Building ideas for off grid

[DrJenner]

We are in the planning stages for building on our property and want to be completely off grid. Looking at solar and wind power, well/septic (scheduled for spring).
Also planning on building a shop, root cellar, good garden space/orchard, chicken coop, dog area, greenhouse and summer kitchen for canning/cooking.
Any thoughts on must haves for those of you who already live off grid? I am thinking we need a battery room close by (or part of) the house. Would also like to have a cold room/pantry and gun safe built in the house. Thinking the cold room should be a basement.
We are planning on building a small guest house first to live in (anywhere from 800-1000 sq feet) and then a larger home (about 2500 sq feet) in a couple of years. I am planning that my mom will likely need to come live with me once my dad passes.
Still in the beginning stages here. Thanks in advance.

 

[DrJenner]

This is the house plan I want to build first. Thinking the storage area would be good for battery area, or maybe should build a separate shed next to it?
https://markstewart.com/house-plans/lodge-house-plans/freedom-45/

 

[Proud Prepper]

I'm assuming you picked a good location, not to far north. Do you plan to save as much money as possible? Do you plan to maintain an efficient power system or a more expensive maintanance free system?
A few points,

Design your buildings for a rain catchment system.

Use deep cycle lead acid batteries for your primary bank. Learn how to setup and maintain your system and how to refurbish the batteries.

Use dual, propane/diesel generators. Have at least 2 of them. Propane can be used as a direct fuel source for heat, cooking and propane run appliances.

Build into the ground, use the earth to your advantage. Root cellar, cold room, etc.

Design wood burning fireplaces for heating and cooking into home, with at least one for dual propane use.

More details on type of land, climate and nearby natural resources will help for further suggestions.

Good luck to you in your great lifestyle choice. The hard work will pay off.

 

[Proud Prepper]

It looks nice, although I wouldn't call it a offgrid home. Wasted space and wrong design.

This is the house plan I want to build first. Thinking the storage area would be good for battery area, or maybe should build a separate shed next to it?
https://markstewart.com/house-plans/lodge-house-plans/freedom-45/

 

[DrJenner]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'm happy about not being able to see my neighbors.
I agree with the house - was thinking that as well - I am having a hard time finding a small design that has all the elements I want (including the rain catchment system). The water table is pretty high, and good wells in the area.

The property is 48 acres. Some wetlands, natural pond, mostly pine trees. Also an area for hay that the local rancher uses for his cattle. To the south of us is a ranch with free range cows (already thinking about fencing). I am planning on allowing him to continue farming hay and instead of cash, will take a cow instead.
We are located about 1/2 mile off of the street, you will not be able to see the house, and I am planning on camouflaging our driveway with some bushes. Homes in the area are all around 20 acres give or take.

Climate, typical non-coastal PNW - 4 seasons. Snow from about Dec-Feb/March, can get as cold as 10 below. Summer, maybe a week of 100 deg temps, otherwise from July - Sept usually 70-90 deg temps. The area does get a lot of sun. One of my colleagues lives about 2 miles north, they live on land that has been in her husband's family for the past 100+ years, and she said they get a lot of afternoon sun in the area, perfect for solar. It does get windy, mostly in the winter time. There are rock outcroppings, a cave across the pond from the build site. I wanted to build into the side of the hill, but it's mostly rock so I think that would prove quite difficult.

 

[DrJenner]

I also don't mind maintenance - to a certain extent. If we went on vacation for a week, I wouldn't want things to fall apart over that time.
We were looking at lithium systems - I don't mind spending a little more to have something that is sustainable and will last longer. From what I understand, those systems do last longer -is that not the case?
We are in escrow finally for our house - and once it's sold, we will pay off the land, and have extra. My husband used to be a logger, and is still a woodworker. We are getting a sawmill and he plans to mill the lumber from the trees on the property to save us some money. I want to be able to live frugally, but also easily - I don't want to have problems on day 5 of work and have to come fix stuff after working 12 hours - just doesn't sound like a fun time.

 

[Proud Prepper]

I also don't mind maintenance - to a certain extent. If we went on vacation for a week, I wouldn't want things to fall apart over that time.
We were looking at lithium systems - I don't mind spending a little more to have something that is sustainable and will last longer. From what I understand, those systems do last longer -is that not the case?
We are in escrow finally for our house - and once it's sold, we will pay off the land, and have extra. My husband used to be a logger, and is still a woodworker. We are getting a sawmill and he plans to mill the lumber from the trees on the property to save us some money. I want to be able to live frugally, but also easily - I don't want to have problems on day 5 of work and have to come fix stuff after working 12 hours - just doesn't sound like a fun time.

Flooded lead acid batteries do not last as long as lithium, but cost much less money. Unless you maintain them properly and know how to refurbish them, then there the cheapest batteries in the long run and can last a lifetime.

For you, lithium is probably the best ones.

