Over the past 3 years we have only really talked of our plans to remove ourselves from the power grid, only in the past year have we really taken that step to "make it official". For most, the dream of Going off the grid is just that,, A Dream... I mean, unless you plan on living in a tent, pooping in a bucket, getting all your water from the creek, and cooking over a campfire ( and all of those are great lifestyle choices, just not the way we want to do it.) you are GOING TO spend some money. You can spend up to 30-50K on a solar array just to live a "normal" lifestyle.. who has that kinda cash?? certainly not us.
We are poor,,lol.. I laugh, but I give you truth. We live paycheck to paycheck. we are frugal , we work hard, but we are poor. So we are attempting ( and will succeed!!) to do this the cheapest way possible. When all is said and done we hope to only spend around 6,000.00. although I have a feeling it will end up being more,, because well, thats just how it always works when you are pricing something ;)
In march of 2012 we purchased the controller and inverter for our solar array,, 2 fairly expensive *Pieces of the Puzzle*** next will be a generator, then panels, then batteries..all expensive too,,lol
Now I am sure you are just reading along, patiently, and thinking, ok ok.... so what is the circulator pump for???!! This will be hooked up to our woodcookstove, will continously circulate the water as it gets hot to ensure that that we dont have an exposion of hot water/steam, there are other parts that go into the equation too ( Im sure my husband would correct me on this, but hey Im giving ya a basic idea, he is the brains behind all of this).. what I am trying to say is, as of this Fall , all of the hot water in our home will no longer be heated by our hot water heater, but will be heated by our wood cookstove.. pretty cool huh?? Now do you see why I am sooo excited!
another piece of the puzzle...completed. :) Now get chopping Robb, fall is almost here ;)
I though of you the other day when I rode by a flat bed trailer on the side of the road with about two dozen populated beehives. I couldnt figure out if the owner of the trailer had invented some sort of magical pollination service, or if the bees were simply guarding the trailer
ReplyDeleteright on!! I love hearing tales about how it really goes getting off the grid... day to day. lists of things you need.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when you do live simply with not much extra income.
I can see why you are pumped for your little pump!!
Just think how set up you'll be in 10 years!
We need a woodstove first.