Tiny House Lighting

Who would have thought that tiny house lighting could be so important? After all, it’s only a small space. But as we’ve said before, successful tiny living is achieved by proper planning. Tiny house illumination must be considered a critical design feature, and on this page we explain why.

Proper lighting can make you tiny home cheerful and inviting. Poor lighting can make you feel like you’re trapped in a dreary box. Of course, the easiest way to light the interior of a tiny house is to add plenty of windows. But during those dark winter months, you need the appropriate lighting not only to see by, but to set a welcoming, homelike atmosphere.

Watching the flames dance in the window of your wood stove is a perfect example of how lighting can make you feel warm and cozy.

Skylights save valuable wall space, add light, and meet codes

VELUX VSE electric “Fresh Air” Skylights can be opened to create a chimney effect that draws air upward to improve air circulation and air quality within your home. Bringing natural light into a home through a skylight decreases the need for artificial light, while maintaining privacy. An integrated rain sensor will close the skylight automatically in case of inclement weather. An opening skylight also satisfies the building code requirement for loft access.

Unique tiny house lighting requirements

If you are planning on using a solar power system, you’ll want to choose low voltage LED lights. LED lights are normally low voltage, so the power consumption will be lowest if you don’t need to do any voltage conversion.

LED lights that run on regular 110 volt AC have a voltage transformer built-in.

Floor space is limited

In 2018, we downsized from 2700 sf. to 1100 sf. We sold most of our floor lamps before we left, but thought surely we’d be able to use four in the new place. We stacked them in the UHaul and trucked them 300 miles.

Two still survive. That’s what we have room for. What works for us now are wall sconces, ceiling lights, and under-counter lights. Let’s take a look at those for your tiny home build.

There are Three Basic Types of Lighting

Like everything in a tiny house, the lighting will serve several purposes. It’s hard to fit it into the neat categories used to design a full-size home. But generally these are the basic types of lighting.

• Ambient lighting
• Task lighting
• Accent lighting

Ambient lighting in a tiny home

Also called “natural room lighting,” ambient light is supplied from the windows. When the sun goes down, ambient light can be supplied by ceiling down-lights or lamps. They create a general, even amount of light in a given area.

Ceiling lights

Ceiling lights are a common way to produce ambient light in a tiny house. LED lighting has revolutionized our lighting choices. We no longer need a huge box built above the ceiling to receive a recessed fixture. LED lights are so small they can just be “on” the ceiling instead of recessed. The old recessed lighting cans allowed moisture to penetrate into the insulation area where it could condense on the cold underside of the roof.

You still need to plan the wiring and switches during the build. Some LED lights are not dimmable so pay attention when purchasing your on-ceiling LED lights. LED lights produce almost no heat, require far less electricity, last way longer than incandescent bulbs, and can be color-adjusted for more natural illumination.

Backlighting

With a little forethought and planning you can make a dull living space exciting. LED rope lights have really opened up the opportunities to add backlighting, and other unique lighting situations. Backlighting a flat-screen TV is currently trendy and it’s actually better for your eyes. Amazon.com lists over 10,000 different kinds of LED rope lights.

Rope lights are unbelievably versatile. The ones shown on the right can make patterns with music or slowly illuminate your room when it’s time to get up. They include a 44-button remote and also can be controlled with an app on your phone.

LED rope lights don’t create any heat so they’re safe to string anywhere.

Backlighting your TV can actually reduce eye strain

Immersion TV LED Backlights  stick on to the back of a flat-screen TV.  This one is voice controlled via Alexa, Google Home, or Siri. They can sync to music using the built in mic or be adjusted through the app.

You can use these as accents under the bed, down the stairs, around the deck or ceiling. They are waterproof and create very little heat.

I used rope lighting on my deck stairs to gently illuminate the back yard. They don’t have to be bright colors. Mine are just white. They illuminate the porch steps for safety, and gently illuminate the entire yard by reflecting off the cedar fence.

 

Task lighting in a tiny home

Under-counter lights are usually considered task lighting because they specifically illuminate a work surface, but ours also function as ambient lighting. I also like pendant lights to add extra illumination to my work surface. Pendant lights can really add a bit of pizzas to your decor. Remember to design a way to secure pendant lights when moving.

Another example of task lighting would be a fixture specifically designed to illuminate a painting, seating area, or a reading light.

Exterior Lights

Build in an exterior light into each exterior wall of your tiny home with an indoor on/off switch, just for basic safety illumination when needed. They can be standard 110 volt lights.

There are some neat solar powered exterior lights that you just screw on where needed like the ones shown here. LED and solar are really changing the world of lighting in a great way. They are motion-sensitive so they make good security lights. No need to run wires; just screw them on.

Our HOA has a “dark sky” policy which requires all exterior lighting to be down-facing or shrouded. Just something to keep in mind when choosing fixtures.

Trailer Lighting

Tiny houses also have the unique need to have trailer running lights and rear-facing brake lights to be “street legal” when moved. These lights need to be a 12 volt system so you can plug them into the tow vehicle for power and control.

Adding Lights after Construction is Complete

Retro-wiring is one of my specialties. I added the accent lights shown at the top of the page by “fishing” Romex inside the wall from an electrical outlet below. I wanted the switches to be next to the rest of the rooms switches, so I used the Thinkbee Wireless Light Switch and Receiver Kit shown here.

The tiny modules easily fit behind the light fixtures, and the switches just stick on the wall next to the other light switches.

The lamp we added to the kitchen (shown here on the right) was directly above an outlet and adding a switch in the wall was fine.

It draws the clock and picture frames together. The lamp also matches the style of wall sconces we installed by the fireplace.

Pre-wiring your Tiny Home Lighting

You may want to wire both an 110 AC system (for outlets) and a low voltage system for lighting into your home. How you do it will depend on what sources of power you intend on using. Your power sources could be both AC shore power, a low voltage solar power, or sometimes a generator.

Grid-tied solar systems can be very complex.

LED lights can use the normal light switches used in homes, but if the lights are dimmable they need a specific type of dimmer switch.

The National Electric Code (NEC) requires that low voltage power supplies and electrical wiring be Class 2 compliant.

See more about Solar Power for tiny homes on this page.

Tiny house lighting style should remain the same throughout the tiny home

Because a tiny home space is small, you can usually see the entire home in the same glance. Keep your lighting style consistent. Most manufactures have collections of lights that have the same look. They often offer free design consultations too.

There are tens of thousands of lights to choose from. Start your design phase well before the build starts. Use Pinterest to keep your favorite choices organized.

We got our light fixtures from The Home Depot. They had the selection, great prices, and fast shipping.

Home Depot local weekly ad with current deals and promotions is now available online!

Other pages of Tiny Life Consulting you’ll be interested in:

Solar Power for Tiny House

Best Off Grid Energy Sources

All about Shore Power, Surge Protectors, 50 amp, 30 amp hookups.