Life Done Free
Tag and Bee from Life Done Free
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Living with Alternative energy
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Living with Alternative energy
As most of you know we live offgrid. Our power comes mainly from solar. we have all the creature comforts of a modern home. The biggest difference is that our energy has to be managed. We have red, yellow and green days. on a red day we don’t run anything except the essentials.
what are you doing for energy?
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47 Replies
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We are also trying to go solar as well.😀
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We also live off grid, don’t have all the features but we enjoy simple living. During the spring , summer and fall nothing changes. Winter we can go two days of low sun then will have to run the generator 1-2 hrs to charge up the batteries. Last winter it ran 7 times. Invested in a windmill, going to install in September (if all goes well) so hopefully will not have to run the generator this winter. With this change we should be able to run a freeze dryer. Will have to pick the right days to pull off.
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Yes, a freeze dryer! That’s my ultimate goal when we go off grid 😃
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I love the pairing of wind and sun. just makes so much sense. I also intent on installing one. Do you have any recommendations as to brands?
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The company I used for solar doesn’t do wind. They recommend Missouri wind and solar. Good customer service, be sure to tell them you have lithium.
Can’t wait to see your setup with wind
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Always look into the background/history of any wind/solar business before just taking someone’s recommendation. You can never go wrong by doing your own due diligence.
Also … It’s important to know if your area consistently maintains regular wind speeds above 12 mph. Some wind turbines require even higher wind speeds before they will start producing power.
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Art, super important comment. I hope everybody reads it
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our property on top of and down the south facing side of a hill, we are also surrounded by a very large lake, we get sun365, wind from lake almost 365.
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New here. We are also off grid. We have a solar system that was installed by an Amish gentleman and his sons (I don’t know the size or wattage, I’d have to ask my husband). It is pretty efficient for us. We don’t really use a lot of electricity though. We learned to live differently once we moved off grid. The solar is mostly for our water pump, a small freezer, tv occasionally, and fans in the summer due to the heat.
We have some indoor solar lights that we had before we got our solar system and those work fine and we see no reason to change those out.
We are used to cooking outside and our wood cook stove is too hot to use in the summer anyway.
The longer we live off grid, the more efficient we are with conserving energy and finding different ways to power things or get things done.
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the biggest difference I have learned living off grid is that everything has to be managed. We don’t cook inside in the winter either….way too hot
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We cook outside a lot in the winter too. If we have the kitchen cook stove and the living room wood stove both fired up, it’s way too hot. If it isn’t too cold, we might use the kitchen stove to make dinner and it would be enough heat for the cabin for the night. If it is colder out, we would use the living room stove and cook outside, or maybe heat something up on the living room stove top.
No two off grid properties are the same that is for sure. That is the beauty of it though isn’t it? I love figuring out how to do things differently. Like dehydrating on the wood stove top. I love the challenge of living like this.
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you an me could be pals……. I 100% agree. we have a Kitchen Queen cookstove and it heats us out often. I built my wife a processing kitchen in a separate building. We are using it more and more for regular cooking.
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Yes! We have a separate building that I am thinking of doing the same thing with. I could keep all my canning stuff, food prep, etc. out there and get my porch back!
Sounds like you are living a good life!
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Do you have any photos of the processing kitchen you did for your wife? Always looking for ideas here!
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Oh my, that is what I am wanting to do too! I love your video. Going to show it to my husband. We just have to get some storage space somewhere on our farm to move all the stuff out of the building so I can finish it off. I love what you did and how you found things at auctions. I have one of those stainless steel counter pieces from a school that was going to throw it away….took a lot to get it up in the back of my truck, but me and the Superintendent did it, lol. I think we grabbed a high schooler to help 🙂
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Bee loves her kitchen. Makes processing way easier
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I imagine it does. It is great. I’ll get there, takes time more than anything else. We have only been living off grid for a little less than 3 years now. But gosh, have we learned a lot! It’s amazing to see how much we have grown too and all that we have done in that short time. Patience is not my best quality but this life can sure make you pause and learn how to be patient. Thank you for sharing your processing kitchen and welcoming me to the group!
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Hey, y’all! We are working toward completely off-grid as well. I have already purchased a complete solar system and just completed getting the electrical ruff-in on my pole barn. We have yet to install any of the components or the solar panels. Lots of work ahead on that. I also purchased a 1550 gal. water tank and about to buy a second one so we can harvest the rainwater off the pole barn roof. Gutters will be going up soon.
