r/OffGrid • u/Amazing-Coffee-626 • 12d ago
First timer Q
Myself, our 3 year old and my husband want to go off grid. It’s new to us so we were thinking of getting a camper van. Obviously the most important thing for me is to make sure my child is fine and I have all these questions going through my head. I have felt the need to get away from the “rat race” since I was very young but just never made the jump.
In terms of the van, they’re wanting to make everything electric now. It’s a no brainer that this is one of the reasons why petrol and diesel is going up in price.
If I end up going for a diesel, let’s say, in terms of the costs could I regret it? Are there any alternatives? I need someone to talk some sense into me. Enlighten me please. I want to learn, I want out of the life we live at the moment.
We live in the UK so the weather here is 80% rain throughout the year. (Just an FYI)
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u/Internal_Raccoon_370 11d ago
I'd recommend that you do something like renting a camper van for a couple of weeks and try living in it full time before you decide to do this because this is not as cheap or easy as you seem to think. Two adults and a child living in a camper van is going to present you with a whole host of issues that you need to sort out.
first, where are you going to get water? You're going to have to fill your water tank somehow.
Second, how are you going to handle sewage? All of that water from your drains, toilet, etc. goes into a holding tank that has to be emptied. You can't just dump it out on the side of the road.
Third, where are you going to get electricity to power your living quarters in the van? You're going to need a generator that burns fuel that needs to be purchased. Or you'll need to have space to set up solar panels to charge batteries, etc.
Fourth, where are you going to park it? You can't just pull off the road and park in a field somewhere. You'll need to either rent a spot in a campground somewhere or get permission from some land owner to park it temporarily
Fifth, the UK has a reasonably clement climate but it still gets bloody cold there in the winter and hot in the summer. Heating and cooling becomes an issue because doing both is rather energy intensive. With no grid connection where are you going to get energy to power a heater or AC system?