Living "Off the Grid"....

[Soonerjeepman]

I'm a good republican (no snide comments! LOL)...BUT with that said, I'm also a conservationists as well. I like to hunt and fish but also know that I need to do it correctly to preserve the natural resources.

My finance' has land in north central missouri. 95/40 acres. The 95 has about 20/25 acres of timber the rest of it and the 40 are tillable. The plan is when I retire from teaching (5 years), to build a "log" cabin style house on the 95. I really want to be as off the grid as possible. Either solar panels, wind turban, something.

We'll cash rent the land for crops..as her mother is doing now. Raise a few cattle, chickens, have a veggie garden...etc.

The house will be built with energy conservation in mind, lots of insulation, etc.

I know 5-0 has panels, does anyone have wind? I need to check the missouri requirements, course in 5 years that could all change! lol.

Anyone else working towards being off the grid or living partly that way?

[hawaii 5-0]

This Summer I passed a village of about 25 homes just west of Taos, NM. It looked like everyone was off the grid. Lots of solar panels and wind turbines. Also recycled tires and glass bottles used in construction.

Most of the houses were built into existing hillsides to conserve coolness. In Missouri it would conserve heat with proper insulation.

Also check into septic and water catchment systems.

Probably a wealth of info on the 'Net.

Good luck with your dream. Sounds nice. I've thot about the Table Rock Lake area myself.

5-0

[dwarthog]

It was probably this place that you passed.

http://earthship.com/visit-us

Pretty cool setup.

[IGotNoTiming]

I have toured several earthships outside of Taos. They are absolutely incredible.

With regards to your solar question. My brother just became a "micro generator" for the city of Austin. It is an unbelieveable program. He actually generates electricity and sells back to the city. He has had a negative electric bill every month since he has been up and running. The other plus is that the gross amount of his install is deducted from his property tax every year. If you aren't familiar Austin's property taxes are through the roof. He went from 12K per year to just around 3K.

Energy is going to be our dominant issue for years to come. Fortunately we will be slowly getting off of fossil fuels. Within 30 years or so, there will be no reason for anyone to have to rely on coal, oil or natural gas.

[IGotNoTiming]

You should google the "Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor" and read about what the government built, ran for 22000 hours(5 years) and then dismantled it in favor of uranium so we could build nukes. Thorium is the way of the future.

Perfect stable, no way you can have a melt down.
it is one of the most plentiful elements there is.
I single 3 lb chunk of it could power one persons electrical need for 3000 years...
It is not weapons grade material

the list goes on and on.... worth checking out.

The US needs to get serious about it. India and China are in a race to get IP's on that type of power and if they do we will be paying way more for that power if they own the patents

[Soonerjeepman]

great info...thanks.

5-0, yes table rock is a great area...yeah a lake house would be great! lol

[bluedogok]

Check some of the wind maps, in the hills it all depends on where you can place it. Bergey Wind Power is based in Norman and is one of the larger small windmill manufacturers. Home Power magazine has downloads which are pretty informative.

Home Power Magazine

[hawaii 5-0]

It was probably this place that you passed.

http://earthship.com/visit-us

Pretty cool setup.

That's it. It was just a bit past the Rio Grande Bridge. We passed by there coming and going.

5-0

[Turd_Ferguson]

Looking at building a covered patio sometime this fall. I think I'll try to implement a low profile air turbine into it. Need to find out what size and how many batteries I need and then figure out how to tie it into the house. Wonder how do OG&E by any energy I create, back from me?

[dwarthog]

Looking at building a covered patio sometime this fall. I think I'll try to implement a low profile air turbine into it. Need to find out what size and how many batteries I need and then figure out how to tie it into the house. Wonder how do OG&E by any energy I create, back from me?

Turd,


You'll need a grid tie inverter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid-tie_inverter

That is if you are just going to put it back onto the electrical grid. If that is the case, you don't need any batteries for that.

If your going to store energy then you'll need batteries etc. and that gets into a whole nuther can of worms...

Unless your going off the grid, then just collecting and putting it back out into the power grid is the easiest path.

[kbsooner21]

Any of you hippies plan on growing some green too

[olevetonahill]

Any of you hippies plan on growing some green too

Grow in a corn field if ya do.
Jes sayin

[Soonerjeepman]

Grow in a corn field if ya do.
Jes sayin

there is a buttload of cornfields where the land is...lol. In fact I'm sure we'll grow sweet corn for sure. In July we qt bagged 140 bags for the winter...

as far as the other green....fortunately it does nothing for me, tried it recently on a vaca. So I'll just drink~

[olevetonahill]

there is a buttload of cornfields where the land is...lol. In fact I'm sure we'll grow sweet corn for sure. In July we qt bagged 140 bags for the winter...

as far as the other green....fortunately it does nothing for me, tried it recently on a vaca. So I'll just drink~

Heh, then I can show ya how to convert that "Corn" into sompun usable!

[SicEmBaylor]

I'm a good republican (no snide comments! LOL)...BUT with that said, I'm also a conservationists as well. I like to hunt and fish but also know that I need to do it correctly to preserve the natural resources.

My finance' has land in north central missouri. 95/40 acres. The 95 has about 20/25 acres of timber the rest of it and the 40 are tillable. The plan is when I retire from teaching (5 years), to build a "log" cabin style house on the 95. I really want to be as off the grid as possible. Either solar panels, wind turban, something.

We'll cash rent the land for crops..as her mother is doing now. Raise a few cattle, chickens, have a veggie garden...etc.

The house will be built with energy conservation in mind, lots of insulation, etc.

I know 5-0 has panels, does anyone have wind? I need to check the missouri requirements, course in 5 years that could all change! lol.

Anyone else working towards being off the grid or living partly that way?

No.

[BermudaSooner]

I'm off the grid down in Mexico. Solar with 12 batteries, as well as black can on the roof for hot water. Guessing most of that won't work quite the same way in Missouri.

Definitely nice not having an electric bill, but as secluded as I am, not really an option anyway unless I wanted to take the power lines up the beach at $10,000 a kilometer, with about 4 km from the closest power line.

[Soonerjeepman]

Heh, then I can show ya how to convert that "Corn" into sompun usable!

hmmmm...interesting proposal

[Soonerjeepman]

I'm off the grid down in Mexico. Solar with 12 batteries, as well as black can on the roof for hot water. Guessing most of that won't work quite the same way in Missouri.

Definitely nice not having an electric bill, but as secluded as I am, not really an option anyway unless I wanted to take the power lines up the beach at $10,000 a kilometer, with about 4 km from the closest power line.

that's awesome....mind me asking where? general area...we were in PDC in June

[BermudaSooner]

that's awesome....mind me asking where? general area...we were in PDC in June

Near a fishing village called Mahajual about 300 km south of Cancun. If you are a diver, you may know the Banco Chincorro, the second largest reef in the world. It is directly East of our place. Not the easiest place to get to, but beautiful down there when a hurricane isn't hitting us.

[Soonerjeepman]

Near a fishing village called Mahajual about 300 km south of Cancun. If you are a diver, you may know the Banco Chincorro, the second largest reef in the world. It is directly East of our place. Not the easiest place to get to, but beautiful down there when a hurricane isn't hitting us.

wow...nice.

Not a diver (saw Jaws in 3rd grade...) scared me for life...lol. I did do some snorkeling a few years ago in Cozumel. I really wish I did that...just an awesome display.