going "Off-Grid"...is it possible

blue_cow_wonders

Please be patient with me as im a newbie,spend hours reading the boards but am a ludditte and not sure how to post!hopefully im in the right place.

Im very interested in living a free-er life.by that i mean one not goverened by "things"but living lightly on the earth and spending time with those i love etc.I have loads of ideas how to make this possible,i want to set up a local group of similar minded souls,to share transport,rarely used items,recycle kids clothes etc without cost,just to foster a sense of community.Eventually after paying off all debt and saving a little bit of money i hope to go "off-grid"hopefully with a few others who desire the same.I recently rescued from a skip(how m.s.e.was that!)a book called "How to live off-grid"by nick Rosen and its exactly the book ive been waiting for.At last practical advice on alternative lifestyles based in England,not the states.

This thread is started in the hope that others may also fancy the idea,maybe not so much radically changing their lives as becoming more community minded,giving our kids a future that isnt based solely on possesions and money.I would love to hear from you.Marina :-)

forgotmyname

I have only ever seen US houses that have done that, Mainly due to location. Not cheap though.

One build i read about cost $80,000.

That buys a lot of electric. I know some of that was added expense to ensure they were not left without
power. Your location would make a huge difference. Are you in an area where you can have wood burning
stoves/fires or would you need to purchase smokeless fuel?

I would love to attempt it but i live in a terraced house inside the cities limits. I can imagine the neighbours
if they saw me collecting wood and burning it.

I do have a couple of old car batteries that i keep topped up with some solar panels, These in turn keep some
LED lamps charged up, Ideal for use in the shed.

Typical we seem to be the only area that never get power cuts, Parents live 3 miles away they have had several
cuts in the past few months but not here. We lost street lights once but no power to the houses.

Anyway back to your idea, The main issue is running a fridge/freezer and other appliances and also heating.

If i have done my sums right we use nearly 600watts per hour a day, averaged over a year. That sounds a lot
as i type this, But we have an electric cooker, fridge/freezer and a chest freezer, And kids... They can have the TV and computers on
at the same time, I guess that doesnt help. Washing machine on most days. We dont use the tumble dryer it may have
seized for all i know its about 20 years old & been used 3 times in the last 10 years?

Gas central heating which needs electric to work.

Oh my working that out i am shocked now, About £1.60/£1.70 a day on electric.

How many solar panels would i need for 14kw worth of electric a day during the winter months??
I would need another house to store the batteries i would need.

Oh my youve made me sad now lol.

Hope your maths are better than mine.

daytona600_2

everything is solar powered these days
micro eg calculator/watch to complete villages/towns
to complete islands , space stations
and you get pv appliances fridges/tvs/lights
to charging hybrid cars from a solarcarport

depends on size of house , loads , back up time for battery size
$80,000 would power several houses for several days or more
or even a small village
see www.solarworld.de www.sma.de www.steca.de www.phocos.com or search off grid pv




ololete

forgotmyname wrote: »

I have only ever seen US houses that have done that, Mainly due to location. Not cheap though.

One build i read about cost $80,000.

That buys a lot of electric. I know some of that was added expense to ensure they were not left without
power. Your location would make a huge difference. Are you in an area where you can have wood burning
stoves/fires or would you need to purchase smokeless fuel?

I would love to attempt it but i live in a terraced house inside the cities limits. I can imagine the neighbours
if they saw me collecting wood and burning it.

I do have a couple of old car batteries that i keep topped up with some solar panels, These in turn keep some
LED lamps charged up, Ideal for use in the shed.

Typical we seem to be the only area that never get power cuts, Parents live 3 miles away they have had several
cuts in the past few months but not here. We lost street lights once but no power to the houses.

Anyway back to your idea, The main issue is running a fridge/freezer and other appliances and also heating.

If i have done my sums right we use nearly 600watts per hour a day, averaged over a year. That sounds a lot
as i type this, But we have an electric cooker, fridge/freezer and a chest freezer, And kids... They can have the TV and computers on
at the same time, I guess that doesnt help. Washing machine on most days. We dont use the tumble dryer it may have
seized for all i know its about 20 years old & been used 3 times in the last 10 years?

Gas central heating which needs electric to work.

Oh my working that out i am shocked now, About £1.60/£1.70 a day on electric.

How many solar panels would i need for 14kw worth of electric a day during the winter months??
I would need another house to store the batteries i would need.

Oh my youve made me sad now lol.

Hope your maths are better than mine.

Ken68

There are a few posters on http://forum.downsizer.net/ who live off grid.

wammy77

forgotmyname wrote: »

I do have a couple of old car batteries that i keep topped up with some solar panels, These in turn keep some
LED lamps charged up, Ideal for use in the shed.

Hi :wave:

My husband and I are have been discussing this - which sort of solar cells do you use to keep the batteries topped up? We are looking to charge our mobiles, small lamps etc.

Any help much appreciated!

TIA

wammy77

blue_cow_wonders wrote: »

Please be patient with me as im a newbie,spend hours reading the boards but am a ludditte and not sure how to post!hopefully im in the right place.

Im very interested in living a free-er life.by that i mean one not goverened by "things"but living lightly on the earth and spending time with those i love etc.I have loads of ideas how to make this possible,i want to set up a local group of similar minded souls,to share transport,rarely used items,recycle kids clothes etc without cost,just to foster a sense of community.Eventually after paying off all debt and saving a little bit of money i hope to go "off-grid"hopefully with a few others who desire the same.I recently rescued from a skip(how m.s.e.was that!)a book called "How to live off-grid"by nick Rosen and its exactly the book ive been waiting for.At last practical advice on alternative lifestyles based in England,not the states.

This thread is started in the hope that others may also fancy the idea,maybe not so much radically changing their lives as becoming more community minded,giving our kids a future that isnt based solely on possesions and money.I would love to hear from you.Marina :-)

Count me (and my family!) in

RAS

Check out Scoraig and Hugh Piggott. He runs practical workshops.

And for a community option http://www.h2ope.org.uk/

forgotmyname

I only have a couple of the 1.8 watt and a couple of 4w ones bought from maplins when
on special offer. Bought the 1.8w ones to keep the caravan battery topped up whilst in storage.

And later bought the 4w ones when going camping with no electric hookup.