 

[Schattentarn]

Dr. Jenner, it looks like paradise. But "I don't mind maintenance" worries me a bit. As you get older you will mind maintenance, especially snow removal. I once asked a realtor why people in a given area were selling their property (which looked good to me). The realtor said "age", they just get tired of maintenance. I asked him at what age this becomes a problem, he thought a moment and said 77.

 

[DrJenner]

Dr. Jenner, it looks like paradise. But "I don't mind maintenance" worries me a bit. As you get older you will mind maintenance, especially snow removal. I once asked a realtor why people in a given area were selling their property (which looked good to me). The realtor said "age", they just get tired of maintenance. I asked him at what age this becomes a problem, he thought a moment and said 77.

Good point. Yeah, I'm still younger than 77
My father in law is 85 (almost 86), still lives in his home In MT. Last winter was the first year he hired someone else to do snow removal.
I'm not sure how to get around the snow removal bit. I love the trees and the PNW. Probably only other place I could stand to be would be somewhere like Costa Rica. Its really too bad that my old place in CA got so built up. Growing season was fantastic, good weather, and did not have to consider snow removal lol (wouldn't want to live there anymore though).

 

[DrJenner]

Flooded lead acid batteries do not last as long as lithium, but cost much less money. Unless you maintain them properly and know how to refurbish them, then there the cheapest batteries in the long run and can last a lifetime.

For you, lithium is probably the best ones.

My husband would probably know how.
I think the other thing I'm worried about is maintaining once he passes as well. He is 20 years older than me, so it will come eventually. Guess I am hoping my son will come live on the property

 

[Helen Back]

Build well ABOVE the wetlands. I would be thinking about concrete for walls and flooring with radiant heat, and metal roofing. Think fireproof, bulletproof, well insulated.. I would also build your shop first and plan for building a living space at one end for yourselves until your home is built, then mom can live in it after. Think about how your home will look to people trying to get your booty. Those rocks are beautiful, but my first thought was sniper. Make sure you have thermal imaging!!! A few thousand gets you near night vision, and you can see anything with a pulse for about 1000 yrds.

My lithium batteries are only supposed to work for 2000 cycles. Consider that.

 

[DrJenner]

Build well ABOVE the wetlands. I would be thinking about concrete for walls and flooring with radiant heat, and metal roofing. Think fireproof, bulletproof, well insulated.. I would also build your shop first and plan for building a living space at one end for yourselves until your home is built, then mom can live in it after. Think about how your home will look to people trying to get your booty. Those rocks are beautiful, but my first thought was sniper. Make sure you have thermal imaging!!! A few thousand gets you near night vision, and you can see anything with a pulse for about 1000 yrds.

My lithium batteries are only supposed to work for 2000 cycles. Consider that.

Yeah, we were planning on building up above for the main house. We also considered building the living area on the shop initially, and still are thinking about that. There is a house that is visible from the road - we have an easement through their property - when driving up the driveway, you can see their massive 4000 sq foot custom home. Hoping they are bait first. (that sounds terrible) Haha
do you have a link to thermal imaging systems? This is definitely where we both lack in expertise unfortunately. We have lots of gun power and ammo, but would like to set something up a little bit more defensively.

 

[Helen Back]

Thermal Imaging Cameras, Scopes & Monoculars for Sale (opticsplanet.com)

Think about your septic system carefully. Of course it MUST be gravity system, and dig in your leachfield area a little before you decide, so you know the soil type.

Completely off grid is a tall order in the Winter..

 

[DrJenner]

Thermal Imaging Cameras, Scopes & Monoculars for Sale (opticsplanet.com)

Think about your septic system carefully. Of course it MUST be gravity system, and dig in your leachfield area a little before you decide, so you know the soil type.

Completely off grid is a tall order in the Winter..

Thank you! As far as septic goes, we've done perc tests, the guy building it for us has been doing septic systems for 40 ish years and knows the area very well. I will make sure it's gravity and leachfield away from house.
septic and well are going into the ground in April. Thankfully we are able to rent our existing house until then.

 

[Ram619]

You said the neighbors have a 4,000 sq ft house so I'm assuming they're on the grid. If it's there anyway it's not a bad idea to be hooked up. You don't have to use it but it's nice to have as an emergency back up. Could also help extend the life of your solar batteries so if the time comes when you have to rely on them they'll still have plenty of cycles left. I realize this may not be a popular idea and doesn't technically make you off grid, but still might be nice to have. Beautiful piece of land you have there, I'm a little jealous.

 

[DrJenner]

You said the neighbors have a 4,000 sq ft house so I'm assuming they're on the grid. If it's there anyway it's not a bad idea to be hooked up. You don't have to use it but it's nice to have as an emergency back up. Could also help extend the life of your solar batteries so if the time comes when you have to rely on them they'll still have plenty of cycles left. I realize this may not be a popular idea and doesn't technically make you off grid, but still might be nice to have. Beautiful piece of land you have there, I'm a little jealous.

