New Homestead Maybe

[chrishicks82]

Well I am looking into buying some land 20 acres for $21k there is no utilities on this land nearest powerline is about 1/2 mile away. I was just wandering if Solar and wind is a good option with a backup generator. The land is in southern Missouri. I have been kicking this idea around for a while.

[chrishicks82]

My goal is to become as close to self sustained living as possible

[HighwayNorth]

I think it depends on the location of the property (is there enough wind, sun, etc.?) and how much power you need. I know people that lived with only a generator for many years. They just started it up for a couple hours each night when they needed lights, etc. I don't remember what they did about refrigeration of food now that I think about it. I don't see why solar/wind power wouldn't work if you're in the right location and have the money to implement those systems. :-)

[chrishicks82]

Well the land will be paid for in cash once my house sells. I will be starting a pretty good job soon and one paycheck will pay all my bills for the month that leaves one paycheck to save. I have worked really hard to bring our bills as close to 0 as possible they will never be 0 but the closer the better. We will be using wood heat for whatever house we build. Then we will need a well both of those things cost little to run energy wise. All CF bulbs so not much for lighting. We will have refrigerator and a freezer. The thing is I don't like to be hot so we will have A/C in the summer. I have done some research and found that there are ways to keep your house cool without A/C so maybe we can keep the A/C to a minimum. I have gotten to where I don't watch much tv but the kids and wife do so we will have to run a tv. They say the average home uses 920kwh per month I think I can get way below that but I think I would need the generator for when I need to use my shop to build stuff or work on stuff. With that much land I doubt I would be inside much in the summer time especially since there are many crystal clear rivers around that I spent many childhood summers in. I have been honing my gardening skills still need to work on the raising animals and preserving the harvest but hey I have to start somewhere. Any help to push us in the right direction would be very helpful I want my kids to know where food comes from and live a better life and know money isn't everything. See what happens when I am tired I never shut up. Thanks everyone

[Coloneldad5]

Solar power can work very well especially if you have a battery storage system to use during the night. The down side is that it's not cheap up front. COSTCO has a system that provides just under 5kw of power but costs $18K and does not have any batteries. A decent system will supply good power for 20-30 years however the batteries don't las that long and so every few years you can expect to replace them and they are expensive. I would advise cutting down on the electrical usage, yes that means cutting down on TV's and such. By putting in skylights you can reduce the need for lighting. Passive solar water heaters will also work good and help keep costs down. AC would probably be the biggest user of electricity and I would recommend finding ways to live without it.

A generator is cheaper up front to get, but with the raising costs of fuel you can expect the operation of one to start running up a big bill.

If you have decent winds in your area (you might be able to find a 'Wind Study' that covers your area and will tell you if you have sufficient to make it cost effective) you can install a couple of wind generators that will work to supply energy even at night, but wind isn't always consistent and dependable. These systems are also not too cheap either but now days you can easily find several online at different sizes.

If your property is on or near a stream or river, you might be able to rig up a hydro turbine to get steady and consistent power.

[salmonslayer]

We looked into solar and wind as well but for your main power usage the wind study does not show the Ozarks as a good place for wind power and though solar would work in most cases it is very expensive. But....we are doing sort of a hybrid deal on our place. We are erecting an old fashioned windmill to aerate our main pond and pump water, we use solar for lights outside and we keep expanding that as money and time allows, and we have a portable backup generator and we wired in a transfer switch a couple months ago.

My best advice is to pony up the money and get grid power to your place right from the start and then start weening yourself off of it. Electricity is relatively cheap here compared to most places and with our electricity bill consitently around $100 per mo all year long (we like to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer and arent particularly energy frugal yet) you would have to live a lot of years (as in decades) on your place to amortize a homestead wind or solar set up powerful enough to do what you want to do.

We heat with an outside woodboiler and love it but I would really prefer a geothermal system that took care of our heating and cooling needs...I just dont have 30 years left to recoop that kind of investment.

[Harry Chickpea]

You have a simple way to find out if that severe a cutback in power use will be a hardship. Cut off all the breakers in your current place except one wall socket. See how easily you can live with that for a month.

