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06/08/11, 11:01 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 639
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Anyone off the grid?
I don't know if this is the best place for this post but have anyone of you gotten a windmill and a converter and stopped paying electric bills? We are planning on doing this pretty soon, before winter anyway. We plan on making sure we have 240 when we are done. Have any of you done this? I would like to hear about it, how it went, what it entailed and the cost.
Thanks! Kirsten
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06/09/11, 09:06 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Mid-Michigan
Posts: 1,526
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Unless you have significant government subsidies for the equipment, or pay an extremely high price for your grid power, you will not save money by going to alternative energy. You will get a much better return for your money investing in energy efficiency.
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06/09/11, 09:08 AM
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Goshen Farm
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone 8a, AZ
Posts: 6,184
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You definately will not save money by going with wind/solar. You just pay ten years or so of power bill expenses up front. Do lots of homework and make sure you have enough to fit your needs. You will become quite conservative with your energy use. sisterpine
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06/09/11, 09:11 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Adirondack mountains
Posts: 2,054
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cfabe
Unless you have significant government subsidies for the equipment, or pay an extremely high price for your grid power, you will not save money by going to alternative energy. You will get a much better return for your money investing in energy efficiency.
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Assuming the cost of power stays the same, this is correct. Many believe the cost is about to skyrocket for just about everything. If you invest in alternative sustainable energy now, while prices are modest, you could end up saving ALOT of money when hyper-inflation hits.
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06/09/11, 09:25 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 7,883
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Look before you leep . . . . . .
Yes utility prices are going to do nothing but go UP.....
Yes it is a good investment against the future............
Yes hyper-inflation will be a factor.......
If you can find a 'local' installer / designer sit down with him and get real world facts and figures.
If you have around $20k to plop down . . then your well on your way..................
Homework
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06/09/11, 09:25 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Illinois
Posts: 9,898
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The general consensus in the alternative energy forum is that no one is off grid, and no one ever will be. The official definition for off grid is apparently being completely independent of want or need for any product or service outside of your own geographical borders. I don't know that I agree with that particularly stiff requisite, but apparently the pecking order demands it.
__________________
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III
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06/09/11, 09:39 AM
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Male
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York City
Posts: 5,895
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I am just getting into solar so I have no practical experience, but the idea of alternative energy is that yes you pay more upfront to get started but once the sytem is paid off your energy, aside from replacement parts, is free for the rest of your life from that point forward.
You are investing in your future.
It is sort of like people who go to the laundry mat and people who own their own washing machine and dryer. Some people go to the laundry mat because they see the price tag on washers and dryers and think it is too high, they think the launrdy mat is a better deal, but I dont think they ever sit down and realize that what they pay for the laundry mat in a year could buy a new washer and dryer, every year, for the rest of their lives.
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06/09/11, 12:36 PM
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Ouch! Pinch you.
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 1,868
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I prefer the term "non-electric home." I first picked that up from a couple's blog in eastern Tennessee and then Forerunner and some others' writings have helped to fill out my own thinking about being "off grid."
In any case, the place to begin is by reducing your use of electricity. There are so many great resources for doing this and many good threads on the Alternative Energy forum and the Homesteading Questions Forum to assist you in analyzing your own situation.
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06/09/11, 02:32 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Eastern-Central Ohio. Good ol' Tuscarawas County!
Posts: 392
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-I'm not sure if 12vMan is on here anymore, but you should contact him. I don't personally know him, but he lives somewhere near me and is totally off the grid I believe. I know he talked about it on our local message board before.
L8R,
Matt
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06/09/11, 02:42 PM
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Michigan, USA
Posts: 409
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Our farm is off the grid (no utilities, solar only). No computer there, they are energy hogs 
We did get a guestimate for a turbine, $38k or so.
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06/10/11, 05:41 PM
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Off-The-Grid Homesteader
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 2,222
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We have been living off-the-grid for twelve years now. For us, it has been cheaper. We have not lived the way most people do, but for us, it seems to work. This year we are adding a wind turbine, a water heater, water pump and water tank...........which means soon I will have water in my house and can use my brand new modern washing machine. I started using a crockpot to cut down on propane use (phasing it out in the next few years). Our laptops are not energy hogs at all! When we ordered them we bought the most energy efficient ones we could afford. We use them to generate our income, so they are essential. Every year we add more conveniences because we are getting older. I love this lifestyle and would never give up my independence.
