Its not selfish to live off-grid

https://www.off-grid 200W Portable Power Station, Powkey 120Wh/33,000mAh Power Bank with AC Outlet, 110V 6 Outputs Solar Generator External Battery Pack with LED Light for Home…

New golf cart batteries

Today was the first full day on the new batteries, we had everything hooked up to them, including the new chest freezer to refrigerator conversion,…

Off-Grid hiccups

A while back my current deep cycle batteries began to get weak, they would charge up quickly and not hold much of a charge, unfortunately…

It’s garden time!

I grew up watching gardening shows on PBS, one of my favorites was the Victory Garden, and during pledge week, they would always have Howard…
peer to peer messaging

FireChat app

SAN FRANCISCO AP –A new mobile messaging application called FireChat is empowering nearby smartphone users to stay in touch even when there’s no cellular service…

The Truffle

I enjoy looking at alternative, different housing, this is pretty different, both in the materials, design and building methods. I ran across this on FaceBook…

Goodbye World – movie launch

The big question for survivalists who choose to build themselves a cocoon is : do we fight them or feed them? Filmmakers have become intrigued…

Dollar stores for preps

It’s been a while since I have written about cooking, food and recipes, if you follow me any at all, you know that food is…

Air pruning?

Ever heard of air pruning? Neither have I… I just watched this video and I’m blown away, I think of all the people who do…

Pioneer couple

I grew up watching Texas Country Reporter, back in the day it was called 4 Country Reporter, that’s when there were only a few TV…

Update on being sick…

With my latest brush with a pretty major upper respiratory infection (URI), I made the decision to work on my stash of meds and educate…

7 days without utilities

I continually talk about being prepared, and I mean for as many things as possible, while it’s not possible to be ready 100% for every…

Being sick away from help

I have been going through one of the things that is greatly feared by the off-grid and rural community, getting very sick, I’m not talking…
The Economist report on off-grid power

Electricity disintermediated

Economist newspaper runs a story today on off-grid power – saying its the future and the old utility model is dying. Utilities’ profits are under…

Shipping container homes

As more and more people look for easy and inexpensive ways to create their own housing, one good method people have discovered are shipping containers.…

Spring renewal

Spring is on its way, we have had some warm days, t-shirt and shorts kind of warm, living in far west Texas, we are pretty…
Living entirely on what they grow and rear

20 Acres but nowhere to live

A British couple who spent five years building their home from scrap by hand have been ordered to tear it down by Torridge Council in…
Vans, tents, tunnels, sheds - no need to live in a house

Woodlands better than Baltimore shelters

Baltimore photographer Ben Marcin’s captures makeshift settlements near railway lines, gas stations, Walmarts and bridges. Amongst his eerie tableaux of tents, vans and other non-permanent…

Chinese solar farm $2m crowd-funding

A state-backed firm teamed up with Chinese online financiers to fund off-grid solar facility in Qianhai, near Shenzen, southern China. United Photovoltaics Group, controlled by…

Not prepped at all….

During this last major cold snap, I heard a story on NPR (National Public Radio), it’s the only radio station we can pick up out…

Power giants hate solar in Australia

The Australian solar industry is preparing for what it calls a “David and Goliath” battle against the country’s biggest generators and network operators. The outcome…
Martin Davidson old fart, Lord Hall old fart

BBC- British Bullying Corporation

The BBC recently announced the sacking of one of its radio presenters and of channel boss Janice Hadlow. But her husband Martin Davidson remained in…

Subaru unreliable electrics

When you live off the grid a Subaru Outback might seem like the perfect choice. It’s a low-profile All wheel Drive that has an enviable…

Colorado beer sales up in smoke

Legal marijuana is a major new cash crop for the off-grid community in Washington State and Colorado. And a “marijuana hangover is starting to hit…

ArkPak battery box review

Just before Christmas, I received a device called an ArkPak. It’s referred to as “The world’s most advanced battery box”. And that is exactly what…

Cheapest places to live in America

Consider this: a T-bone steak from a Manhattan grocer averages $15.52. In Harlingen, Texas, the cheapest place to live in America, the same steak goes…

Profs warn world will go off-grid

A pair of academics have warned that brownouts will take place with increasing severity around the world, as demand for electricity for gadgets soars amid…
Private island for sale $7m

