Anyone heard the saying "Living off grid" living out in the wilds away from utility bills and all the other miriade of bills, living the simple life far from the madding crowd, off gridding seems to be getting rather popular now.
Living off grid
- Thread starter joedavis70
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I had friends who did this in a house 9000 ft up in the mountains in Colorado. It wasn't anything to do with avoiding utility bills as they could afford them. It was to do with living in an area where nobody could have a massive house as it was impossible to run/heat it in that environment.
They were what you might call 'tree huggers' and lived a very healthy and good life. They had a brilliant place to live in fact. It's where I spent the New Years Eve of 31/12/1999 and we had a splendid and isolated time with woodburner to heat us and candles to light us.
They were what you might call 'tree huggers' and lived a very healthy and good life. They had a brilliant place to live in fact. It's where I spent the New Years Eve of 31/12/1999 and we had a splendid and isolated time with woodburner to heat us and candles to light us.
Off-grid is for the rich and the poor.
The poor because they may already live in rural areas, and so can make do with living by log, and are used to having little money.
The rich, well should be obvious.
It's not for the middle class (the vast majority), they might afford a place out in the middle of nowhere, but most won't be able to keep their job doing so, or make any real living there, and won't have a big pile of cash to live off.
The poor because they may already live in rural areas, and so can make do with living by log, and are used to having little money.
The rich, well should be obvious.
It's not for the middle class (the vast majority), they might afford a place out in the middle of nowhere, but most won't be able to keep their job doing so, or make any real living there, and won't have a big pile of cash to live off.
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By the time you've taken into account fuel, initial cost and depreciation and maintenance of generator / windmill / photovoltaics, storage battery costs, inverter losses etc you'd probably find that off-grid lecky is about 5-10x the cost per kWh.
Getting your food from Sainsbury and your house heated and lit on a monthly direct debit *is* the simple life. It's looking at your last chicken and thinking "are you going to give me an egg tomorrow or shall I wring your stringy neck today" that's complicated.
Getting your food from Sainsbury and your house heated and lit on a monthly direct debit *is* the simple life. It's looking at your last chicken and thinking "are you going to give me an egg tomorrow or shall I wring your stringy neck today" that's complicated.
Plenty of logs lying here on the Forest - and we`ve got a cesspool - and a water meter - no. 1s go on the compost heap
Nothing worse than those sanctimonious little pricks that go out and build stick houses in the woods and then gloat on about how they're saving the World. Come to think of it the only thing worse are the even bigger tossers that go out there and help them build the things - for nothing. What happens when twenty, thirty or forty thousand of us all move into the woods and all build our little stick houses right next to them. Won't be quite so lovely and fluffy then will it?
Sounds good to me Joe. After all what do you need in life: shelter, loved one/family, hobbies/interests and above all good health.
What you don't need, well what I don't anyway, is a huge mortgage, a heavily financed car, fancy gadgets and a desire to "keep up with the Jones's"
Although there's little work in the middle of nowhere so is only really suitable for retired folks or truely self-sufficient types.
What you don't need, well what I don't anyway, is a huge mortgage, a heavily financed car, fancy gadgets and a desire to "keep up with the Jones's"
Although there's little work in the middle of nowhere so is only really suitable for retired folks or truely self-sufficient types.
John Connor of T3 Rise of the Machines 'fame' claimed to live 'off-grid' (opening scenes), but for a somewhat different purpose.
To disappear from any official records, be hard to find etc.
That seems a bit more prosaic than 'not paying a leccie bill'
Dreadnought
To disappear from any official records, be hard to find etc.
That seems a bit more prosaic than 'not paying a leccie bill'
Dreadnought
Like this bloke you mean?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ow-I-built-hobbit-house-Wales-just-3-000.html
Fair play to him I say
What a hero. Just another 1.5million of those in the woods and the housing shortage will be over. They were dreaming when they came up with the £3k as well. Like those diy programmes on the telly - why do they always lie about how much things cost?
To be fair that figure of £3000 does seem a tad optomistic to say the least although there is a great deal of stuff to be gotten for nothing from builders skips. I'd also question wether his limited skills and tools could create that building either. The house is most likey to be uncertified which would mean he can't sell it and it will have to be demolished if he leaves or dies.
That said I do have an amount of respect for him for wanting to go off grid. Going totally off isn't possible for most but any attempt to generate your own , use alternative fuels and grow as much of your own food as possible is only to be commended , anything to loosen the grip of power companies and supermarkets.
That said I do have an amount of respect for him for wanting to go off grid. Going totally off isn't possible for most but any attempt to generate your own , use alternative fuels and grow as much of your own food as possible is only to be commended , anything to loosen the grip of power companies and supermarkets.
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