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06/10/11, 06:21 PM
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Single Hillbilly
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: The South, NC
Posts: 1,354
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I was hoping this thread was about no electricity not alternative electricity...
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Serial Thread Drifter... Don't Hate Me Because I Ramble On...
I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there ~ Larry the Cable Guy
Sponsored by God
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06/10/11, 06:34 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Illinois
Posts: 9,898
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No electricity is a very wise modus operandi to pursue.
Shifting one's home and farm mechanics to manual is not that difficult, and one might be surprised at all the new "free time" one might have in which to engage in manual activity when the cost and maintenance burdens of technology are removed.
__________________
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Barry Goldwater.
III
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06/10/11, 07:08 PM
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Off-The-Grid Homesteader
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 2,222
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In the beginning we did live with no electricity. But as you get older you might find that carrying the water and washing the laundry by hand is not as easy as it once was. And especially if both of you start having physical problems. My husband has been carrying more than his share of the load for awhile now. He wants things easier in case, or rather, when, one of us isn't here anymore. Basically being off the grid means finding ways of doing the things that need to be done that are normally done by paying a utility company. We still only use electric for our computers, and occasionally the crockpot or electric hand mixer. No tools, and we have been building on our house and built a barn.
Last edited by katlupe; 06/10/11 at 07:10 PM.
Reason: mistake
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06/10/11, 07:34 PM
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Michigan, USA
Posts: 409
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Quote:
Originally Posted by katlupe
Our laptops are not energy hogs at all!
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Our system is 1/2 kw when fully functional (we have a broken panel ATM). Everything is an energy hog and if I want the well to pump, I pretty much use nothing else.
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06/10/11, 07:43 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 7,883
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Well newground . . if folks are not using electricty they will / would not even have seen this forum / thread..................
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06/10/11, 08:37 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New York
Posts: 3,891
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim-mi
Well newground . . if folks are not using electricty they will / would not even have seen this forum / thread..................
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This is a very, very tough discussion.
Some folks want the bare basics, while some want much, much more.
My electric bill is never more than $35 a month. I do not have tv, or ac, or a family. My electric needs are few; but it sucks when the power goes out for 2 days and I have 60 eggs in the incubators.
I will never spend the $$$ to go off grid. I love my kerosene lights, and I love the electricity that powers my computer, but I can live without both.
__________________
I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet.
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06/11/11, 07:57 AM
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Single Hillbilly
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: The South, NC
Posts: 1,354
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Jim-mi,
LOL don't recall a computer in the Ingalls home...
I still have a day job to go to and currently have electricity at home. But I am reading these threads for info to go without. Where will you be when electricity rates "necessarily skyrocket"?
My power inverter in the car will run my laptop. Could I have a home without electricity at all, sure... It will take a little while for me to get there but all info I can find is appreciated...
BTW, is there life without the internet? Yes ;-)
__________________
Serial Thread Drifter... Don't Hate Me Because I Ramble On...
I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there ~ Larry the Cable Guy
Sponsored by God
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06/11/11, 08:12 AM
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Goshen Farm
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone 8a, AZ
Posts: 6,184
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Interesting thread development here. We do have city delivered propane for our appliances so we are not totally off grid either. But our solar takes care of our power needs which is good as we would have to run power lines seven miles up a mountain to connect to the grid. When we first built our house all we had was a small generator. This taught us that we can get by without power or tv or radio or computers etc. As time went on we were able to build our solar set up which has allowed us to have all those things. We still occassionally need the generator when weather has been crappy for several days in a row. I love the quietness of how we live. Our propane frige does not go on and off and make noise, even our clothes washer (fisher-paykal) is pretty darn quiet. Our small wind generator does make a soft whirring sound in strong wind but we like that sound. Would I like to be connected to the grid- yes so i could have a dishwasher and automatic coffee maker. More than city power I would like to have a real flush toilet and septic tank for the black water. Compost toilets require planning and sometimes I dont like to plan those things! sisterpine
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