New to this forum today!

[User4960]

Hi everybody, I'm new here. Came over here from The Easy Gardener. Love that forum a lot! I live off the grids. Small generator, 1,500 watt inverter, need a bigger one soon, 4 double depth 6 volt batteries wired to 12 volt, Propane water heater, stove, oven, refrigerator. Smallish woodstove, 25 by 20 2 room cabin that now has a bathroom toilet and shower, and sink. Running gravity feed water, kitchen sink. 200 feet from a mountain lake in a mixed forest of northern california. (Slow typing today. knicked my middle finger with a hammer today, lol!)

Oh, and I love all the smileys!!!

 

[CheerioLounge]

from the California high desert! Would love to get off-grid someday!

 

[Dawn419]

Hello and Welcome to the forum!

Your place sounds great!

 

[Denim Deb]

 

[dragonlaurel]

Welcome Sounds like you did a good job setting everything set up at your place.

We lived off grid before, but the place was already built by somebody else. They designed it pretty well, except the previous resident carried in their water. We dug out a seep spring, but still had to haul water uphill. Gravity feed water is the smart way to go.

 

[BarredBuff]

 

[User4960]

You can go off the electrical grid right away Cheerio.

If you go with the small generator plan with big batteries, get a bigger inverter than these little 1500 watt ones. I'm realizing that the 1500 watt inverter is for a beginner.

These little honda generators cost over a thousand clams, but they use one 6th the amount of gas that those big 300 clam generators use, and a lot less obnoxious with the noise.

Once you've called the electric company to have your house removed from the grid completely and permanently, call a certified electrician to come and make sure your wiring is safe to do the following: (I don't understand what it is, but some systems have something complicated that needs to be undone first.)

The key component is a dangerous kind of plug. It's a regular male plug in cord, except that, it's a male plug on both ends. One end plugs into your inverter. The other end plugs into an electrical outlet near your circuit breaker box, (though that particular outlet is not necessary. Hopefully any of them will work, or at least the one nearest your generator room.)

I forgot to mention the charger needed for the batteries. I got a good one that is all digital and smart. The only way to go with that. Yes, any charger will function, but you have to worry about overcharging your batteries all the time.

I'm in a forest. Not really enough sun for solar, but I'm thinking about a couple panels anyway.

What I would really like is a teeny tiny generator! Anyone know those .049 engines used in model airplanes? Something that size! Those use a glow plug, so might they work with biodiesel?

 

[Joel_BC]

Hi, from British Columbia.


Yeah, we've got gravity-feed water too. Solar (p.v.) doesn't work so well up here, though - low sun angle in winter, and the cloud comes a little too frequently during the rest of the year... a single, hermit-type guy could get by, but a household/family couldn't go off-grid that way.

 

[FarmerChick]

Marshall

have you done a price comparison by any chance.

I mean, I pay on average $100 per month for a 2100 sq ft home/pool filter/barns/garage.

How much gas for a year does that generator take in cost? And how expensive was the total set up cost? And how often will you need new batteries?
And you probably didn't do this---but cost to buy all new applicances that run on propane? And cost of propane to run all those thru a year?



Not judging in any way....but the cost to 'just leave the grid' tomorrow for a regular electric home is expensive.


obviously if you set up straight into this style when building new you can save some of those costs. Or if you piece meal off elec. into propane etc.


What I am wondering is no matter how we 'try to go off grid' it is never inexpensive. You have to have the money to walk in a certain direction.

I was just wondering dollar for dollar is you pay X per year for elec....what is the cost per year to run a generator and propane appliances?



In the park where you are located is there elec. available at all?


this is always interesting to me those living off grid and the true costs that goes with it. thanks

 

[User4960]

Howdy farmerchick

I am a single I guess what might be called "hermit" type guy, and I do without what a lot of folks would require.

The propane stove/oven is very cheap and simple, and looks like any gas stove, white enamel, lightweight sheetmetal. Very cheap. The propane refrigerator is also very cheap. Took me several times to have it explained to me how a flame can make cold! Lol! I get it now. It looks like a regular electric fridge except it is not quite as tall nor as wide nor as deep. Smallish. I am digging in the back of the cabin for grade, and actually may very well make a root cellar. May as well!

Sometimes I run one gallon a day with the generator. When I have the need though, I am quite comfortable making one gallon last 5 days. Those will be the days you don't see me online, or hardly at all.

Quite often my power is entirely shut down. For light, well, right now it is on the bill of my cap. Led flashlight is my up at night light. See what I mean? What others may require big power for, I sip power. All my battery operated lights, and radio, use rechargeable batteries. My inverter is not big enough for my one power guzzling gadget...my mr coffee espresso maker. That is direct on the generator, but only takes 5 minutes.

I started with 2 batteries and now use 4 of them. The older 2 check out fine, and they are now nearly 4 years old. I know, pretty good! An important gadget to have is a good volt meter. I keep mine in the generator shed.

Your 100 dollars a month power bill is amazingly low. You have some tricks up your sleeve for saving power I'd like to hear about! I suspect some are the same as mine.

I am certain that once I get the bigger inverter my gas use will average one gallon for 3 days.