Going Off The Grid: The How-To Book Of Simple Living And Happiness (Off The Grid Series 1)

by Gary Collins

For a geothermal system to make usable electricity, steam must be produced that spins a turbine attached to a generator that then produces electricity.

For a complete, installed system, it was going to cost between $30,000 - $35,000,

The biggest advantage of geothermal for people who live off the grid is

that it makes it more achievable to have a modern central heating and cooling system.

Sometimes my simple thinking gets me in trouble.

Propane: An Off-Gridder’s Best Friend

An electric oven draws too much power, so I would need to install a propane oven.

there is an entire market for off-grid, propane-powered appliances, such

as refrigerators, freezers, heaters, stoves, and so on.

As a matter of fact, if you want to experiment with off-the-grid living I highly recommend living in a travel trailer first, as they are set up quite like an –off-grid house.

Just because you are remote doesn’t mean no one knows you are there.

www.backwoodssolar.com.

Instead, we can all learn how to provide for ourselves a bit more (or a lot more!), and be less reliant on technology.

These are the appliances and conveniences I recommend you simply learn to live without: • Forced heat and/or air

conditioning • Microwave • Dishwasher (not always; they are becoming more energy efficient) • Full-size (large) electric refrigerator (you can have a small one instead) • Free-standing electric freezer • Hair dryers • Space heaters • Portable air conditioning or space heater units

Electric stove/oven • Electric water heater • Electric clothes washer and/or drier

I have found these to be the biggest and easiest energy tips to follow. • Use propane-powered appliances.

Hang-dry clothes during warm months. • Install LED lighting throughout entire house. • Install windows for maximum natural lighting. (This is known as “daylighting”) • Install skylights for additional natural lighting. • Turn lights off when you are not using them. • Get the smallest and most energy-efficient refrigerator you can live

with (this represents the biggest and most continuous power draw in an off-the-grid house). • If you are building an off-grid property from scratch, consider using a passive solar home design, which helps collect, store, and distribute the sun’s natural heat throughout your home in the winter and helps reject it during the summer. • Make sure your home is properly insulated.

Finally, think old-school and cut down on your energy consumption.

Here is another really good reason to have cell phone coverage on your off-the-grid property: in case of emergency. Living an off-the-grid lifestyle is inherently arduous and dangerous. With more freedom comes more risk.

The brand of booster I have and still use is called the Wilson Electronics Vehicle Cellular Signal Booster.

WISPs use tower-mounted antennas to transmit and receive radio signals.

Especially in areas with no possibility of a landline, make sure to consider phone and Internet connectivity before purchasing a property.

Probably the most valuable lesson I learned during this project was how incredibly difficult it is to finance an off-the-grid property using traditional means.

I soon found out that traditional institutions simply won’t finance off-grid properties.

Just because you can’t finance the property by traditional methods, doesn’t mean you can’t get an equity line of credit once the house is completed. In addition, they will wrap other short-term debt (credit cards, car loans) into the equity line if you want.

Later I found out that this is the method most people use to complete off-the-grid houses. They leverage short-term debt in order to get the project done, and then wrap the debt in a home equity line of credit that can be spread over 10-20 years.

The key factor in all off-grid home construction is energy efficiency.

Block construction is very basic and many industrial and commercial buildings use this type of

construction. It simply involves stacking concrete or green blocks into walls and filling open cells with concrete and rebar for strength. The advantages are: a low cost, lower insurance premiums, durability, pest/animal resistance, ease of construction, lower maintenance, good insulation value, outside-to-inside noise reduction, plus, they are fireproof. The disadvantages are

I recommend you get a “homeowner’s tool set/kit.”

POWER TOOLS Over the years, there is a basic set of power tools that I have used for a majority of my handy work. Here is the list I think everyone considering an off-grid journey should

have: DRILL/DRIVER is primarily used for drilling holes but can drive screws and small bolts. IMPACT DRIVER is used primarily for driving (or removing) screws and bolts. Differs from drill/driver in that has more torque and has a fast-moving hammer that continually pounds the bit, letting you ease up on the pressure you would normally have to exert. SAWZALL (reciprocating

saw) is considered the workhorse of demolition tools, as it is compact and can cut through wood and steel. CIRCULAR SAW (skill saw) is a small handheld saw that can cut most wood construction materials. Different blades allow you to cut through concrete and steel as well. MITER SAW is more of a specialty tool...

(angled cuts), such as those used on baseboards, crown molding, and cabinet finishing work. CUT-OFF GRINDER is, for me, probably one of the most versatile tools I own. For a metal fabricator, this is a must-have tool, but it can also be used to make difficult cuts with different blades on wood, concrete, and tile. I have ...

Power tools are very dangerous and can injure or even kill you or someone else if used improperly.

always, always wear eye protection when using power tools.

Also consider industrial noise-blocking earmuffs,

and a hard hat if there will be overhead hazards at your work site.

However, I have found these five yard tools are the ones I have used the most. DIGGING SHOVEL: talk about one of the oldest, but most-used tools around today. Dig holes, move dirt, move rocks, mix concrete, chop tree roots, take care of that annoying … the many uses just keep on going. POST-HOLE DIGGER

(manual, not powered): if you live off-the-grid or in the sticks, digging fence postholes is going to happen. It is a cheap and back-saving tool that I highly recommend. STEEL RAKE: this is not to be confused with a leaf rake that is for those yuppies in the suburbs. This is the tougher version with teeth spaced farther apart and made of hardened steel. You will be raking up many types of heavy debris and smoothing dirt on a remote property, so this

is a must. HAND AX: most off-gridders will have trees on their property, so a small ax is a great tool for cutting down small dead trees and removing limbs without having to use a chainsaw. WHEELBARROW: besides moving dirt, debris, materials, and ...

Even if you decide to purchase all these recommended tools brand new, they can be all be had for well under $1,000 if you take your time when shopping and get them on sale.

This is sadly not the case, as criminals live in both rural and urban areas. Off-gridders often ignore or greatly underestimate the importance of off-grid property security.

People living remotely are much more in tune to new people moving into their area compared to people living in a more urban area.

What it did was open up my eyes to the fact that, just like any place in this country, people are looking

to do you harm.

In my professional experience in law enforcement, most thieves have not been the most motivated individuals in life, so the harder you make it on them, the less likely they are to target your property.

You have to look at your gate as the entryway to your way of life, so this is an incredibly important part of your security system.