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katlupe

katlupe

Awesome Friend
Neighbor
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
203
Location
NY
We have one neighbor about half a mile from us. The other property that is closer than that is a hunting lodge, that is hardly ever used anymore. Now there are a few cops who are members of it that just practice shooting there off and on. Not very often. Our neighbor recently got married and sold his property and moved to FL, at the time of the hurricane. He was a good neighbor, but we keep to ourselves more so it is not like we went to each others' homes. Now we haven't met the new people yet. People wave when they go by but we don't really know them. If they get a different vehicle then I always think it is someone new. Most of the properties on our road are hunting camps.

I know people say you should network with the neighbors but we live completely different from them and they do not understand why anyone would want to live without grid electric. Some people are coming around though after all these years. Especially when they slow down to look at our solar panels and turbine spinning. Solar is starting to show up in our area, but grid tied. That is better than none. Not too far away, about 11 miles, there is a solar farm in the little town. It is opening local peoples' eyes. If you are off the grid, do you have neighbors?
 
We are on grid. The electric pole servicing our place is the last one on the line. I am considering going off grid even though it makes no financial sense. Our electric bill is about $50 per month or $600 per year. We would never realize any savings from going off grid, yet the sun is always shining here. Our house is situated to use the roof for panels and my garage/shop will also be situated correctly for that purpose also. I am attracted to the freedom of having our own system. I have the roof of our RV covered in panels already.
I guess maybe I'm waiting for the "break-through" they have been talking about for fifty years now.
 
What I found in our old place is those in our area were terribly insular. You wouldn't even know they existed if they didn't drive down the road on a regular basis. Where we are now the folks on the road came to us and introduced themselves. We don't see much of them but they are there if we need them. When hubs was in a hospital three hours from home they got together and decided they would take care of our critters while I stayed with him. I never had to ask, never got a chance to ask.
 
hiwall said:
We are on grid. The electric pole servicing our place is the last one on the line. I am considering going off grid even though it makes no financial sense. Our electric bill is about $50 per month or $600 per year. We would never realize any savings from going off grid, yet the sun is always shining here. Our house is situated to use the roof for panels and my garage/shop will also be situated correctly for that purpose also. I am attracted to the freedom of having our own system. I have the roof of our RV covered in panels already.
I guess maybe I'm waiting for the "break-through" they have been talking about for fifty years now.
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We had no choice in the matter since our house is off the grid and had never been hooked up. Even if I had the choice of being hooked up to the electric company, I would never do it. I like the fact that we are free from them. I would never be grid tied either since that gives them some authority over us. For the 18 years that we have lived here, we have had such freedom that I would never want to give it up. Our electric bill is 0 and has been o for 18 years. Our system is paid for and yes, it cost some money but not as much as an electric bill would be for 18 years. Now if you add in the o cost for heating in too, that is a big savings too. We have only purchased wood every now and then to save my husband some work when he was hurting or limited on time. Another big plus for us has been that we have never had a power outage unless a component is faulty. Even when we were hit by a tornado in 2000, out power was still going. It has been a fun project too, since my husband built the whole system himself. Now that he is building our batteries too, that is saving us a lot of money too.
 
Out here in Az. you would think that everyone would be on solar energy due to our constant summer temps and sunshine. The problem is that the local electric company will NOT buy back any extra power that you may have generated. For some reason they have lobbied so that they don't have to buy back electricity. Now some home have solar panels for their hot water heater but their electric bill does not go down. I had one on my other house and I did not see .01 cent of difference. Also the price of solar panels our here are outrageous!

Tommy
 
Terri9630 said:
If you disconnect a power hog and don't see the bill to down I'd be questioning the power company.
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I'm convinced that , the more efficient people become , (like heat with wood, switch all lighting to LED, quit using dryer, don't cook) the Power company just keeps raisin their rates to compensate.

We did all of above and our electric bill has never gone down, and slightly continues to increase.

But, my neighbors bills are lot higher than mine.



Jim
 
Tommycourt said:
Out here in Az. you would think that everyone would be on solar energy due to our constant summer temps and sunshine. The problem is that the local electric company will NOT buy back any extra power that you may have generated. For some reason they have lobbied so that they don't have to buy back electricity. Now some home have solar panels for their hot water heater but their electric bill does not go down. I had one on my other house and I did not see .01 cent of difference. Also the price of solar panels our here are outrageous!

Tommy
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Tommy, some(most) of the electric companies here DO buy excess solar power from their customers. That is why countless houses in the state have solar on the roofs. Many many of those solar-roofed homes have invested Nothing in their solar systems and instead have just signed a twenty year lease on them. The solar company collects all rebates for the solar system and collects all the money the electric company pays for the excess solar power produced. The home owners just pay the solar company the same rate as they had been paying the electric company.
 
phideaux said:
I'm convinced that , the more efficient people become , (like heat with wood, switch all lighting to LED, quit using dryer, don't cook) the Power company just keeps raisin their rates to compensate.

We did all of above and our electric bill has never gone down, and slightly continues to increase.

But, my neighbors bills are lot higher than mine.



Jim
Click to expand...

If rates haven't changed there should be a drop in the bill though.
 
phideaux said:
Yes, and way back when we started heating with wood,
The first couple years , we did see a decrease in our bill,

but thats history,


Jim
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I know all about "history". Our elect co wants to jack our rates up quite a bit over the next few years.
 
