what to look for in off grid land?

[stubborn4ever]

Hi
I am saving up to buy a few acres and live off grid.... no solar,propane,gas etc.

So I was wondering: what do I look for in land? what kind of water supply?
I've considered the south west part of Tennessee, as the climate is good for gardens + you get quite a bit of rain.

this is prob. a stupid question but HOW do I get drinking water?
And how can I have a fridge? I know their is such a concept as having a "bad" freezer in the ground,next to a spring or something???? can someone please explain that?

hope you guys can help thanks

[unregistered168043]

Water can be had by digging a well. You have to get a well point and pound that into the ground, then keep connecting pipes and pounding it deeper. When you have got about 25 ftdown you can put your pump on and see if you hit water. Another way is to have someone drill you a well. Or if you have a stream on the property you might do it the old fashioned way and haul water in buckets.

I dont know how you can have a fridge without propane or electric, you can dig a cellar and keep stuff at a consistent and moderate temperature....good for keeping root crops and etc.

I would check the soil survey maps, for any place you are interested in growing a garden. Check the ordanences and town/county laws for keeping livestock, building a cabin or whatever you are planning to do.

[Raymond James]

No special criteria for being off grid. Look for other small farmers/homesteaders they have figured out land pries, rainfall, top soil, growing seasons, distance to hardware store, feed store , farm supply, grocery, vet, doctor, pharmacy bank, auto parts , tractor repair and small engine repair shop. Then look in a 5 or 10 mile radius for your place.

If you find a place with electric just turn the meter off. Maybe after you get your solar up and running .

No way to keep things frozen in Tennessee with out propane, kerosene or electric. You could possibly rent freezer space in a locker in town but I do not know many butcher shops that still do that.

I know many people without electric but they use many small gas engines for pumping water, running washing machines, running a bailer that they then pull with horses. If they have a refrigerator it is propane. They make full size propane and kerosene freezers in Author Ill.

[SugarMag]

Just me, but I would require a spring or creek. I'm super happy with a rainwater cistern, but also there is a punky little creek and a super awesome spring.

[Explorer]

live off grid.... no solar,propane,gas etc

Your going to need a wood lot of a few acres.

[Ernie]

If you intend to be off-grid, I would look for property that is not already connected to the grid, or property that would be exceptionally difficult to hook up to the grid.

These properties have two advantages ...

1. Usually much lower land costs since most people do not want to live like that. Occasionally you get some moron who thinks they can still charge a very high rate for properties that can't be connected, but make a low offer and you still might get some action on it. The realtor will usually steer them towards a sell on these because they're not getting a lot of hits.

2. Property taxes. In a lot of areas, they don't consider it a permanent home UNLESS it's hooked up to running water or electricity. If you find an area you want to live in, check with the various counties about that and do your research on the property taxes. An off-grid home can be financially advantageous to you in those regards, and it might also steer you towards a specific county you want to live in.

[rockhound]

SW TN has a lot of land offered for sale that seems cheap but lies in a flood plain. You might be miles from the river and still be only a few feet above it, so be careful of that. Plenty of rainfall is ok, too much in spring makes it hard to farm or garden. I'm in middle TN and many time get no rain from a storm system while Wayne co (for instance) gets several inches, so it varies a lot.

[just_sawing]

If you are serious then it is mandatory that you personally visit someone doing what you plan. Not being rude but if you were going to start a sawmill you would visit sawmills, if you are going to go off grid visit off grid.
It is easier than you think since we do have Amish, meninonite and others.
If you can't fine the time to do that you are not ready to jump. Again not being rude but off grid is a full time dance that not everyone can do. That dance is a dance that takes years to learn and a lot of faith in yourself. I have studied it for a very long time having never jumped. It it gratifyingly pleasant that my grand kids are going to benefit even though I have beat myself up for not jumping off.

[Nimrod]

If you want to live off grid in TN, and have a refridgerator, you have to have some sort of energy source. It could be propane, solar, or a generator. Up here we just cut a hole in the permafrost, put the food in, and cover it. LOL

Getting water should be the primary consideration in which piece of property to buy. It might have surface water like a spring, stream, or pond that you could get water from. If you want a well you should ask a local well driller and the neighbors what the local conditions are. This can give you an idea what you will have to spend for a well on that property. The well driller will not tell you about putting in a well yourself.

The easiest way to put in a well is to put in a sandpoint. For this to work, the water table has to be fairly high and the ground has to have few rocks. You hammer the sandpoint into the ground and hitting a rock will stop it. The maximum depth a shallow well pump or a pitcher pump can suck water up is 25 feet, measured from the top of the water in the casing. The soil has to let the water flow through it so heavy clay soil is probably not going to work well. Sand is ideal. You only need to hammer the sandpoint in a few feet below the low water level. I have water 3 feet below the surface and a sandpoint 6 feet down and it works well. An easier way to put in a well is to wash the casing down into the ground but this requires forcing large amounts of water down the casing. Seems to me if I had large amounts of water available I wouldn't need a well.

