Off Grid Living Diary #1 - One Month In
We have been living in the new house for a month now and, so far, so good. It's the first time I have lived anywhere that is totally reliant on solar power and we have had to incorporate some changes into our lives but let's start with what we need and what we have.
What do we need?
We are 2 adults (and one very escape prone dog). We work from home so MUST have the ability to power our computers, the internet and charge our mobile phones. Additionally, we need lighting and the ability to wash our clothes. We do have a television, a music system and an Xbox and, of course, we also need to heat our water, heat the house and cook.
So what do we have?
Electricity
We have 10 x 200 watt 24 volt solar panels and the batteries are large 2 volt lead acid 360 amp hour units. There are 24 of them wired in series to make one 48 volt battery. This obviously powers all the sockets and lights in the house as well as the fridge/freezer and the washing machine.
We also have a petrol generator for when we need it. I try and need this as little as possible because it's a long way down the garden to the generator hut, especially in the dark!
Gas
We have butane gas bottles connected up outside the house and these are used both for our cooking (gas oven and 4 gas rings) and heats the water.
Water
Amazingly, given how remote the house is, we are on mains water so do not require a water deposit.
The Upshot
And now you will want to know how it's going and the answer is pretty good. As we are in December, now and the next few months are going to be our most lean time for sun hours but we are still getting a charge into the batteries in the day time. When we originally moved in, we were having to use the generator a lot at night, especially if we wanted to watch the television but we have since had the system looked at so that more charge is going into the batteries and we are now using the generator less.
There is no central heating in the house however both downstairs and upstairs have a log burner with the additional option of using gas bottle heaters in 2 of the bedrooms but we haven't had to use those yet.
There are things that I have had to give up; ironing is one of them so no great loss there but I also can't dry my hair. The washing machine is always set to a rapid wash and I only use it when the sun is out. There is obviously no tumble dryer so all our clothes are dried outside.
We are constantly checking the numbers on the charge controller to see if we are using more power than is coming in from the panels and, if we are, going around the house to check what's on and if it can be turned off. We tend not to leave appliances on standby and I don't have any Christmas lights up as that would be a flagrant waste of electricity.
Coming up, we have one set of parents and the children arriving for new year so we will see how that goes. The boys, 14 and 12, are not used to living on solar power alone and I am wondering how they are going to cope. I will let you know!
As always, please upvote the post if you liked it, make sure you follow for more lifestyle and off grid blogs, and leave a comment to let me know what you think!
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Wow and thank you for letting me know. I really do have a big smile on my face :-)
Your home looks idyllic and your account resonated loud! We have a finca in Spain which is off grid but, similar to you, strangely has mains water! This sure is a relief as with the solar system/generator and gas bottles life is relatively convenient eh, and seeing others who don't have the luxury of water trailing huge cubes of it here and there makes us grateful ;) For now we are in the UK trying to build up a sustainable income so as we can return. Like you , when we were there, we were constantly looking at the charge controller and chopping wood for the woodburner on chilly days! The business of living off grid is not for the lazy or faint of heart. I have upvoted and followed and look forward to reading more of your journey - btw where are you? I am an artist/writer/lightworker, relatively new here, and have much to say! I would love your thoughts on one of my recent posts: https://steemit.com/spirituality/@ldacey-laforge/of-water-and-ice-an-analogy-for-life I wish you, and yours, a great holiday season with plenty of electricity! With love xox
Hi, We are actually not that far from Benidorm in distance but a million miles away in terms of atmosphere. Where is your place? I will certainly check out your post and keep my fingers crossed that you can get back to Spain asap. Happy holidays to you too. xxx
Half an hour south of Tarragona - it gets really chilly and icy winds in the winter. That said it is stunning. Be happy xox
congrats on doing so well, so far! i've been line drying clothes for a while now, and i've found that if you give them a good snap/shake before you hang or fold them, the stiffness they can sometimes have goes away.
Well, considering my ability to iron anything has been drastically reduced (I have a travel iron but can only use it when the generator is on or it's very sunny) all advice is appreciated. It can be quite windy where we are so I have been spinning the clothes a bit less and letting the wind take the creases out, then folding straight from the line. They smell good too!
there's nothing like the smell of line dried clothes, for sure!!
Sounds really great! good luck on all your ways :)
So very interesting to read.
One thing that I was wondering, how did you come by this house? Did it sell for cheaper because it isn't connected to electricity and such? Is it a much older house? Would love to know something about its history, and it could also be a good idea for another post.
I hear you about the hair dryer. When I use a vacuum cleaner to clean the house, I once connected it to the UPS instead of the wall socket, and no, it didn't go well :D
I hope you two will make winter work out. In case you keep using more power than you are generating, will you consider geothermal power, or adding more solar panels?
Keep us posted!
P.S. Your banner at the top is a bit too bright, so it's hard to read your description text of yourself :3
How odd you should mention the banner as I have just changed it for exactly the reason you said :-) We found the house on the internet and, no, it is not cheap because it's on solar; that may be connected to the fact that we are in Spain so whilst we do have restrictions, it's not like trying to do the same thing in the UK (which is where I am from)
We are considering a couple of more panels and I know Tom is also looking into wind power - I am not sure how practical this would be yet (although it does get windy here) but he has always wanted a wind turbine so watch this space.
Re the vacuum, I just got a small rechargeable one that I put on charge when the sun is out and it lasts about 20 minutes which is plenty long enough for me. Additionally, downstairs is all wooden floors (it's common in Spain to have no carpets) so I can also sweep up.
And, thank you for being interested in what I write. Have a lovely day.
Here floors mostly have tiles. When I vacuum the house it sadly takes closer to an hour, what with it being a too large house, heh. But yeah, sweeping sure is a nostalgic option, and what I had to do in the army.
It's often mentioned how ironic it is that for how sunny Israel is, solar panels used for more than just heating your water boiler is a rare thing here. Probably because the local electricity company is a government funded monopoly and opposed it up to now :-/
And makes sense the house is expensive if it came with the solar panels, thought you might have added them yourselves.
And thanks, I'll try to have a nice day in spite of a migraine, or at least a productive one :) And yeah, as mentioned prior, I have a lot of experience with blogs, including helping friends make theirs more inviting and well designed, so such things stand out to me.
I am anxious to read how you progress with your off grid life style. It sounds like you have tweaked your system pretty well. It is weird to me that you have water from a main. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too :-) Yeah, we are lucky to have mains water but I am pleased we do because getting water to the house any other way would be very hard work. It's just a quirk of the house, I guess.
Yes we have a well and it is quite expensive to plumb. Merry Christmas!🐓🐓