I've been off grid for around 2.5 months so far...

Got down to 23 (Fahrenheit) last night according to my indoor/outdoor weather monitor dealio. I haven't been too impressed with its "Weather Forecast" mode, but the ice on the ground seems to agree with its temperature reading.

23 out and 60 in; not too shabby. Cranked up the big kerosene heater for an hour or so before bed, let it get up to 74, shut it off, and let the little propane heater run on low overnight. While 60 degrees in the house is a little chilly for this Florida boy, under the blanket and a sweatshirt make it quite comfortable.

The biggest challenge this week has been chasing power. Rainy and overcast nearly everyday so power has been rationed like water in the Sahara. Being my wife and I both work from home offices, that's kind of rough. Looks like sun today, thank God, had to run the genny twice last week to make up the difference and charge laptops and all. Topped off the truck and 21 gallons of gas in containers, so I'm set on good old Arabian Petro.

Observation: Stock piling fuel while it's affordable is a good idea... but gas containers are really pricey. How much am I really saving? Guess I'll need to do the math on that.
 
Wooden Indian said:
Got down to 23 (Fahrenheit) last night according to my indoor/outdoor weather monitor dealio. I haven't been too impressed with its "Weather Forecast" mode, but the ice on the ground seems to agree with its temperature reading.

23 out and 60 in; not too shabby. Cranked up the big kerosene heater for an hour or so before bed, let it get up to 74, shut it off, and let the little propane heater run on low overnight. While 60 degrees in the house is a little chilly for this Florida boy, under the blanket and a sweatshirt make it quite comfortable.

The biggest challenge this week has been chasing power. Rainy and overcast nearly everyday so power has been rationed like water in the Sahara. Being my wife and I both work from home offices, that's kind of rough. Looks like sun today, thank God, had to run the genny twice last week to make up the difference and charge laptops and all. Topped off the truck and 21 gallons of gas in containers, so I'm set on good old Arabian Petro.

Observation: Stock piling fuel while it's affordable is a good idea... but gas containers are really pricey. How much am I really saving? Guess I'll need to do the math on that.
Click to expand...

Where are you at, I'm tired of living in town, and can bring some more solar panels. Thanks!
 
So, I keep up like a weekly update on my experience here (I'm behind but closer to getting more up to date) on another forum and will start copying those posts over here as well, if y'all want to read em.

I'll copy the last 3 here together and post the more recent ones as I write them up. I try to keep them up brief so there's not a ton of detail yet. Just getting everyone up to speed on how I got here and what I was challenged with when getting here.
 
So, as a few on here know, I went Off Grid about 3 months ago. Thought I would share my experiences here in case anyone has been curious about trying it themselves.

Disclaimer: I am not a self-declared extreme woodsman swinging an ax in one hand and my engorged member in the other while flying through the air on some jungle vine.
I'm just a dude. I have a little knowledge here and there about a thing or two. In fact, about the only thing I have less of than "super-woodsman extraordinaire" knowledge is money. So much of this is and was done on a budget.

For several years now I have dreamed about finding a little slice of heaven, pay cash for it, move out in a little quaint cabin, sip morning coffee in a warm bath of sunlight and cool beers in the evenings. What I got was something quite different.

We purchased all I could afford with cash which was 1.5 acres in a small town around southern VA. It was advertised as having a well and septic on site and the photos showed about .25AC cleared with the rest heavily treed. We spoke to the mortgage company that owned it, thought it over, and made the deal- sigh unseen and balls to the wall.

Bought an RV thinking it would allow for us to drive up with the belongings we wanted, have a place to stay, and give us enough cash left over to buy a used mobile home to be delivered once I got the utilities in place. I already had my solar array, bank, controllers, and inverters (and 3 generators of varying size to match the job they may do).

Well, we broke down. Both the 4X4 truck I bought and the RV... not once not twice... 3 times. $3000 in repairs later we arrived to see in person what we bought and if y'all are interested, I'll take it from there next post. This is already getting long and I have work to do.

Let me know if this tickles your fancy and I'll pick it up every time I have a chance, if not... **** you and your fancy modern plumbing.
 
