Living off grid

A lot of talk about electric cars, oil prices, cost of energy. What are you doing to deal with it?

I began living off the power grid in 2006.
I use solar for lights, internet, and antenna tv.
I use wood for heat and some cooking.
I use about 200 gallons of propane for my fridge and cooking, but could do without if need be.
I use a gas generator to run my well pump to fill my four 300 gal water tanks once a month.
I use about 50 gallons of gas a year to power the pump, chain saw, and wood splitter.
I know most can not do as I do.
I began preparing to live this way in 1990.
The only utility bill I have received during the last 16 years is internet.
We got internet last July for the first time.

You have done well, sir! My aunt and uncle moved to Montana a couple years ago and have been working to get off the grid. Most of my family thought they were crazy. I always wondered if they knew something they weren't sharing.

Now I know they were on to something. It might already be too late for the rest of us to prepare.

What I'd like is to get some land and start working of food independence myself. But I don't have the funds right now and we're looking at years before I can save enough to buy a parcel. Too late? Maybe.

This is not for everyone.
The daily conveniences most of you take for granted are not there.

Never to late to start.
You might be surprised what you think is necessary you can really live without.

I recently installed a solar system which powers all my lights, TV, SxS refrigerator, chest freezer, electric water heater and a window a/c in the summer. I have propane heating but if the propane runs out I would have a tough time heating my place and I don't have a well.

I have a spring nearby but the water would need to be filtered and probably boiled to make it drinkable. We also get a lot of rain here so I could catch rain water but need to get a large tank for that.

At this time I'm not totally off grid but I could get by without it if I had to. I have at least a years worth of food along with toiletries stored up and continue to add to it.

Check on line for Berkey water filters.
Not cheap, about $400 but they work.
I have 2 just in case I ever need them.

They're overpriced. I have capable filters but there are still some nasty bugs that filters don't filter out.

Can't you use the HCQ pills from camping supply companies to kill the bugs?

Great topic.

I thought about living off the grid, but not sure if it's the right thing to do. I bought some books about living off grid, so if God leads me, than so be it.

3 Books that were purchased are.....

*Alive After the Fall
*The lost Book of Herbal Remedies
*The Encyclopedia of Country Living

My cousin recently bought an off grid home with plenty of land. Thirty miles away to the nearest store. A very long dirt drive way. They are prepared for societal collapse I suppose.

I'm really not to worried either way, the worst thing that can happen is death right?

If we have faith in Jesus, what are we worried about?

A solar still works via evaporation and condensation. Probably one of the best water purification methods out there. I want to build a big one someday. You can use it to recycle all manner of fluids if they can evaporate. Blood. Urine. Tainted water.

Basically the moisture evaporates out, then condenses on a sheet of plastic and is collected.

You could and you would probably be just fine, but boiling is the only sure fire way to make the water absolutly safe. Besides would you really want to buy all those pills and use them everyday?

Boiling works for biologicals, but not chemical pollutants. I do keep some water purification tabs, but I see those more as a measure to use if I'm on the move. When you settle in somewhere, other methods can be used to get quality water. Whether rain collection, a solar still, etc.

You don't want to drink distilled water, not healthy.

Sometimes you don't have a choice.

I'm also curious as to why you say this?

They cost 10 cents each, after 2 hours they will kill all the bugs and germs. You can then take the top off and let it air out if you wish. You can't taste the chlorine but it will be the first thing to evaporate out.

I think a combination of both makes the most sense, what if you can't boil water? Nice to have a back up.

Water is one of the most powerful solvents if not the most powerful solvent on earth. It will strip your body of minerals and nutrients. I used to live in a place where you couldn't drink the water so we got a still but soon learned we couldn't drink that water.

That's an interesting point. Theoretically though any fluid with a lesser concentration of minerals and nutrients will flush some of these out of your body if I understand diffusion correctly.

You could add some healthy minerals back in by adding a small amount of sea salt (NOT table salt) to your water after purification.

Anyways, rainwater is essentially distilled and then condensed around a dust or smoke particulate. It's probably one of the safer water sources. But I see what you're saying about maybe wanting to balance the pH and mineral content first.

Been drinking distilled water for over 10 years.

Rain water and distilled water are essentially the same.

If you are worried about loss of minerals, there are always vitamins.

Yes, but few people drink rainwater. Even if you do it hits your roof and then collects in pots.

Most of us for the last six thousand years drink spring water or water from streams or wells.

I used to teach Chemistry and the fact that water is "neutral" is quite misleading. It is both basic and acidic, which means it can really dissolve anything. If you drink well water or spring water you take the edge off the water because it has already had a chance to dissolve stuff from the ground. Most of what water dissolves from the ground will just pass through you. Some exceptions would be calcium and salt.

No one would drink Sulfuric acid but why? Sulfuric acid has free H ions floating around, but so does water. The difference is quantity and the fact that water also has free OH ions, like lye.

Drinking one glass of distilled water is fine, might even be good for you. But drinking it exclusively day in and day out, I don't think that is a good idea.