard, they will be limited by what service they can tie into at the main house, but it’s normally 40A to 60A.

“It’s fairly uncommon right now for people to be able to hook up to more amperage,” Bezdek says. “So most of the homes have relatively small service panels with 8 to 16 slots.”

Also, unlike residential houses that space out outlets every 8 ft, Ryals says most of the tiny houses she works on place outlets every 6 feet, if possible.

Tiny House Systems designs all tiny houses on trailers to be RVs because they are not houses, as set forth by the IRC, Bute says. As such, the RVs designed by his company use 12VDC appliances like a water heater, furnace, water pump, and lighting to be compliant with the NEC.

To illuminate a THOW, Bute says his team designs 12VDC LED lighting systems and uses small ribbon strips and pucks throughout the house. In addition, they specify standard residential decorative luminaires for the bathroom and a screw-in, medium-base 12VDC LED type lamp.

“Using 12VDC lighting and a 12VDC power system eliminates the need to find space for the LED drivers and allows for a smaller wire to be used,” Bute says.

With both tiny houses on mobile and stationary foundations, Bezdek says his company follows the International Residential Code, which is in effect in Austin for single-family residences.

“Really, there is no difference in electrical wiring from a large home, although because the homes are small, we usually upsize the wiring,” Bezdek says. “If an appliance, for instance, can use 12-3 wiring, we will go ahead and use 10-3 because the runs are short, and wire is not nearly the same cost factor as it would be wiring a larger home.”

In addition to receiving power from a local electric utility distribution system, tiny houses can power up on their own using solar equipment, especially when placed in remote locations. Generally, Bute says additional space for the equipment and the batteries is placed in a separate trailer or ground-based enclosure. Because of the limited roof space on a tiny house, photovoltaic panels are typically portable ground-mounted arrays.

“With proper planning and appliance selections, the THOW could contain the complete solar system,” Bute says.

Bute says all of the houses he designs and builds use as much 12VDC power for lighting and appliances as possible so they are off-grid ready. Using 12VDC power reduces the need to operate an inverter to run AC devices. This eliminates a 5% to 10% power loss when using an inverter.

In Texas, Bezdek says his company sometimes does solar, but it’s not very cost-effective in his area of the country due to high heat and humidity levels, where air conditioning runs non-stop from March through November — and even through winter. The cost of a battery array can be quite high.

Clancy says if one of their clients wants a completely off-the-grid RV, they can pre-wire the unit for solar and equip it with a generator. She says every tiny house is custom built and wired to the customer’s needs and RVIA standards.

Video inspections

After a THOW is wired for electricity, some — but not all — of the RVs are inspected by a “self-proclaimed” professional, which can create issues because, at this time, there is no governing body for THOWs, says Bute. He advises electricians not to certify the work of a do-it-yourselfer and make it appear like an inspection took place (see Do’s and Don’ts for Wiring Tiny Homes below).

“Building on wheels sometimes creates safety issues because there are no inspections,” Bute says. “There isn’t any enforcement on how an RV or THOW is to be built, so many have common sense safety violations such as no smoke detector.”

However, Bute says he’s seen third-party inspection businesses emerging that will inspect a THOW like an RV, helping buyers more easily obtain a loan to purchase a tiny house. It also helps them secure an insurance policy on the unit.

Galusha says these inspection programs are quickly starting to take off with city officials in smaller rural towns.

“They may think the tiny homes are cute and they don’t have a problem with them, but with the inspections now going on, they can realize that they are safe,” he says.

For example, the National Organization for Alternative Housing (NOAH) has engineers and licensed building inspectors on retainer to perform recorded video inspections over a secure internet connection. During the video call, they tell the client what needs to be corrected to meet full compliance before they can move on to the next phase of construction.

“At this time, I know of at least one insurance company that requests a certification from NOAH or RVIA before it will issue a policy on a tiny home on wheels,” Galusha says.

Ryals says while it’s not mandatory for her clients to secure a NOAH certification, she advises them to perform the video inspections so it’s easier to get an insurance policy and financing, if needed. Because all of the videos are archived, a client can also look up their VIN number on the site to watch their house being built.

Future of tiny homes

Bezdek says the primary market for tiny houses is retired single women. Rather than facing a large rent payment, they can instead pay cash for a tiny house, which allows them to live off their fixed income instead of dipping into their savings every month. The secondary market for tiny houses in Austin consists of rental units in the backyards of traditional-sized houses, he says. Finally, the tiny house market is attracting younger people who want to own a house, but are not willing or able to drop several hundred thousand dollars for a traditional-sized dwelling unit.

The tiny house market is a great option for those Americans who want more affordable housing.

“People want smaller housing because they are tired of paying for space they’re not using, tired of putting money towards a house payment, and they want to do stuff — not own stuff,” Galusha says.

