Living Off The Grid
In 2006 our family started contemplating the possibilities of living off the grid, producing our own electricity with Renewable Energy sources. Our electricity bill was about $200 a month and it just kept on growing. We knew there was a better way, so we looked at living off the grid. We decided we wanted to find ways of living off the grid mainly for economic reasons but we also wanted to keep the lifestyle we were already living.
We just didn’t want to give up all of our regular household appliances. As we dug deeper it became clear that with a bit of planning and patience and some serious conservation practices we could achieve this goal. It looked like we could be living off the grid within a few months if we worked hard at it.
Thankfully, we already owned a small cottage that we had been planning on moving to in the future anyways. It was an easy option for us, but there are a lot of country properties for reasonable prices out there too, if you decide to make this option work for you.
Our property was only 40 minutes from town, so there would be no job finding necessary either, just a slightly longer commute to work. We also made arrangements to work from home a couple days a week, so we could enjoy our new found off grid lifestyle.
Years before we had looked at bringing electricity to the cottage, but the hydro authority had told us that it would cost over $14,000 to do so. We didn’t proceed with it because of the high cost. Why would we bring in grid hydro if it would still cost $200 a month and $14,000 just to get it there. Living off the grid now made perfect sense from an economic point of view.
We could use the $14,000 to install Renewable Energy to run our cottage/home. Plus, if we added a conservative 2 years of electricity service expense to the total what would have otherwise been spent on electric bills that’s another $4800.
The total would be $18,800 we could spend on a Renewable Energy system and still be money ahead when compared to bringing in grid electricity. After 2 years we would be money ahead! We would not have to pay electric bills ever again.
We chose solar panels to install in our new home because they were easier to install. We found a great website that offered up tons of advice and really helped with the installation. We wanted to put up a wind generator but we just didn’t have the resources at that point. Later we actually built a wind generator with plans we found. We also had a back room that we could convert into a battery storage area and control room for the inverter, charge controllers etc.
We bought 12 Kyocera solar panels, all of them about 170 watts of power producing capacity. That would give us about 2Kw of production and that was a good start. An electrician friend helped us wire up the system with 16 huge forklift batteries and an inverter for AC power, all charge controlled and set up in case of lightning too. He said that it happens occasionally and you have to protect your investment, so we did.
We run a DC deep well pump and DC lights directly from the batteries. The whole house is run from this system and only occasionally do we have to start up the backup generator.
We didn’t have much money when we were done and we still wanted a wind generator, so we decided to build one. We found some great plans and all that helpful solar panel advice at the Living Off the Grid website. We could not have done it without them.
We have been living off the grid for over a year now, and we could not have done it without the helpful folks at the Living Off the Grid website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Temple
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Property - Buying Tips Part 3
This section follows advice given in my previous piece "Property-Buying-Tips-Part-2" and assumes that you have done some preliminary searching and are attracted to a particular location or neighborhood. A very good, but often unconsidered source of information is your local law enforcement office. Be warned that they might give you a somewhat negative view of a neighborhood since that is the nature of their profession. Once you have explained that you're considering a property in an area, they may tell you some very useful information such as problems with neighbors or in the locality.
The realtor / estate agent will have informed you of other amenities such as transport, shopping, access and leisure facilities such as parks and open space. Your legal people should have checked any factors likely to affect your future property such as local authority planning applications, road and other proposals. Similarly, your legal team should check for hidden costs such as service charges (particularly in shared facilities such as apartments, etc), or basics such as water and sewage systems and charges.
Now that you are attracted to an area and are reasonably happy about the neighborhood, what other factors should you consider? If you have children or are considering a family, you will already have checked the local schools and colleges. Another useful way of picking up information about an area is to apply to the local school as a prospective parent; you will be surprised how much information you can get from enthusiastic head teachers! Their school bulletin or prospectus will have some relevant information. While you're visiting the area, don't forget to see i there is a local newspaper. Many localities have free newspapers delivered and some have long-established titles; you should ask in the local shops for these. You will have probably checked internet sources such as bulletin boards to get a feel for an area but don't forget to post a question on Yahoo Answers about particular areas since there are some very helpful people on this free service.
