How to heat a tiny house: stove, electric or heat pump?

Heating a tiny house is not like heating a house. The volume is small, the house warms up quickly, and an appliance that is too powerful turns it into a sauna before it switches off. The right choice depends on the insulation, how you use the house (a few weekends or all year round), access to electricity and your own preferences. This guide compares the options and sets out the safety rules that apply.

How much heating power does a tiny house need?

The demand depends above all on the building envelope: insulation of the walls, roof and floor, quality of the windows and doors, airtightness. A tiny house has a lot of external surface relative to its volume; on a trailer, the floor is exposed to the outside air. Well insulated, it needs only modest power; poorly insulated, no appliance will make up for the losses in the long run.

So start with the envelope (see our guide on insulating a tiny house), then ask the builder or a thermal engineer for a heat loss calculation for your climate. It is this figure, not the floor area alone, that should guide your choice of appliance.

ADEME (the French agency for ecological transition) makes the point for wood heating: an oversized appliance runs at low output most of the time, pollutes more, clogs up and wears out faster. In a small volume, this risk is at its highest.

Electric radiators: the simplest solution?

For a tiny house connected to the grid, electric radiators are the easiest solution to install and the cheapest to buy. Choose storage-type appliances or ones with precise electronic control and programming, plus a towel radiator in the shower room.

• Advantages: no flue, no maintenance, heat controllable room by room.
• Drawbacks: it is the most expensive solution to run per kilowatt-hour of heat produced; it requires a sufficient electricity supply contract, and it is hard to reconcile with solar self-sufficiency in winter.

Is reversible air conditioning suitable?

Reversible air conditioning is an air-to-air heat pump: it extracts heat from the outside air to warm the inside, and works the other way round in summer to cool it. Its efficiency is measured by the COP (instantaneous) and above all the SCOP (averaged over the heating season): the higher it is, the more heat the appliance produces for each kilowatt-hour it consumes.

• Advantages: much lower electricity consumption than radiators for the same heat, and summer comfort in a small house that heats up quickly in the sun.
• Drawbacks: efficiency drops in very cold weather, an outdoor unit has to be placed (noise, appearance), and the air is blown.
• Installation: commissioning equipment that contains refrigerants is restricted to companies holding a certificate of competence.

At Tortue Lodge, the Skywood and the Sharewood come pre-equipped for air conditioning, and the Lovewood and the Terrawood have it as standard.

Can you install a wood-burning stove in a tiny house?

Yes, and it is often the choice of the heart: radiant heat, independence from the grid, atmosphere. But it is also the most demanding option in terms of design, because a tiny house is a compact, very airtight timber building.

Choosing a suitable appliance

• Low output, matched to the real demand: a stove that is too powerful overheats the space or runs with the air supply choked, which clogs the flue and pollutes.
• An efficient, low-emission appliance: the Flamme Verte label, created with ADEME, identifies the appliances that perform best in terms of efficiency and emissions (carbon monoxide, particulates).
• A combustion air supply: in an airtight house, the stove must draw its air directly from outside. A room-sealed appliance connected to an outdoor air intake does not interfere with the mechanical ventilation, in particular an MVHR system (balanced ventilation with heat recovery, VMC double flux).

Complying with the flue rules

Flue installation follows the French standard NF DTU 24.1, which the installer must apply:

• Safety distances between the flue and any combustible material (wood, insulation): for example 8 cm for a standard insulated metal flue. In a timber-frame house, this is the most sensitive point.
• Penetrations through ceilings and the roof using purpose-made components that maintain the clearance to combustibles.
• Outlet of the flue at least 40 cm above the ridge, for a good draught.
• Data plate on the flue and an installation certificate handed to the customer.

On a tiny house that travels, also plan for a removable or protected flue for transport, and check the road clearance gauge.

Maintenance and chimney sweeping

Since 1 October 2023, Decree No. 2023-641 has set national rules in France: the appliance must be serviced at least every twelve months and the flue swept at least every twelve months, at the occupant’s initiative. Each visit gives rise to a certificate, issued within fifteen days and to be kept for at least two years: your insurer may ask for it after a claim.

The order (arrêté) issued the same day recommends two sweeps a year, one of them during the heating season, when more than 6 m³ of logs or 2.5 tonnes of pellets are burnt per year. Finally, burn dry wood: the industry recommends a moisture content below 20%; damp wood heats poorly, clogs the flue and gives off more particulates.

What about a pellet stove?

A pellet stove offers high efficiency, several days of autonomy and automatic control. In a tiny house, there are two obstacles: you need space to store the bags, and the appliance needs electricity to run. Above all, check that its minimum output is compatible with the house’s low heating demand, or it will run constantly at low output.

How do the options compare?

• Electric radiators: simplest to buy and install; highest running cost; no maintenance.
• Air-to-air heat pump: moderate investment; lower running cost; cooling in summer; maintenance by a professional.
• Wood-burning stove: investment driven by the flue; economical fuel and independence; annual servicing and sweeping compulsory; careful design essential.
• Pellet stove: good efficiency and automation; needs electricity and storage space; watch the minimum output.

Many owners combine two sources: a heat pump for everyday use and a wood-burning stove as back-up, or radiators for the shower room and frost protection.

Heating an off-grid tiny house?

Off-grid, solar electricity is scarce precisely in winter, when the heating demand is highest. Electric radiators should therefore be avoided as the main heating; wood remains the most common solution, combined with excellent insulation. Sizing the solar installation is covered in our guide on tiny house utility connections.

Does heating matter if you live in the tiny house all year round?

Yes. In France, a home let as a main residence must, among other things, have an installation providing normal heating and meet a minimum level of energy performance to count as decent. For a main residence, choose a solution that keeps you comfortable in very cold weather, not just a back-up heater. See our guide living in a tiny house all year round.

Key points

• Insulation sets the demand: have the heat losses calculated before choosing the appliance.
• The main pitfall is oversizing, especially with a stove.
• An air-to-air heat pump heats at lower cost and cools in summer.
• A wood-burning stove requires a flue that complies with NF DTU 24.1, an outdoor air supply and sweeping at least once a year, with a certificate.
• Off-grid, wood remains the most realistic main heating solution.

Please note: this guide sets out general principles, checked on the date shown. A combustion appliance or a heat pump must be installed by a qualified professional, in line with the manufacturer’s instructions and the standards in force.