MorelCabin
Quilting Extraordinaire
What components would you use to be off grid, and why? Do you use any of these components now? What innovations have you heard of that would be helpful to those considering off grid living?
Off Grid House Building
- Thread starter MorelCabin
- Start date
miss_thenorth
Frugal Homesteader
Off-grid as in just electricity? Are you building from scratch, or modifying your existing home? A truly off-grid home is one that does not rely on any utility company.
When we lived up north, we were going to build a home on our property where there were no utilities available, so of course we were going to go off-grid. My hubby did alot of research on it.
We were going to do composting toilets, propane for cooking, wood for heat,(hot water heat) and solar and wind for electricity. (with a generator for back up) You need a large batterybank to store the electricity. A well for water and also thnking about using river water to cool the house in summer.
As far as electricity, we were going to go with 110V lighting (I think)--the kind you use in RVs. Also the biggest purchase would be a fridge. I can't remember the brand name, but there is one built esp for ppl who are off-grid.
We would also have made use of cellars etc. We were just in the process of getting plans made when my dh got offered this job he has now. We have put the dream on the backburner, as we will stay around here unitl the kids are on their own, and hubby retires. then it will be back up north!!
When we lived up north, we were going to build a home on our property where there were no utilities available, so of course we were going to go off-grid. My hubby did alot of research on it.
We were going to do composting toilets, propane for cooking, wood for heat,(hot water heat) and solar and wind for electricity. (with a generator for back up) You need a large batterybank to store the electricity. A well for water and also thnking about using river water to cool the house in summer.
As far as electricity, we were going to go with 110V lighting (I think)--the kind you use in RVs. Also the biggest purchase would be a fridge. I can't remember the brand name, but there is one built esp for ppl who are off-grid.
We would also have made use of cellars etc. We were just in the process of getting plans made when my dh got offered this job he has now. We have put the dream on the backburner, as we will stay around here unitl the kids are on their own, and hubby retires. then it will be back up north!!
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
If money were no object? 
Straw bale/cob home with living roof, wood furnace connected to radiant heat for the floors, windmill and solar panels backed by yacht batteries, passive solar heat construction as well. Hot water tank preheated with solar. Maybe a ram pump for the well or spring. Cellar, of course, directly connected to the house, with an outside entrance as well. All of that in the middle of a 50-100 acre farm in some sweet valley at the foot of some grand mountains.
Organic, no-till gardening, fruit trees and shrubs, nut trees, chickens, sheep, Jersey cow, LGD, draft/riding horse cross or a Fjord horse. Strawbale/cob barn and connected chicken coop, wattle fence corral. Wattle fencing around the garden. Horsedrawn plow, haymow, rake, etc. Spinning wheel, loom, treadle sewing machine, quilting frame.
I'll probably think of more later, gotta go!
Straw bale/cob home with living roof, wood furnace connected to radiant heat for the floors, windmill and solar panels backed by yacht batteries, passive solar heat construction as well. Hot water tank preheated with solar. Maybe a ram pump for the well or spring. Cellar, of course, directly connected to the house, with an outside entrance as well. All of that in the middle of a 50-100 acre farm in some sweet valley at the foot of some grand mountains.
Organic, no-till gardening, fruit trees and shrubs, nut trees, chickens, sheep, Jersey cow, LGD, draft/riding horse cross or a Fjord horse. Strawbale/cob barn and connected chicken coop, wattle fence corral. Wattle fencing around the garden. Horsedrawn plow, haymow, rake, etc. Spinning wheel, loom, treadle sewing machine, quilting frame.
I'll probably think of more later, gotta go!
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
C'mon, people! Tell us your ultimate dream for constructing for self-sufficient, off-grid homes! 
FarmerChick
Super Self-Sufficient
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the ultimate
for me would be total solar power (with a wonderful, dependable, big unit to power all I need)
solar everything from house to barn
I could not live off grid and not have my conveniences. I do not want to wash clothes by a wringer washer, I want to be able to flip on a light. But I do want to be earth friendly and get off the true power grid and being in the south, solar system would be wonderful.
