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"This brings me to living “off the grid”. First of all, what does it exactly mean? Does it refer to just electricity or all modern amenities?"
It simply means living with no commercial utilities such as power, water and sewer. Maine has many people living off the grid. They usually live comfortably. I know someone who lives six miles out in the woods and has satellite Internet.
Living off the grid has different meanings for different people.
Some want to live green by trying not to consume energy, some want to be left alone and enjoy the satisfaction of not having to rely on modern conveniences in order to sustain themselves.
There are those who want to be as far away from Big Brother as they can, and there are preppers who believe one day the grid will go down and they will be sitting pretty..........which they will be.
As one poster mentioned the aftermath of Sandy was an eye opening to many people. We have become a energy and technology consuming nation. If our electricity went down right now this minute all across my town for two days it would cripple us, at least with storms you do get notice it is coming.
There would be no gas stations, banks, ATM, Smart phones or any way to get news. Those living off the grid would see no difference in their day.
It is amazing how some Americans are going back to their ancestors roots, rural Americans in the early 1900's lived exactly the same way, some are trying and successfully living that way now with today's technology, such as solar, generators and propane to name just a few.
As far as medical and getting old...............it wasn't that long ago when grandparents lived with you in that farm house or three story two family house.
It is not a bad thing that we have forgotten about the depression or those rural farmers, but that was a time where for most Americans putting food on the table and working just to live was a daily function of life, and today so many want to feel the satisfaction of returning to simpler times but not under the stress of trying to stay alive.
PBS had a reality show some years back that followed three family's that were living in the frontier as those settlers had lived before. I believe, Wyoming or Montanna. Their days were spent chopping wood for the winter as well as canning and preparing for winter. It was pretty eye opening. A cow they traded for in the spring soon became a luxury as they realized how much hay they needed to have to feed the cow during winter. So much work just to survive.
... We love Oregon & Washington state we thought Idaho would be work but like Alaska it can be a bit remote. We LOVE Greenville, SC as well. A long growing season not too cold in the winter & close enough to Asheville NC which has got VERY Expensive! A lot of it depends on where we end up when it comes to how far off the grid we go. We have lots of friends who live off the grid & got some great ideas from them & learned a lot. Plus research & more research!
When we lived in Washington we did a lot of shopping for a place to settle after I retired. BC, Wa and Or are all beautiful regions. In each case, when we focused on the a specific area, the COL and taxes were so high that we realized my pension was never going to be enough to support us there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man
... It simply means living with no commercial utilities such as power, water and sewer. Maine has many people living off the grid. They usually live comfortably. I know someone who lives six miles out in the woods and has satellite Internet.
A person can be in the center of town and off-grid, or out in the boonies and off-grid.
Maine has a lot of people, like me, who moved here from other parts of the nation, to homestead here.
I came here in 2005, since settling here, I have met many others who likewise moved here.
I know a NJ school teacher who moved here on her own. She had her house site cleared, the trees were milled on-site and used to construct her 2 story house. Now she supports herself by tutoring.
I know a SC goat dairy-lady who is now here operating a CSA.
I know a child-psychologist who [shot I forget where she came from], she gathered building materials from a town dump and used them to construct her cabin. Then two more cabins that she rents out. She does therapy/counseling 2 days a week in town.
I know a RI piano-repairman who is now a gunsmith doing business in my town [Granted his shop is the only store-front business in my town].
btw, I know NMLM. Back before I bought myself a tractor/backhoe, he came to my home and did some backhoe work for me.
He is a realtor who specializes in remote land, largely for people desiring to be off-grid. In full-disclosure I did not use him as my realtor. He is a straight shooter and I would use his services if I ever needed a realtor in the future.
"I've never seen and geodesic dome that did not leak"
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Originally Posted by Blind Cleric
I've seen three, two in SE Alaska and one in Puna, both of which are extremely wet locations. All of them have had chronic leaking issues.
My geodesic dome does not leak. It is monolithic, there are no seams to leak like a traditional shingled one. It is made of schedule 40 galvanized steel tubing then covered in mesh then sprayed with 6+inches of closed cell spray foam. It is easy to keep it at 80+ degrees when it's -40 degrees outside, I've only burned a half of cord so far during an interior alaska winter. It has experienced heavy rains and not one leak. It should never develop a leak as long as I keep up with the coating. I am also only planning on living in it until next summer until my new bigger place is finished. Then it will become a growing room of sorts for vegetables. Luckily for me I also live in a pretty dry area. If I had land in an arid desert climate I could have built an earthbag roundhouse for a similar price.
My land is too pricey, my geodesic dome is no good, geez I can't win with you guys . Anything else?
I was just trying to share my set up of how I STARTED off with a relatively low cost. Could you do it cheaper? Sure. I am not done yet and wasn't trying to say that my set up was the best. Just trying to show that you can go off grid for fairly cheap. I don't claim to be an expert and it all figured out, just trying to share my experience. No matter what you think may or may not be ideal in my situation, at least I am living my dream, learning skills that I otherwise never would have, saving money and enjoying a simpler life.
Actually it means not relying on "the man" for your electricity, water and other daily requirements
This is what it means to me. Because many of us who are here are in the US because of issues with our government or other citizens back home. We have a desire to be independent and be able to support, defend and fend for ourselves. To not be at the mercy of the government or anyone else who would oppress us. It is an ideal. My two cents.
People love the (mostly) false idea that they can survive on their own without the need for other people.
Try fixing your heart attack without someone to help you. I wonder how many heart attack survivors still want to live "off the grid."
My great granddad nearly died of a heart attack over ten years ago. He lives on a farm near Live Oak, FL but he might have died hadn't he had come with us to Miami to visit and we were able to take him to the hospital. He wasn't living "off the grid" or anything, but he is a pretty self sufficient man who runs a cattle and dairy farm in rural Florida. No telling what would have happened if we weren't with him at the time. He's still kicking though, 90 years old and a cowboy. Even still has some blond in his white hair.
My biggest concern over living closed off from civilisation is in the event of medical emergencies. Other than that, it isn't as difficult as you'd think. But my great grandpa grew up without modern conveniences and lived an extremely rural life. I don't think most city slickers growing up in the late 20th and early 21st century would do as good as folks from back then, especially from the countryside where you always need to be more self sufficient.
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