Now this trek up here took place on the week of that hurricane that came up the Carolina coast. Remember? It rained, it rained, and it ****ing rained some more. As you probably heard on the news, they were calling it a 500 year storm because of the way it collided with some other system, mixed with a cold front or a warm front, some such nonsense, that ultimately caused historic flooding all long our route.

The farther north I go, the clearer the skies grew, and eventually, on that final day's drive, the clouds rained all their rain, then dissolved away completely. Now, we're talking! Things were rough, but you know what, nothing worth having comes easy. I fought the truck and I won. I fought the RV and I won. I fought the wettest storm to hit that area in 500 years, and I drove the hell through it. Nothing can bring me down.

My GPS announces it's time to turn off the highway and I marvel at the beautiful landscape. Vast fields and rolling hills, Colonial houses perched proud on their tops.
The fields gave way to some forests and the homes grew farther and fewer between. Then they gave way to what can only be described as shanties nestled in wooded lots, which gave way to a rundown trailer park (which was really nothing more than a handful of rundown trailers sharing a quarter acre lot cleared along the highway), where I was instructed by my GPS to turn left, turn left again, then the destination would be on my right in a thousand feet. I'm shitting my pants.

I'm pulling through this private street in this trailer park when I come to a fenced off property and I'm forced to just stop. In a 33' Motor Home, U-turns on back streets are pretty much out of the question. So, my wife pulls up next to me in the Suburban and we're looking at the GPS Map, trying to figure out what to do when this lady walks out of a nearby trailer, approaches us and we start talking. I find out that the road that is suppose to lead back to my property has been blocked by someone's trailer home and I would have to take another side road, back through some woods, and quote "Aint no way that RV gettin through there. That where my sista used to stay. I been on dat road". We parked the RV, lock it, and take the 4X4 from there.

5 short minutes later, after a few bends, bumps, and a couple of mammoth pot holes in what once had been a gravel road, I see a familiar sight. The shed- my shed. The pictures online showed this structure, the sole structure left on this property, and it finally at long last it lay right before me. But... something's different.

We park at the dead-end and find Atlantis, the land underwater.
It was little more than a lake with weeds 5 and 6 feet tall where the field once lay. The shed was partially collapsed and covered in graffiti, and just to add insult to injury- it stank. My God, it stank. Remember that septic that was on the property? It's contents floated in some part back behind the briers and thick jumbles of nondescript weeds.

Home at last.

Much has changed since then. Half of the waters have receded and and the hole in the septic main has been filled, the septic capped. The shed doors that dangled nearly off their hinges have been replaced and about half of the field has been cleared. We never found the well that was advertised, so I decided to drive one myself, everyone needs running water and "off grid" does not mean savages.

I bought a well-point, 30' of 2" steel pipe, drive couplings, a deep/shallow well pump, and a sledge hammer. With my sleeves rolled and a fire in my belly, I went to work, but what happened is a different story altogether.
 
Hope all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to an even better New Year.
I believe we left off with my search for water... well, my search for well water, a blind paraplegic would have no issue finding plenty of standing water on my off-grid property.

After searching my land high and low, wielding a machete and a Troy Built weed whacker with a brush cutting attachment (review on that bad boy later), and sustaining enough skin lacerations from the briers to slowly bleed out an elephant, I ran down to the County and requested records on where my well should be (they had to pull a permit, right), but I came up empty handed again.

This was going to be it. My defining moment. I could hardly believe it would come so soon.
I would be required by my family to get them good running water in our new home and I would have to do it without the help of the County or even be able to rely on the previous landowner. I couldn't just call a well digging company, either. Don't forget, I spent nearly every nickle just getting up here and I won't go into debt to stay. This is a cash operation. The Injun vs the World. **** yeah.

I did my research on driving a well and located the best location to begin my quest. A naturally low area on the west side of my field, just outside of the tree line and perhaps 200' or so from our stream.

