Appliances For Your Tiny House

A cute tiny house.
Image Source: Flickr: Tammy Strobel

The tiny house movement is gaining speed, interjecting into society the idea of living smaller and more self-sufficiently.  Tiny houses require far less maintenance, are cheap and quick to construct, easy to clean, are extremely movable, and are energy efficient.

The 100-200 square foot models can be mounted on a trailer, while the 200-800 square foot category are usually put on a foundation.  With the small square footage, the appliances need to shrink in order to have room for all of life's conveniences.

In a tiny house, kitchen space is a limited commodity, so everything has to be downsized to allow enough space to prepare food.  The whole idea of a tiny house is to live a peaceful, clutter free lifestyle, so cramming every square inch with appliances would be missing the point.  Instead of 4-6 burners on a standard kitchen, most tiny house owners opt for only 2.  The above Kenyon stove is approximately 23 by 14 inches and has a 6.5" and an 8" burner.  

If you absolutely must have an oven, the Danby 20" Propane oven/burner combo is the ticket. Ultra-compact, the Danby squeezes in 4 burners and 2.6 square feet of oven space.  Yes, you can live in a tiny house and cook Thanksgiving dinner.   

This little 15" by 15" sink won't make you lose out on counter space while doing the dishes.  You can either hand wash your dishes or use on of Danby's compact dishwashers.  How many dishes can the one or two occupants of a tiny house really go through in a day????  

The Danby 18" dishwasher is the perfect solution for small living dish cleaning.  It's got 7 cycles to choose from and has enough space for 8 full place settings.  See, Thanksgiving will be a cinch! 

This mini fridge, perfect for RV's, boats, offices, dorms, small apartments, and especially tiny houses.  Sure, it might make you feel like you're college kid again, but having that room to store frozen goods, all in 3.2 cubic feet, makes it all worthwhile. One or two people don't need a monster sized fridge.  Tiny home owners tend to be the type who like fresh local food anyway, so you really don't need more space for one or two people. 

The next question to ask is how you are going to power all of these appliances.  There are three common routes to go: Solar, hooking up to power-lines, or propane.  

Propane is fairly inexpensive, but will add to your monthly cost.  For extreme sustainability, solar might be the choice for you.  The solar option has a heavy upfront cost, but is virtually free to run for the life of the product.  Even though it's got enough power for blenders, stoves, air conditioners, and laptops, you might not be able to watch tv, cook a turkey, run the dishwasher, and have the fridge running at the same time.  

Building a tiny house is a huge commitment and the task can seem a little daunting.  Luckily, hundreds of people have gone before you and have been the guinea pigs, trying out all kinds of arrangements so you don't have to.  All of the products above are affordable and available to be purchased online.  You can order your whole kitchen in a few hours on Amazon. Good luck!

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