A well can be professionally drilled. You pay the driller so much per foot and there is no guarantee that they will hit water. The well could be hundreds of feet deep. You need a submerged electric pump to get water up that far or a hand pump that has a rod that goes down the center of the casing and pushes water to the surface. This is the kind of hand pump we have in the campgrounds up here.

What ever you do for water, you have to have it tested to make sure it's safe. I would never buy a piece of property where I couldn't get safe water.

[doomas]

The best land for me would be a piece with a good 12 month stream. As in water wheel.. you can do everything you want with a water wheel..you can generate your own power and run some other things as well.
a spring house will do what you need for cooling food and day to day storage..but you will need to learn how to can to keep things longer with out a freezer. Solar panels work but you need some experience with that as well.
Let us know how things go..There are several ways to power a small home stead.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by doomas

The best land for me would be a piece with a good 12 month stream. As in water wheel.. you can do everything you want with a water wheel..you can generate your own power and run some other things as well.
a spring house will do what you need for cooling food and day to day storage..but you will need to learn how to can to keep things longer with out a freezer. Solar panels work but you need some experience with that as well.
Let us know how things go..There are several ways to power a small home stead.

Have you actually used a water wheel to generate power or is this something you've read about?

I cannot determine how much power one would actually generate.

In my workshop, I have 1 125 watt solar panel, a cheap charge controller, a 1500 watt inverter, and a single car battery. That provides me the power to charge a laptop or a cellphone, run a little fan, and sporadic use of some smaller hand tools. I can charge Ryobi batteries for some of my tools with it as well.

That's probably as basic of power as I can imagine and the total cost is about $500-600.

[doomas]

yes,,i have built and used a water wheel. as well as a spirol pump.
when you want to go ''off grid'' you need to develop as many types of power generators as possible.
Most hobby water wheels won't do the job,,thus the need for a 12 mo. stream.



not picking or pushing but what is your experience with a working water wheel ?

[Yvonne's hubby]

If I were going to buy property off grid, I'd make sure the soil and climate will support a current bush.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by doomas

yes,,i have built and used a water wheel. as well as a spirol pump.
when you want to go ''off grid'' you need to develop as many types of power generators as possible.
Most hobby water wheels won't do the job,,thus the need for a 12 mo. stream.



not picking or pushing but what is your experience with a working water wheel ?

None. I have no running water. I barely have water.

I was just curious about how it works and how much power one can actually generate. I've seen solar and wind in action, but never water.

[doomas]

Originally Posted by Ernie

None. I have no running water. I barely have water.

I was just curious about how it works and how much power one can actually generate. I've seen solar and wind in action, but never water.

a good stream of water has more torque through its cycle. will tear up things if its stalled in motion.
I built a few before I figured out how to listen to others. then built a good one.
mine was a 20ft. over shot..used 5gal pales for the buckets. angle iron frame. directed a 2in plastic hose into them..best I could figure was there were three full buckets all the time. with them 10ft from the axel..there was a lot of push.
found I needed a fly wheel to help balance out the ''throb'' of the wheel..this is caused by being built out of balance.
tried many different generators and the last one was a direct drive that started charging from dead stop. seemed to be easier to get it to turn slow and work than fast enough to turn a kick in style one.
I known know that you want the bucket bottoms to be round so the water does not splash up..water flying in the air does not push down.

what is your water supply now ?

[doomas]

Originally Posted by Ernie

None. I have no running water. I barely have water.

I was just curious about how it works and how much power one can actually generate. I've seen solar and wind in action, but never water.

one point I did not answer...how much power...well big wheels will power a saw mill, feed mill..gang shafts in repair shops. pump water..make electric......

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by doomas

a good stream of water has more torque through its cycle. will tear up things if its stalled in motion.
I built a few before I figured out how to listen to others. then built a good one.
mine was a 20ft. over shot..used 5gal pales for the buckets. angle iron frame. directed a 2in plastic hose into them..best I could figure was there were three full buckets all the time. with them 10ft from the axel..there was a lot of push.
found I needed a fly wheel to help balance out the ''throb'' of the wheel..this is caused by being built out of balance.
tried many different generators and the last one was a direct drive that started charging from dead stop. seemed to be easier to get it to turn slow and work than fast enough to turn a kick in style one.
I known know that you want the bucket bottoms to be round so the water does not splash up..water flying in the air does not push down.

what is your water supply now ?

I have a small pond, but there's no motion in it (except when I jump in). It would not be suitable for this, but the topic interests me.

I can see how you would build something that would turn in the water, but what did you hook it up to in order to actually generate power? An old alternator or something? And did you charge batteries with it or power something directly?

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by Ernie

None. I have no running water. I barely have water.

I was just curious about how it works and how much power one can actually generate. I've seen solar and wind in action, but never water.

It all depends on the set up, a great deal of our nations grid electricity comes from plain old water power.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

It all depends on the set up, a great deal of our nations grid electricity comes from plain old water power.

Like Hoover Dam.

Yeah, I just didn't know if you could utilize this resource on a private home scale.

[doomas]

I went to the DC power supply,batteries. inverter. I was very limited with money back them so built with what I had at hand. 99% of the parts came from a old ground drive manure spreader.
gutted out the old camper I was using for the electrical parts.