Homesteading With katlupe

Living "Off The Grid"

Our weather has cooled off a bit since yesterday, so today is a little more tolerable. The sun is shining though and that is very good news for my garden. But it is also good news for our energy system. What I forgot to mention on  my introduction blog is that I live in an "off the grid" home and have lived this way for over 9 years. I forget to mention it, as it has become pretty routine for us around here. The shining sun though, makes for lots of power and we can use anything we please for the summer months.

Our system was much smaller when we first moved here. It has grown over time. We keep adding a componet here and there. It is still small by most people's standards. For us though, it works. Now with my son here, he is not quite as happy with it as my husband and I are. So for him, this may be a temporary shelter, though he wants to build a small cabin on our land so he can have his privacy. Fine with us! We like our privacy as well. A small system is pretty affordable, and when you add up the cost of your electric bills for 9 years.......well that is way over what we have spent on our small system!

Living in an off the grid home just makes it so you have to be aware of what your appliances and things are going to use as far as the power goes. I like the fact that I have not paid for electric or heat in all the time I have lived here. Paid for gas for the generator, which we use when the sun is scarce. And of course for each new component as we add one. We heat and cook with wood, so the chainsaw is our expense there. Our mortgage is low and so are our taxes because "who would want to live in an off the grid home anyway?"  

We have a gas refrigerator which worked fine all these years. There was a time in 2003 that we turned it off just to see if we could live without one. We lived a whole year that way. Was not real easy if you enjoy cold drinks and buying lots of cold stuff at the store. But this year, we had to turn it off as the propane has started bothering me. I do have a propane cooking stove also, but that does not seem to bother me only when I first start the oven. It is time to get solar refrigeration......but first need to add one or more solar panels to the ones we have. So for the time being we are using the cold water method of keeping the food cold. Cold water in an ice chest. Just no meats to keep over. If we buy meat, I cook it that day.

I have been doing alot of writing lately as I sell eBooks on my website, as well as some other things. The eBooks though, are my thing. I have always written and it seems to be a good way to earn a living from home. I love getting sales for those products as there is no packaging involved. They take a lot of time writing them and researching the info though.

I got so excited when I had someone purchase my book, My Homesteading Journey when I first listed it on my site. She was located in Los Angeles, and I spent my time day dreaming about her trying to find her way out of the city to the homesteading lifestyle. Then I got the idea to Google her name........it was kinda unique so maybe it'd come up. Well, it did. I did it again. It was the same. Her father is a BIG celebrity in the entertainment world. And she was too, but not as big. So you never know who is going to be reading your stuff.

Have a great day!

katlupe

Untitled Comment

{ 04:25, Wednesday, June 11, 2008 } { Posted by morningsunshine }

an off-grid home! oh wow - my dream! are you all solar, or do you have wind as well? we get soooo much wind, I am thinking that is the way we need to go.