Let me give you an example of what our energy company did about 7 years ago. They are allowed a 3% increase in our annual rates. This money is supposed to go to increasing our electrical grid. 7 years ago they applied for a 13% rate increase and it was approved so our rates increased to 16% that year. Where I live we don't have natural gas, as it is all electrical. They are now in the process of burying the lines from external poles. Our whole neighborhood is supplied only with electricity. In the summertime here in Az it is not usually for our hot weather to begin in mid June and stay with us until October. During those months the electrical company has a higher rate than in the winter time. It is NOT unusual for our monthly rate to run as high as $300.00 per month during the summer. Winter time we average about $50.00 per month. Since they are starting to bury our electrical lines, they have been talking about having another raise as the electrical company hires out the work and not do it themselves and they need the money to pay for our improvements. $300.00 is just about 18% of my monthly social security and there is NO competition between any other electrical companies surrounding us. We are basically getting screwed!!!! By the way we also have "no burn" days in the winter time. What the hell can we burn except desert sand and tumbleweeds????

Tommy
 
At my last location the electric company wanted to raise rates but the utilities commission said the company had too much money so they denied the rate increase. So our electric company started to bury all the electric wires until they used up enough of their cash (they then stopped burying them) then they re-applied for a rate increase and it was approved.
It is all a game that is designed to rip-off the consumer. My current electric company is a co-op.
 
Weedygarden said:
The title of this thread keeps throwing me off. Am I the only one? I keep thinking it is about neighbors, but it is about off grid and alternative energy. I see a big difference in that, even though the first post talks about how the neighbors are different.
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Imagine that! A thread going off on a tangent! :)
 
Do you find your way of living now better than what you had ??
katlupe said:
We have one neighbor about half a mile from us. The other property that is closer than that is a hunting lodge, that is hardly ever used anymore. Now there are a few cops who are members of it that just practice shooting there off and on. Not very often. Our neighbor recently got married and sold his property and moved to FL, at the time of the hurricane. He was a good neighbor, but we keep to ourselves more so it is not like we went to each others' homes. Now we haven't met the new people yet. People wave when they go by but we don't really know them. If they get a different vehicle then I always think it is someone new. Most of the properties on our road are hunting camps.

I know people say you should network with the neighbors but we live completely different from them and they do not understand why anyone would want to live without grid electric. Some people are coming around though after all these years. Especially when they slow down to look at our solar panels and turbine spinning. Solar is starting to show up in our area, but grid tied. That is better than none. Not too far away, about 11 miles, there is a solar farm in the little town. It is opening local peoples' eyes. If you are off the grid, do you have neighbors?
Click to expand...
 
Sonny Barrett said:
Do you find your way of living now better for you
Click to expand...
I have moved from Peaceful Forest and do not live off the grid any longer. So yes, I like the way I am living now much better.
 
Since I started this post in December of 2017, I have moved from the off the grid home and lifestyle to a small city. I had to leave and could not tolerate my marriage or life there any longer. Maybe I do not belong on a country living forum, but just because I moved does not mean I forgot everything I learned or did. I would never consider going back to that life now and I know living in the city is what most homesteading people are trying to get away from. But when you get to a certain age, things change.
 
katlupe said:
Since I started this post in December of 2017, I have moved from the off the grid home and lifestyle to a small city. I had to leave and could not tolerate my marriage or life there any longer. Maybe I do not belong on a country living forum, but just because I moved does not mean I forgot everything I learned or did. I would never consider going back to that life now and I know living in the city is what most homesteading people are trying to get away from. But when you get to a certain age, things change.
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You belong here as much as anyone of us.
If we all had to be off grid, self sufficient preppers then out ranks would dwindle rapidly.
Sorry to hear things didn't work out for you but new horizons are awaiting you.
 
katlupe said:
Since I started this post in December of 2017, I have moved from the off the grid home and lifestyle to a small city. I had to leave and could not tolerate my marriage or life there any longer. Maybe I do not belong on a country living forum, but just because I moved does not mean I forgot everything I learned or did. I would never consider going back to that life now and I know living in the city is what most homesteading people are trying to get away from. But when you get to a certain age, things change.
Click to expand...

YOU absolutely belong here. You have a lot of country knowledge to help others. And I know you’ve done more than most even hope to accomplish. And so, don’t worry about it here. Here, you belong.
 
katlupe said:
Since I started this post in December of 2017, I have moved from the off the grid home and lifestyle to a small city. I had to leave and could not tolerate my marriage or life there any longer. Maybe I do not belong on a country living forum, but just because I moved does not mean I forgot everything I learned or did. I would never consider going back to that life now and I know living in the city is what most homesteading people are trying to get away from. But when you get to a certain age, things change.
Click to expand...

Kat, I'm glad your here and agree with many of your post. Glad your doing better and like your new home.
 
Thank you for your encouragement!
 
katlupe said:
Since I started this post in December of 2017, I have moved from the off the grid home and lifestyle to a small city. I had to leave and could not tolerate my marriage or life there any longer. Maybe I do not belong on a country living forum, but just because I moved does not mean I forgot everything I learned or did. I would never consider going back to that life now and I know living in the city is what most homesteading people are trying to get away from. But when you get to a certain age, things change.
Click to expand...
Kat, glad you are here. Not everyone here lives on a homestead. Some of us only dream of that every day.
 
Weedygarden said:
Kat, glad you are here. Not everyone here lives on a homestead. Some of us only dream of that every day.
Click to expand...

And some of us is dreaming of maybe leaving the homestead.Although I do love our place and don't want to go yet but do need to start thinking about things.
We can grow food anywhere though now with proper lighting and nutrients. At least enough for just two of us anyway. We got good with hydroponics and containers. We still have grow lights we never set up.
 
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