Off grid living in 2021

originally posted by: dug88
a reply to: HunkaHunka

Sadly, it's illegal to live off grid here. You're allowed to produce power, but any power generated is legally required to be sold back to the provincial power company at market rates in exchange for credit with the power company.

They enforce it too. They will actively search for you and punish you.

www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca...

Actually....it's been a while since i've read the laws, apparently, technically they can expropriate any land with power generation facilities....and then flood your land...damn...

(1)The authority may, for any purpose related to the exercise of its powers,

(a)expropriate any property, power site, power project or power plant,

(b)enter, remain on, take possession of and use any property,

(c)on land that it expropriates,

(i)erect, make or place on the land any structure, installation, excavation or power plant, and

(ii)flood and overflow the land and accumulate and store water on it, and

(d)require and compel a person who generates or supplies power to enter into an agreement to supply to the authority as much of that power as the authority requires.

I'm not entirely clear on the purpose of that legislation, however, that fact remains that off-grid living is actually legal in BC.

a reply to: HunkaHunka

Beautiful country and excellent setup! I love your thread, and wish more people would tend toward simplicity.

I think that in the past, people have thought of off-grid as all or nothing; it seems to me and my Darlin' that any part of getting self-sufficient is a good thing.

27 years ago, my Darlin' and me moved from California to the Caribbean. My Mama was born here, and we'd been here a few times on vacation. We lived in a big city, and while we could have moved to any intermountain area we chose, the allure of moving to an island in which the still-pristine sea is just a few yards out your door was strong. We thought we'd give it a go.

We currently are about 75% off the grid. We have 1500 watts of solar power, 500 wat max. wind genny, and a dozen 250 a.h. batteries that are now rapidly coming to the end of their lives. Our system paid for itself in five years, and every month after that, we've saved about USD $300.00.

Our water comes from a combination of rainwater and well water. The rainwater is stored in a concrete cistern, and drawn into the house with a 12-volt pump, as detailed in the picture. Same goes for the well water. We use our regular 110-volt water pump as a backup.

We have SunDanzer Fridge and Freezer, running of a 24-volt system, and they are super efficient. Never have had a moment's problem with them in the last 15 years, and they run direct from the batteries, so even the power flow is efficient. Our stove is propane. Our water heater is a solar collector, that runs into the 110-volt water heater, so in the event of lengthy storm, the standard power will do the job.

We fish for pleasure and food, and I free-dive for conch and lobster and whelks in season. Both of us have jobs and I wonder why we didn't just keep things simple and provide for ourselves. It was computers and internet. Oh, and air conditioning.
Without those three, we could easily grow what we want, eat seafood and feral chickens, and it would be enough. Well, hell, that's not true. We would need beef and popcorn and cheeeeeese and coffee and other things now and then.

We need the internet, and TVs and such, so our inverter is pure sine wave, after having fried a few things with modified sine wave. We are thinking about bumping up things such that we can be completely off-grid, however it's a big investment.

Here's how my survivalist mind works: If TSHTF, and we are the only ones that have power, we can't run the a/c anyway. We live in a small house in a safe area, and keep a low profile. The people around us that know what we have consider us all part of a group, a MAG.

We are not wealthy enough for this system to be self-sustaining. I don't mind. I like tinkering with the system to get the very most out of it. We grow tomatoes, cukes, squash, beans, cassava and some other things, spices. It's a good and simple life. I envy you your mountains and rivers and creeks. Well done on your part.

a reply to: myselfaswell

No, they just go far away into the wilderness where it's empty and cold. BC's a big empty place full of wilderness, pipelines and refineries. There's an exception if you live in an area without hydro lines, but most of them are pretty remote and experience fairly awful weather 9/10ths of the year and if they ever ran hydro lines near your property, the situation will change.

There's a reason why 99% of BC's population lives within 150km of the US border, it's because everything north of that starts to suck pretty quickly.

a reply to: argentus

You sound like you have a wonderful place to live... also I’m a huge fan of conch ever since visiting Andros.

We don’t have A/C either lol

originally posted by: HunkaHunka
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

So I'm not planning on making identifiable information public. Suffice it to say that this is in the Mountain West.

You're off grid, it's not like someone is going to come to the area you mention and start knocking doors down asking everyone where HunkaHunka lives. You're off grid, aren't you armed?

I'm in a small town in NW Louisiana. I'm not living off grid but I could if I had to. I have deer meat in my freezer from a deer that was killed 95 yards from my back door 2 weeks ago. I have two main ponds near the very back that are stocked with brim and bass. I have natural gas that powers my stove and furnace (although I need electricity to kick it on so that would be useless). The only thing I'd be missing if the grid ever went down are solar panels. I also have a few survival books that I bought about 4 years ago. One that shows you how to decipher edible and medicinal plants, the US Army survival guide given to soldiers for Vietnam, and one on self-reliance in a dangerous world. Feeling like I need to start cracking those open.

