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OfflineSurReality
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Anyone into off the grid living?
    #21927713 - 07/11/15 07:30 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I'm deciding to move off the grid by next month and begin building my own home. I'm going to build an environmentally friendly style home where I use very little resources and minimal waste. I'm not at all the environmental type politically, as I lean towards limited government. This is totally an economic decision for my own benefit.
Anyone else live a similar lifestyle here already? I've always been fascinated with architecture in this style since I've learned of the concept in grade school.

Anyway I'm probably going to document my journey in the home improvement sub, but I figured I start a discussion here since this is where the traffic is...

Anyone think this is stupid or awesome, let's discuss...


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OfflinePatlal
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21927745 - 07/11/15 07:42 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I have always wanted to try this. You know, the kind of dream you know won't happen but you just like to think about it anyway?

I love gardening. So food would be covered for me

I would go with solar panels or wiht a river wheel generator of some sort for limited electricity.

I would cut down trees for firewood, walk the trails, set up snares and have a few hunting spots. I would fish every day.

I want to build my house from scratch too using only what I find in the woods.

Have you seen this video OP?



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OfflineEnjoywho
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: Patlal]
    #21927806 - 07/11/15 08:00 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Nah im a city kid. I love people. I never would like to live anywhere close to off the grid.


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"I don't give nothin' to nobody, I just pay the cost to do business." - Riley "Young Reezy"-Boondocks

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"And then the great lord created bears... too many bears... shoulda really dialed back on the bears." Squidbillies

"Can you start speaking words instead of your damn filthy lies!"- Louise "Bobs Burgers"


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OfflineArctic W. Fox
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: Enjoywho]
    #21927828 - 07/11/15 08:09 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Awesome.

But not in the United States.


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OfflineSurReality
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: Patlal]
    #21927852 - 07/11/15 08:21 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Yea I've seen that but that's not what I'm thinking at all. You can still get all the convenience of living on the grid with the right design. I'm building something like an earthship/yurt. The interior will be a yurt like this Montana couple has. I'll start with wind and gas generators, I got a free gas gen...

I intend to assemble enough to live in and shower within a day or two before I run out of money and need to work part time to continue building full time. And cut and assemble the lattice in the mean time using my stepdads power tools. I'll be contacting the county to be sure my design is up to code


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Invisibleidiotek
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21927903 - 07/11/15 08:39 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Cool idea, I hope you document the progress with photos and stuff in a thread like the other one in the DIY forum.

I'm not really crazy about some of the more hardcore eco designs and yurts and all that when it comes to permanent housing options.  I guess my main concern is about creating as tight an envelope as possible, orientation towards solar south and utilizing as much passive solar design concepts as possible. 

Are you located in a place where you can generate enough power using wind?  If you're not grid connected, you would have to charge batteries with a turbine and you would want some pretty constant wind that isn't terribly gusty.  Often times, you would have much better results using solar PV to charge your batteries.  I'm assuming you'll heat water with gas.


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InvisibleDieCommie

Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21929481 - 07/11/15 04:05 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Living off the grid is environmentally unfriendly.  Living in a small apartment in a skyscraper allows you to consume far less resources thanks to the economics of scale.


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InvisiblezZZz
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21929538 - 07/11/15 04:15 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Like Jeremiah Johnson? :manofapproval:

I'd prefer living in a tippy with my Native American friends


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InvisibleAkEnthusiast
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: zZZz]
    #21930175 - 07/11/15 06:45 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Going "off the grid" sounds like it could be a intriguing idea until you realize how impractical it is lol. But in all seriousness, good luck with your future venture.


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OfflineMichAnon.ael
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: AkEnthusiast]
    #21930786 - 07/11/15 08:45 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Oh this is something i'd definitely do. Love this kind of stuff. Op, have you heard of permaculture? Jeoff Lawton's an awesome permaculturist. Aquaponics, wild food and medicine. Im all aboit it.


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OfflineSurReality
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: MichAnon.ael]
    #21930856 - 07/11/15 09:06 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I'll be heating everything with a wood stove and solar. It's very gusty that's why I'm starting with just wind gen. And I will store some energy in car batteries. Also a cord of wood is fifteen bucks from national forest which is basically a full flat bed trailer.