Thank you, and you are correct, our neighbor is on grid - we have thought about that as well. $70k to trench the line in, and more to run the line, so we are looking at almost $100k to get power in. Power outages are common due to weather, so I think having battery and generator would be safer. The rates have skyrocketed as well.
One of the other things I wanted to look into was a wood stove to heat the pipes and water as back up. So many things to consider

 

[DrJenner]

This house looks a little better for rain catchment and passive solar
I also need to think about my kids moving home.
https://ekobuilt.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/The-Sunflower-3.pdf

 

[EastenerWesterner]

Here’s an idea for IBC tank rain catchment. Under construction and completed.

 

[DrJenner]

That's fantastic. I'm assuming the tarp is to keep out mildew/mold?

Here’s an idea for IBC tank rain catchment. Under construction and completed.
View attachment 14242 View attachment 14244

 

[EastenerWesterner]

That's fantastic. I'm assuming the tarp is to keep out mildew/mold?

I figured it would help with mold growing. I have one south facing horse tank that I have a issue with. A little bleach with every fill and it goes away.

 

[DrJenner]

I figured it would help with mold growing. I have one south facing horse tank that I have a issue with. A little bleach with every fill and it goes away.

I've read that black or darker tarps help keep mold growth down.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

Also helps the plastic tank from degrading in the sun.
I went fancier around the house, used wine barrels. Still learning from mistakes on those. When I get them figured out, I’ll post a thread.

 

[DrJenner]

Also helps the plastic tank from degrading in the sun.
I went fancier around the house, used wine barrels. Still learning from mistakes on those. When I get them figured out, I’ll post a thread.

Cool. We have about 5 wine barrels in our shop, left over from the previous owner who thought he was some fancy wine maker. haha.
I was hoping I could use those somehow as well.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

Cool. We have about 5 wine barrels in our shop, left over from the previous owner who thought he was some fancy wine maker. haha.
I was hoping I could use those somehow as well.

Biggest issue is drying out and shrinkage of the wood as you use it for watering plants.
So far my thoughts of helping with that is painting the inside with Flex Seal.

 

[Kevin L]

Yeah, we were planning on building up above for the main house. We also considered building the living area on the shop initially, and still are thinking about that. There is a house that is visible from the road - we have an easement through their property - when driving up the driveway, you can see their massive 4000 sq foot custom home. Hoping they are bait first. (that sounds terrible) Haha
do you have a link to thermal imaging systems? This is definitely where we both lack in expertise unfortunately. We have lots of gun power and ammo, but would like to set something up a little bit more defensively.

As a stopgap, you should consider a portable solar generator--maybe $3,000.00--that could provide 1 or 2 kilowatts consistantly. It isn't much, but it could give you lights, rechargable 'D' batteries, computers, playing a DVD, and plenty else . . . probably even a small, D.C. thermoelectric fridge, which could be used to preserve insulin, vaccines, and the serum that's used for dermal T.B. tests. You could probably also store various pit viper antivenoms in the same fridge . . . if appropriate for your area.

It might even have enough juice to power a water pump for a pressured shower (although not running anything else), and so forth.

See below:
https://duckduckgo.com/y.js?ad_prov...D5B7D5D9463931EB34B845CE16279&ID=DevEx,5794.1
This does not require an electrician to rewire the whole house. You can just run the apprppriate protected extension cords, if I'm not mistaken (I could be wrong, but this thing was made for RV camping in remote areas . . . among other things).

 

[DrJenner]

Biggest issue is drying out and shrinkage of the wood as you use it for watering plants.
So far my thoughts of helping with that is painting the inside with Flex Seal. View attachment 14247

Nice! I'll show the hubby

@Kevin L good idea. We do have a propane one and several diesel/gas, but not solar. I will definitely look into that. Thank you!

 

[DrHenley]

Here is a less awkward link to that:
https://www.amazon.com/Jackery-Generator-SolarSaga-Overlanding-Emergency/dp/B08Z3FRXW4

 

[Kevin L]

Here is a less awkward link to that:
https://www.amazon.com/Jackery-Generator-SolarSaga-Overlanding-Emergency/dp/B08Z3FRXW4

Thank you for providing that, Dr. Henley. I'm still very clumsy with computer usage . . . although I am slowly improving.

 

[DrJenner]

This looks great and is on sale. I'll send it over to hubby.

 

[Kevin L]

Nice! I'll show the hubby

@Kevin L good idea. We do have a propane one and several diesel/gas, but not solar. I will definitely look into that. Thank you!

Anytime. I'm working out details and plans (idea and research stage) to see how feasible this would be for my prepping resources.

I want a wine-cooler for keeping room-temperature meds at a constant 58°F and 20% humidity temperature so that they'll last longer in the extreme Florida heat.

I will also have a laptop, a D.C. refrigerator and/or a chest freezer (perhaps with two systems instead of just one), and maybe a few other things--and not neccesarily all appliances and electronics running all at the same time.

I could ration and rotate electrical stuff as needed in a reserved, disciplined manner with these solar generators, but I still have some reservations that I'm trying to work out.