Article: "Is living off the grid the new American Dream?"

[SUV_RVing]

I've been camping out in the Jackson, Wyoming, area lately and came across this article in the town's alt weekly newspaper, which is also on their website:

Is living off the grid the new American Dream? – http://planetjh.com/2016/08/17/feature-independently-powered

One section in the article is specifically about a vandwelling couple.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

The power grid is just one of many modern vulnerabilities.

Cool article. Thanks for linking.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

It sure is my dream. Whether I end up doing it in a house, a vehicle or a combo of both, it's def my end goal.

 

[TrainChaser]

ERLH:  The big advantage of living off the grid in a vehicle is that you don't have to deal with the local utilities like you do with a home.

Many people have invested some big bucks in going solar with the idea that they can sell the excess back to the power company, but I just read recently that the power companies are starting to balk at that.  Like insurance companies, they're most interested in money coming IN, not going OUT.  And also your being at their mercy for rate hikes (on their part)...

Disposal of gray water isn't technically legal in any state, as far as I've heard.

And other states fuss about rainwater collection.

Better stay in your van!

 

[Headache]

The power grid is just one of many modern vulnerabilities.

Cool article. Thanks for linking.

Indeed!  I was living in Cleveland at the time of the big northeast outage.  It made me very aware of the power I use and how miserable I was without it.  Thinking about it also reminds me of the movie "The Matrix" albeit we aren't batteries for the system in the sense of power, but if you changed the electrical current they were taking from human bodies and substituted money...

 

[eDJ_]

How many of the women here have found themselves thinking like this ?

 

[Canine]

No need to leave home to leave the grid.Just set up a solar system.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

ERLH:  The big advantage of living off the grid in a vehicle is that you don't have to deal with the local utilities like you do with a home.

Many people have invested some big bucks in going solar with the idea that they can sell the excess back to the power company, but I just read recently that the power companies are starting to balk at that.  Like insurance companies, they're most interested in money coming IN, not going OUT.  And also your being at their mercy for rate hikes (on their part)...

Disposal of gray water isn't technically legal in any state, as far as I've heard.

And other states fuss about rainwater collection.

Better stay in your van!

All depends on the location you chose.  Luckily there are still plenty of areas in the country where no one cares what you do.  I've even given Alaska some thought. My uncle moved there in 1972 and hasn't ever looked back.  He doesn't live in a town, thus he has no property taxes, no town hall, no building permits, no nothing.  He's not even in the middle of no where either.  Well it is and isn't.  He can drive an hour to Fairbanks which has everything anyone would ever need and a smaller town about 20 min away for Gas, groceries, small restaurant/bar.  He does have the extreme winters but he races dog teams so he likes the colder months.  


But aside from the extremes of Alaska, I know plenty of areas in New England I could live off grid and no one would bother me.  As far as people selling solar back........that's because they want a solar system that runs an insanely huge American sized home with residential appliances and the whole 9 yards.  No need for my solar system to be any bigger than what you'd use in a Van.  

People are disposing of black and grey water all over the country in septic systems.  I'd have no issues installing one where ever I land.  And a well for water.  My uncle even has a septic and well in Alaska. And internet : )

 

[drysailor]

I've been camping out in the Jackson, Wyoming, area lately and came across this article in the town's alt weekly newspaper, which is also on their website:

Is living off the grid the new American Dream? – http://planetjh.com/2016/08/17/feature-independently-powered

One section in the article is specifically about a vandwelling couple.

I don't think it's so much "living off the grid", as it is the freedom to easily go elsewhere if the locale you're in becomes something you don't want to put up with any longer.

 

[kayell]

http://greywateraction.org/greywater-codes-and-policy/ Some of the "allowed" areas are pretty complicated &/or restrictive.

 

[jimindenver]

The trailer is off the grid, well at least for two weeks at a time anyways. Eventually we have to dump tanks, throw out the trash, replace water and fuels, pay for the internet, phone and satellite not to mention food. It takes services to provide those things so I guess we are not as off the grid as I'd like to think.

Off the grid has become a buzz phrase like reducing your carbon footprint was a decade ago. It's idealistic until you understand the logistics and cost of having a septic dug, a well drilled, a PV solar system, a huge bank, inverter, possibly passive solar and entertainment. It cost a lot of money to REALLY go off the grid if you want any sense of normalcy. Even just the firewood everyone thinks they will burn is a major pain from finding, moving, cutting, splitting, stacking, burning and cleaning out. You could get a part time job and pay for all of those services. It will be many, many years before you recoup the investment all the while suffering the limitations of being off grid.

