The "Off Grid" lifestyle

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Bigfoot

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I've been searching YouTube and the net, for ideas and help with cabin building. In my self education on the subject, I have ran accross this off grid lifestyle. Number one, I didn't know it existed. Number two, I'm not sure what I think about it. I know it's not for me. I personally get by on a minimum (within reason). No way I could get by on that. Some take it to the extent of quitting work, and living off the land. Opinions?
 
I know some people who have done this. None that quit there job and lived off the land. Mainly just because there wasn't a power line anywhere near their property. I did it for one year. Not because it was an "off grid" desire on my part. The place I lived at was three miles from the end of the power line. If you are set up right it isn't all that difficult. Our place was like going back in time. Wood heat stove, wood cook stove, and kerosene lamps. We had a propane refrigerator, a hand water pump on the back porch, and a out house that was 100 too close in the summer and 100 feet to far away in the winter. My ex in laws lived off grid. They had a very nice modern house powered by a generator and a bank of batteries.
 
Bigfoot":10y4coc5 said:
I've been searching YouTube and the net, for ideas and help with cabin building. In my self education on the subject, I have ran accross this off grid lifestyle. Number one, I didn't know it existed. Number two, I'm not sure what I think about it. I know it's not for me. I personally get by on a minimum (within reason). No way I could get by on that. Some take it to the extent of quitting work, and living off the land. Opinions?


I did it for a while, not by choice but the electric co was back logged.
I could do it with solar water pump, solar lights and etc ( I'd have to have a job for insurance, taxes and so on )
Except air conditioning.
I handle the heat during the day with shade but at night when it's still 90 plus I can't sleep.
Other than that I could do it.
 
Cross-7":1b10ux7c said:
Bigfoot":1b10ux7c said:
I've been searching YouTube and the net, for ideas and help with cabin building. In my self education on the subject, I have ran accross this off grid lifestyle. Number one, I didn't know it existed. Number two, I'm not sure what I think about it. I know it's not for me. I personally get by on a minimum (within reason). No way I could get by on that. Some take it to the extent of quitting work, and living off the land. Opinions?


I did it for a while, not by choice but the electric co was back logged.
I could do it with solar water pump, solar lights and etc ( I'd have to have a job for insurance, taxes and so on )
Except air conditioning.
I handle the heat during the day with shade but at night when it's still 90 plus I can't sleep.
Other than that I could do it.

My list of things I can't do without is more extensive than I thought. Hot showers comes to mind.
 
Bigfoot":1lxqj2pa said:
Cross-7":1lxqj2pa said:
Bigfoot":1lxqj2pa said:
I've been searching YouTube and the net, for ideas and help with cabin building. In my self education on the subject, I have ran accross this off grid lifestyle. Number one, I didn't know it existed. Number two, I'm not sure what I think about it. I know it's not for me. I personally get by on a minimum (within reason). No way I could get by on that. Some take it to the extent of quitting work, and living off the land. Opinions?


I did it for a while, not by choice but the electric co was back logged.
I could do it with solar water pump, solar lights and etc ( I'd have to have a job for insurance, taxes and so on )
Except air conditioning.
I handle the heat during the day with shade but at night when it's still 90 plus I can't sleep.
Other than that I could do it.

My list of things I can't do without is more extensive than I thought. Hot showers comes to mind.


Do too the fact I'm a tight wad
I still haven't installed a septic system because I can't locate it where it needs to be for a future build,

Not having an indoor toilet takes some getting used to

Edit
I showered for months with an outdoor portable shower heated with a 20# propane bottle and a 12v 25 gal spot sprayer. I hauled water in 4 five gallon jugs
I learned to shower with 2-1/2 gallons
 
You could have hot showers with wood heat.

I just can't make it pencil out.. at $0.10 / kWh you never pay off the capital investment of most off-grid power sources... We could have hydro power here and probably make 2kw without much trouble.. it would definitely suffice for lighting, a fridge and freezer, but not for cooking, welding, and shop work. If I could feed my 2kw back into the grid so I can draw lots of power when I need it, I could probably get close to being electricity neutral
 
We came as close to living off the grid as anybody when I was a kid in the 70's. Had electric but nothing else. Most everything we ate came from our 33 acre hobby farm that was incredibly productive. We had an orchard, garden, chickens, pigs, cows, made our own wine, you name it.

