100% enery sufficient?

[mamos]

Hi all

I am interested in generating as much of our own electricity in the near future as possible

Is there anyone on here who is completely off grid?

mamos

[Odsox]

I can't help I'm afraid but I shall watch this thread with interest.
I looked into getting a wind turbine last year, but with oil prices crashing it sort of got put on the back burner.
But, I read a report by somebody who ought to know what they're talking about, saying that when economies start to recover oil prices will go back to $150 and beyond and stay there.
It might well be an opportune time to look into the subject a bit more enthusiastically with interest rates low and companies bending over backwards to sell something.

[Green Aura]

I, too, watch with interest. I really want to do this but finances and other constraints prevent this at the moment. I'm determined though and will get there in the end.

[Big Al]

I'm not off grid but having said that I intend to be self sufficient in electric over the next 3 years. My plan is to tie into the grid and sell them the excess. One thought I had was to go onto economy 7 meters so that the day time when I'm a tight arse the power is sent to the grid then do all my washing, cooking etc at night. Don't know how practical this will be but it's an option.

You ask if anyone if completly OFF grid? Can I assume you are now ON grid and if so why not look into the above. If you go off grid you need to keep a massive battery bank and these will only last at a maximum of 5 years and will be expensive to replace.

If you live in town with the grid infrastructure it might be worth looking at staying on grid because next year the government is making the power companies double the rates of payments mad for micro generation. Still probably no where near that of germany but hey ho onwards and upwards.

Can you offer more info on this Mamos so we can get a better idea to help? In town / on grid or in the wilds /off grid etc. Useage figures of electric etc.

HTH

Big Al

[Odsox]

If you live in town with the grid infrastructure it might be worth looking at staying on grid because next year the government is making the power companies double the rates of payments mad for micro generation. Still probably no where near that of germany but hey ho onwards and upwards.

This is the MAIN reason I shelved plans last year Big Al. The battery option is the killer especially when you add delivery charges and of course the added complexity of wiring your house for both your own power and a grid back up for when the wind doesn't blow.

Grid tie is the answer but the wonderful Irish electricity company (ESB) will allow you to feed any amount of power into their grid but won't pay sod all for it.
Now I'm as mean as you are and I don't see paying an arm and a leg for their electricity and then supply them with my excess for nowt.

[mamos]

At the moment we are on grid but we have a strange setup when it comes to electric.

We are renting a cabin from a friend and the electricity feed for the cabin comes from a huge industrial unit with ovens large enough to cook yachts (they are boat builders)

They use huge amounts of electricity and have said that the minute amount we use will not make any difference so they are not charging us for the electricity we use.

However. In the future we will be buying some land either here or in Portugal and we don't want to worry about getting connected to the grid so we are using this time to experiment with A. Reducing the amount of consumption and B. Generating our own power so when we do find the right piece of land we can hit the ground running where power is concerned.

The reason we want to be off grid has nothing to do with the economics of running our home. It is more to do with being self reliant and event proof.

mamos

[Clara]

We're completely off-grid, though we do use butane bottles for cooking (about 4 a year) alongside solar cooker and woodburner. I'd say Portugal was a smart move, you need sun for this kind of thing!

In terms of reducing consumption it is best to find ways around anything that uses electricity to produce heat (and conversely fridges and freezers) as this is particularly inefficient. We are fridge and freezer free in the south of spain, you just need a good pantry. Water for the washing machine (and hopefully a dishwasher in future) is directly fed in from the vaccuum tube solar hot water system and there is a button on the front cuts out the internal element - so clothes get washed at whatever temp the water is at (usually 40-50*C), though I can also reroute completely cold water through it if I want to wash me woolies .

I agree entirely with your point about self reliance - I would hate to be on-grid and at the mercy of those who decide energy prices, this way of life asks for some sacrifices but it pays dividends in not having to wage slave to pay the bills.

Furthermore I'd add that in addition to power, when you look for land you also need to consider wood and water, IMO these are non-negotiables if you're looking to be self-reliant, everything else can be done without or fixed with ingenuity.

I know scores of people living off-grid, in many different ways. It depends what resources you have to throw at it and how you are prepared to live, but I truly believe that it is possible for everyone - it just depends if they feel that the changes to be made are worth it (because the way most people feel they must live in order to survive now truly aren't compatible with off-grid living) and looking beyond the norm to see that another way is possible.

[mamos]

Thanks Clara

Very useful and interesting post.

We have been living in a van for the last seven years so our electrical needs are already a lot less than most people. Most of our electrical items run on 12 volts and those that do not are non essentials.

I am hoping to carry what we have learned into our new abode and not to get too excited by all the wonderful things we could just plug in.

We still won't have hot water for now but like you we have bottled gas for cooking and so we will carry on boiling a kettle for washing etc. I am going to have a go at building some kind of solar water heating system and hopefully a wood burner with boiler for next winter.

I have three solar panels and a handful of leisure batteries from the van and I am going to fit a 12 volt ring main and lighting to the cabin so even if the panels only provide us with lighting for now I would be happy.

Like you say, Portugal would be good and it is a dream of our to get there someday but if won't be for a few years when we have sold our business and made some money. In the mean time we will carry on experimenting with solar and wind and learning all we can.

mamos

[Clara]

TBH sounds like you wouldn't struggle with it given your experiences and motivation.

I think solar hot water is quite difficult in the UK, here (and presumably in most of portugal), you could just put a big coil of black hose on the roof and that would work most of the time. I love my vaccuum tubes (I felt quite obnoxiously self-satisfied when I was last in the UK and the friend who I was staying with permitted herself brief lukewarm showers every other day, whilst we can take piping hot guilt-free baths up to our necks any night of the week - awful ain't I?) and my solar cooker (www.sun-co.pt), the first will pay for itself in under 5 years and the latter paid for itself the first summer we had it I reckon.

The concerns about batteries raised I don't entirely agree with, of course they have a lifespan but that varies greatly with how much they are discharged everyday - if you can keep it to 30% they should last at least 10 years.