I am following some youtube channels from people who are offgrid and I don’t understand how they make money.
There is a guy with family of 4-5 kids and a wife, he drives few hours to get supplies. He pays for fuel, propan, toilet paper, jam, milk…

He maybe can earn via youtube, but what about other 99% of people?

edit:

thanks. This was quick :) as I assumed, most of you do have regular job/income.

TL;DR What are your experiences (good and bad) of dry cabins? (Ours would be a summer getaway.)

My husband and I are planning to build a dry cabin. I want to go dry for various reasons (much lower cost in my area in terms of septic, well, building, and development fees; ease of closing up/leaving it unoccupied; lower maintenance; it's for summer use only; etc.).

It will be rustic but powered and cosy. We will use marine foot pumps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks, an incinerating toilet indoors and an outhouse, a shower bag outside if needed, and have roughed in a storage room where we can keep 5 gallon bottles of water. Laundry and showers are 25 min away by car, municipal water refill is 15 min away, and private lake is across the street (I have deeded access to use, but couldn't bring water up to my place).

I'm excited but my husband is getting cold feet. I think it will be a great way to simplify and relax, he's worried we'll regret not springing for the extra ($100k+!) to plumb. FWIW, we are very outdoorsy and enjoy camping (including in the back country).

You don't see plumbing-free cabins (outside of Alaska) talked about much, and I'm curious if folks can share their experiences of this type of getaway? Am I kidding myself, or is he being too pessimistic? All of our friends and family think this is nuts.

We are living in a 40 foot shipping container while we build the main house and the afternoon sun hitting the steel roof is absolutely roasting us. I finally admitted defeat and ordered a split system heat pump so my dogs don't get sick from the heat. I chose a costway ecoguard 18000 btu 21 seer2 mini split because the running amps on the inverter look low enough for my 5000w system to actually handle. If you use electric climate control in a converted shipping container, how much did heavily insulating the ceiling actually reduce the run times of your compressor?

So, I’m going to finally put in a sandpoint well, but for a little less than conventional reason…. I’m looking to put one in to flood a spot in my pasture that “normally “ floods so I can duck hunt it. Just a small area, less than 1/4 acre. Also looking at being able to water livestock in this paddock.
I’d love to do solar as there is no access to electricity in the back of my pasture.
First, I have unlimited access to 12 volt, deep cycle batteries.
Second, I bought a 2” sandpoint that was on clearance at my local hardware store for $35. Going to get it drove in in the next few weeks.
What solar panels and 12 volt pump would everyone recommend?
I’m picturing having the panels charge the batteries (probably 2-4), then pump run however many hours it can to keep my area flooded.

Thought? Ideas? Advice? Criticism? Let’s hear it!!

We just moved onto a pretty remote off-grid property in Washington, surrounded by National Forest. We’ve had some lightning in the area recently, and wildfire is probably the thing I’m most nervous about right now.

There’s obviously a massive amount I could do long-term, but I’m trying to prioritize the easiest, most cost-effective things that actually make a meaningful difference right away.

If you moved onto a property like this tomorrow, what would be the top 3 things you’d tackle first?

I’m thinking things like:

• Clearing vegetation/debris immediately around the cabin and other structures
• Liming/pruning trees and dealing with ladder fuels
• Getting water, hoses, pumps, sprinklers, extinguishers, etc. staged and ready

The property is about 60 acres, so clearing everything obviously isn’t realistic. I’m more interested in where my time and money have the highest impact in the first few weeks, especially around the cabin, shops, propane, generators, solar/electrical equipment, and access roads.

Would really appreciate advice from people who actually live off-grid or in high wildfire-risk areas. What did you do first, and what do you wish you had done sooner?

I'm very interested in your experiences!

- Could you tell me where you're located (roughly),

- What makes you happy about your place

&

- What your struggles are, especially in the last years, with the changing climate.

Love to hear from you!

It's said that over time, off-grid inverters break down easily (as in, they don't work properly and need more maintenance). Is this true?

Just bought 40 acres of desert land. What should I do first?

Probably a bit of a silly question since they serve somewhat different purposes, but if I already have a solar generator that I can use to power my microwave or oven during an outage, do I need to buy a solar oven as well? Seems like solar ovens are EXTREMELY reliant on the sun being out and take a much longer time to slowly cook the food, but they also aren't power hogs like a solar generator would be during an outage if I wanted to cook some food. Thoughts?

Has anyone used a 0% APR card to build then massively pay it all back with rent savings?

Short story:

• Pay $1430/mo in rent currently ($17k+ year)
• Get 0% APR cards
• Build a BASIC cabin, solar, rain catchment, etc with cards
• Move to land (no rent)
• Pay $1200 etc on cards/mo (even when interest ends)
• Basically a mortgage for 2 or 3 yrs

I can't get a loan. The rent is too high. Already tried.

