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Off-Grid 101
Off-Grid 101

Fortune steps tentatively off-grid

A whippoorwill
Birds make great ringtones

Can’t live with it, can’t live without it.This piece from Fortune Magazine sums up the ambivalent relation many of the Blackberry generation have with the grid:

I’M STANDING ON A BLUFF overlooking the Pacific Ocean, writes Stanley Bing. The surf is tremendous. In a field to my right, horses are grazing, munching on grass they pull up a clump at a time. A pleasant, ripping sound of roots being torn from the turf is audible under the crash of the waves as they leap up in curls of spume from the black rocks of the beach.

I am off the grid. This is a phrase I have heard only recently, possibly because it is new, possibly because I am no longer so new and hear things later than I used to. Off the grid. It has a nice feel to it.…

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July 26, 2007 No Comments

Unplugged – Guardian article

Nick Rosen
Nick Rosen in his research RV

Thousands of people are choosing to live in homes without mains electricity, gas or water. Are these the eco-townies of the future? The Guardian newspaper today features Nick Rosen’s call for changes to the law to encourage off-grid living. Here is the article in full.

I reckon there are 75,000 people living in nearly 25,000 off-grid homes in the UK. These are homes not connected to mains gas and electricity, water and sewage or even the phone lines that bind the rest of us into a system that wastes energy transporting it around the country, and loses up to 30% of water through leaks.
To get some idea of how many are living this way, I travelled round the UK for most of last year researching a book, How To Live Off-Grid. I met some of the thousands of normal families living this way, in everything from brick houses to yurts.…

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July 25, 2007 No Comments
Off-Grid 101

Floods send Brits off-grid ready

Flooded
Live above water level

Up to half a million Brits are poised to go off the grid this morning as floods interrupted water supplies and power stations were closed down by water damage. The flooding crisis underlines the need to think carefully when choosing where to live off-grid, as well as the benefits of living off-grid in times of climate change.

Central England is the most affected by the worst flooding in 70 years, with 50,000 people at one point losing both power and water supplies, and 450,000 losing just water. The battle continues to save Walham power station from flooding. If it is forced to close, a further 500,000 will have their power cut off.…

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July 24, 2007 1 Comment
offthegrid1-6951060
Off-Grid 101

Wild style

Live In The Wild In Style!

The Do It Green site has a fine roundup of recent articles about living off the grid, full of neat examples and useful links.

offgrid2-2864691
(Picture courtesy of Tolka River)

It links to an article at ElectronicHouse featuring an architect designed off-grid home � luxury on the cheap by the look of it, near San Jose CA. A quote from the article,

“Once we did the research and realized it was possible to run a �normal� house off the grid, we really got into the idea…This was also during the time of Enron and brownouts in California.”

offthegrid1-6951060

(Picture courtesy of mjovery)

An energy kit was installed by Planetary Systems, plus a back-up power generator, and a windmill system to help out with the energy consumption.

he needs the power to run the following:

  • A 56-inch Samsung DLP
  • An InFocus IN76 projector
  • A Vonage phone setup
  • A Mac with EyeTV software
  • A PlayStation 3

Another article referenced is Living Off The Grid which talks about how this family manages to survive without all of the ammenities that the Mitchell’s have. The author of the article, and the individual who lives in this home notes,

“We have lived in our home in the woods for the past twelve years without electricity, running water or telephone. It has been an exciting experience.”

If you truly want to live off the grid and do it green, you should definitely check out the article. It truly tells you how this family lives in all aspects of the infrastructure of their lives- from how their house is heated, to how they get water, etc. …

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July 21, 2007 No Comments

Its the environment, stupid

Dan Ramsey
Ramsey – Idiot

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Solar Power for Your Home (second edition) by Dan Ramsey with David Hughes

What is it?

One of the latest in the popular Idiot’s Guide series (published by Penguin Group) helps readers understand the basics of solar power and other renewable energy sources, determine if solar power is an option for them, and investigate what’s involved with installing various on- and off-grid systems.

How’s it work?

Organized in easy-to-understand chapters, the book discusses: Advantages and disadvantages along with costs and benefits of solar power.…

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July 3, 2007 No Comments
Mobile

Commuter scooter

Folded electric scooter
getting there

If you commute to work in a city, then the scooters in our online store could be help take part of your life off-grid.

The scooters have engines ranging from 100W to a gob-smacking 750W, can take you from 8mph to over 20mph for up to 30miles! They are perfect for the everyday commute, and for errands that are too far to walk but not far enough to take a car.

There are several varieties in our store, something to fit every budget – here’s just one example,…

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July 3, 2007 No Comments

How We Went Off-Grid

Order Here How We Went Off-Grid

20 x 8 Ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Desert Sand

Order Here 20 x 8 Ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Desert Sand

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