My name is Warren, I am known as “Offgridman” on the
Internet. My story is about surviving without commercial electricity, natural
gas or any of the on-grid services.
In 1997 I was told I had 6 months to live. They were wrong.
I did not have cancer. I did have six months of stressful worrying waiting for
it to not be located. In the end it was discovered I had thyroid failure
and that I only needed a little pill a day to lead a normal life again.
In early 1998 I decided I was not going to drive myself crazy
worrying any more. So I began building my retreat cabin in the woods. No power,
water, electrical service or piped gas was available. Having read many years
ago about a wonderful invention called a solar cell, I had dreamed of being
energy independent. I made this my mission.
I studied all manner of alternative power systems available
that would be effective and available in my geographical area. I decided that I
would best be served by using solar panels to capture the sun’s energy. Not
that I was biased—it really was the best decision.
I decided on using lead acid batteries for storing the bulk
of my power in chemical form as the most cost effective solution available to
me at the time. Inverters convert this stored chemical / DC power to a
more typical 110 volt AC power for the cabin. The cabin is wired like a normal
home with the exception of 12-volt circuits for lights, vent hood and
instrumentation systems that monitor the generator, battery bank, and water
tank levels.
A diesel generator was needed to power the air conditioning
and water well, so I scrounged the parts and built my own. I know building a
generator sounds difficult but it was really one of the easier projects. We
have 500 gallons of stored diesel fuel. I have learned to make bio-diesel, but
have not begun doing so yet due to time constraints.
The inverter can power the AC water well pump in a pinch,
but I normally use the generator for this task.
For potable water, I drilled my own water well. It took
three days to accomplish but was well worth the effort (pun intended). The
water well has served us for 13 years now and I expect that it will last
at least my lifetime. I could have used rain water capture, but the
storage requirements (number of tanks needed) convinced me to take the easy way
out.
I intend to drill another water well that is larger than the
2″ well I have now. I can use low voltage pumps that can be lowered down
into the well and used to pump water to the holding tanks. This will eliminate
the need to run a generator to obtain ground water from the well.
The water is currently being pumped from the ground with a
conventional jet water pump when the generator is running and is stored in a
550-gallon holding tank or goes directly to the cabin water fixture. Clever
plumbing makes this happen without intervention. When the generator is not
running then 12 volt RV style DC pumps (2ea) pump the water and
send it to the cabin water fixtures we can tell no difference in the water flow
or pressure between the 110 volt pump or the 12 volt pumps. Regular
well pump switches control the DC pumps and are set at a pressure just below
the 110 volt pump, thereby creating an automatic switchover between the two
different pumps base on pressure.
For toilet and waste drain water sanitation I designed
and built my own sanitary sewer system with septic tanks (2). So far it has
worked well since christening so to speak.
I constructed Bayou camps cabin with a kitchen area with a
double sink and a propane RV type refrigerator, bedroom, den area, open deck
area, and a full bathroom with Jacuzzi tub, sink and toilet and a generator
shack.
We are now on our second set of batteries. The first set
survived over seven years. We use ten each, 6- volt golf cart
batteries. If we move to the cabin as a residence, I would double this number
of batteries. I liked the Trojan brand batteries we had the first time best,
but the Crown brand we have now are OK. I just feel they use more water and
require more frequent checking than the Trojan brand did. Time will tell if
they last as long or maybe even longer. I am short on time so the higher
required maintenance of the Crown batteries is not something I like.
The last time I replaced them I paid about $1000 for them.
This is cheap if you figure we have never had a power bill.
Bayou camps solar array is a jumble of different sized
panels wired to 12 volts (required since they are mis-matched panels) and
total about three thousands watts. The array is mounted on the top of the
generator battery bank shack. The roof was orientated and constructed with this
purpose in mind.
The quality of the inverter is important for reliability.
You can use modified sine wave inverters, but I would buy at least a 3000 watt
inverter. 5000 watts would be better.
At Bayou camp we have a 200 watt sine wave inverter, a
600 watt sine wave inverter, a 800 watt modified sine wave inverter, and a 3000
watt modified sine wave inverter.
We also have two generators, a 5000 watt, 12 hp diesel, and
a 16 hp gasoline 6500 watt generator. We use a series of manual switches and
can select by throwing switches, whether we get power from the generator
or Inverter A (3000 watts modified sine wave) or Inverter B (600
watts sine wave). The switches are set up so it is not possible to
cross-connect any of the power sources. In other words , you cannot turn on the
generator and the inverter at the same time and short something out.