I agree with economies of scale but due to the convenience and low cost the vast majority are wasteful including me.

And I will be doing aquaponics. Haven't looked into permaculture yet.

Also will be eventually building a traditional hogan for ceremonial use, my girlfriend is Navajo and I love attending ceremonies. Plus I'll be living in sacred land to Navajo.

Definitely will be documenting...


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OfflineArrtus
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21930871 - 07/11/15 09:09 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Some day... some day I'll do it. Maybe when I feel like there's nothing else left to do. Into The Wild is my inspiration.


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OfflineSurReality
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: Arrtus]
    #21930894 - 07/11/15 09:16 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I'm doing this so I can have more financial freedom in a year. Going to still work full time soon after I acquire my land title and build enough to live in. I've been blowing half my pay check just on rent working minimum wage. Except I now have a bachelor's degree. Looking forward to being able to save money...


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Invisibleidiotek
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21932593 - 07/12/15 09:10 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Wind turbines work best in constant moderate wind, not gusty winds.  Car batteries aren't very good at all for storing power to invert into household power.  You'd be better off buying some deep cycle marine batteries instead and using a few solar panels to charge them during the day with a charge controller, and then use a sine wave inverter to use the power at night or whatever.  It requires a little bit of math to design your battery banks in order to not ruin the batteries by discharging them too much too frequently or whatever.


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Invisiblekoraks
Registered: 06/02/03
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: idiotek] * 1
    #21932620 - 07/12/15 09:20 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

That's also why car batteries are a bad idea. They don't withstand deep cycling too well; they loose capacity very rapidly if they are discharged too far.


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Invisiblepsi
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: koraks]
    #21932643 - 07/12/15 09:34 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Those setups where you just sell power back to the grid when you're generating more than you need seem like a pretty good compromise. I guess that's not an option in a remote enough location though.


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Invisibleidiotek
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: psi]
    #21932666 - 07/12/15 09:45 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Net metering.  Not all utility providers will allow it, so many people are forced to size their solar PV systems to eliminate the majority of their power consumption (based on a review of their consumption patterns over several months).  Off grid systems require you to have a rigorous power consumption habit that rarely deviates.  You have to be disciplined about how you discharge your batteries because varying the load on it too much too often will shorten the lifespan of the batteries and they are pretty damn expensive. 

The most practical off-grid application of solar that I've seen so far in my experience is using it to pump water and then gravity feeding from a buried storage container.


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Offlineteamkiller
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: idiotek] * 1
    #21932722 - 07/12/15 10:09 AM (8 years, 6 months ago)



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OfflineSurReality
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: teamkiller]
    #21934718 - 07/12/15 07:05 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

Thanks I have only done brief research on wind gens. Thanks for that suggestion GP


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Invisibletito123
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: SurReality]
    #21935218 - 07/12/15 09:33 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I have the all the opportunities to build an off the grid home, but I'm not sure if I want to or not.

I live in a rural area in the south with very few friends(in this area) and nothing to do.  I'm also very young.  If I built an earthship, I would be living here all my life, practically alone, with nothing gone on for me besides gardening and making wine/beer, which I love doing, but I also need to be with people who aren't white southern Baptists.


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OfflineDetached
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: tito123]
    #21935267 - 07/12/15 09:44 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I do "off grid" living for about a week every year. I call it 'camping'

It all seriousness I would never consider it as a long-term living situation. There are too many modern luxuries that we take for granted until being put in a situation like that.

I am a fan of 'tiny houses' but that is a whole other topic.


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Invisiblerackem
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: Detached]
    #21935293 - 07/12/15 09:51 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

i enjoy being without all these luxuries.. hell i left my cell phone at a bar,  best 72 hours of my adult life while still being able to take care of my responsibilities


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OfflineSurReality
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Re: Anyone into off the grid living? [Re: tito123]
    #21935419 - 07/12/15 10:32 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

I hear that. Hey I could get you land in Colorado. Fuck the south lol plenty of cool people here


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