Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (earthquake, locations)

[ylisa7]

Hello everyone. Whew...we are finally getting some cooler weather Mike wore a sweatshirt this morning

We are getting ready for our third portion of paving so we need to make sure the driveway is ready.

7-20
We got a call first thing this morning. Brian is ready to work with the backhoe. We have 4 culverts across the way. Mike wants Brian to take one of those 20 foot culverts out and bring it back here to install across our driveway. Mike meets Brian and they get to work. Unfortunately the culvert was too long for our trailer so Mike ended up dragging it back tot he property

Once they get back here, I go down to see if I can help.

Brian is ready with the culvert.



Brian starts digging and what do you know, we hit another spring.



Another view.



Mike in the ditch checking it out.



Time to lift the culvert.



And put it in.



Once we get it in, we realize it isn't quite long enough to make it across the driveway Mike asked me to go and measure the culvert we have leftover in the barn to see if we can attach it to this one. While I do that, Brian starts to cover the culvert.



I get back with the measurement. We have a winner. Both culverts are the same diameter so we can use it. Mike and I walk down to the barn and take out another culvert which is 8 feet. Brian follows us and picks it up with the backhoe. Back to the ditch.

Brain puts the culvert into the ditch.



Mike and I get the two culverts connected and Brian covers them up.



The culvert is in and Brian finishes covering them.




While Brian was working the backhoe, Mike and I were getting rocks together. We need to add rocks to the front and bottom end of the new culvert. This will keep the mud out.


This is the bottom side of the culvert. Mike and I threw rocks into it not thinking about the spring. Now we have to get this rock out and then place it.



We pick up more rock for the ends of the pipe.



Mike working on the sides to make it nice. We will leave the middle bottom open for now and let it clean out.



The road is almost back to normal.



We are done for today. Here are a couple of pictures of my garden. I think I planted too much this year


and



7-21
Today we got the paving estimate. We are on for next week Mike calls Eric, the cow people's son to ask for help with a temp fence. The cows cannot go on the fresh pavement. Mike also can't drive his tractor on it for the rest of the year They will be here over the weekend


7-22
Mike has been working on cutting up some shingles to make a kind of ridge cap for the back of our house. He doesn't like the metal.


7-23
The cow family shows up and we all put up the new temp electric fence. This should keep the cows off The only thing I hate is now I have to open and close 4 gates to get in and out of the property Just call me the gate lady


7-24
Mike took the metal off the back of the house and starts to put on the shingle caps.

Nailing them on.



All of his cut shingles.



And cleaning up after he is done.




Other than that we did the usual. Cleaning and running around. We looked at a neighbor's property. We also went to check out a cabin from a local builder. They had a cabin that was about 16x28 and they wanted $30,000. for it Mike and I could build that for so much less.


That's all for this week. Next week it's time for paving. I hope you all enjoyed this short story and I will write again next week.

Lisa

[kygman]

I knew that, at least in Kentucky, culverts can be a minimum of 28 ft. Noticed the addition pipe was just kind of stuck in the longer one. Before the state cracked down on it, we would cover the joint with a mud flap or some rubber belt. At least you were smart enough to stick the upper pipe inside the lower, so the water won't leak between the pipes. Road and roof are looking good!!
If you want some delicious corn on the cob, if you have any fresh corn, see if one of the truck drivers will cook it in the blacktop. This may sound gross but the blacktop is around 300-350 degrees when loaded in the truck. Bury the ears in the blacktop with the silks sticking out. The oil does not go through the shucks. That heat will cook the corn and the shucks hold the flavor in

[gentlearts]

Lisa, I have a few questions. Is your major reason for the solar panels to be self sufficient, or is it more cost effective than being on grid?
Also, have you found any local art yet?

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by kygman

At least you were smart enough to stick the upper pipe inside the lower, so the water won't leak between the pipes.

Yeah we got that right. But the spring goes through it and under it, lol. At least all the water goes out the other side


If you want some delicious corn on the cob, if you have any fresh corn, see if one of the truck drivers will cook it in the blacktop.

Hmm!! didn't about the corn.

Originally Posted by gentlearts

Lisa, I have a few questions. Is your major reason for the solar panels to be self sufficient, or is it more cost effective than being on grid?

It is actually a little of both. It would have cost about $20,000 to get electric to the house so Mike thought "why not" let's try it(solar). Now it's very cool not to have to rely on the electric company.

Also, have you found any local art yet?

No art yet and we just went to a big art show this past weekend. You would think it wouldn't be hard to find animals and nature scenes in the mountains.

[mr.nobody]

gentlearts,

i have several panels(twenty one 100 watt panels) grid tied into my home. i have cut my electric bill in half. the system will pay for itself in under two years. it is very much cost affective and my next home will be off the grid entirely.


lisa,

have you lived a full winter in your new home yet? i'm not to far from where you are. in the fall,winter and spring my turbines never stop spinning and really put out amazing power.

has mike had to re-angle the panels yet for winter and hif so how much power loss is he seeing? i know here you see a power loss of about half and the shorter days don't help out alot either. that is one reason i'm planning such a massive system. in the summer the outbacks take care of the batteries when massive amounts of power are coming in. in the winter i re-angle mine and still don't get but about half the power.

just passing this along for you to look at and keep track of. if you see large power drops please let me know.

i also went and looked at 6 volt golf cart batteries today at advanced auto parts. alot cheaper than rolls batteries and right there on hand for when you need them. thanks for that tip.