ETA: The deer comment sounds retarded. I meant to add that there are several that come up that close throughout the evening, night, and early morning times so I have a nice supply of wild game to hunt.

originally posted by: HunkaHunka
a reply to: argentus

You sound like you have a wonderful place to live... also I’m a huge fan of conch ever since visiting Andros.

We don’t have A/C either lol

You probably wouldn't use it where you're at anyways. No A/C would kill people around here in the summer. Nobody builds houses for open breezes anymore. Too reliant on air conditioning.

a reply to: HunkaHunka

Amazing. You are living my dream. My wife finally understood that living that way is what we need to do. Hopefully we're not too old to keep dreaming about it.

Do you grow your veggies / medicine plants ?

I mean, what if you get sick or have an accident ?

Do you have chickens (for eggs), goat (for milk/cheese/butter) or any edible animal too ?

a reply to: LSU2018

People that are mostly or entirely self-sufficient are rightfully hesitant to identify their locations. There is a plethora of information available on the internet, and I bet with what I have posted just here on ATS, a person could identify where I live. I was a dumb # in the past. Hunkahunka is not a dumb #.

We have several aero gardens for year round veggies and we also grow tomatoes, potatoes, and chiles during the sunny part of the year. Growing veggies up here means putting the right defenses in place to keep out the deer, chipmunks, horses, elk etc.

However we do a lot of wild harvesting.... to include mullein, elderberry, currant, brigham’s tea, and wild rose hips.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: HunkaHunka

Amazing. You are living my dream. My wife finally understood that living that way is what we need to do. Hopefully we're not too old to keep dreaming about it.

Do you grow your veggies / medicine plants ?

I mean, what if you get sick or have an accident ?

Do you have chickens (for eggs), goat (for milk/cheese/butter) or any edible animal too ?

a reply to: HunkaHunka

We have feral chickens aplenty, but because I grew up tending chickens, I cannot (yet) bring myself to build a coop and keep them. We kill them and eat them. I don't like chickens.

You have different creatures that prey upon your garden. Here, it is the feral chickens and Soldier Crabs. We've made several high raised beds out of rock and concrete, and they have a hinged top with chicken wire (well, aluminum expanded metal). It gives me pleasure to see the crabs and the chickens on top of the raised beds, merrily crapping on the vegetables, unable to get to them. Our beds are 42" high, not requiring us old pharts to bend over much. They have PVC running through them such that we can water them at the root level. It's a decent system, so far.

By far your best thread. Nice OP. Thank you.

Edit: thank you too for sharing your personal info in terms of how you live. Links are important. Not more so than life and living it. You seem to know a thing or two. Play your strong suit

a reply to: slatesteam

Thank you

a reply to: argentus

So while we don’t have chickens, other folks on the mountain do, and we buy eggs from them. Best eggs ever really, and not too far of a drive to get them.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: HunkaHunka
I’m happy to answer any general questions you may have, and I encourage you to share your off-grid experiences.

Have you ever been attacked by a Sasquatch that's angry that there's no Starbucks nearby?

Hey, no need for name calling. I just really like my Starbucks, is all.

OP, beautiful home

FCD, I'm surprised at you. There's no reason for a personal attack like that. Your meds getting to you? How about stepping up and apologizing?

OP, how do you get your propane?

a reply to: HunkaHunka

SoOo...

You are at 8,500 feet elevation, are an hour from anywhere but use propane for heat, for your generators, for your stove, fridge, lights, water heater, I am assuming your freezers, etc...

Not only your generator for light and for heating the house and powering your satellite service, your computer, but another generator for filling two 10k gallon water tanks, from a 700 foot deep well that services at least 6 families.

You do know that propane generators (decent size ones) can go through 5-6 gallons an hour...

I just have to ask...

How do you get propane in the winter?

You know, the 3,000 gallons a month you are going to use?

You must get a sweet deal on propane!!!!

Or does it not snow at 8,500 feet elevation where you are in America in the Pacific North West?

Just wondering....

a reply to: schuyler

Okay...I aplogize, Hunka, for being skeptical and sarcastic.

All due respect, but prove me wrong. (from one life-long country boy to "another" (?)).

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: schuyler

Okay...I aplogize, Hunka, for being skeptical and sarcastic.

All due respect, but prove me wrong. (from one life-long country boy to "another" (?)).

It is possible.

But the poster would be paying a few thousand a month for energy in the winter and there are obvious... delivery issues.

Unless he had a battery of 1,000 gallon propane tanks.

And little or no snow at 8,500 feet of elevation.

I'm offgrid in the Pacific North West.

I crunched those numbers 20 years ago.

~shrug~

originally posted by: HunkaHunka
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

So I'm not planning on making identifiable information public. Suffice it to say that this is in the Mountain West.

Then you SHOULD have deleted your photos' iPhone EXIF data if you expected people to buy your line.

One, nice town.

Two, nice neighborhood. For being "off-grid".

Three, you ain't off-grid by a LONG SHOT. Summer homes don't count.