Now here is a guy who makes his living inspecting electrical systems and he is considering getting off grid.Why?
It isn't free.It isn't cheap. It is doable and in our application was cheaper than connecting to the grid system up here.
It does have it's limitations. You learn to become very conscious of your power consumption. You try very hard to eliminate any "phantom" load in your home as this draws down your batteries without you getting any benefit. You monitor your battery status daily and adjust your activities if the batteries are down.
WE do not have a micro-wave stove, air-conditioner, or clothes dryer as those items are big energy users.
Otherwise our home and its functions are state of the art 21st century. I use all my tools without worry, use all the kitchen appliances and have all the usual electronic gadgets on the market today; computers, TV, water heater (propane), pumps, etc.
We have 16 batteries which gives us about 700 amp hours but since we don't want the batteries to go below 50% we really have only about 350 amp hours before our generator will turn on. Presently we seem to be going through about 85 amp hours a day. This means we have about 4 days of stored electrical supply which would keep us functioning for 4 days if we didn't see the sun. As I type we are down to 74% of battery capacity. We are hoping it stays cloudy and we get down to 50% by Monday, then we will see if the generator starts up automatically as designed.
This is the inverter which converts the power coming into the house from DC to AC. Beside it (the little black box) is our charge controller which monitors the state of the batteries and controls the flow of power to them so we don't over charge them. It is also hooked up to our generator and will start it if our batteries get too low.
Tomorrow, more on our life "off grid"
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"plan to travel and see as much of this beautiful planet as we can" How will you secure your home when you are away for extended periods? We live in South Africa where everything not bolted down disappears in the night. If you lived here you'd return to a vacant lot. Good luck. Ronnie.
ReplyDeleteHi Ronnie;
DeleteWe do have neighbours who keep a close eye on our place. Any vehicles that pull into our property while we are away the neighbours are over right away wanting to know who is here. We live on a dead end road 10 km from town so the "scum bags" usually target homes much easier to get at.
When we were away last for 3 weeks we had workers in and out finishing part of the construction. Nothing disappeared and tools were left just alone.
Hi Ronnie;
ReplyDeleteWe do have neighbours who keep a close eye on our place. Any vehicles that pull into our property while we are away the neighbours are over right away wanting to know who is here. We live on a dead end road 10 km from town so the "scum bags" usually target homes much easier to get at.
When we were away last for 3 weeks we had workers in and out finishing part of the construction. Nothing disappeared and tools were left just alone.