Grid power is about the cheapest source of energy you'll find, short of your own gas well or an existing hydro installation.

[chrishicks82]

Salmonslayer that is about the area we are looking into it is near Midridge. Hopefully our house sells soon we paid cash for it so whatever it sells for is cash in our pockets. We should have a little bit of cash left over. We don't plan on moving to the land for a while maybe 5 years depending on how fast we get everything set up so maybe by then the electric line will be closer by then I know I could cut back on my electric use but the wife and kids are a different story.

[kvr28]

I would call the power company and find out how much it is to extend the power line. Here in maine we pay 750$ a pole. I would go solar right off the start, why invest the money into poles that you don't want? I'm assuming you are going to be building a home? Build the house for solar, correct orientation for heating and cooling, propane dryer, stove and on demand hot water. You'll find you won't need as big as a system as you think. This company has reasonable prices. Good luck!

Solar Cell, Solar Panel, Renewable Energy, Wind Energy, Charge Controller, Solar Trackers - Solar Cell, Solar Panel, Solar PV, Solar Products, Charge Controllers, Solar Trackers

This a excellent book for different systems and designs and gives a large amount of examples of off grid homes from a small cabin to a 4000 square foot home. The pond design in there is pretty nice as well.

The Renewable Energy Handbook-Revised Edition

[jwal10]

Solar and airconditioning don't work unless you have a big system. Not cheap. Best to build for natural cooling. Like was said cut way back and see how you get along. Generator power is expensive. Off grid costs a lot up front for large systems. Conservation costs nothing. Off grid is what you make of it but going without has its merits. You better make sure the family is on board or it will not work, saving money is one thing, being cheap, well.... is being cheap. Causes a lot of conflict. If Mama isn't happy, you never will be. If you are moving away for peace and quiet....a generator is not peace and quiet....James

[ronbre]

check into your state laws, some state have been adding some dawgone HUGE new taxes on alternative energy sources..besides the cost to install..and some power companies are getting unhappy about having to buy back all that power too and are starting to get laws to allow them to charge people for returning excess power to the grid..

go figure

[Lynx]

You need to get the entire family involved or else it will not work.

It sounds like you are buying mountain land. Not much flat space to garden.

A lot of details to work out. Live with less and entertain yourselves. Start NOW!

James ALA Lynx

[o&itw]

While that may sound inexpensive, it really isn't if electricity is that far a way, it would cost you a fortune to get it brought in. Unless you have a creek valley or a spring, you are basically just buying hunting land. Off grid, while possible, isn't all that easy, and most people that try it don't end up sticking with it. Being the nature of HT to foster such things, there is probably a much greater chance to find off-grid people here than most places. It might be wiser to find a piece of land with a falling in house or mobile home. It is likely to already have electric to it and maybe even a decent well. I have been looking in SE Missouri myself and found lots of places that are fairly cheap. That way, if living off grid doesn't work for you, you will still be able to get power, and not loose a couple of years worth of improvements that you have done. There is one place, that is about 180 acres, in the middle of the national forest that they have been trying to sell for 62K for three years. It even has a small cabin. but it is 5 miles from any power and 18 miles from a paved road. It is owned by a couple of guys that bought it to hunt on, and now they are moving out of the area, they can't sell it. It is on high ground and would probably need at least a 200' well to get any water. I would sure hate to pull that water bucket by hand.

[chrishicks82]

We are going to look at the land in a few weeks from the pictures it looks fairly flat in some places. The generator will be for the shop solar and wind cannot keep up with that well not the size of system I was going to buy. Wife is starting to come around the kids are young still so that will not be that big of a problem. We are looking at two different properties one is 8 acres with electric the other is 20 acres without 8 acres $17k 20 acres $21k the 8 acres also has restrictions on the size of the home you put on it and how fast you build it, I don't want anybody telling me what to do with my land thats why I am moving out of town. We have already cut back on a lot of stuff not willingly either due to job loss and the turn in the economy. I want to be in the position where I don't have to worry about job loss and be able to provide for ourselves.