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For those who have heard the term "off-grid living" and assume it means just solar panels on the roof and a well pump in the kitchen, you might be interested in reading this story about transitioning to a TOTAL off-grid lifestyle.
Many families in Maine live off grid. I know one family that has a 5,000 pound propane tank. They fill it every other summer. They have a gas refrigerator, freezer, stove, hot water heater and dryer. The dryer needs electricity to rotate. They pump water once a day on generator in the evening. At that time they are charging batteries, taking showers, filling the water tank on the second floor and watching TV.
They have gas lights, 12 volt lights and 120 volt compact florescent lights. They heat primarily with wood, live on 50 acres with plenty of wood and they have a drilled well. They are miles from the nearest electric line. Their home is very comfortable and energy efficient.
I know another family that lived off grid for three generations and raised their kids out there. Each child boarded with a family in town for their senior year. Their home could not be reached by motor vehicle. You could not even get there with an ATV. They walked in and out, eight miles each way, in the summer and 14 miles each way on snowshoes or cross country skis in winter. They didn't go out much. They never got colds or flu.
I posted here the other day about the lady who volunteered to be the very last customer reconnected to power after three weeks without power during our ice storm of 98. Living off the grid in Maine is not "roughing it". You can be comfortable off grid.
Many families in Maine live off grid. I know one family that has a 5,000 pound propane tank. They fill it every other summer. They have a gas refrigerator, freezer, stove, hot water heater and dryer. The dryer needs electricity to rotate. They pump water once a day on generator in the evening. At that time they are charging batteries, taking showers, filling the water tank on the second floor and watching TV.
They have gas lights, 12 volt lights and 120 volt compact florescent lights. They heat primarily with wood, live on 50 acres with plenty of wood and they have a drilled well. They are miles from the nearest electric line. Their home is very comfortable and energy efficient.
I know another family that lived off grid for three generations and raised their kids out there. Each child boarded with a family in town for their senior year. Their home could not be reached by motor vehicle. You could not even get there with an ATV. They walked in and out, eight miles each way, in the summer and 14 miles each way on snowshoes or cross country skis in winter. They didn't go out much. They never got colds or flu.
I posted here the other day about the lady who volunteered to be the very last customer reconnected to power after three weeks without power during our ice storm of 98. Living off the grid in Maine is not "roughing it". You can be comfortable off grid.
Living off the grid is one thing, but come on. That is a little much, imo.
I have tried to price living off the grid and it makes my head spin. I just cannot see it being cost effective. The only reason why I would do it is to rarely have to worry about electric outages.
The cooler for a refrigerator and grill for the oven/stove are things I have done during ice-storms when I had made no other prepartions for power outages. That this person has chosen these as a means exclusively while living "off-grid" shows me less than optimal living conditions via poor planing.
I think people can be comfortable off-grid. I just don't think the specific blog presented by the O.P. is an example of such living. But, I did enjoy learning from their mistakes and I won't be repeating them anytime soon! No, when I go off-grid I want to be able to generate enough power to maintain the creature comforts to which I've become accustom!
Many people on Hawaii live "off the grid" beacuse services are just not available. Some subdivisions still have not gotten electrciity to all parts, water is by catchment, and small gardens are common. It's not your "rural" in the woods types but rather just a fact of logistics. You can have a million dollar mini-mansion with no electric utility. no water service, no sewer service, no trash collection, no pave roads, no phone lines, no cable tv, and miles away from the nearest store. But it looks just like some surburban subdivision on the mainland. You walk into their home and it looks just like out of a home magazine, just designed to not use any normal utility services. I have even seen homes with a nice small ohana looking building just to find out it houses their battery pack from PV units, a backup generator and water purification system. And except for a few things they do to conserve water, propane and electricity, they behave like everyone else.Many see absolutely nothing different between having a garden of fresh flowers on the mainland that are picked for the evening supper table, and their garden of fresh vegetables and fruits picked for their evening supper table. people on the mainland bring a pie over to the neighbor and the neighbor gives them a tuna cassarole. On hawaii, you bring over some fresh picked mangos and they give you some fresh laid eggs.Off grid can be some backwoods hermit, or a regular family who adjusted to a difference in service availability and adapted to live the same as everyone else, just off grid.
Living off the grid is one thing, but come on. That is a little much, imo.
I have tried to price living off the grid and it makes my head spin. I just cannot see it being cost effective. The only reason why I would do it is to rarely have to worry about electric outages.
If your not the handy type and want some one to do all the work for you in setting up your Off grid style of living then YES it is pricey
BUT if your resourceful and can build things and set things up and not afraid of getting your hands a little dirty then It does NOT have to be pricey ad will pay for itself quickly.
I can set up a complete Wind system with Batteries for storage enough to power a 3 bedroom house for under $500 and that's with buying the batteries new, couple that with a few solar panels and solar water heating and wood stove for under $1000 it can be done if you don't mind making some of the pieces and setting it up yourself.
SO... Whatcha gonna do? make the power conglomerates richer or spend that money on your family? The choice is yours.
As the last post said, if you can do much of the work yourself and 'shop around' for the required components, I don't think it has to cost an arm and a leg.
Then there's always the real 'roughing it' types. No electricity at all. It's hard to imagine in our day and age, but life is possible!
Actually, my father grew up in a household with no electricity. It wasn't until he joined the navy that he had the luxury of electricity. His family finally got electricity in the late 50's, I believe. Same thing with indoor plumbing. Yet... he did survive! Coal oil lamps for light, and wood/coal for heat and cooking. And seven miles to the nearest paved road. My how times change...
I did some research right after Ike. I was surprise how many items can be had with their own solar set ups included. Refrigerators, AC units. the list went on and on. Check them out. the Newer solar panels, though still lacking, are much better than what was available only a few years ago.--- There was a rash of folks stealing the new Solar powered School traffic signs with the lights, batteries and all.
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you might be interested in reading this story about transitioning to a TOTAL off-grid lifestyle.