Over time, communities, hotels, and neighborhoods have embraced the tiny house movement, according to Clancy. For example, in Austin, Bezdek says the city has several tiny house communities and other states, such as Oregon and Colorado, are even more tiny house friendly.

“Although I think this trend will continue to grow, I think it will be in those areas that have an abundance of land for sprawl,” Bezdek says. “I don’t see the movement having this kind of traction in the Northeast, where the population density and the premium on land lead people to move up instead of out.”

Bezdek expects more communities to pop up on the horizon as people re-evaluate their lives and priorities. At the same time, however, he questions what will happen when used tiny houses flood the resale market.

“The market is still pretty new, and I think it still has legs for some time to come,” Bezdek says. “There will always be people who are not content living in a sprawling apartment complex, who want their own home, and need a solution that meets their income level.”       

Fischbach is a freelance writer based in Overland Park, Kan. She can be reached at [email protected].

SIDEBAR 1: Do’s and Don’ts for Wiring Tiny Houses

Gary Bute, a master electrician who has wired many tiny houses, offers these suggestions for other electricians looking to break into this niche market.

DO’S

• Provide a safe 120V power connection on the back driver’s side of the trailer.

• Include a main breaker in the house panel.

• Separate the neutral and ground conductors when wiring the house.

• Bond the trailer, gas pipes, and water pipes to the ground conductor.

• Consider the weight and size of every item to be installed in a tiny house on wheels (THOW).

• Work with customers you feel want to really be safe in their new house.

DON’TS

• Use a small combination 120VAC and 12VDC power distribution device.

• Install electrical equipment on the side of the THOW. This results in the tiny house exceeding the designed width of 8 feet, 6 inches.

• Certify the wiring installed by someone else, which gives the impression that an inspection took place.

SIDEBAR 2: Tips and Techniques for Tiny Houses

From his experience in the industry, Bo Bezdek of Austin Tiny Homes, Austin, Texas, shares his lessons learned about the tiny house market.

Educate clients about their power usage. Electricians must teach tiny house owners to be conscientious about what they are doing simultaneously, especially when it comes to heating elements, he says.

“Running the dryer along with a space heater, while the water heater is recovering from your shower, and drying your hair while you wait for coffee to brew and eggs to fry in your induction cooktop? Not a good idea,” he says.

Advise them to go all-electric. Because most of the tiny houses are constructed of wood inside and out, Bezdek doesn’t like the idea of open flames inside these units. Also, he says portable propane tanks won’t last long under the load of a tankless water heater.

Don’t forget that tiny houses can and will be moved. Electricians should secure their wiring with good connections and add some slack in the lines. That way, everything is not too tight, and if something gets loose, the vibration won’t cause chafing to the wire insulation.

“When they are moved, it is like an extended earthquake, and a real earthquake only lasts a few minutes,” he says. “A tiny house move usually lasts several hours or more. How will the stresses, vibrations, bumps, and shakes affect your work?”

Keep in mind that tiny house owners will be hooking up to who knows what. Bezdek says he has seen owners rig their 50A plug to connect to a 30A socket, and then wonder why their 240V items don’t work.

Realize that you have no control over how the service wiring is done. For example, he says one RV park had all its neutral and hot wires reversed, causing all sorts of odd electrical behavior in a tiny house.

SIDEBAR 3: Three Ways to Break  into the Tiny House Market

Teach classes. An electrician can teach do-it-yourselfers how to run the wiring, properly wire a receptacle, and connect a light switch. He or she can then sell them on coming out to install the panel and get hooked up for service, says Chris Galusha, president of the American Tiny House Association, Rockledge, Fla. While do-it-yourselfers may fully intend to build and wire their tiny houses themselves, the majority of them could decide that it’s too much hassle.

“If you teach a class, about 70% of them may buy all the materials, and then decide they don’t want to do it,” he says. “If you gave them your business card, however, you are the first one they’ll think of, and they will give you a call. Then you become the guy to get it done.”

Work for a professional builder. Alpine Tiny Homes of Vineyard, Utah, has an electrician in-house so it can handle all of phases of construction internally. Gary Bute of Tiny House Systems, Austin, Texas, says if an electrician is interested in the tiny house market, this is a good approach as opposed to helping a DIY builder.

“That may be a one-time service call to a person that may choose to do it his way anyway,” Bute says. “Instead, an electrician should find a builder of multiple tiny houses on wheels or on foundations to serve for years to come.”

Fill gaps between big jobs. Typically, Bo Bezdek of Austin Tiny Homes, Austin, Texas, says a good electrician usually only needs two days — one for the rough-in and another for the trim-out — to wire a tiny house.

“For the electrician, and depending on the operation, it can be a good bit of business,” Bezdek says. “The flip side is because the tiny homes are so small, there is usually a narrow window for having your electrical get in and out. There’s not usually much you can do as a builder to fill time if you have to wait a week on your electrician to get to you.”

About the Author

Amy Florence Fischbach

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