Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (Memphis: dinner, island)

[mbmouse]

Glad you got your pantry fixed up right, good for you.
Funny, you guys got so much snow and we didn't get a bit "down the mountain" from you. This was a very weird snow coming from the east like that, but thank you for the beautiful tree pictures of it!

[W Va Hillbilly]

Hi Lisa & Mike
I happened upon your thread last friday & starting at the beginning I managed to read it all , over the weekend . Very interesting & you do have a beautiful view . I have 73 acres in Wv . My driveway is 1/2 mile long , up a creek & through the woods . I only have one small bank I have to go up & down & I don't envy you your driveway . I have a friend that built a poured basement & then built a log house on top . He went completely solar with panels only , no wind turbines . He has sold out & moved on but I am pretty familiar with what he did .
He also had a well that pumped into a cistern & another pump that pumped from the cistern to the house . If I remember correctly his well was 230 feet deep . You might be interested to know that he bought & installed a 12 volt pump in the well . According to him it used much less electricity than a standard 110/220 volt pump . Also I assume your bladder tank is in the round cement section surrounding your well . If it is it would be a fairly small bladder tank I would think . With a small bladder tank your pump will cycle on & off much more than if you had a large bladder tank . If Mike plans to refill your cistern using the generator it really doesn't matter about the voltage of the pump or the size of the bladder tank except the more a pump cycles the quicker the pump & the rubber bladder wears out .
By the way you can buy a kit to convert the generator to run off gasoline or propane . I have a backup generator & natural gas & I plan to buy a kit for it so I can run it off either . The kit for my generator costs about $200.00 .
I hope you didn't buy a new Whirlpool water heater from lowe's . One with the screen on the bottom . I frequent a plumbing forum & people have been having fits with them . If you did it is very important to frequently clean the screen on the bottom . Also 99% of the plumbers on there don't like tankless water heaters so if you think about one later do a lot of research before you buy .
You do have a captivating way of writing & the pictures are great & you & Mike deserve a great big pat on the back for all you've done & shared . I enjoyed it tremendously & look forward to your future posts . For any well , plumbing , water heater or water quality questions you might have I suggest you google ( terry love plumbing ) . Hope it was alright to post that here . I have noticed other people have posted links to other sites . Have a great day & enjoy your snow , it will soon be gone for the season . We didn't get any .

[SPLIT]

Y.L.: CONGRATS on breaking OVER the 1,000 replies to your thread. This must be some sort of record. Was watching over the weekend if you would CRASH the City-Data board. Sort of like the Y2K UnKnown territory.
.... Another week with your Monday posts , & another Month. Sure hope a Colorful Calendar comes Soon . Weather outside or temps , not much like spring . Maybe by Saturday in tee shirts, cleaning flower beds.
.. Large trees in bud here in Chatt.

[piperspal]

Originally Posted by W Va Hillbilly

Also 99% of the plumbers on there don't like tankless water heaters so if you think about one later do a lot of research before you buy .

I think I will check out that link - thanks! I have a tankless water heater less than 3 years old. Not happy with having to run the water
(on some faucets in the house) several minutes before it's hot. Once it's hot, no problem. But that first run of the day takes forever. The
pro that installed it told me it's 'cuz the h2o has to travel a 60 ft pipeline. (single story home - pretty good size). I just don't get that.

Lisa, your thread has become a bit of a "happy obsession" with me!
I can't wait to see you guys on the screen - for sure someone will do a story on your story! Be good - see ya next week!

[TNDadx4]

Lisa and Mike,

Sorry to hear about your pantry incident. I guess the one good thing that came out of it was that neither of you were trying to get something out of it at the time. I could just imagine the avalanche of cans

I have a question about your driveway. After it snows, how do you "know" where it is. I understand that you have an idea of where it is, but how do you navigate it without hitting the ditch? Do you have something like "sign markers" or reflectors that give you a rough outline? Based upon what you all have done, I'm guessing that Mike just has a good sense of bearing when clearing it.

[SammieS]

Hi Lisa,

Karen again. We lived in Coram on Long Island until we moved to Guntersville, AL. Long Island sure got a lot of snow today. We got a dusting here in Guntersville. It did look pretty on the trees and the bushes but it all melted by noon. I guess that is a good thing, no shoveling. When we moved from Coram, we sold our snow blower to our neighbor. I guess he got good use of it today.
I really enjoyed the pictures you posted of the snow. I loved seeing the trees and the mountains covered in snow. Very, very pretty.

Enjoyed reading your latest installment. I will be looking forward to reading your posts each Monday.
Karen

[JEANNE61]

HI L&M . . You were very lucky you werent getting something at that exact moment from the pantry . . but then i knew you guys were lucky .. just look at that view !!! i thank you again for adding to my screensaver pix )
that question about markers on your d'way was a good one .cant' wait to see the answer .
we only got about 4" here in Adamsville .. but it was nice seeing it . .f irst time in 14 yrs .since i left ny . .(long beach l.i. btw for you new yorkers reading this .)
and my 13 yr old niece . (her birthday the day of the snow) was happily playing in it for the first time i n her life. . she was born and raised in fla .
so all in all . the snow was nice. .but good riddance . .)

have a great week . . can't wait for the next installment ..hugs. . Jeanne

[Grizzlybear34]

Younglisa7 - I have been reading your thread all along as well, enjoyed knowing the photobucket lesson went so far! Congratulations on 1000+ posts, that is truly incredible!!

I had to laugh at Saturday...

Saturday 2-28
It's the last day of February we are very happy about it. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow so we head to town to pick up some of the basics in case we get snowed in.

Aren't the "basics" what caused your cabinet crash? It looks like enough food in there for another month!

[vacation bound]

Lisa, great pics, being in FL I don't get to see much snow. I will send you some warmth from here. It is going to be 80 degrees this weekend. Stay warm and safe. Don't let Mike take you on a wild ride on your driveway with all that snow. LOL

[ylisa7]

Jaxson- Yes, I'm sure someone will get good use out of the washer and dryer.

W Va Hillbilly- Welcome and thank you for posting. Your place sounds beautiful. We also have a 12 volt pump for the water and so far so good. Thanks for telling us about the converter for the generator. I didn't know that. Mike was thinking about a propane generator because we store so much propane. Mike is also not to sure about the tankless water heaters. They sound great for size but our water travels really far.

SPLIT- Send some of that T-Shirt weather our way.

piperspal- I am so glad you continue to enjoy our story. And you even learn new things from people who write in. Good luck with your water heater.

TNDadx4- Oh an avalanche of cans would not have been fun but it sure would have made a funny picture, lol.

Mike knows the driveway really well so he has no trouble. We are also wide enough for him to make 2 swipes in the middle and we have room on either side. It's still a little spooky. There is no way I want to fall into a ditch. When we have it paved we will also have curbs put in. We did that at our old farm and it keeps you "on" the road.

SammieS- Thanks for writing in.

mbmouse- You are so lucky the snow missed you. Hopefully it is the last snow.

JEANNE61-I think you'll have a better screen saver next week.

Grizzlybear- It's good to hear from you. Yes I and many others, lol, appreciate the lesson you and Tinman gave me in Photo Bucket. We "all" thank you.

You think that pantry is full? You should see all the cabinets in the office, lol. We could live about 6 months with all the food I have. I even use powdered milk but Mike likes the real stuff and eggs. We eat tons of eggs. Maybe we should get some chickens.