Off Grid Living

Enjoy the Freedom of Living Off Grid

Modern off grid living is so much more than simply surviving off the grid system. Find out how to use off grid power options to build a comfortable grid independent home.

Solar power, Wind Power, Geothermal - Off Grid Power Options.

Want to live off the grid?
A look around your property will help you to determine which types of alternative energy are available to you.

off grid living

No matter what form of off grid power you choose the first step is always making your home as energy efficient as possible. The steps you take now to use your energy wisely can save you tens of thousands of dollars when you set up your off grid power system.

A careful look at the resources available on your property will give you a good idea of which types of off grid power would be most cost effective for you.

Although it is possible to live off the grid in urban and suburban areas the more area your home sits on the more resources you're likely to have access to. The further you live from grid power the more sense off grid living makes from a financial perspective. It just isn't realistic to pound in power poles and string power lines to a remote location. The cost per mile quickly adds up to considerably more than establishing an off grid power station.

Off grid power comes in a variety of forms and any of the following sources of energy is capable of powering a home by itself provided that your property has the basic resources available to build a system. Alternatively you may find that incorporating more than one of the following methods meets your household needs more seamlessly through changing seasons and weather conditions. Read on for information on 4 major types of alternative energy, one or more of which is likely to be present on your property in sufficient amounts to power your off grid life.

Solar Energy - Off Grid Living

Several hours per day of uninterrupted sunshine is required to make it worth your while to install a solar array.

South or southwest exposure with 5 or more hours of sun is a really good start for solar options. Ensure that large trees or buildings do not interfere with the trajectory between the sun and the panels, especially during the winter when the sun doesn't rise as high in the sky.

You'll need ample room to display your panels either on a roof or the ground. In some cases a second off grid power source is used during seasons when the sun is blocked or simply doesn't have the strength to produce sufficient power.

Solar energy can be collected in different ways depending on your household needs. Here are three ways to use the sunshine that falls on your property.

Passive solar strategies use the warmth of the sun to heat your home and shade to cool it.
Solar power water heaters use low tech flat plate collectors
A photovoltaic array converts sunshine into power

Combining one off grid power source with another works very well in instances where seasonal influences change the resources available. For example the Hill family from British Columbia, Canada, uses a combination of solar and water turbine systems.

During the sunny summer months the solar powered system provides ample power to the home while the winter rains produce a fast moving stream on the property that readily turns their turbines providing power to the home during fall, winter and spring. When things dry up and the summer sun starts shining, the solar system takes over again.

Off grid living, in this case, provides all of their power needs including television and a laptop computer. The home is heated with wood which is abundant on the property.

The Hills also have a diesel generator for jobs that require a lot of energy over a relatively short period of time. Laundry day is one of the few times that the diesel generator is fired up. The total amount spent on energy (diesel fuel) last year (2007) was less than $25.00 CDN for the entire year.

Wind Power - Off Grid Living

Like the windmills of old, the new generation of wind turbines create power by using the wind to turn turbines but now they do it better, more efficiently and cheaper.

Small scale wind turbines are becoming a popular option for individual householders that are interested in off grid living. Installing a wind turbine is an option in places where you have a consistent breeze - preferably over a smooth hilltop with a long fetch (fetch is a nautical term meaning distance travelled, uninterrupted by obstacles) .

It's important to measure the wind velocity at your site over a year and understand the fluctuations and rhythms of the wind on your hilltop before you purchase any of your components. Accurate measurements will ensure that you're purchasing the right size for the windspeed and desired power production.

It is necessary to mount the wind turbine on a tower which places the blades high overhead where the windspeed is higher and more consistent.

Certainly, it's possible to erect a wind turbine in an urban area but there are some specific needs that would have to be met for it to function happily and at the best efficiency. The biggest issue will be obstacles in the path of the wind. Towers can help to raise the blades into an area of unobstructed air flow in some cases.

Geothermal - Off Grid Living

One of the least expensive off grid power systems is the geothermal system which can recover it's costs in a mere 5 to 7 years.

Beneath the surface the earth maintains a constant temperature which is unaffected by severe seasonal fluctuations that take place at the surface. At about 6 feet deep the temperature remains constant at about 50 degrees F. Dig deeper and things begin to really heat up.

If you've ever soaked in a natural hotspring you've enjoyed the benefits of goethermal energy. The water is naturally heated in an underground layer and bubbles to the surface forming pools of hot water, some too hot to bathe in.

Although there are places where geothermal heat is very close to the surface and easier to capture, you can use geothermal technology almost anywhere on earth.

Geothermal (geo-earth, thermal-heat) uses the constant temperature of the earth as a viable home heating, cooling and hot water option. A geoexchange system works by installing a closed loop of piping material in the earth through which fluid is circulated. The temperature of the fluid is influenced by the surrounding earth and is pumped back to the geothermal unit in the house. At the geothermal unit the heat is concentrated to a comfortable level then distributed through the house, often using the existing ducting system.

Depending on what you find while scouting around your property you may decide to install a vertical, horizontal, slinky or underwater system. Because no excavation is required, an underwater system is one of the least expensive geothermal systems to implement. The piping is secured to the bottom of an existing deep pond or a shallow lake rather than dug into the earth.

For all the information you need to make an informed decision get Geothermal HVAC. This book is highly recommended for the layperson who wants to understand how to use earth energy at home.

Water Turbine - Off Grid Living

If you have a source of running water on your property like a stream, river or a waterfall you can capture the energy of the water to turn small turbines which will produce power. Operating on the same principle as wind power, water, rather than wind turns the turbine. It's necesary to have, or be able to develop, two aspects in order to build a water turbine and they are... head and flow.

Head is a vertical drop (water falling over an edge)

Flow is volume of water moving, calculated as flow per second or flow per minute.

Reminder

Check with local authorities regarding restrictions that may be in place for diverting waterways in your area.

Water turbines combine nicely with solar power and the same battery bank can be used to store both sources of energy. In some cases diverting water or reducing flow to downstream neighbors is strictly forbidden but in the case of water turbines it is only a temporary diversion and all of the water can be returned to its original path without restricting flow or volume.

Off grid living often incorporates more than one alternative to take best advantage of the resources available at different times of the year. Building techniques such as rammed earth and straw bale construction combine well with off grid living options. These techniques are often less expensive than conventional building methods and provide enough insulation in some climates to eliminate the need for heating and cooling.

In Conclusion

To live completely off the grid in all seasons you may need to use more than one form of energy.

Spend time looking at your property for valuable insights on which sources of green energy you have available to you. Look for sunny south or west facing areas, windy areas atop an unobstructed hill, running water such as a stream or river, still water features like large ponds or a lake or deep soil that's easy to excavate. Take your cues from the resources available on your piece of land.

Off grid living options expand every year with emerging technologies providing affordable, clean, green power. In many cases you'll use the same infrastructure in your home to distribute your energy as with a conventional utility system (solar is converted to AC power and is then distributed via your normal wiring system, geothermal can be incorporated into your existing ducting system).