HOW TO LIVE OFF THE GRID: 8 THINGS YOU NEED NOW

How to live off grid. It’s simple really. Move to the woods, build a cabin, throw on some solar panels and wind turbine for power, drill a well, raise chickens, cows, and pigs, and sit on your front porch while sipping coffee and staring out at the beautiful natural wilderness around you. Easy right? Not really.

It takes a lot of planning and prepping and work to make the move off grid. And once you’re off grid, the maintenance and upkeep of your homestead takes a lot of work. Let make this as simple as possible by breaking it down into a step by step process which explain the most important things you need. It all goes back to the basics and living a sustainable life while being self-sufficient is key.

First you’ll need a good location. How do you find that? Well we wrote a good article detailing How To Find Land For Living Off Grid. It goes into detail about how to find and pick the perfect property.

Here’s how to live off the grid.

LAND

First you need a place to go. A place to build on. A foundation. This seems obvious but and technically speaking you don’t actually need a vacant piece of land, but to go off grid you do need a parcel of land that lends itself to your new lifestyle choice and that means a parcel of land that is usually in a remote area in the middle of nowhere far enough from building codes and permitting regulations. Land in these areas are less expensive, property taxes are less, and you can get more acreage for your money.

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SHELTER

The next thing you need is shelter. It’s the fundamentally basic need every human being needs to survive. Shelter comes in the form of a cabin, a traditional wood frame home,a tiny house, cob house, strawbale or even a yurt which is basically a large octagonal shaped tent. There are many different types of shelters and it’s a good idea to choose which type of shelter you will build or buy long before moving onto your land.

WATER & WATER COLLECTION SYSTEM

A good clean potable water source is vital for living off the grid. You will most likely not have access to city water or municipal county water sources on your land so you must choose a piece of land which either has a natural water source, or where it’s convenient to haul water. The other resource you need is a water collection system. This could be something as simple as a rain-barrel water catchment attached to your home’s gutter, or a more complex cistern water collection system which collects all the rain water from your roof.

FOOD

Grow your own food. Since you most likely will not have everyday access to grocery stores and convenience stores to shop for your food, you’ll have to grow your own in your own garden or greenhouse. Ideally it’s probably wise to have both a traditional garden, some raised beds, and a greenhouse full of fruits and veggies. Learning how to preserve and can your own food will also allow you to store your food away in a safe place and build up a nice supply of food in case you need it for an emergency.

POWER GENERATION SYSTEM

This is where the actual off grid part comes in. Since you will not be connected to the power grid, you will need to be able to generate electricity yourself. This means having a power generating system with backups that can provide you with all the electricity you will need to run all your appliances, stove, refrigerator, washing machine, tv, computer, and charge your cell phone and other mobile devices. A few 250 Watt solar panels and a good 250-500 Watt wind turbine will probably suffice for most homes depending on how much power you use at once. Keep in mind the wind turbine is a good backup for the solar panels. When the sun is not shining there’s usually some kind of wind, but when the wind is not blowing you’ll need the solar panels. Using both power generation technologies will supplement your electricity production and they compliment one another.

Another consideration you must make is how much power you use, and that most likely during nighttime hours, you will not have any power generation unless the wind is blowing if all you have are solar panels and a wind turbine with no power storage device. We’ll get into that in a minute.

Figure out how much power all your devices and appliances use. To do this, look on the back or underside of your electronic devices and there should be a label or placard which details the wattage and amperage each device uses. Now take all those numbers, add them up, and that will give you a good idea on how much power you might use during any given 24hour period. Granted you most likely will not be using all your devices and appliances at once all day long, but it will help you in figuring out how much power in wattage you will need to generate and that will help you design your solar power system. You’ll know how many solar panels to buy. Typically four 250 Watt solar panels should be enough when coupled with a wind power system. A 1500 Watt solar system is about average.

It’s also a good idea to have a back up gas or preferably bio-diesel powered generator. You can get a 1500 to 3000 Watt generator fairly inexpensively for under $1000.

POWER STORAGE SYSTEM

So… You’re generating your own electricity during the day. That’s great. But when the sun goes down and the wind stops blowing, guess what? Unless you have a storage system, you won’t have electricity. So, if you plan on watching movies on Netflix or surfing the internet late at night, then you’re going to need a battery power storage system. This is where it gets expensive as battery technology is kind of lagging behind solar panel technology. Batteries however are getting better and are able to store more electricity for longer periods of time more efficiently than ever before. But you’re going to pay for it. They are not cheap, and the battery bank and storage system complete with charge controller, inverter, etc. could set you back as much as the solar panels and wind turbine combined. Many folks opt out of purchasing a battery storage system because it could double the cost of any solar power system.

All in all this is a personal choice that you need to make. I personally would choose to have battery backups rather than rely solely on the power coming direct from the solar panels and wind turbine. If you have the money, a good battery power storage system is worth it’s weight in gold.

WASTE DISPOSAL & SEPTIC SYSTEM

No one likes talking about it, but it’s a fact of life. You’re going to have to deal with waste disposal. You’ll have to have some sort of composting waste disposal system, or you’ll dig a traditional septic system. Either way you will have to follow local and federal guidelines on waste disposal. Besides the law, it’s just not sanitary to dump your waste into a hole and hope for the best. This is not to say that this is wrong, just don’t do it near your water source or your animal’s water source if you raise livestock. Build a proper septic system. If you’re into using your own waste as fertilizer, then more power to you. Just know that the city, county, federal guidelines probably won’t allow it.

THE MINDSET & WILL TO LIVE OFF THE GRID

Perhaps the most important thing you need to live off grid is the mindset and the will. It’s easy to talk about and say you’d love to live off the grid free from the confines and drudgery of modern life. It’s alluring and the idea of that kind of freedom can be enticing. It takes hard work though, and lots of it. Living sustainably takes a solid commitment, sharp focus, and motivation. The self sufficient lifestyle is at the heart of independence and with that independence comes responsibility not just for your lifestyle choice, but to you family and those depending on you.

Living off the grid can be expensive to get started and will take lots of hard work on you part to keep it going.

But if you’re ready, willing and able the rewards are great.

Other useful resources:

Survival MD (Best Post Collapse First Aid Survival Guide Ever)

Backyard Innovator (A Self Sustaining Source Of Fresh Meat,Vegetables And Clean Drinking Water)

Blackout USA (EMP survival and preparedness)

Conquering the coming collapse (Financial advice and preparedness )

Liberty Generator (Build and make your own energy source)

Backyard Liberty (Easy and cheap DIY Aquaponic system to grow your organic and living food bank)

Bullet Proof Home (A Prepper’s Guide in Safeguarding a Home )

Family Self Defense (Best Self Defense Strategies For You And Your Family)

Sold Out After Crisis (Best 37 Items To Hoard For A Long Term Crisis)

SOURCE : www.offgridworld.com