Living Off the Grid
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- 225 Responses
- Krassy4
- nice, this appears to be it
https://goo.gl/maps/…prophetone - street view, looks like a tourist center
https://bit.ly/3e9U4…prophetone - cool findKrassy
- nice, this appears to be it
- hardhat2
I'm 2/3 way thru an off-grid project. Will be about $15k all up when finished (and that was with purchase of a few tools i didn't have like nailguns, compressor, generator etc). I have to say, this sort of thing is so much easier and accessible than, say, 20 years ago. The underlying technology for off-grid living and information on how to put it all together is so much better.
- very nice. looks like it's going to be a sweet place. what the land like? what are you doing for water?Gnash
- I do hope that you planted 6 foot deep concrete footing below the foundation. If not, your dream house will be floating down the hill in a few months.utopian
- did a bear eat the bottom part?fadein11
- 4' footings (8 of them). Views are pretty insane looking the other way. She's mostly black now, and the bottom has been trimmed ;)hardhat
- Tapped a spring for water. Goes through a springbox and into a 55 gallon holding tank. I guess the winter freeze will make life interestinghardhat
- keep us posted :)Gnash
- aslip4
Update on the slice of Northwoods: Renovation complete and ready for stays. It's technically not "off the grid" but a step in the right direction... Definitely the most fun I've had mixing the day job skills with side hustle grind. Ready to do another, hopefully more remote. I highly recommend to anyone interested in making the jump into vacation rentals.
- Congrats. I wanted to make my place into a vacay rental, but alas... Hope this one goes well, and good luck on the next onehardhat
- PhanLo2
- Balllls, this should have been the first image
https://i.imgur.com/…PhanLo - lolKrassy
- Upvoting for the first image only!nb
- Balllls, this should have been the first image
- mort_3
- Not really off-grid anymore. It’s a tavern nowGnash
- Where is this?CyBrainX
- I'll pass. It's not walking distance.
https://www.google.c…CyBrainX
- Krassy1
- UX housenbq
- lolGuyFawkes
- this shit never gonna hold the snowmilfhunter
- alternate ending to the Pixar movie UPKrassy
- hardhat3
I’ll be buying a few more batteries for the solar array and getting the garden started early this year methinks. Thankfully just got generator serviced and a full load of wood for the next year or two
- LiFePO₄? Deep cycle is ‘spensive but the only way IMHO.cannonball1978
- really want to get a LiFePO₄ setup, but holding out as long as i can with cheapos for now.hardhat
- scarabin2
living off-grid is appealing, but the whole tiny houses thing i don't get. where's your workshop? where do you do things? where do you store your shit? it seems awesome if you're still in college and don't have any belongings and can't do things yet but at my age it seems like a massive step backward in terms of lifestyle
vacation cabin though? absolutely
- depends of the type of off grid you are. the tiny house movement is more about cutting down on stuff as means of freeing up time, and small home = lower bills.yurimon
- everyones motives is different but the most common comes from mobility, bills, time, outgoing lifestyle. the stuff you own own you type environmentalist ideal.yurimon
- there are off grid living on higher acreage who dont care about cutting down on size. may have a full house with storage, prep, workshops.yurimon
- ussually the of grid acreage type is more for preping type mentality, dyi self sustainability. grow your own food, supplies, be able to forfill your needs offyurimon
- the land, barter with neighbors, etc. security, etc.yurimon
- I don't usually agree with yurimon, but when I do, I still don'tmoldero
- 'Bin, have less shit. You don't need it.Peter
- bklyndroobeki0
MUJI Debuts 3 Prefab Homes
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/…- how is this off the gridgilgamush
- ^ Pre-fab = put it anywhere?omahadesigns
- ^bklyndroobeki
- ^utopian
- >PonyBoy
- jatrick2
I moved from a big city in the UK to a small mountain town in BC, Canada about 6 years ago. Lots of people living like that here, or very close to it. I live in a cabin, not off the grid, but on 6.5 acres, although just renting.
If you're actually serious (and to confirm, OP isn't talking about 'off-the-grid' if they intend to freelance from home- wifi?!), highly recommend going half-way first: move somewhere truly rural and rent – learn to live rurally, or on the land, before you commit to anything. Housesit on farms even, that'll give you a taste.
If you're from the city and yer all over that cabin porn website and own an axe and all that shit, great, good for you, you lumbersexual. But you better know your shit when it comes to gathering, splitting, drying and storing firewood, and which wood burns best. And you better know your way around engines and stoves. And basic plumbing/electrical shit. And rodents.
All these homesteading blog posts about a guy who built his dream home for $2000 – bullshit.
Let alone cost of the bare land (choice of which could fuck you from the start - flooding, natural light etc), and the basic structure of the house, what about amenities – solar panels aren't cheap, neither is bringing in power lines. Where's your water coming from? Water rights off creeks can be difficult/pricey to secure and need a bunch of maintenance, and digging a well could set you back an extra $50k easy. Sewage? Septics cost a ton to dig and maintain, and a composting toilet/grey water recycling system will take time and money to get by inspectors.
Either way, sounds to me like OP fancies some rural small-town living, not off-the-grid homesteading. From my 50% experience, I imagine real off-the-grid would be fucking tough, and mentally challenging. Cabin fever is a real thing. If you really want to work long physical hours sun-up to sun-down just to exist, then you're a better person than I.
Sweet cabin pictures doe.
- +10000
Don't be such a purist, he just meant having a bigger yard.ORAZAL - "You won't believe how this man built his dream bigger yard with only $5 and a tonka truck, click to find out how!"jatrick
- my 90 year old grandparents are 90% off the grid, and did it all themselvesmonospaced
- +10000
- utopian0
Dick Proenneke went way of the grid...
- Krassy0
- That's where Russell Crowe's wife and kid were murdered I think?BuddhaHat
- ^ ??Krassy
- Gladiator reference, it looks like the villa of Maximus Decimus Meridius where his family were murdered.BuddhaHat
- lol @BuddhaOBBTKN
- Beautiful place, I can imagine the cars parked in the garageOBBTKN
- Oh, I forgot to get the mustard. I'll be back next month.CyBrainX