Finally, the often forgotten factors in home purchasing. You have probably asked about facilities such as TV, cable and broadband provision but don't forget to switch on your cellphone and check reception! Another forgotten factor is the effect of light during various parts of the year. This is not so crucial where you are searching in areas nearer the equator, but more important in more northerly or southerly regions. Since the property-viewing market tends to revolve around summer, you might be viewing during the best possible time of the year when daylight is long and the sun's elevation is constantly high. Imagine the effect of the winter sunshine when the angle of the sun is much lower. Conversely, you might be searching in a hot country and looking for shade! The opposite applies - if you're viewing in winter, check the possible trajectory of the sun in summer when that tree or building in the distance will make no difference.
I hope you have enjoyed this series - this is the concluding article. If you found these suggestions useful, please explore and support my websites below.
A musicologist by profession, Dr Scott writes two travel guides in his spare time. _Hidden Dublin_ contains over 200 unique pages, giving advice and tips of many aspects of his native Dublin (Ireland). _Hidden Italy_ is a more recent venture, offering an alternative look at regional Italy. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Durham, UK in 2005 and also holds the Associateship of the Royal College of Organists diploma.
hidden-italy.com
hidden-dublin.com
dur.ac.uk/p.j.d.scott
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_Peter_J_D_Scott
This section follows advice given in my previous piece "Property-Buying-Tips-Part-2" and assumes that you have done some preliminary searching and are attracted to a particular location or neighborhood. A very good, but often unconsidered source of information is your local law enforcement office. Be warned that they might give you a somewhat negative view of a neighborhood since that is the nature of their profession. Once you have explained that you're considering a property in an area, they may tell you some very useful information such as problems with neighbors or in the locality.
The realtor / estate agent will have informed you of other amenities such as transport, shopping, access and leisure facilities such as parks and open space. Your legal people should have checked any factors likely to affect your future property such as local authority planning applications, road and other proposals. Similarly, your legal team should check for hidden costs such as service charges (particularly in shared facilities such as apartments, etc), or basics such as water and sewage systems and charges.
Now that you are attracted to an area and are reasonably happy about the neighborhood, what other factors should you consider? If you have children or are considering a family, you will already have checked the local schools and colleges. Another useful way of picking up information about an area is to apply to the local school as a prospective parent; you will be surprised how much information you can get from enthusiastic head teachers! Their school bulletin or prospectus will have some relevant information. While you're visiting the area, don't forget to see i there is a local newspaper. Many localities have free newspapers delivered and some have long-established titles; you should ask in the local shops for these. You will have probably checked internet sources such as bulletin boards to get a feel for an area but don't forget to post a question on Yahoo Answers about particular areas since there are some very helpful people on this free service.
Finally, the often forgotten factors in home purchasing. You have probably asked about facilities such as TV, cable and broadband provision but don't forget to switch on your cellphone and check reception! Another forgotten factor is the effect of light during various parts of the year. This is not so crucial where you are searching in areas nearer the equator, but more important in more northerly or southerly regions. Since the property-viewing market tends to revolve around summer, you might be viewing during the best possible time of the year when daylight is long and the sun's elevation is constantly high. Imagine the effect of the winter sunshine when the angle of the sun is much lower. Conversely, you might be searching in a hot country and looking for shade! The opposite applies - if you're viewing in winter, check the possible trajectory of the sun in summer when that tree or building in the distance will make no difference.
I hope you have enjoyed this series - this is the concluding article. If you found these suggestions useful, please explore and support my websites below.
A musicologist by profession, Dr Scott writes two travel guides in his spare time. _Hidden Dublin_ contains over 200 unique pages, giving advice and tips of many aspects of his native Dublin (Ireland). _Hidden Italy_ is a more recent venture, offering an alternative look at regional Italy. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Durham, UK in 2005 and also holds the Associateship of the Royal College of Organists diploma.
hidden-italy.com
hidden-dublin.com
dur.ac.uk/p.j.d.scott
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_Peter_J_D_Scott
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