Things you need to drive a shallow well:
A well point
Drive Couplings
1 1/4 - 2" steel pipe
Drive Cap
Pump
Tank
Sledgehammer
A giant set of meaty clackers

Alright, so I have two of those things already covered but needed to make a run down to Tractor Supply for the rest. Surely the World Renown Tractor Supply store would be able to provide me with everything besides those aforementioned testes. Well, wrong. Much to my disappointment, the place is a glorified GAP for wanna be woodsman.
They do sell some hardware and a little of this and that, but 2/3 of the store is dedicated to outfitting your sexually confused lumberjack or farmer with the latest set of 200.00 jeans or overalls. Pretty damned heart-breaking with how excited I was to get inside my first TS store when leaving Tampa.

Anyhow, after a few days of driving around and collecting what I needed to do the job, I was ready. I began by digging a 2X2 hole with a shovel perhaps 3 feet deep, then a post hole digger another 3 feet or so, lay in my drive point and proceed to tap it in. Remember to NOT lay all you have into each mighty blow. You don't want to be frickin' Thor out there. Hit it too hard and risk knocking your threads out in a coupling. Do that and you'll suck air into the line and decrease water pressure. No Buenos.

So, I whacked away at the pipe, 5' at a time, until I reached 25 feet. It was 2 days and a hundred blisters that finally joined together and became a super-blister that covered each palm. This was through my work gloves mind you. My hands hadn't seen that much action since Pete's birthday party back in '08.... BUT it was worth it. Christ on a crutch is worth it. My family needed water and much like our pioneering forefathers, I would bring it to them. Not with a credit line and not with some fancy drilling machine. No call to the County here. No, sir. Just some hard damned work. I attached the pump and cloudy water sprung forth, I pumped and pumped, and more milky water made it's way out in abundance. Once it was fairly cleared, I removed the hand-pump and attached the electrical well pump, and let her rip... and that's when the grinding started. The pump began making a hell of a racket then locked up. A little probing and I discovered that it was getting clogged with sand and small rocks... but how? The well point's screen mesh prevents those things from ever entering the system. I carefully tugged up on the top of my well pipe, not expecting it to move considering it weigh hundreds of pounds and was driven through 25 feet of clay, when it came up. A full 5 foot section of pipe pulled right out of the ground.

The steel pipe had snapped. Not at a coupling, there wasn't a busted thread. The pipe itself was broken clean just below the last joint. Manufactures defect or just the Universe continuing to rain **** on me, I don't know. But I lost hundreds in pipe and parts, 2 days of work, and was still no closer to providing my family with the high quality H2O they so deserved. It was time to get creative and think outside of my Pandora's box. .....Did I mention my stream?

Have to get back to work here but if you're curious as to how I finally got a working water solution here at the homestead hell, let me know.
 
Keep the story coming! It's giving me flashbacks to the "good old days" (which are good mainly because they are behind you). :p
 
How are you heating your water?

Have you thought about solar water heating? It's a great option that we've implemented on our homestead. Even on cloudy days and during the winter we're able to at least pre-heat our water to around 90-95 degrees. We have a propane water heater as a backup on those days, but with the water already warm it barely uses any fuel.

You can build your own solar water heaters really cheap, but I suggest going with evacuated solar tubes. You can get some cheap on Amazon, Aliexpress or Ebay and build the rest of the heater yourself. Shouldn't set you back more than $350 in total if you're handy.

This is a cool project that might give you some ideas:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarShed/solarshed.htm
 
Sandemanian said:
How are you heating your water?

Have you thought about solar water heating? It's a great option that we've implemented on our homestead. Even on cloudy days and during the winter we're able to at least pre-heat our water to around 90-95 degrees. We have a propane water heater as a backup on those days, but with the water already warm it barely uses any fuel.

You can build your own solar water heaters really cheap, but I suggest going with evacuated solar tubes. You can get some cheap on Amazon, Aliexpress or Ebay and build the rest of the heater yourself. Shouldn't set you back more than $350 in total if you're handy.

This is a cool project that might give you some ideas:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarShed/solarshed.htm
Click to expand...

Yeah that's definitely a good idea. That will also save you a LOT of $$ over time. It will also make you less dependent on the outside world as you need to buy less gas/oil.
 
Sandemanian said:
How are you heating your water?

Have you thought about solar water heating? It's a great option that we've implemented on our homestead. Even on cloudy days and during the winter we're able to at least pre-heat our water to around 90-95 degrees. We have a propane water heater as a backup on those days, but with the water already warm it barely uses any fuel.

