Living off grid

[i am]

I'm going to be looking into solar cells pretty soon here. I very well may be living "off grid" in my RV. Solar would be nice, for when I park somewhere for more than a week or so, and don't have my trucks engine as a "generator".

 

Not much electrical. Four LED lights, and a fridge that runs on propane but does have some 12V draw. Otherwise...I'd only use power if I wanted to listen to music or plug in some device. There is a water pump, but the faucet is also a hand pump, so unless I'm feeling very lazy, no need for the electric pump.

 

But still...knowing my battery is getting charged by the sun and I'm only limited to staying in one place by my propane tank,Forest Service/BLM laws and food & water supplies is nice.

[BaguaKicksAss]

and internet?

[i am]

Figuring that out still...

 

Not sure if I'll just check up online when I'm in a town, and head to a coffee shop or whatever, or if I'll get an ipad with 3G or something and be able to get Internet in more places. Leaning towards 3G, or some way to get Internet through phone signals...

[cheya]

Back in the mid seventies, I lived "off grid" for five years before I headed off to India to join a cult. :-)

We started out with just an old schoolhouse, no electric, no running water. Waste disposal was an outhouse which we only had to redig once. Lights were kerosene lamps. Cooking was on a wonderful old wood cook stove we christened Big Mama, that had a water jacket. Another stove heated the living room. We did have a phone. (You don't actually need electricity to have a landline.) We raised milk goats, chickens, and bees, had a huge garden and orchard, heated with wood, bathed with water carried from a spring (in the kitchen, in a galvinized tub!), and I managed to hold down a town job through most of it. Now THAT was a challenge!

 

It was like recapitulating civilization. Big advances were when we plumbed the spring to feed across the hollow by gravity. Gravity alone wouldn't quite reach up to the house, so we mounted one of those red-handled pumps on the kitchen sink. After carrying all the water for two years, this was like a miracle! Another big advance was getting a propane fridge. OMG! ICE! Another miracle!

 

There are lots of ways to live "off grid". Some dear friends live in an ecovillage here, 60 some people on 330 acres, entirely off grid. Of course they are much higher tech than I was all those years ago! Most have solar electric, phone, and web access. There's a community micro-hydro system, and some also have generators, so they don't have to toe the solar line quite so carefully. And most of the houses take advantage of passive solar heat so they aren't so dependent on burning wood.

 

Off-grid is one thing, but self-sufficient is an entirely different animal. You're always dependent on others, and the more good folks with skills in your network, the better you'll fare.

 

And "tiny houses" are great for off-the-grid, but not so much for "self-sufficient: if you're going to really be self-sufficient, you need a lot of equipment to raise and process food, care for animals, build and repair stuff. So you need space to store it. A lot of space. That, and all the kids (or friends) necessary to do the work, is the reason those old farmhouses were pretty big!

 

That said, a great site for tiny house dreaming is http://tinyhouseblog.com

 

Some of my current favorites:

This handmade trailer even has a sleeping porch!

http://catstinyhome.wordpress.com/

 

Wonderful design details on this one:

http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/erin-and-dondis-off-grid-tiny-house/

 

And this adobe house is one of my all time favorites!

http://tinyhouseblog.com/earthcob/rina-steens-adobe-house/

[i am]

Funny how all these "tiny" houses look just right to me...

 

In fact if that adobe house qualifies, then the rental I'm in right now qualifies.

[BaguaKicksAss]

We call those cabins around here .

[BaguaKicksAss]

http://thetaobums.com/topic/31420-best-solar-powered-generator-sunshinesimple-generator/

 

http://thetaobums.com/topic/30520-more-pie-guys-tips-on-saving-money/?p=494669

 

More to come .

[BaguaKicksAss]

Back in the mid seventies, I lived "off grid" for five years before I headed off to India to join a cult. :-)

 

Which was more rustic?