Next step would be smaller, perfect floorplan home. For me that would be a giant mudroom, with water etc...to wash eggs, etc. Then a giant room for my freezers and a monster pantry to put up my homemade items. 2 big rooms for nothing but survival needs. Stock my foods and such and eat out of those 2 rooms.
I would also love to build an outside oven. I mean a REAL good one. A giant fire oven that has warming cubby and all. I have seen some sophisticated setups and they are fab.
I don't want to live off the grid like a homesteader that uses no power hardly. No lanterns for me. No carry water from the well and heat and bath. That isn't for me....but just having a system to be able to not be connected would be wonderful.
for me would be total solar power (with a wonderful, dependable, big unit to power all I need)
solar everything from house to barn
I could not live off grid and not have my conveniences. I do not want to wash clothes by a wringer washer, I want to be able to flip on a light. But I do want to be earth friendly and get off the true power grid and being in the south, solar system would be wonderful.
Next step would be smaller, perfect floorplan home. For me that would be a giant mudroom, with water etc...to wash eggs, etc. Then a giant room for my freezers and a monster pantry to put up my homemade items. 2 big rooms for nothing but survival needs. Stock my foods and such and eat out of those 2 rooms.
I would also love to build an outside oven. I mean a REAL good one. A giant fire oven that has warming cubby and all. I have seen some sophisticated setups and they are fab.
I don't want to live off the grid like a homesteader that uses no power hardly. No lanterns for me. No carry water from the well and heat and bath. That isn't for me....but just having a system to be able to not be connected would be wonderful.
- Thread starter
- #6
MorelCabin
Quilting Extraordinaire
I live in a 1000 square foot home right now and it is the perfect size for my family. We are working toward self sufficiency a little at a time, but there are a few things about some of these systems that bother me to a degree...like the thought of a battery bank in the house somewhere..to me for some reason, this doesn't ring as very healthy:>)
We heat by wood, and it does well, although the mornings can be pretty crisp at times:>) My sister thinks our house is freezing...haha she keeps hers very warm, and of course when you heat by wood you always have some cold spots.
I keep my freezer in a shed so in winter there is no need to have it plugged in, everything freezes solid. The new freezers don't do so well in the cold though, you have to have an older one for that.
We are looking at building a home on an ajoining property, if financing allows. Building in my area is huge cost right now, I think we will hold off until things come down a bit, hopefully they will. $170 sq ft is out of our range at the moment, plus well and septic etc. I would love to build off grid, and healthy. Geothermal is one of the options one of the builders gave us. THat will keep your home at 15 most times and then you have to up the heat from there for comfort. We can put the geothermal right in the lake. I am deciding between that and perhaps infloor heating heating by an out door wood burning device. So much cleaner than the wood being brought into the house! Lots to think about, and we're not even sure we are going to do any of it yet:>)
We heat by wood, and it does well, although the mornings can be pretty crisp at times:>) My sister thinks our house is freezing...haha she keeps hers very warm, and of course when you heat by wood you always have some cold spots.
I keep my freezer in a shed so in winter there is no need to have it plugged in, everything freezes solid. The new freezers don't do so well in the cold though, you have to have an older one for that.
We are looking at building a home on an ajoining property, if financing allows. Building in my area is huge cost right now, I think we will hold off until things come down a bit, hopefully they will. $170 sq ft is out of our range at the moment, plus well and septic etc. I would love to build off grid, and healthy. Geothermal is one of the options one of the builders gave us. THat will keep your home at 15 most times and then you have to up the heat from there for comfort. We can put the geothermal right in the lake. I am deciding between that and perhaps infloor heating heating by an out door wood burning device. So much cleaner than the wood being brought into the house! Lots to think about, and we're not even sure we are going to do any of it yet:>)
Homesteadmom
Frugal Homesteader
We have 40 acres that is considered remote as it is 4 miles back off the main highway & there are absolutely no utilities back there. There are 2 houses back there that others live in yr round & have solar. We do have a well on our property already & the water is great. But we need to replace the holding tank. We plan on going total solar/propane when we can build up there. House, shop, barn everything & using wood for heat. There are tons of dead junipers laying everywhere on the way back that we can gather & burn so we wouldn't have to worry about a wood supply for a few yrs. We would use solar hot water heater too. Plus we have a lot of wind up there(can get in excess of 100mph) so we would get a wind turbine also. Not sure which we would go with for well windmill or solar pump, guess we would need to weigh the costs & maintance of them both to determine which we will use. Although I do like the looks of wind mills a lot. We will also build a small milking house with an old fashioned cooling bin for the milk.