You can build your own solar water heaters really cheap, but I suggest going with evacuated solar tubes. You can get some cheap on Amazon, Aliexpress or Ebay and build the rest of the heater yourself. Shouldn't set you back more than $350 in total if you're handy.

This is a cool project that might give you some ideas:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarShed/solarshed.htm
Click to expand...

​

I've done some research into solar water heating and it's in the plans. Right now I'm using a propane on demand water heater but it's only for showers.
When the tiny house construction begins this Spring (knock on wood), that will be a feature I want to include. :)
 
Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy week at the Of Grid Homestead and Ill be typing this in a rush- I'm at my day job.

"Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink" those words echoed through my head as I stare down at my busted steel pipe beaten squarely into 25' of clay and rock.

I stood there quietly, so quiet that my wife surely thought I had either broken my mind with the pipe or a torrent of obscenities was about to be unleashed upon the virgin landscape, when I decided that I could not allow "it" to best me and my mission to find an immediate source of water did not end simply because of my latest misfortune. It wasn't a defeat but a change of direction.

Within minutes I put together a plan of action, kissed my wife goodbye, and made my way into town for supplies.

1 hi pressure sump pump
1 12 volt transfer pump
1 plastic tote
1 35 gallon water container
100' of garden hose
2 faucet bibs
1 10" whole house water filter
1 pack of 3 charcoal fish tank filter
A variety of adapters and a roll of Teflon tape
Supply of Jacuzzi chlorine


Those were the things needed to get water into the RV quickly according to my admittedly hurried and reactionary plans.

I started by drilling out 6 1" holes into the plastic tote and then attached the fish tank filters via self-tapping stainless steel screws.
Next, I drilled out 2 holes in the water tank and attached to water bibs, 1 out and 1 in.

Lay out an extension cord and my 100' of hose and made my way down to the stream, placed them and retrieved my tote, pump,
and razor knife. Once I lay the tote and pump into the river, it began to fill with water at a quick enough rate, even through the filters, to do the job.
So far- so good. This is progress and things going according to my plan thus far honestly had me a little scared. I mean, nothing had blow up in my face yet
and I'm hours in. Attached the power and hose to the pump, cut out a notch for them in the lid, and closed it up... it began to float away due to the current.
Spotted a few large stones nearby and added them to the tote. That did the trick but now the water was dirty. Removed the stones, washed them, and replaced them
into their new Tupperware housing, then made my way back towards the house (RV), hooked up the hoses to the tank, the tank to the other pump, the pump to the house filter, the filter to a on off control valve, and it to the RV.

A flip of the switch and I have water... all over my floor. I knew something was going to be fucked, did it have to be my new hardwood floors? Found 2 places where the pressure had blown apart old fittings and fixed them, tested each faucet and confirmed my band-aid was a success. Obviously, pumping water from a stream isn't long-term nor ideal in any way, but it'll do and it has done for the last couple of months. The water comes in clear but we chlorinate it regardless, then use the house filter to remove any additional "baddies" as well as the chlorine smell. We don't use it as drinking water but it's fine for dishes and showers and whatever.

Embrace the grid, you say? The grid can kiss my Irish white ass.

One of the places the water poured through a fitting was behind my composting toilet, but I got it dried up fairly quickly once I found the problem. Composting your waste, now that's an adventure! If you'd like to hear about "Poo Mountain" let me know. I'll keep it clean and it's really not as bad as it sounds. I'll never forget when I first pitched the idea to my wife...
 
Wooden Indian said:
One of the places the water poured through a fitting was behind my composting toilet, but I got it dried up fairly quickly once I found the problem. Composting your waste, now that's an adventure! If you'd like to hear about "Poo Mountain" let me know. I'll keep it clean and it's really not as bad as it sounds. I'll never forget when I first pitched the idea to my wife...
Click to expand...

Sure, composting is a good way to get rid of organic stuff. Rather no pics on that though.
 
Thanks for talking story about your experiences "out" there. I have enjoyed it thoroughly and it reminds me of my times off grid. Keep up the positive attitude and good luck to you and yours!

Is your composting toilet home-made or ?
 
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