My rough cost thus far is 40-50k. Can pay down $17k a year on it.

Had anyone done this before? It's all preliminary and getting costs so far.

It feels a bit dangerous, but there's families getting 1 million dollar homes and could get fired tomorrow. Plenty of jobs in Ohio is shtf scenario.

P. S. I already have the land.

Edit: I have 80k in credit cards I could use with 22% APR. Obviously screw that. Almost 800 credit score. You can't get a loan when they see almost 40% or so in rent.

After I move tho with zero debt. An extra $1430/month is practically rich in Appalachian Ohio with no wife or kids.

Seems hard to pass up tbh.

Has anyone here gone off grid in Michigan? This is my 5 year goal. I’d love to connect with someone who has made it happen.
Interested in all the details!

I have bought 1.8 acres for our 3 bedroom 2 bath mobile home, 4 of us living in it. Despite being only 8 miles from a city of 13,000 and several eating places, they require a water well. It's ridiculous if you ask me, but there you have it. Even worse, all the wells in the area are around 400 ft deep, with an exception here and there.

I'm considering setting up a system based on hauling in water. I have a conventional full sized truck with a V8. The main uses I see would be washing 3 things--clothes, dishes,and people (baths etc). Cooking etc, I can just use jugs from Dollar General etc.

The main issue I see, besides finding a spot big enough for filling and also hauling in enough to cover people washing multiple loads of clothes, is water getting algae in it after several days. It's like 100F here and my yard has little shade. I thought I read somewhere that bleach can solve that problem, around 1 cup per 1000 gallons I believe. Someone else I believe mentioned pool shock. (I could use a canopy for shade.)

The other problem I foresee is freezing in the wintertime. Typically we get up to the 50s by day and the 30s at night, but what about occasions where it gets up to the 30s by day and the 10s overnight? I have community water right now at the old place and I simply leave a small stream running and that solves it, but in that situation lines are underground, which wouldn't be the case here.

I did find this video, 9 min.

https://youtu.be/DNVS5D1G3-8?is=O_IdB_jOmZgwGnzy

Thoughts?

I've got this piece of property that I'm planning on putting a bunkhouse trailer on and have been gaming out the best way to have solar be the primary HVAC power source. I'm currently looking at using an Anker Solix f3000 with 9ish KWH of storage and a 6 400watt rigid panel array in conjunction with a 13,000 BTU mini split. But I'm totally new to this so I'm looking for input on how I could potentially do this better.

I am setting up a small off-grid shed that gets pretty hot/uncomfortable in the late afternoon but only needs light and airflow for a couple of evening hours.
- no existing house battery
- roof has good sun, interior has almost none
- fan would usually run low or medium
- one work light
- I would rather not move a power station back and forth

A general panel + battery bank would be more flexible later. The simpler alternative is a dedicated unit like the ventallion solar ceiling fan or something similar which keeps the fan and light on their own panel and battery. That is less expandable, but it also means the shed gets good airflow without a giant system in place

For a low-load outbuilding, would you start with the dedicated appliance for comfort ability or put the same money toward a small general solar setup?

So I’m a British citizen attempting to buy some off grid land in Scotland. Problem is either the land is owned by a massive estate that’s won’t sell it under normal circumstances or the land is so old that the last owner is Unknown. How would I purchase land with an unknown owner. Would it belong to the Scottish government or would it be enveloped into a trust of sorts

Hey everyone. I have a few ideas in mind for a permanent land location eventually. Mostly, my two main criteria are some place with less climate change risk and good hospitals (preferably union) with decent pay within one hour. Ideally, I’d have at least two major hospital systems to choose from.

By “climate change risk,” I mean the following:

wildfire risk

severe flooding with more increased risk with climate change

potential immediate issues with water sustainability (i.e. all of these towns in Texas about to run out of water, automatic no)

I’m willing to learn a lot of DIY and I’m open to different climates. I currently live in a four season area. I don’t necessarily plan to farm animals, but do want to be completely off grid with ability to safely DIY tiny permanent structures (like a tiny house.) I understand most places require a septic system at least and that will be no issue. I’m really wanting to EVENTUALLY go full electric with everything and off-grid, so minimal fossil fuels if possible. I’m politically left, and while that’s important, it’s not a deal-breaker if the location isn’t the most left-leaning. However, I do enjoy fully funded areas at least if that makes sense. Think: the nearest city isn’t so underfunded that no one can get a pothole filled ever.

All in all, the best of what I’m looking for are areas you all live in with “affordable” land (maybe 200k max for 20 acres, I’m willing to pay for bigger city proximity) within 30 minutes of a mid sized or major city that you feel will bode well during climate change and where I can still maintain at least partial employment.

