Our Homestead Is About 95 Percent Off The Grid Already
We recently moved from our fully off the grid homestead in NY to our fully on the grid property in Michigan. In just over two months we have already taken our homestead about 95% off the grid.
One of the first things I did was to set up my electronics lab and off grid work shop. This building houses our off grid battery banks, solar charge controllers and electronics. This solar power system also fully powers my nearby off grid wood shop. The wood shop is fully off the grid.
The 1,000 watts of solar panels connected to the off grid electronics shed provides all the power we need to run the wood shop, charge up my cordless power tools, charge up our small electronic devices and much more.
Our solar panel array
We charge up rechargeable batteries and LED lamps that we use on the homestead using the solar power in the off grid electronics shop. We use rechargeable LED lamps at night in the house to offset our energy costs.
During the day I also have three 200 watt solar panels sitting out in front of the house. These solar panels are connected to a small 600 watt power inverter and an extension cord. We can plug our devices into that power during the day to offset our energy bill.
During the day we run our laptops and fridge on these solar panels. At night we have to revert back to the power grid but at this time we can run our laptops off battery power and use solar recharged LED lighting.
The only things not fully off the grid at this time are the water pump, washing machine and fridge. Although, as I said, the fridge is fully powered by the sun by day. The three solar panels out in the front yard provide enough power to run the fridge, modem, laptop and small devices all day long.
The water pump is going to take us some time because it is 240 volts and that will require some money and permits to get off the grid I think.
Melanie hand washes many of our clothes using a bucket and plunger to save energy. This is her option and she does this by choice and not by force.
We still have the washing machine on the grid for larger loads as needed but this will also eventually be fully powered by the sun.
We do not yet have a battery bank to power the house at night. This will also take some time and money to get set up.
But I can say that right now we are about 95% off the grid.
The rest will be off the grid soon enough.
You can watch today's video here: Our Homestead Is About 95 Percent Off The Grid Already
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About the Author
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Troy Reid |
