Going Off Grid in East Tennessee (Home Depot, to live, floors)

[boonelsewhere]

thanks Lisa and Mike, you guy doing wonderful job building house/ solar electric and share them to those who want to do it (me), but afread to start.

[SPLIT]

Lisa , MIle : Great pics & good progress now that summer Heat is here.
My brother -in - law (Also Florida) just finished building his 2nd Electric Truck. See your battery Group / box / rack ,and he found out between batteries (Even a few tenths of a volt) dont always charge or drain evenly leaving one or two units early replace .?
. Another little Diode or componet type bridge used. Will forward his Id if you wish in the future. He is giving a few talks on his very clean Ford Ranger conversion.

[timothyb]

Nice solar and wind setup! I wish more TN folk would consider using wind and solar to power their homes, even if they are ON the grid, but electricity rates are cheaper in TN thanks to TVA. However, TVA also runs some big coal fired power plants which are the reason for the particle haze when it gets hot..The wind picks up the particles and sends 'em northward from AL. =/ The price point for solar and wind keeps dropping so hopefully this cleaner technology wil be used more often..

[Tinman313]

Just a suggestion.... I would isolate the inverter off the concrete with some wood or rubber mat. And I hope theirs some vents in your batter box, hydrogen settles........ Beautiful multi-million dollar view...... Would like to see photo's of the first snow.....

[Lillie Meredith]

Hi Lisa and Mike,

I am loving your forum. I enjoy reading your progress on your homestead. I love those cows. Hey the Bull is Ferdinand. Please keep up the good job you are doing and the photos. Lisa this can be an online Soaps!!. Take care Lillie and HoneyBun

[Tinman313]

The dog needs a "Hard Hat" looks like the construction boss sitting their while you put down the Curlex....

[texasfirewheel]

Please tell Mike that I'm still in total awe of what you and he are doing. I look for your updates every day. You write so well and your photos are so wonderful Have you thought about writing a book after it's all done?

[jguillot]

Hi Lisa and Mike,

Thanks again for sharing your story. I enjoy reading it. I really do envy you. I would love to be building my retirement home in Tennessee right now. I wish I had the skills that Mike has so that I could build my own house as you are doing. Unfortunately, I will have to hire a contractor when the time comes. I want to ask a question, but if this question has already been asked, I apologize. I'm wondering why you chose to be completely "off the grid?" Do you foresee things happening in the future that could have an adverse affect on supplies of electricity and/or natural gas? What county are in you?

My best wishes to both of you!

[phyll]

Lisa and Mike ,
I have looked at your posts in the last 2 days and your land is beautiful!I love ponds , I see you have one, love it!I wish you much joy and happiness !

[younglisa7]

Good Morning to all. Wow you guys have been busy.

Thank you for all the responses. I will try to answer some of your questions.

Pam- The cows have gotten used to our little "compound". For the most part they don't try to break in anymore. They are also, so far, leaving my back hill alone with the newest curlex on it. I propbaly just jinxed myself. Ha, ha.

Tomothyb- Solar is a really cool thing but unfortunatley the solar companies make everything about it very complicated for the average person to understand. Especeially when they design a system. Have you seen what a nightmare they are? Mike believes in "kiss" keep it simple stupid. He designed our system and I would bet that most "solar techies" would have heart failure and tell him he can't do it that way. He's done things like this before, his own way, and it always works. Anyway, we are really excited about all of it.

Tinman- Mike is not done with the invertor yet. Usually they are mounted on the wall but at 62lbs. Mike is holding off until he decides how he is going to mount it.

I promise to get a picture for all when it snows. I'm sure it will be beautiful although we haven't gotten much snow in the last few years. Mike will be inside hibernating on that day. He hates the snow, well really the cold. Oh well I'll just have to keep him warm he,he. Thank you to you and Grizzlybear for helping me when I first got my camera. Just think if it wasn't for both of you and a couple of others I wouldn't know how to post pictures.

Oh yeah. The dog, Niki the princesss. Can you believe she will actually starts whining while I'm working because she wants to go back inside and go in her bed to sleep. The sorry little thing!

Texasfreewheel- Thank you. No I really haven't thought about a book. I think when we are finally done I'll need a "big" break and just to sit back and enjoy everything we've done.

jguillot- Mike is really awesome isn't he? Really, we are so lucky that he is able to do "so many" different things. I am amazed at how much he knows and can do. I am also very thankful. He is never afraid to try anything new and that's really great. Mike has taught me so many things. Maybe I'll have to keep him. You think?

One of the reasons we decided to go "off grid" is because the existing electric poles are so far away. Mike thought about that and said "hey why don't we build a solar home" and that's how this all started. Mike has always been interested in this so this was a good excuse for him to do it.

As far as the future there is only one thing I know for sure. A lot of people are going to face really tough times, some already are. When we are on our mountain I feel very safe and secure. It's also nice knowing we will have power no matter what. Also Mike doesn't like monthly bills. Like he's alone in that! We are in Johnson County.

Thanks again for all the replies and have a great day.

Lisa