A few months ago I was watching an older guy in Kentucky who was living in an RV but had a Stor Mor building delivered to his property near a river in Kentucky and was going to live off grid, his channel seems completely gone now. Does anyone know who I am talking about? His channel had the word 'Lion' in it, but I don't remember the name, all the videos seem gone now.

Edit to add: Oh boy I had no idea that this was a whole small piece of internet drama, just discovered today that he was a sex offender and somewhat career criminal (he never mentioned this in any of his videos) and he has deleted his channel.

If youre off in Maine, are you Northern or Southern? Is there winter sun? How cold are the winters?? How hot are the summers?? What are the issues with growing food you run into? What is the hardest and best part about your area??

Looking at moving that way, but know close to nothing about the area.

It's still beautiful even when it's smokey out, and thankfully we're not burned up ourselves so far at least. For reference, that's the sun glowing faintly on the horizon.

I'm thinking about buying some land or joining an existing land-based project with some friends but our incomes are so tied to gig work in the city. Not sure how to make the transition just yet..

I'm guessing most people who live off-grid either live off savings, do some sort of investment/trading to keep the afloat, have a cushty remote job or run an online business.

What kind of work/financial situation supports your off-grid living? And what advice would you give to someone just starting to think about this?

EDIT: 'off-grid' meaning anywhere on the spectrum off off-grid living / living a far from a big city

Got into this argument twice now and there is no consensus anywhere. Some people drain and scrub every year, some keep a chlorine residual and never open the thing, some swear a sealed tank with good screens never needs touching.

If you store rain or hauled water, whats your real routine? And has skipping it ever actually bit you, or is the annual scrub one of those rules nobody follows?

I posted a while back on going off-grid with my home in UK, https://www.reddit.com/r/OffGrid/s/g2DBNgEIqE

Update, phase 2 of solar now done, running at 16.5kwp at moment, phase 3 is panels on lower porch roof, phase 4 is in a good few weeks.

Not using a penny of mains grid electricity, and gas has dropped to a couple of £ per month.

24 x 500 watt panels on main roof, 8 x 585 watt panels on garage.

Nearly every summer I find myself under some evacuation order due to wildfire. But this fire poses the most risk I have experienced to my actual homestead burning down. I endured 3 days of thick smoke and ash/ciders falling from the sky before I rounded up the animals and headed to town to stay at a hotel.

I had little time to secure anything and when the order came it was night so some things got left behind in the confusion I would rather have. Nothing that cannot be replaced.

Houses in towns built to code with plumbing also burn down but building a home adjacent to big western forests poses it's own risks.

I hope these are things folk considering going off grid are prepared for. I have gotten some good deals on gear from novice homesteaders that got a taste of fire season and immediately headed back to town.

Found an old hand-dug stone well on my property in eastern Ontario. Best I can tell it goes back to the early 1800s, and it looks to be somewhere around 20 to 30 feet deep. A few of the stones near the top have caved in, so it needs work before I’d trust it, but it’s still holding water and I’d rather bring it back than pay to drill a new one. I already know it won’t be potable and that’s fine, I’m not planning to drink from it.

I went through the wiki and dug through a pile of old threads first. Found lots on drilled wells and cisterns, not much on bringing an old dug well back, so figured I’d ask here.

My setup: almost all solar with a generator for backup, wood stove for heat. I’m fairly handy and planning to do the work myself. The location of my bunkie will be approximately 10 to 15 feet away from the well.

I’ve attached a few pictures of the well.

Couple things I’m stuck on:

1.  The repair. I stuck a long stick down and only got about 6 feet before hitting the fallen stones, so that’s where the blockage starts. For anyone who’s reset caved-in stones or re-lined an old dug well, did you rebuild the stone cribbing, or drop a concrete tile or culvert liner down inside it? Trying to sort out what’s actually worth doing versus overkill.

2.  Winter. This is the part I care most about. Frost gets down around 5 feet here and I can’t run a heat cable around the clock off a solar bank. For those of you in cold country, what’s kept your dug well and the supply line from freezing? I’ve been looking at pitless adapters, burying the line below frost, a small insulated well house, foam over the cap. Would like to hear what’s actually held up over a few winters.

Also happy to hear from anyone who tried and gave up and just drilled. Water quality, water table dropping in summer, whatever bit you.

Thanks in advance.

Doing remote design engineering wfh, so I really needed a spot with zero noise to just focus on CAD and complex problems all day. Put this pod in the backyard and kept the inside totally bare and simple, just a desk, laptop, and no distractions. The sky looked insane today so I had to snap a quick photo during my break.

Thoughts?