5 Tips For Green Lighting Your Tiny Home
Going tiny often inspires people to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle. As your build your own custom tiny home, it's a great chance to reduce their carbon footprint.
The tiny lifestyle often pursues simplicity, necessity, and an overall gratitude for what you have. Going tiny often inspires people to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle. As your build your own custom tiny home, it's a great chance to reduce their carbon footprint.
Many tiny homes have the capability to suffice off-grid and are using green solutions to make it happen. It all starts with the insulation, so planning your sustainable home from step one is important.
Here are 5 tips for green lighting your tiny home:
Use windows and skylights
If you install a lot of windows and even skylights, you can allow in lots of natural light and reduce your need for daytime lighting. Allowing in natural light will also increase your natural exposure to vitamin D, which improves your mood and is an essential vitamin. You will want to install blinds and window shades that are easy to access so you can adjust them throughout the day to reduce glares or for privacy. Many tiny homes these days comes with multitude of windows and skylights, which also makes it feel larger and more open.
Use LED lighting
LED lighting is the most-efficient type of lighting and can run over 100,000 hours, which means they are a great investment for longterm use. Many people think LED lights are strip lights, but now there are many options for LED use like puck lights or dimmable. Taking the time to carefully plan your lighting and wiring for dimming will be more enjoyable. You can lower them for mood lighting or you can turn them up when you are working on project. Overall, LED lighting is the most effective way to go, and can be easily powered off-grid.
Install solar panels for power
Solar panels are a great addition for any home, and for a tiny home, it is easily possible to power your entire home with solar power. You will want to research the best solutions and hire experienced professionals to properly install the necessary power converters needed. Once your solar is set up, you could live off-grid using the natural energy from the sun. You can still use shore power like RV connections for back up or in case the sun is not shining, but opting for a solar system will make your home green efficient and ready for off-grid and low resource living.
Let lighting define your “rooms”
In a regular house, you have various types of lighting for different rooms, such as mirror lights in a bathroom or a chandelier above your dining table. In a tiny home, your 500 square feet or so encompasses your kitchen, living room, dining room, etc. To make some separation in your space, you can use various lighting to highlight areas and create some natural division, and use the lights you need when you need them. Some ideas are cabinet under lighting in your kitchen for when you are cooking, or a light above your shower for bathing. As you move throughout your day, you can use the lighting you need for your activity instead of using power throughout the entire space.
Use low-e glass windows
By using windows with low-e glass, you can reduce your tiny home heating up from the sun during the daylight hours. On a hot summer day, a tiny home can heat up fast in direct sunlight, but with good insulation and low-e glass windows, your tiny home can reflect the heat away. By reflecting the heat away, you can keep your tiny home cool without overdoing your air conditioning, which uses a lot of power.
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