 

 

We started out with just an old schoolhouse, no electric, no running water. Waste disposal was an outhouse which we only had to redig once. Lights were kerosene lamps. Cooking was on a wonderful old wood cook stove we christened Big Mama, that had a water jacket. Another stove heated the living room. We did have a phone. (You don't actually need electricity to have a landline.) We raised milk goats, chickens, and bees, had a huge garden and orchard, heated with wood, bathed with water carried from a spring (in the kitchen, in a galvinized tub!), and I managed to hold down a town job through most of it. Now THAT was a challenge!

 

The job part in town would be difficult! Extra kudos .

 

 

It was like recapitulating civilization. Big advances were when we plumbed the spring to feed across the hollow by gravity. Gravity alone wouldn't quite reach up to the house, so we mounted one of those red-handled pumps on the kitchen sink. After carrying all the water for two years, this was like a miracle! Another big advance was getting a propane fridge. OMG! ICE! Another miracle!

 

Propane fridge, now that sounds handy. Have you seen the amongst white clouds documentary? The one hermit lady on there had a pretty awesome water contraption, but she still had to climb quite a ways up the hill to get it going each time.

 

There are lots of ways to live "off grid". Some dear friends live in an ecovillage here, 60 some people on 330 acres, entirely off grid. Of course they are much higher tech than I was all those years ago! Most have solar electric, phone, and web access. There's a community micro-hydro system, and some also have generators, so they don't have to toe the solar line quite so carefully. And most of the houses take advantage of passive solar heat so they aren't so dependent on burning wood.

 

Living with that many others around would sort of kill it for me personally . Well unless we had 10 acre parcels each, heh.

 

Off-grid is one thing, but self-sufficient is an entirely different animal. You're always dependent on others, and the more good folks with skills in your network, the better you'll fare.

 

Cheating and taking the bus or hitchiking into town tended to be our backup plan, that we used far too often .

 

And "tiny houses" are great for off-the-grid, but not so much for "self-sufficient: if you're going to really be self-sufficient, you need a lot of equipment to raise and process food, care for animals, build and repair stuff. So you need space to store it. A lot of space. That, and all the kids (or friends) necessary to do the work, is the reason those old farmhouses were pretty big!

 

Yeah the folks I knew without electricity all had small gardens and chickens .

 

Actual living in who knows, but for design and aesthetics, these are awesome!!!

http://freshome.com/2012/12/27/10-bewitching-hobbit-houses-seemengly-inspired-by-tolkiens-fantasy-novels/

[i am]

That lady in Amongst White Clouds also seemed to be having the worst time of it. She seemed to go out of her way to show how hard everything was for her, and almost seemed to break down a couple times...I felt bad for her.

[BaguaKicksAss]

That lady in Amongst White Clouds also seemed to be having the worst time of it. She seemed to go out of her way to show how hard everything was for her, and almost seemed to break down a couple times...I felt bad for her.

 

I'd say! Guess she had to travel so far that she didn't come with many supplies. It seemed like many of the others had some basic food staples regularly (brought to them) somehow. Also eating nothing but the same plant for the first year, wow. So does this mean she gets to her, whatever her goal is, twice as fast?

[BaguaKicksAss]

Another cool facebook resource: https://www.facebook.com/OffGridWorld

 

Though nothing they are talking about (accept perhaps that shipping container house) is in my price range! Perhaps I just need to go further into the archives. Perhaps renting an already built one .

 

One interesting thing I thought about was when I was in Egypt, Hait, Mexico, Morocco... there were so many people living what we would call "off grid". In Haiti there was only one person out of all of the ones I was talking with who actually had electricity. Of course many of the folks in cities do have the modern conveniences, but not so much once you get out into the villages. No running water or electricity in most places I visited. I remember one friend of mine from Egypt was telling me about how proud she was that her family had a flush toilet! There were more than your fair share of horse stance over a hole in the ground toilets...

 

They can all still cook better than most folks in north america though .

[BaguaKicksAss]

 

 

This one is from Canada somewhere apparently

 

 

I've always dreamed of one of these when I'm taking the ferry and see all these tiny little islands along the route . Though I'd like a small house and at least 3 acres of island thanks heh.

