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I live in a rural area of northern Maine. There are no power lines that would be economic to run to my acreage, so we are off-grid. We are not connected to: electrical power/landline phone, city water, or city sewer. We heat with wood. We have a well, a spring, and a septic system.
I choose to use propane for back-up heat. When you heat with wood, you can't leave home for any length of time in winter, unless you don't care if the place freezes. Our propane wall heater takes care of that, keeping the place at about 50F. We also use it in fall and spring, when it really isn't cold enough to fire up the wood stove.
There are solar panels, deep cycle batteries, and all the electronics to run them. We also have 3 generators, 2 of which have been converted to run off propane. The third one is gas-powered. We have lights, ceiling fans, running hot/cold water, flush toilet, refrigeration, a freezer, small appliances, and we use one of the generators to power the laundry machines and the A/C, which we use very rarely. I only mention it because we did have to turn it on a few days this summer.
Our household has all the conveniences of any other American household. We pay no monthly utility bills. We store the propane in 2 large buried tanks, and usually fill them in spring or summer, when the rates are lowest. That's our choice; we get no unexpected bills.
Cell phones and internet are much like anybody else's. We don't bother with TV, but we could if we wanted to. Yes, we have to pay property taxes, but they are very low (under $1,000/yr for 33 acres with 3 buildings). You are kidding yourself if you think you won't have property taxes. That has nothing to do with being off-grid. Best to do your research first, and choose a place where taxes are low.
Oh - and you won't be "close to town". It takes me a half hour to get to the nearest town of any size. And that's actually a pretty short drive!
I live in a rural area of northern Maine. There are no power lines that would be economic to run to my acreage, so we are off-grid.
Come on now, I bet you could do it for $100k.
Then you could enjoy the thrills of having the grid go down every couple weeks, like here in Southern Maine
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... Cell phones and internet are much like anybody else's. We don't bother with TV, but we could if we wanted to. Yes, we have to pay property taxes, but they are very low (under $1,000/yr for 33 acres with 3 buildings). You are kidding yourself if you think you won't have property taxes. That has nothing to do with being off-grid. Best to do your research first, and choose a place where taxes are low.
Oh - and you won't be "close to town". It takes me a half hour to get to the nearest town of any size. And that's actually a pretty short drive!
Zoning restrictions and new "sanitation laws" make it pretty difficult to live 100 percent off grid, independent of all utility companies and monthly bills. Has anyone tried off-grid living and succeeded? If so, how did you do it? The main obstacle I'm seeing is zoning restrictions, requirements to install a septic tank, etc.
Hmm...I posted here, but maybe this would be better in the real estate section?
I wanna live off-grid as well. However, I don't know where to begin and I don't know if its possible in WA State.
In most larger inter cities, and counties where the utility company owns the government, and writes the laws, you are forbidden to erect certain devices. IF you try and unplug, and not pay the CEO of your utility company up to one hundred dollars a minute, you WILL be fined, jailed, have your property seized, or worse.
Don't believe me? Try it!
In most larger inter cities, and counties where the utility company owns the government, and writes the laws, you are forbidden to erect certain devices. IF you try and unplug, and not pay the CEO of your utility company up to one hundred dollars a minute, you WILL be fined, jailed, have your property seized, or worse.
Don't believe me? Try it!
The power company CHARGES $5 per kilowatt hour for the initial setup of solar power here...they also buy back extra electricity your system produces for PENNIES! That should be illegal. If I want to set up solar power here, I would do best to do so off-grid and not let anyone know.
Ideally, I would like to bury a shelter underground and access it from the roof (or maybe a side door if that's not practical or feasible). If I used the right materials, (maybe fiberglass?) it would be water-tight and insulated from harsh temperature changes (not to mention it would also be a safe haven for when violent storms come). I would have no need for a costly septic system that could back up; instead, I could just use a composting toilet and get water from a well if one is available.
Without all of the stupid restrictions, I could even have this thing built in a subdivision (because it would be underground and mostly hidden). I could even maybe build a little cottage on top to make it match the rest of the neighborhood.
Just have the fire marshal review the exiting plan to make sure you are not building a death trap.
Just have the fire marshal review the exiting plan to make sure you are not building a death trap.
I doubt that's the only thing I would have to do to avoid a fine.
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That should be illegal. If I want to set up solar power here, I would do best to do so off-grid and not let anyone know.
