Off Grid Living

All the different ways of solving the shelter problem. To be static or mobile? Roots, legs, or wheels?
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sarah83
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Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:12 am

Off Grid Living

Post by sarah83 »

Has anyone built an off-grid cabin for early retirement?

I'm looking to build one in my ranch.

Any guidance, tips/advice for a novice?

halfmoon
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by halfmoon »

Where is your ranch? Is it well-situated for solar or wind power? Keep in mind that having surges of wind doesn't necessarily mean that a wind turbine is appropriate.

Being off-grid, you should plan the site and design for your cabin to optimize power generation within minimal distance. The further your transmission line, the more line loss at low voltages. If you're going to have solar panels on the cabin roof, position it with a south-sloping aspect. Realize that any trees to the south will only get bigger, so be prepared to cut them when necessary.

If you plan to have a well, you'll need to think about how you're going to pump water. Again: keep the house reasonably close; if possible, put the well in first. It's surprising how many people site their house to be aesthetically pleasing and just assume they'll find water right next to it.

There are MANY factors to consider in siting and building an off-grid cabin. As @mathewsmith12 says: there are a lot of good books out there. Also magazines, websites and YouTube. Have fun! :D

mollyhendrix
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by mollyhendrix »

Off grid is the bombbbb.

Whata about electricity ideas?

I have read so much about "green" energy.
How is the best way to do that though?

Like- wind energy, solar panels, etc?

:O)

Farm_or
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by Farm_or »

I have two neighbors who live off the grid that are friends of mine. Long story short, it's more expensive than paying for power on the grid.

They are both set up for solar. This area has way above average sun shine. There are two new solar farms that have been installed in the last couple of years.

They are both conservative and neither even own television. But both have computers and Internet. Their wells are deep and require two HP pump to lift water. They both rely on wood heat and swamp coolers for the HOT summers. LP is for backup heat and cooking. No clothes dryer. On demand water heaters.

They both have battery banks and a generator for winter (short cloudy days that can go on for weeks). Maintenance of the batteries and generator is expensive. Prorated over five years, they pay about $0.30/ kWh for"free" solar.

luxagraf
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by luxagraf »

Farm_or wrote:
Sun Dec 10, 2017 9:38 am
They both have battery banks and a generator for winter (short cloudy days that can go on for weeks). Maintenance of the batteries and generator is expensive. Prorated over five years, they pay about $0.30/ kWh for"free" solar.
I'm curious what's expensive about maintaining battery banks? I have one, every couple of month I open them up, check levels with a hydrometer, add a little distilled water.

I've lived I guess you'd call it off grid, in a motorhome for six months now. Family of five, 225 AH of batteries (2). 300W solar panals, total cost including inverter, cables and wiring was right around $1200. One thing I did learn in the process of setting it up is that everyone's energy needs are so different that no one else's experience really matters. You need to sit down and do an energy audit, factor in angles of the sun, etc (since you can't just move somewhere sunnier like we can) and come up with your own plan.

[edit to add: we don't have a generate, though we can, in a pinch, charge off the RV alternator, which we've had to do once, while camping in northern california because we didn't see the sun for over two weeks.]

halfmoon
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by halfmoon »

It's true that given current investment costs and efficiency, individual off-grid systems can't compete with grid electricity in price/kWh. I think of the "free" aspect more as freedom from dependence than free of cost. An independent energy system gave us the freedom to live in the mountains of E WA where grid power wasn't available.

Relying a lot on propane and generator, though, is a little more on the dependent side. We were lucky enough to have a gravity-feed water supply from the mountain above us, so no pump required. Do your neighbors run their 2HP well pumps off their inverters, Farm_or? If so, they must have pretty big systems.

theanimal
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by theanimal »

I've written in my journal how much I hated using the generator. The cost for an off grid system is not comparable to living on the grid. On the grid is much less expensive.( Unless you are living without batteries or a generator). Depending on where you live, off grid can be the only or cheapest option. With fuel prices upwards of $4.50 where I've been living, it pays to have a renewable energy system. Otherwise you're spending about $1.5/hr to run a generator. More if you have a larger system. Before everyone in the community reached "enlightenment" with regards to sola, generators were the norm. People burned tons and tons of diesel. A small lodge in the area would routinely go through 10,000 gallons a year at $5 or more per gallon.

But like halfmoon said, I appreciated the freedom of the individual system and being aware of exactly how much power I was using. How many people on the grid design their home and strategize when they can use electricity? "Oh the sun will be out this afternoon, so I'll charge my laptop then."

Site location is definitely important. Some areas/regions have more plentiful resources than others. I was lucky that water was 9.5 feet beneath my floorboards and I have millions of spruce trees just beyond my front door.

Solar is the most reliable means of capturing power. I have neighbors with panels that are nearly 40 years old, still capturing most of the energy.
Unless you live in a truly windy area, wind turbines are worthless. Unlike solar, you have to cycle through them regularly due to the moving parts. Most people think they live in a much windier place than they do, so check weather data and make a point to monitor conditions.

Home Power is a good magazine for learning about renewable systems. A neighbor of mine had stacks of them so I perused through quite a few. The older issues are better. The newer ones turned me off as much of the focus was on families who spent a shitload of money to turn their 4,000 sq ft house into an off grid home without any changes in electrical use. Necessitating massive battery banks, solar panels etc.

halfmoon
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by halfmoon »

theanimal wrote:
Sun Dec 10, 2017 1:22 pm
Home Power is a good magazine for learning about renewable systems. A neighbor of mine had stacks of them so I perused through quite a few. The older issues are better. The newer ones turned me off as much of the focus was on families who spent a shitload of money to turn their 4,000 sq ft house into an off grid home without any changes in electrical use. Necessitating massive battery banks, solar panels etc.
Exactly. The alternative energy "movement" used to be geared toward changing your lifestyle to fit the ecosystem. Now it's the reverse.

jacob
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by jacob »

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Think of it as the "mainstream" entering the picture. The focus will inevitably be pulled towards the average behavior. Look at what happened to the FIRE-movement where some now congratulate themselves on their frugality for going from the 80% spending percentile to the 70% percentile. The mainstream will be 2 Wheaton levels behind, but at least they're moving in the right direction and the demand for panels will drive costs down due to scaling.

halfmoon
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by halfmoon »

Absolutely true, of course. Elitism wins nothing but high prices. Market-driven innovation and cost efficiency in panels, batteries, inverters and other components have benefited everyone across the spectrum of usage. Damn; I really wanted to be Special. *stamps foot*

Riggerjack
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by Riggerjack »

Prorated over five years, they pay about $0.30/ kWh for"free" solar.
Fair enough, but to make that an apples to apples comparison, installation costs need to be accounted for. Adding my house to the grid 7 years ago cost me nearly $7k, with me doing all the trenching, placing the meter, and all the wiring on my side of the meter. Broken out over 5 years, I'm paying a similar cost.

Now, it's entirely fair to say that converting is more expensive, but more expensive overall is always going to be subject to variables: timeframe, energy, maintenance costs and headaches, reliability (on any system, including grid).

In our case, we chose connect to the grid, because of simplicity and resale, plus not wanting to clear enough land for an alt system. We don't get nearly as much sun. But costs would be comparable, over a long enough window. Our retirement home will be alt powered.

NPV
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Re: Off Grid Living

Post by NPV »


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