I guess what I am saying is being off the grid is really for those that have no other choice or are willing to accept it as a lifestyle. It's a big investment and change for those that think it would be neat.

 

[Kezzie]

We live completely off-grid in Alaska. In winter you can generally count on the power outage a couple of times - effecting many people. We find out about the outages when we go to town, which is rather nice. It has no effect on us at home.
A lot of people - even up here will set up expensive, grid-tied systems where they make their own power and sell excess to the power co. The downside being, as mentioned earlier - the power co does NOT make it an even trade. They buy the power form you at wholesale and sell it back to you when you need it at retail. And THAT is quite a spread. Especially up here where they started some yrs back, a "fuel charge" when gas prices went through the roof. Oddly - when they prices went way down a yr or so ago, the fuel price didn't drop with it. Go figure. Fortunately, we don't worry about that.
Up here so many people live off grid by necessity. Once you leave town and get 10 or so miles out, the power lines just stop. If you live out there, you make your own power. We live out there, and we do so by choice. Making our own power, hauling our own water, having a composting toilet - all are well worth it when you live in the most beautiful place on this planet. The view from our porch is breathtaking.
That said - it is not for everyone.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

We live completely off-grid in Alaska. In winter you can generally count on the power outage a couple of times - effecting many people. We find out about the outages when we go to town, which is rather nice. It has no effect on us at home.
A lot of people - even up here will set up expensive, grid-tied systems where they make their own power and sell excess to the power co. The downside being, as mentioned earlier - the power co does NOT make it an even trade. They buy the power form you at wholesale and sell it back to you when you need it at retail. And THAT is quite a spread. Especially up here where they started some yrs back, a "fuel charge" when gas prices went through the roof. Oddly - when they prices went way down a yr or so ago, the fuel price didn't drop with it. Go figure. Fortunately, we don't worry about that.
Up here so many people live off grid by necessity. Once you leave town and get 10 or so miles out, the power lines just stop. If you live out there, you make your own power. We live out there, and we do so by choice. Making our own power, hauling our own water, having a composting toilet - all are well worth it when you live in the most beautiful place on this planet. The view from our porch is breathtaking.
That said - it is not for everyone.

Hi Kezzie,
    Where abouts in Alaska are you?  My uncle is near Delta Junction and my cousins on the other side of the family oddly enough live in Soldotna.  They aren't off grid at all though. 

I've been giving it some serious thought living up there.  I've spend a few summers with my Uncle over the years, and one year stayed September through Feb to get a feel for the winters.  But I know S.E. Alaska has a more mild winter.

 

[Kezzie]

Hi Kezzie,
    Where abouts in Alaska are you?  My uncle is near Delta Junction and my cousins on the other side of the family oddly enough live in Soldotna.  They aren't off grid at all though. 

I've been giving it some serious thought living up there.  I've spend a few summers with my Uncle over the years, and one year stayed September through Feb to get a feel for the winters.  But I know S.E. Alaska has a more mild winter. That's true - if it isn't snowing, its raining.

I wondered if your Unk wasn't down by Delta form your description. We live some ways north of Fairbanks.

 

[Hippiechk]

It's not a new dream...kinda' depends on people.

I am the first generation in my family to be born on the grid. My Mom's parents homestead was so far off the grid you still can not drive to their old property to this day. Its now a fly in fishing camp. I live off grid full time with no intent to go back on.

It's just choices...some people find the silence to be maddening.

 

[Gunny]

This guy has the right idea.

http://www.wearethemighty.com/watch/this-army-veteran-built-his-own-castle-in-northern-arizona

 

[VegasVanGuy]

I read a book on minimalism a while back and I wrote down this quote. I can't remember the author.

“Waldenlust.” This longing takes several forms: fantasies of the freedom that dispossession would bring; nostalgia for earlier, supposedly simpler times; and reverence for the primitive, which is assumed to be more authentic and closer to nature.

Seems pretty accurate to me.

 

[TrainChaser]

And none of it is usually what you think it will be. Reality is sometimes a nice surprise, and sometimes a witch.

 

[accrete]

good article & thx for the share/link.

While my wife and I do live full time in an RV we are still (our choice) at the whims of the local utility companies and grid. But it is a much simpler life than when we were on our acre of land and house. At least now we have many days of on-board water and power if there are issues from the utility side of things. And as I type we have been without park-side water since ~11pm last night as a water main broke, they say it should be back by dinner tonight, but if not we're still fine in our self contained 5ver.

; ) Good thing I did all the laundry yesterday!
Thom