Off The Grid...

[6.8SPC]

Anyone here live off the utility grid? I have been doing some research and a whole lot of thinking about the sustainability of the Western lifestyle and have come across some pretty interesting stuff others are doing. My dream is to be able to do this within ten years or so and build a more earth-friendly home. (I already have some land deeded to me in a trust when I turn 35, got a while to go,lol) Imagine not having an electric/gas/oil bill!!!! It would require a slight change in lifestyle, but would be greatly rewarding to me anyway. If I could also grow/raise my own food and find a sustainable water supply, I would essentially be able to thumb my nose at the 'powers that be'. I am by no means a stinky tree-hugging hippy, but I think there are creative ways to be more mindful of the earth. Here is an example of what I mean:

**broken link removed**

 

[EVERLAST]

ways to go....

I used to think how nice it would be...
no or low taxes, no power bill, no gas bill, etc.

Check into the rammed earth in stacked tire house in Taos.
Windmills, solar panels, but watch for the snow/cold to crack it, battery storage for those cloudy days is the weak link.
So underground and partial exposure to sunlight with double or quad ply glass.

I have some plans for a poured concrete wall home with a glassed entry.
This kinda thing may become more attractive to you as time goes by.

My plan was to go native in Costa Rica, live the expatriate beach bum
life and then...vacation was over and I had to go home.
Gotta have the right support team for this kinda mission.
Shes' gotta love it too.

 

[VanR__]

You're on the grid right now.

It's going to be very hard to pull a Mosquito Coast when you've got a family and kids, and that hippie food tastes like shit.
If nano-technology increases photovoltaic efficiency like everyone is hoping, I might look into it.
My dad knows some farmers that lease their land for school bus sized wind turbines.

 

[econstruction]

It has to happen sooner rather than later. How great would it be to dump oil and all the crap (and country's) that goes with it. Their are creative building methods that can drastically improve efficiency of a home but completely off the grid would be sweet.

 

[6.8SPC]

I used to think how nice it would be...
no or low taxes, no power bill, no gas bill, etc.

Check into the rammed earth in stacked tire house in Taos.
Windmills, solar panels, but watch for the snow/cold to crack it, battery storage for those cloudy days is the weak link.
So underground and partial exposure to sunlight with double or quad ply glass.

I have some plans for a poured concrete wall home with a glassed entry.
This kinda thing may become more attractive to you as time goes by.

My plan was to go native in Costa Rica, live the expatriate beach bum
life and then...vacation was over and I had to go home.
Gotta have the right support team for this kinda mission.
Shes' gotta love it too.

You make some good points, I wonder where I'll be in six years or so and if this will still be feasible. I would definitely need some friends to help me build and a woman that didn't think I was crazy. I saw your loft on the photo's section btw, very nice work!

 

[6.8SPC]

exactly!

It has to happen sooner rather than later. How great would it be to dump oil and all the crap (and country's) that goes with it. Their are creative building methods that can drastically improve efficiency of a home but completely off the grid would be sweet.

It's obvious that eventually, oil will run out. There is a great book called 'The Coming Energy Revolution" that talks about the choke-hold that major oil companies have on emergent alternative energy technology. There are something like 4,000 patents sitting in the basement of the U.S. Patent Office uder lock and key essentially because some greedy bastards want to keep us addicted to oil for as long as possible. This pisses me off to no end and would love to throw off the yoke of paying 3(soon probably 4) bucks a gallon for gas. I gotta dream, right?

 

[econstruction]

History has shown the the greatest advancements come from those willing to dream and of course try.

I plan to build a house myself in the next few years I hope, after things recover ( the housing collapse has killed my company ) but an eco-friendly structure is the goal using insulated concrete forms, solar, geo thermal and any thing else I can find.

Good luck on your project and a little dreaming never hurt!

 

[EVERLAST]

costs...........

Poured wall concrete structures with a form and pour ceiling and double insulated skylight and window components are cost effective and have thermal mass which heats up during exposure to solar and gives back that heat as radiant during the night.
My walls here are 12-14" thick.
The windows are the energy nosebleeds....
next year...

 

[Bloodyshins]

Get The Big Berkey Water Filter. ...and light. solar power..and charges electric.
**broken link removed**

 

[Curiousity]

This is a great interest of mine.

You imply that you have a while before you get that land deeded to you. In that case, I would recommended that you slowly study the subject. There are many different options and many new technologies that would be a good addition to off the grid living. If you build it with intelligence and care, you can still have all the amenities of on-the-grid living. You just have to be more aware of what you are using.

Start reading magazines such as Home Power, which focuses on how to provide electricity, hot water, etc to a home using renewable methods. You might be able to read these at your local library. If not, try to get your library to order them.

I'll tell you what. I'll grab my favorites from work (I have time to do personal research at work) and post them here for you.

 

[Curiousity]

I was going to add all the links here, but there are quite a few. So I just zipped them. Some are very interesting, some are mundane. However, it could help you some out if you truly want to build your off-the-grid house.

I used 7-Zip to zip them.

 

[6.8SPC]

I was going to add all the links here, but there are quite a few. So I just zipped them. Some are very interesting, some are mundane. However, it could help you some out if you truly want to build your off-the-grid house.

I used 7-Zip to zip them.

Wow that is great info, thanks a lot for those links. The more info I can get the better. Cheers.

 

[Curiousity]

Wow that is great info, thanks a lot for those links. The more info I can get the better. Cheers.

Your welcome. I see that you have said you already started researching (I missed that the first time.) It's always nice to get more links from another point of view approaching the same issue.