Switch “A” selects Generator OR Inverter, and then switch “B” selects 600 watt
or 3000 watt inverter. It’s pretty simple really.
The water pumps are powered from the house battery bank
and get power from a homemade 12-volt fuse panel. We mounted a marine-type push
pull switch on this panel to operate as a disconnect for the DC water
pumps.
This fuse panel also supplies low-voltage power to
motion lights, interior low-voltage cabin lights, the RV refrigerators control
system (not for cooling propane does that), and a 12-volt cigarette lighter
plug in the cabin we use for charging cell phones.
The experiment has been a huge success with many learning
experiences. We have never been without electricity or water in the cabin. We
have ceiling fans, lights, television, and radio—just like a normal home.
With
the exception of some strange monitoring gadgets on the wall, the home is
wired and works like any normal home. I have a few more projects to
complete the cabin (we call it Bayou camp). I want to get around to installing
my solar hot water system. Presently we use propane to heat water since it is
still available to us. I would like to eliminate this entirely. I plan on using
a combination of solar hot water panels and wood burning hot water heater back
up.
For air conditioning I plan on experimenting with
designs. I have using two different methods
* 1. Building a parabolic solar collector to heat molten salt
to provide the energy to operate the air conditioner.
* 2. Building a Mentos wonder wheel heat engine to obtain
mechanical energy to power the air conditioner.
For heat we have been using propane cozy heaters, but we
plan on improving this in the future. Wood is available and would be our first
choice in a disaster. We have a wood heater but have not installed it yet.
Presently we use propane for refrigeration. If a molten salt
system is used it could provide energy to operate the refrigerator. If we do
not use molten salt then I will enlarge the photovoltaic system (solar panels)
capacity and use a high efficiency refrigerator when the present system fails.
What have we learned?
Remember we are located in the deep south so heating is not
the issue here—having air conditioning is.
* 1. You can easily and affordably get enough power from
photovoltaic (solar) panels for your clothes washing or running a basic gas
dryer (not electric drying… best to use the sun anyway), refrigeration,
entertainment, area lighting, microwaves, hand tools.
* 2. You can use solar cooking, wood cooking, gas or propane
or some combination of these for cooking forget using a electric stove.
* 3. Area heat is best served by using wood, coal or waste oil
heaters, solar hot water, phase change salts, or a combination.
* 4. Hot water readily is available from 75% of the USA using
the sun. I would recommend having a wood or propane gas burning water heater
for back up.
In our case we will have two water heaters in normal
service, one using waste heat from the generator and one that is fueled by
propane always working. The wood burning water heater is an option I don’t
think we will ever need, but it is not difficult to build and nice insurance.
* 5. A cluster of mis-matched solar panels is fully
capable of providing power for decades of reliable power for you and your
family. Start collecting them now.
* 6. Buy a large charge controller and a large sine or
modified sine wave inverter the first time if you can! I would advocate waiting
and saving a little while if need be. I rushed and purchased several smaller
charge controllers and inverters until I settled on a 3000 watt inverter as the
minimum size we could use when the cabin had a lot of guests.
* 7. Be prepared to be the electrical power cop. Leaving
something on and draining your battery bank can cost you $$$ in damaged
batteries. Consider a low voltage disconnect to prevent this from occurring. I
use a low voltage alarm that sounds at adjustable values. It’s cheap insurance.
I have a low voltage disconnect I purchased, but I have yet to install it.
* 8. A normal life can be had with only slight modifications
of your living habits. My wife can have her television all night long, and wash
clothes when she desires.
* 9. Do not buy large panels as they are difficult to remove
when hurricanes strike. Buy 50-watt panels and mount them no more than two to a
mount so you can remove four bolts and lower them SAFELY to the
ground. Don’t ask me how I know this.
Now if I can find the time and funding to solve the air
conditioning problem, I can get rid of the petroleum based fuels and be
off the grid forever. We have AC but use fossil fuels to get it.
* 10. Hydrogen is possible from your solar array. You can make
a homemade hydrolyzer to get it. Check it out on YouTube.
On a lighter note…After the last major hurricane, I walked
outside to see my wife packing up the car right away. I asked her where we
were going and she said, “Aren’t we going to the camp where there is air
condition and power?” I smiled and just said yep, load the dogs.
We have had great success with being off the grid and have
full confidence that anyone with the desire to be independent can do as well or
better than we have done. The resources you need to learn about being off the
grid are free and available to you on the Internet. With a little time and some
sweat equity you too can be an offgrid man or offgrid woman.
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