[leftmyheartintennessee]

YL7: began reading this thread back in march this year...finally have gotten caught up to the present.
What an amazing journey! You,Mike and Nikki have really worked hard to get this done so quickly. Congratulations. I wish you many blessings in your new home.

I fell in love with NE Tennessee back in 1978 while traveling through the states on my way to TX. I too am from New York (Upstate). Decided then that I would go back to Tennessee to live someday. Hopeing someday will happen by next summer. My housemate and I plan to make a trip in the spring(april/may) to look for a piece of land/house to call our own. He and I can do the handyman thing, it will just take us a lot longer to do, as neither of us can move as fast as we used to.

Your garden looks really lush and green. Have you started reaping any fruits(veggies)? Do you use the manure that you shovel from the driveway for compost or as manure tea? The tea is a great fertilizer for gardens. Are you going to put in any fruit trees anywhere?

One more question...Have you considered putting in some SolarTube skylights towards the back of the roof, over the bedrooms/office area? They would give you some natural light in the back of the house and wouldn't affect the solar panels in any way. Might help to cut down on light usage during the daytime.

Enjoy reading your posts...especially love the pictures of the views from the house as well as the cows. Thank you and God Bless BONNIE

[CocoaNut]

Wow! What a goldmine of information and such an amazing story! I came across this forum just a few days ago and, like so many others have posted, it has almost consumed my life!! Unfortunately, I have to eat, sleep and work; otherwise, I'd be caught up by now! lol. I'm up to page 120.

I have a large farm in middle TN that is currently leased out while I (discontentedly) live in a suburb NW of Atlanta. UGH!! My hubby makes it bearable. The things you do for love!!

We also have eight acres in the Cherokee National Forest in SE TN on which we plan to homestead... hopefully soon. We are getting our house ready to lease out and then we can start making strides. I would MUCH rather be in NE TN - I love Johnson County/Carter County area - but hubby wants to be near Chattanooga. I used to spend a lot of time in Mtn City, right down the road a spell from Cracker's Neck.

I am sitting here typing this in our 38' travel trailer at a lake in North Georgia. We purchased the TT to live in at our property while we build, but until then, we are enjoying it for recreational pleasure. Hubby is been experimenting with solar panels up on the roof of the trailer. He is also building his own wind turbines to erect at the property. Can't wait to be living up there. It is SO freakin' beautiful. I East TN.
I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know how very much I am enjoying your story. Thank you! It is extremely valuable in so many ways, you have no idea. Or maybe you do! lol Keep up the good work!!

[CocoaNut]

Oh man, I can't read this fast enough to get caught up!! I'm only up to page 162 and I keep wanting to post comments but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm reading posts that are two years old. ARGGGHHHH!!

It's probably a moot point, but I added a deck awning years ago and used an opaque corrugated plexiglass from either HD or Lowes. It worked GREAT because it didn't block the light.

I was wondering, what kind of phone service ya'll use? Do you get cell service at your property, or do you have to use a land line or VOIP? I did not get cell service at my farm in the foothills of the plateau nor do we get cell service at our property in SE TN. =\

Your little rock garden between your sliding glass doors would look nice with flower pots, similar to this, but maybe with some nice yellow or orange-red marigolds. It would be a nice contrast up against the green siding.


Then again, you may have painted your house again since '09 and filled in our rock garden!! LOL!!

[CA Sweet Pea]

Hopefully, we didn't scare you off with all our advice/comments regarding you painting the patio. LOL

Looking forward to the next update! It's Monday, after all.

[ylisa7]

Hi all. Sorry I haven't responded yet or wrote a new story. I have been sick for a few days and yesterday Mike and I started a big project. Bigger than I expected. I am trying to rest but I will write another story later today.

mr. nobody- We spent the first winter here but we only had six panels at the time and a small windmill or two...sorry can't remember. The wind generators did do much better in the winter. We didn't change anything on the panels. I will let you know how we do this winter. We don't do all the technical stuff. We just want our system to produce what we need. We like to keep it simple. I'll let you know if we don't produce enough this winter.

Glad you found the batteries. Check Sam's club..they have good prices.


leftmyheartintennessee- Welcome. I am so glad you wrote in. Yes I get quite a bit of food from my garden. Next year I will have to cut back on the tomatoes, lol. I have made salsa, tomato sauce, tomato juice and given many away. I still can't keep up. I have thought about using manure tea but I haven't done it yet. I don;t have any weeds in my garden and I'm afraid once I use the cow manure I will have a lot of weeds.

We have thought about solar tubes for the bedrooms now I'm glad we don;t have them. The back rooms have just enough light to do what we need in them....and we get really good naps


CocoaNut-Welcome to our life, lol. I am so glad you took the time to read and also write in. It sounds like you will be starting your own adventure very soon

Yes..I love our awning and we don;t lose any light but it does keep our front doors shaded.

We have no land lines here. So no cable, no phones, and no electric to the house. We use a Verizon Air Card for my Internet and DirecTV for Mike's TV. The first year we were here we had no cell towers and the only way we got cell phone service was if we stood outside the house. That same year Verizon put a new cell tower across our mountain so I was able to et rid of my satellite Internet.

The garden area has been changed

Originally Posted by CA Sweet Pea

Hopefully, we didn't scare you off with all our advice/comments regarding you painting the patio. LOL

Looking forward to the next update! It's Monday, after all.

Sorry...no you didn't scare me off, lol. I haven't been feeling well and Mike has gotten us involved I will write in later today.