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I love this, if I can help in anyway let me know. here links to one of our 3 water systems and our solar system
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Thank you! Much appreciated will be watching these. If you need anything let me know.
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Love it!!!!
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Here is a video on one of the 3 water systems we use. this is how the rain water works
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Hey Tag, Man I know you have got lots going on and probably 1000 suggestions. I clicked over to your youtube link and love what you got going on there. Going to learn a lot from you. You probably know this already but I wanted to make you aware that the link opens on this page. We need to make it open in a new window. If you are like me you have a list about as long as our driveways for your developer to take care of. I have been developing an online platform for a long time and we are about to launch. Nothing at all like this in any way. It’s a B2B platform. I can relate with you. I want to compliment you. This rocks and the future of it is going to blow everyone away. Great work! If I can help in any way just let me know.
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good for you, keep us posted on the platform. i will look into the page thing
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Here is our Freedom Power Coop……Freedom!!!!!!
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I have been working on getting at least supplemental solar power to our home. I designed a system using new and used sourced components. The system can add some parallel power to the utility service and will provide temporary back up power to the critical electrical circuits (refrigerator, freezers, food storage, septic system, water well, etc.) in case of a short outage. The system will allow me to increase battery capacity and add solar panels as I can afford to. I have almost completed the installation.
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Great work Chuck. I get asked all the time about ” what advise would you give someone wanting to go Solar” I always tell them to make the system adaptable because we don’t always know the end
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we live on my military retirement and disability and the farm are our only sources of income , how can i afford to go off grid………………..help i need info please!!!!!!!!
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DO you know how much power you need?
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not really………i know our power bill this month was less than 300.00……..i think it shows kwh used on the bill
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If we knew how much power you needed we may be able to help you figure it out
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ok will the kwh used on bill suffice,if not , how do i find out?
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according to graph of power usage at bottom of bill in the past 12 months june 28 thru july28 was highest monthly usage at 39 kwhs used
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If I may put in my two cents worth ….
First, make a list of everything you would “absolutely need” to run off your solar system.
Customarily, there is information on each item’s tag in reference to it’s power usage. You may see Amps, you may see Watts. Don’t worry about it, just record the info. Conversion can be done after all the data is collected to let you know what size system you would need just to cover your basic needs. There’s actually sites online that will do all the conversions so you don’t have to worry about the math. Although, knowing how to convert is a plus.Solar On A Dime …. I could make some recommendations on how to get started on the cheap once you know what size system you will need to start. Just remember, there’s no law that says you have to buy expensive Lithium batteries and the name brand solar panels. It’s also not a necessity to purchase everything new. You might also be surprised what you can obtain for free. So, in the meantime, keep your eyes and ears open.
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This is a start. Do you know ow what you want to be able to run? . For example do you run an AC unit?
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our a/c are 2 window units, i can live without a/c, i hate a/c, however, my wife would strongly disagree. my main concern is powering well pumps, 4 freezers and refrigerator
, kitchen and bathroom lights and recepticals, that is absolute needs. is it possible to start there and build on or add to as we go? i am not trying build an elaborate system,just meet my needs with maybe alittle comforts to go along.
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You can buy used solar panels for $50 250 watts I have 32 kw of solar panel that run my hole house and charge my electric car, I buy heat pump hot water heater more expensive but use way less power, heat pump cloth dryer, mini split for heat and ac. I have 4 deep freezer that consume a lot of my power but is needed to beat inflation on meat. and other things that need frozen. Batteries are what cost the most.
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where or how do i find and buy used solar panels????
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test. just checking the timezone issue. Ignore this reply haha
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Freesteading-Admin.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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About 15 yrs ago, I purchased solar panels that feed directly into my electric panel. Currently, there is no battery backup. I’m wondering if I could be more efficient if I disconnect from the panel and converted to a battery backup system. I’m suspicious that I’m getting screwed because the power company hooked up a “smart” meter shortly after the panels were installed. I have saved a lot electricity and the panels paid for themselves after about seven years according to my calculations on the decrease in my electric bill. I know this because I pay on a budget plan set up the power company.
Any input would be appreciated.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Angespag.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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Angel page, I don’t know if you can disconnect. Your absolutley getting screwed. If I could get off the system I would. I wish you great success
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