For our current residence I want an outdoor brick oven That I can bake bread, pizza & other items all summer & not heat up my house at all. Not to mention I also want a solar oven too. We plan on doing solar water here too. We just got a new manufactured home & moved in in April, we designed it keep windows off the west end & it has 4 windows, the back door(w/window) & french doors all on the south side, we are installing a patio & overhang all along the south side for passive solar in the winter. We will also be making sunshades for all the windows over the winter. We had 2 solar tubes installed one in our closet & one in the front bath & a skylight in the kitchen. When we replace the shop in a few yrs I want to do it all solar with a grid tie in for reverse charges with the house. And we will be planting more trees all along the west fence line to shade the property more in the summer. If we had the money we would be total solar here too. Unfortunatly we are not allowed to drill wells here.
For our current residence I want an outdoor brick oven That I can bake bread, pizza & other items all summer & not heat up my house at all. Not to mention I also want a solar oven too. We plan on doing solar water here too. We just got a new manufactured home & moved in in April, we designed it keep windows off the west end & it has 4 windows, the back door(w/window) & french doors all on the south side, we are installing a patio & overhang all along the south side for passive solar in the winter. We will also be making sunshades for all the windows over the winter. We had 2 solar tubes installed one in our closet & one in the front bath & a skylight in the kitchen. When we replace the shop in a few yrs I want to do it all solar with a grid tie in for reverse charges with the house. And we will be planting more trees all along the west fence line to shade the property more in the summer. If we had the money we would be total solar here too. Unfortunatly we are not allowed to drill wells here.
johnElarue
Lovin' The Homestead
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Great posts everyone, looks like solar is a favorite,
My dream home would be circular cordwood, maybe earth bermed and living roof, with masonry heater. Like this.
http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/Cordwoodphotos.html
Micro-hydro as main power, wind and solar as back-up.
My dream home would be circular cordwood, maybe earth bermed and living roof, with masonry heater. Like this.
http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/Cordwoodphotos.html
Micro-hydro as main power, wind and solar as back-up.
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Has anyone here ever lived totally off grid for any length of time?
I think I would like to have a solar and wind combo but would love to have it backed by the grid, just to save thinking about all those batteries and just what appliance I could run while running this or that power tool, etc.
We lived off grid for approx. 11 years when I was growing up. I am thankful to have done it, as now it doesn't seem like so much of a big deal. I know what I can do without because I have already done.
I think I would like to have a solar and wind combo but would love to have it backed by the grid, just to save thinking about all those batteries and just what appliance I could run while running this or that power tool, etc.
We lived off grid for approx. 11 years when I was growing up. I am thankful to have done it, as now it doesn't seem like so much of a big deal. I know what I can do without because I have already done.
Quail_Antwerp
Cold is on the Right, Hot is on The Left
Oh I could survive in a large one room sod hut, thatched roof, with woodburning cookstove as long as I have a water reservoir on my stove for hot water. And my chickens.
Maybe two room sod hut, one for sleeping quarters for us and the kids, and the other room for living quarters!
ETA: If by totally off grid you mean no electric, running water, we did for the first month we lived here, until we have the electric turned on. We still haul water in. And when the power was out for five days last month, we did just fine. cooked outside. Kids thought it was a great adventure, cooking outside and eating outside.
Maybe two room sod hut, one for sleeping quarters for us and the kids, and the other room for living quarters!
ETA: If by totally off grid you mean no electric, running water, we did for the first month we lived here, until we have the electric turned on. We still haul water in. And when the power was out for five days last month, we did just fine.
cooked outside. Kids thought it was a great adventure, cooking outside and eating outside.
