Marjolein Jonker is a true Tiny House pioneer. She even is the first in Holland to live in a legal Tiny House. Marjolein immediately chose to live off-grid when she first built her house on wheels:
‘My first Tiny House was completely off-grid. That was sometimes a challenge when it came to water. It taught me to be very grateful for water and electricity, to no longer take it for granted and to use it sparingly. Now I live in my new Tiny House in a neighbourhood where, in principle, all facilities are possible. I chose to be off-grid when it came to electricity, but to have mains water and sewerage. I use rainwater for the toilet and the washing machine.’
Sun and rain
The roof of the greenhouse, which makes up half of Marjolein’s Tiny House, is covered in semi-transparent solar panels. In addition, there are four regular solar panels on the flat roof of the house:
‘My Victron Energy installation ensures that I can cook electrically in my Tiny House (induction), heat my water, run the washing machine, and quite a lot at the same time.’ The house has a 10 kWh battery capacity to store excess power, so that there is also power after sunset: ‘I mainly heat my house with a soapstone wood stove, but I also have an air conditioner that can heat. I don’t have enough power for that in the winter months, but in spring and autumn it still works.’
Marjolein has chosen the JustNimbus system for rainwater storage and use. There is a large blue bag under the floor of the greenhouse that can hold 4500 litres of rainwater. The water that falls on the roof of the greenhouse ends up in there. A small 24 volt pump that is connected directly to the batteries pumps the water to the toilet and the washing machine.
Living with the seasons
Marjolein finds off-grid living very valuable because it forces you to be aware of your consumption and to live with the seasons.
‘In the winter, unfortunately, I don’t have enough power from the solar panels, as it turns out, to make everything in my house work. Induction cooking and the boiler in particular are big consumers So I sometimes have to top up my electricity from the grid, so I had a connection installed in my shed last year. Not ideal, but not insurmountable either. It’s only a maximum of three months a year when I need to top up. The rest of the year, my Tiny House runs on its own solar power. That’s fantastic!
I also think it’s great that no clean drinking water is flushed down my toilet. Actually, all houses should have a rainwater system. Doing the laundry with rainwater also works fine, it’s also gentler on your washing machine.’
Tips from Marjolein
Tip 1: be consious of nature
‘Off-grid living is learning to deal with the fact that your electricity and water can be used up and move with nature: the weather and the seasons. It is learning to deal with limitations, you cannot do everything that you can in a house with connections. But you also get something in return: independence, when the power goes out in the neighborhood, the lights at your place will continue to burn happily. Much lower energy and water consumption, that is of course very good news for nature. And it makes you more aware and grateful for what nature gives us, you take it less for granted. That would be good for all of us.’
Tip 2: determine your minimum requirements
‘Think carefully in advance about what you want to be able to use in your house, how you want to live in it. What equipment do you want to be able to use, and what should be on at the same time? Based on that, you determine which installation you need for electricity. Do you want to be able to shower every day, how much water do you think you will use daily? If you want to go completely off-grid in terms of water, you need to have a storage capacity that can bridge a dry period of a few weeks. Also remember that pumping that water also costs electricity.’
Tip 3: make sure you have a backup
‘It is useful to make agreements with neighbours who do have a connection or to purchase a good, economical petrol generator for emergencies and to recharge if there is no connection nearby.’
Tip 4: maintain your installations
‘An off-grid water installation requires maintenance: cleaning the tank, replacing filters, etc. If you only use the water for the toilet and the washing machine, you only need to empty the filter in the drainpipe occasionally, so that is not too bad.’
Tip 5: call in experts
‘Ask experts for advice when calculating your installation, and make sure you have someone who can solve problems if you are not very technical yourself.’
More information
On Marjoleininhetklein you can sort the blogs by category “off-grid”. There you will find more information about the installations of Marjolein’s first and second Tiny House.
Photographie: Michiel Zwart, Chiela van Meerwijk and Carel Schutte.
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