Behind the Build - Powering and Plumbing Our Tiny Home with Signature Solar
In our latest episode of Tiny Home Tours Truck Build, we’re thrilled to dive deeper into the significant strides we’ve made on our tiny home build. Previously, we celebrated the completion of our interior, a stunning blend of minimalist, modern-rustic design. With the walls, ceiling, and flooring in place, we turned our focus to the essential utilities—bringing power and plumbing to life in our off-grid haven.
Powering Our Off-Grid Life with Signature Solar
Living off the grid is one of the most rewarding aspects of our journey, but it also requires a dependable and robust electrical system. That’s where Signature Solar comes in. We partnered with them to equip our tiny home with a top-notch power setup that ensures we can enjoy all the comforts of home, no matter how remote our location.
Signature Solar hooked ups up with their cutting-edge EG4 server rack batteries, which immediately impressed us with their compact footprint and high amp-hour (Ah) capacity. These batteries are designed to maximize space efficiency while delivering a powerful energy reserve, making them ideal for tiny homes like ours. Pairing these with Victron components, including a 3000W inverter charger, a Lynx distributor, and an MPPT charge controller, we’ve created a system that meets all our energy needs.
To harness solar energy, we installed five Grape Solar 200W panels on our roof, giving us a total of 1000W of solar power. This setup is a game-changer, allowing us to power essential appliances like our microwave, laptops, and even an electric oven—all while staying off the grid. The flexibility and power of this system mean we can continue our adventures without compromising on the luxuries we’ve grown accustomed to.
Signature Solar's team offered invaluable support throughout the installation process. Their expertise made it easy to integrate this sophisticated system into our tiny home, ensuring that every component worked seamlessly together.
We even added a 30-amp shore power connection with a Kohree 50-foot extension cord, a practical addition for those rare occasions when we need to plug in. The extra length of the cord offers greater flexibility in accessing power sources, especially in more challenging environments. Kohree's 15-30 adapter and surge protector allows us to be able to feel confident where we are plugging in.
Bringing Water Onboard: A New Approach
While we’ve always relied on portable water jugs during our travels, this build called for something more permanent. With our new setup, we’ve installed a 42-gallon fresh water tank, a Seaflo water pump, a Seaflo accumulator and an 8-layer Waterdrop filter. We wanted to put a water filter on the entire water system as an extra safety measure and also to keep our water system clean. The hydronic water heater system, recommended by our friend Rob, not only heats our water but also serves as our heating system, making it a versatile and efficient choice.
This is the first time we’ve had hot water in our rig, and we couldn’t be more excited. We went with a 16x20 Ruvati sink. It fits perfectly into our space, and our shower setup, though simple, is effective. We opted for a combination of vinyl sheet flooring and Redguard waterproofing membrane for the shower. This approach was both cost-effective and easy to install, allowing us to achieve a clean, modern look without the hassle of traditional tile and grout.
Toilet is a must! - Ogo Orgin
When living on the road a toilet is a must have in our opinion. We partnered with Ogo for our toilet solution. Their Ogo Orgin toilet has a unique electrical churning system and a urine diverter making it very easy to use. If you are looking for a bit of a simpler set up and less expense, they also have the Ogo Nomad which uses a bag system but still with a diverter. It was very easy to connect the provided wiring to our electrical system when setting up. They also provided us with their wet bath cover which eliminates the need to remove it when showering, making it an even more convenient option for full time living on the road.
Looking Ahead: The Final Stages
With our electrical and plumbing systems in place, we’re entering the final stages of our build. The next steps involve completing the feature wall by woodplank.com, organizing the garage area, loading up the motorcycles, and tackling the last few details. We’re incredibly grateful to Signature Solar for helping us power our dream tiny home and to Rob for his expertise in the hydronic water system.
Stay tuned for our final punch list as we bring this project to a close and prepare to hit the road in our fully equipped, off-grid tiny home on wheels!
Thanks to this Episodes Sponsors: