Obviously, if you are posting stuff on this forum, you have some form of electricity. How many folks do you know who have went so far in homesteading that they don't even use electricity. And don't list your Amish neighbors. We already know they outsmarted "the man" along time ago. I'm talking about non-Amish families that are cut loose from the grid. I can honestly say that I know of NONE in my part of the south. Guess that surprises some of you Yankees, huh? Just funnin' y'all! But really, I can think of no other single incident(of a non-religious nature) that would change the world more than the total and prolonged loss of electricity. Can you?

-- Red Neck (sesech@csa.com), March 10, 2002

Answers

My daughter's grandparents live in a cabin down a dirt road and way off the grid up here in Maine. They run their lights off a car battery. They manually pump their water and haul it from outside. I bought them a composting camper toilet so I didn't have to use a bucket when we went to visit. I also bought them a generator so when I got married out there, the food could be in the extra fridges. They have a fridge that runs off gas, a gas stove, and a wood stove for heat in winter. They have a cell phone. They aren't religious at all, they just wanted cheap land and a place to smoke their pot. So, yup, I know of folks who live off the grid:)

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.

I lived without electricity for many years....both at this house and my cabin before. It was no big deal. The thing I wanted most was a freezer. We have a root cellar, woodstoves, solar water in summer, composting toilet, gravity fed spring, solar greenhouse, propane stove, etc. Why do you feel electricity is so important? Now that we have electricity, I appreciate the convenience, but could switch back with no major grief.

I have camped for months at a time in national forests, and didn't miss electricity there, either. Seems like most folks even prefer to camp at sites with electric. Hmmmmm....what a bunch of wimps! ;-)

-- Peace and Carrots Farm (wsm311@aol.com), March 10, 2002.

My next door neighbour. Their house is a single story stack wall, wood heated, propane appliances, solar collectors and generator combination for general electric uses. They have a hobby farm/ petting zoo, and have critters ranging from exotic poultry, emu, wide variety of rabbits, donkeys, llamas, miniature horses.

They have TV, radio, and a computer. One advantage - at this house, they have never been on the grid. Very long driveway, and no hydro poles.

And speaking of prolonged loss of electricity - so much for my "yeah it's raining!" We got the flash freeze, extremely high winds, and the electricity went off last night about 11pm. Just came back on at 10pm tonight. This has been happening a lot in this area in the last couple of years. That's why we now have a gas stove, a small generator to run the water pump as required, a battery system for our wood heated circulated hot water heating system and a good selection of oil lamps. Even have a set-up for battery powered short-time TV usage. Nothing yet for computer, but that's OK. One step at a time. As each of our appliances die, we will be replacing with propane. (We already have a large propane tank for the stove).

As I said, the power outages are becoming commonplace, partly due to lack of maintenance along the lines, and very few work crews still employed. So, when we have a major storm it just takes that much longer to get your electricity back.

There are many people in this area doing exactly what we are doing. One step at a time. Some are moving faster than others, but there is a definite shift. It's not cheap to go and make the switch all at once. And alternate appliances are usually more expensive (at least here they are). But if each time you replace a major appliace (fridge, stove, freezer, hot water heater) you go that little bit extra for propane before long it's just a matter of time before you're down to just small appliances and light bulbs.

You're right, Red Neck - the world is changing.

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), March 10, 2002.

a site with electric yet they still call it camping? lol.

Red Neck, I only know one. The rest off-grid'ers I know use alternate sources for power. Even most Amish have generators now.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 10, 2002.

I have been off of the gird for 11 years. I do have electricity though. Solar panels, batteries, inverter and generator backup. Water is pumped via generator to a 1500 gallon water tank and gravity fed into the house. Cell phone and propane refridgerator, wood stove for heating and regular cook stove. It's just like city living except you are WAY more conservative about electric use. All florescent bulbs and keep a close watch on the batteries, at $200 a piece you have to take care of them, 8 is ideal on the system. I would look into a satellite dish for internet connection if I had to have it.

-- Esther (angelgirly2@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

I know of several families in the area that have no power. I used to work at the local service station, and lot's of people came in for kerosine for lamps, cooking, and heating. All ages and types of people. ( By that I mean from redneck to hippie). Maybe we Yankees are more backwards?

-- Mark C. Ford (mcford@theofficenet.com), March 11, 2002.

We have cut our usage way back and are deciding how far we want to go with it. We are making plans for a hand pump at the well; when we get the new bathroom/laundry area done we will be set up with a washtub/wringer and we already dry on the line even inside in the winter; Husband is looking into ways to make a small insulated area with cool air coming up from the cellar to keep food cool; we heat with wood; mostly light with karosene lamps.

Here where we are we have to pay $20 a month 'maintanance" just to have power to the house so we are trying to decide if it is worth it to keep it for the few conveniances and the freezer/fridge or should we get a generator just for those and forget the computor, radio and baseboard backup (for when we are away for the can't tend fire all day)?

I hate the idea of relying on fuel for generators and lamps almost as bad as relying on the elctricity though! Solor and wind are something we thought of but then there's the batteries that do need replacing eventually....we just figure how to do with as little as possible in the most simplest forms, gradually getting used to doing with less. Someday this box will either die and be thrown out or we will decide we are tired of paying the electric bill...