 

 

And some cob houses http://naturalhomes.org/cobhouses.htm?a=googleplus

[thelerner]

My dream cabin would be like a Hobbit dwelling. Built into the side of a hill, cool in summer, cozy in winter, gardens around and above. Maybe a solar tunnel system to spread daylight inside. Central high efficiency fire place/stove.

 

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1414&bih=907&q=hobbit+house&oq=hobbit+house&gs_l=img.3..0l10.2522.4376.0.4609.12.12.0.0.0.0.307.1068.5j4j0j1.10.0....0...1ac.1.32.img..4.8.655.6AdOKR-GBXw#hl=en&q=inside%20hobbit%20house&revid=1883975333&tbm=isch&imgdii=_

[Nungali]

I stayed in an 'earth house' .... atrocious! No flow through of 'energy', air or breezes ... I am used to LOTS of windows in all walls around me when inside. However I find these incredibly attractive

 

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=cave+houses&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=LbqfUpDhOc_zoATE6oDIDg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1220&bih=497

Edited December 4, 2013 by Nungali

[Aetherous]

Vastu architecture, while not traditionally legitimate (the only authentic texts have to do with temple building, not house building) is very interesting for getting good energy into the place. For instance, they have the idea that your front door should have a window to look through, and the back of the house should also have windows which you can see from the front door...so basically it feels like light and energy can flow all the way through the house.

I also like big windows that look out into nature, white walls, natural wood floors and furniture. My parents are designing a bed and breakfast with similar ideas, based off of Swedish and other northern European countries' design, as can be seen on the covers of this and this book. The outside will be red kind of like this.



Which I think looks great. This type of design works a lot with how to bring more natural light into the house (for instance, white walls help to radiate the light and brighten things up).

Sorry to take it kind of off topic, but hey maybe some off grid people will want these ideas as well!

Edited December 5, 2013 by turtle shell

[i am]

I wonder what the thought behind the tree house was? If they just thought it would be "cool", or if they're trying to stay safe from predators, or what. In a cold climate, it's not so good to have cold air circulating under your floor!

 

I'm sure they insulated the floor well, though.

[BaguaKicksAss]

I've seen people do that in warmer climates, to avoid flooding. No idea in a cold climate though. Perhaps a set of tourist cabins?

[thelerner]

I've seen homes in warm climates built on stilts (Hawaii for example) because of tiny monsters..ie termites. Apparently they don't like to climb.

[Marblehead]

I wonder what the thought behind the tree house was? If they just thought it would be "cool", or if they're trying to stay safe from predators, or what. In a cold climate, it's not so good to have cold air circulating under your floor!

 

I'm sure they insulated the floor well, though.

They probably did it so they wouldn't have to pay any property taxes.

[i am]

Is it really that easy?

 

I sort of wonder if that island house is photoshopped. If not, I sure hope that's high water! Seems to be asking for it.

 

White walls with natural wood is a really good feel. Like taking a full log cabin, and sheet rocking the ceiling and painting it white, and maybe one wall, but keeping some of the log structure in that wall exposed.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Is it really that easy?

 

I sort of wonder if that island house is photoshopped. If not, I sure hope that's high water! Seems to be asking for it.

 

White walls with natural wood is a really good feel. Like taking a full log cabin, and sheet rocking the ceiling and painting it white, and maybe one wall, but keeping some of the log structure in that wall exposed.

 

http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/tiny-houses-on-tiny-islands/

[silent thunder]

This NYC boy went way off grid...

He's got a very well laid out system, used minimal investment to get a very comfy lifestyle for himself, out in the 'center of the middle of nowhere' .... direct quote.

 

[silent thunder]

http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/incredible-photos-of-people-living-off-the-grid-who-abandoned-civilization-for-life-in-the-wilderness/

[Anoesjka]

We are looking into solar panels. It would cost around 3000 EUR for the panels alone. We're also interested in alternative heating, like the rocket stove mass heaters you can build yourself:

 

http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

[GrandmasterP]

This guy knows about living Off Grid.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Surviving-Off-Off-Grid-Decolonizing-Industrial/dp/0615447902/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407067913&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+bunker+off+grid

There's an annual 'off gridders' get-together at his place in Texas.

Edited August 3, 2014 by GrandmasterP