Starting my life off grid

Kathy Hunt8:28 AMEdit

My update; I am currently back on grid. Giving me a chance to do more research and reach out to others. Not to mention reconnect with some of my family and friends. For the last 6 years I lived in Berry Creek California, off grid. It all started by coincident. But, I think that things happen for a reason. Got married and found a great priced property in the mountains. Had an old modular home on it, year round creek and even a natural spring. We knew it was going to take a lot of work but I don't think I knew how much. The house was unlivable and we decided to live in a camper. With the modular being so old no PG&E was hooked up to it any more. With a power pole on the property I had great hopes of having it turned back on. Getting things up to code would take some time.

 With this time we learned how to conserve our energy usage. Power being supplied by solar, generator and batteries. We converted the garage into a studio and wired it for 12 volt to run low voltage lights and appliances saving power usage. A water storage tank placed up the hill provided gravity feed to the studio. Cleaning the spring and maintaining it was work well worth it. Now we could fill the water tank with the spring instead of pumping water from the creek. Every thing was one step at a time for us. Cleaning the property up, starting a compose heap and building retaining walls to protect against rain washing away driveway and soil. We got chickens to get rid of the ticks. Our second year there we started the organic garden, utilizing the natural environment for bug control. For TV we used a car DVD player and watched rentals and borrowed DVD from friends. Soon we found a 12 volt television and a Western Digital tv converter. About once a week I would go to town sit in a cafe and down load shows. I got to enjoy coffee and visit with other people. Not only could I get tv but valuable radio shows to listen to. A little money spent on entertainment would go a far way for me to still feel connected to the world. Hope I can inspire others to find their own way of becoming self sufficient. Paying off the property and the next step is to build a home. My hopes are to build something like earthship that can be self sustaining. Living in the studio we where able to see first hand how heating and cooling a smaller space was valuable to save energy. The use of our surroundings for cooling the house was inexpensive and inspiring for making plans for the new home.