The only thing I would truly miss (my one SERIOUS indulgance!!!!!)is a good hot shower by simply turning a nob!

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), March 11, 2002.

We weren't on the grid for two years when we moved here. We did have a generator which we used to pump water to a tank on stilts that then gravity fed the faucets. We had propane appliances and a non- electric composting toilet. I was kind of sorry when we finally went on the grid. Now we stay up way past sundown, too often with worthless tv on. Of course it's more convenient, but even way out in the country, electricity takes you a step away from the natural rhythm of the world.

-- Katherine in KY (KyKatherine @ Yahoo.com), March 11, 2002.

I lived for 23 years without power. The last 3 years I had a generator to run power tools. I had propane lights and from time to time a gas refrigerator and a gas stove, I heated & cooked with wood. I had a composting toilet at one time but did not find it satisfactory, I prefer an outhouse. I still have oil lamps that I bought 30 years ago. My wife and I have just bought 20 secluded acres in the mountains, there is a drilled well but to bring electricity in would cost $45,000. There are gas lights in the cabin and an old Servel LPG refirgerator and a Sweetheart cook stove. I plan to replace the Servel with a new one and put in a direct-vent gas heater. the old had pump is gone from the well, I may use a Jet pimp and run it off my generator, there is a line from the creek to a 55 gallon drum on the back porch, 50' horizontal X 20' verticle, the seller uses a 2- stroke pump to fill the tank.

-- hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), March 11, 2002.

My dh and I were just talking about this sort of thing this morning.

We see houses going up all over the place and there seems to be no thought to serious energy conservation. I recently saw some solar stuff for roofs that was like foot wide strips of fabric. Really neat stuff. Just think how much would be saved in the long run if more houses were built with solar collectors on the roofs without the bank of batteries. The meters just ran backwards when more than enough energy was being generated from the solar panels.

Also, how many of the homeowner's association won't allow people to hang clothes outside to dry? Is that stupid or what? And what about building houses so that you can close off the parts you don't want to heat? Can't do that when you have plumbing pipes running all over the house. Put the plumbing in one place and you only have to heat one place.

Anyway, we figured it would take a Really Major Crisis to make people start using more alternative sources for energy.

-- LBD, Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

It is not considered very unusual to live off the grid here. Many people live not only without electricity but also without running water. We have solar power now, but lived for years without electricity before that. People up here are fairly well equipped to deal with this if they don't live in town, because the power can go out for days due to heavy snow or wind.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 11, 2002.

Not everybody on the forum would have to have power, Red. Libraries still let you use their's for free!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

Well, I happen to be glancing through the forum and came up this talk about off the grid. We live on a homestead in the Southern Tier of NYS. No, we are not miles off the highway or off the beaten path. We are on a main state highway. We homestead on just a little over 10 acres of land with tons of road frontage, and yes, we do not have electricity. We have lived here 16 years. My husband is a pastor, so I guess that puts us in the religious catagory, but we did not make this decision due to religion. We believe that Mr Ready-Watt is addictive. We have an organic mini-farm and believe me, there is more than enough to do. We love the land and the work and at the end of the day we are tired. Who has time for the nonsense on TV anyway?? We do have gas lights, gas refrigeration and a gas hot water heater. We have a gravity fed spring as our only water source, a generator for power tools as needed - and to charge the batteries which operates my computer. I do hand quilting for a living - nobody will ever mistake us for wealthy people but our neighbors envy us (and we do have wonderful neighbors). When the power goes out around here, they all call us - we can count on a house full for dinner or whatever. It's a great life and we would never change it. As a matter of fact, there is a light pole at the edge of our property - we could have it, we don't want it thank you very much. People want to know what we do with our time, we are busier than anybody around that I know of - and we talk to each other. WOW a lost art. Thanks for listening.

-- Joyce Besemer (joycemb3@juno.com), March 11, 2002.

Life in my neck o' the woods would be pretty darn miserable without AC for cooling in the summertime and ceiling fans, etc. Gas AC? I have heard of 'em but they usually use elec. for the fans. I remember attending elem. school with just a fan and no A/C. School full of smelly, sweaty kids. I remember my 4th grade teacher used to sweat right through her bra. (A bunch of us boys remembered that). You can have my electricity when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the meter.

-- SteveD(TX) (smdann@swbell.net), March 11, 2002.

Our son who lives in Japan says that he sees ads for solar AC there, so it does exist. By the way, they had a baby girl yesterday! She is our fifth grandchild.

-- Barb Fischer (bfischer42@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.

I lived for 2 years in a small cabin with no amenities. I did have running tap water, but that was hosed in from a gravity fed rain cistern. I hauled additional water, from a small surface well near my large garden. My outhouse was without walls or a roof (an out, I guess), and my fridge was a pit in the shaded side of the outhouse path. I had kerosene lamps, beeswax candles, and did all my cooking on a small fisher wood stove that heated the place. I did not miss electricity, except very rarely when i wanted very bright light to read late, or do fine sewing or beadwork. But when there was a blizzard of slush pelting off the northern ocean, you can bet that I'd have liked the house over the out. I did live quite content there, and was very, very connected to the Earth's rhythms, which was my goal at the time. I do have similar goals for the future.

-- roberto pokachinni (pokachinni@yahoo.com), March 16, 2002.