I could do without the sulfur water though.
 
Bigfoot":23n8i665 said:
Cross-7":23n8i665 said:
Bigfoot":23n8i665 said:
I've been searching YouTube and the net, for ideas and help with cabin building. In my self education on the subject, I have ran accross this off grid lifestyle. Number one, I didn't know it existed. Number two, I'm not sure what I think about it. I know it's not for me. I personally get by on a minimum (within reason). No way I could get by on that. Some take it to the extent of quitting work, and living off the land. Opinions?


I did it for a while, not by choice but the electric co was back logged.
I could do it with solar water pump, solar lights and etc ( I'd have to have a job for insurance, taxes and so on )
Except air conditioning.
I handle the heat during the day with shade but at night when it's still 90 plus I can't sleep.
Other than that I could do it.

My list of things I can't do without is more extensive than I thought. Hot showers comes to mind.

We had hot showers. A metal 5 gallon bucket with a shower head brazed to it. A hook in the ceiling above the tub. Two large kettles on top of the wood stove.
 
I connected with a couple who lived off-grid in the high elevation, remote mountains about 60 miles south west of Denver. They had no shortage of money. They had a road cut into their property that most of us could not afford. And the home was in the multi-million category. The home was powered by about 50 batteries in the basement that were charged by solar panels. Needless to say, they were not "roughing it".

BTW: The couple were from Texas. I cannot remember where. The home was not their primary residence. The guy was the biggest bullshyter I believe I ever met.
 
Oh, I see their point. The argument being these people were only working to buy things they could live without. Most have a hatred of taxes (I fit that category). I guess I just like my conveniences to much.
 
I live completely off grid now and have done so for 9 years now. If you were to visit I doubt that you would notice any difference to a house that is on the grid.

Ken
 
wbvs58":3ulczqyn said:
I live completely off grid now and have done so for 9 years now. If you were to visit I doubt that you would notice any difference to a house that is on the grid.

Ken

Curious Ken. Are you solar powered with batteries or are you generator powered?
 
Cross-7":2d6gq7nb said:
I showered for months with an outdoor portable shower heated with a 20# propane bottle and a 12v 25 gal spot sprayer. I hauled water in 4 five gallon jugs
I learned to shower with 2-1/2 gallons
Sounds like what some use to call a "wh ore's shower"....wet a rag and wash under your arms and between your legs. :lol2: :lol2: :hide:
 
TexasBred":1t21b1sv said:
Cross-7":1t21b1sv said:
I showered for months with an outdoor portable shower heated with a 20# propane bottle and a 12v 25 gal spot sprayer. I hauled water in 4 five gallon jugs
I learned to shower with 2-1/2 gallons
Sounds like what some use to call a "wh ore's shower"....wet a rag and wash under your arms and between your legs. :lol2: :lol2: :hide:

Shame on you, "wh ores got hearts too Woodrow".

Remember those words? Guess who said that.
 
TexasBred":27m7klyw said:
Cross-7":27m7klyw said:
I showered for months with an outdoor portable shower heated with a 20# propane bottle and a 12v 25 gal spot sprayer. I hauled water in 4 five gallon jugs
I learned to shower with 2-1/2 gallons
Sounds like what some use to call a "wh ore's shower"....wet a rag and wash under your arms and between your legs. :lol2: :lol2: :hide:


Lol
 
TexasBred":3sqm5wvr said:
Gus probably.

Yep. Gus was a natural philosopher.

"I won't say I did and I won't say I didn't, but I will say that a man who wouldn't cheat for a poke don't want one bad enough."
 
Closest I've been to living off the grid was temporary. When I was in college I was a counselor at a canoe camp. Slept on sandbars, cooked over an open fire, nature was the toilet and certainly no showers for a week. One summer of that and I was over being adventurous (it was also a church camp for 14 -16 year old's, little heathens). A close second would be when we were building the house but still living in TX & commuting every couple weeks. I was game for sleeping on a blow-up mattress & "showering" with a tiny stream of cold water out of a Gott cooler for maybe 2 days - and then I would call my folks & beg them to rescue me (total 2.5 hr drive). The older I get, my priorities continue to change.
 

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