Melody Key for sale

Melody Key, a six-acre island in the Florida Keys with a large home, was pulled from the auction block recently and is subject to private…

Living inside the box

This absolutely falls under the “How cool is that!” category… I have seen lots of sheds, workshops and homes made out of shipping containers, some…

Living off-grid interview

I watched this video just a few days ago, it shows how someone can live off-grid without living in a primitive manner, of course this…

Vodafone India

Vodafone India has about 70 million off-grid customers. Now it is taking its phone base stations off-grid at an impressive rate. It recently announced a…

Off-Gridder tipped as next billionaire

London squatter Amir Taaki has been tipped as a budding billionaire by Fortune magazine The 25-year-old associated with Dark Wallet, an online service that allows…

A tiny house for Macy

This Is What Happens When A Woman Gets Sick Of Divorce And Mortgages. And It’s Brilliant. Macy Miller is an architect from Idaho that had…

Stay warm in the freeze

Unless you reacted instantly to our piece last week on cheap fleeces, you’ll be looking around for ideas on coping with the cold air mass…

Stock up on LED lights now!

Christmas is over and the after Christmas sales have started, one thing to grab up now before they all vanish is LED light strings, yes…

Grilling in the sky castle

I love cooking, nearly anything, but until very recently I have kept my cooking adventures within the walls of the sky castle, a few weeks…
Frank Lloyd Wright design is rejected by Somerset council

Frank Lloyd Wright home thwarted in UK

Plans to create a low-lying zero-impact, off-grid villa 
originally designed for a Californian hillside amidst the rolling fields of Wraxall in South-West Britain have been…
reduce, reuse recycle WRAP

Recycling for fun and profit

The circular economy is being talked up at the moment. The safeguarding of valuable resources by keeping them in use for as long as possible…

Jesse Ventura Daily Mouth-off

Jesse Ventura is launching a daily talkshow on Internet-video.The libertarian rant, to debut next month, will focus, Ventura told Variety, on the hypocrisy of America’s…
offthegridnews survival,prepping

The Yearling

Its “The Year of The Yearling,” the seventy-fifth-anniversary celebration of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s 1938 novel about a young boy whose pet deer unwittingly threatens the…

Battery storage company

A US startup aims to lower energy costs by balancing the power grid with batteries charged during cheaper non-peak hours. It just received $15 million…
eco-paper made from wheat not trees

Woody Harrelson plans paper mill

Actor Woody Harrelson is planning to raise money for Prairie Paper Ventures Inc. a private company he started 15 years back. Prairie Paper makes its…

Power Predictor

Here’s a useful gadget for sizing your green energy investment. Spending thousands on solar panels or sticking a wind turbine on your roof requires a…

Winter wonderland

We had a very pretty day yesterday, it was one of those rare days that was cold but not so bitter that you didn’t want…
beat electrcity/gas price rises. Save money on utulities, save money on energy

Save Money on Gas/Electricity

Time for a selection of Christmas Gifts for our ON-Grid friends and family. Here’s how to help others save money on energy bills during these…

Dyson goes Off-Grid

British inventor James Dyson is working on an off-grid toilet design. One of the most successful Engineer-designers alive today Dyson announced: “One of (my) incubator…
Tax on rainwater coming soon, State rules prevent free use of rainwater

Rainwater politics

You can drink the rainwater in Atlanta, Georgia, but that is one of the few places in the US that provides for the use of…

Welsh planners’ double standards

The Welsh institute of town planners has awarded its top prize to a newly built off-grid home. Meanwhile Welsh planners decline applications from hundreds of…

A Simple way to Harvest Honey

One of the benefits of harvesting single combs at different times throughout the season is that you get to sample honey from multiple flora sources…

Winter check your home

Its an indication of how worried we are about heating bills that one of the most popular viral videos shows someone claiming they can heat…
Ready-made meals in sealed Jars reduce need for refrigeration

Mason Jar Meals

Alyson McClelland’s mom cans everything from barbecue sauce to fig jam. Once the delicious condiments are consumed, McClelland gives new life to all those empty…

Third Industrial Revolution

The first industrial revolution in the 19th Century was the invention of the steam engine. In the 20th Century oil and gas played a large…

10 steps to save money

We chose to downsize our lives, though in many ways we are living better than we did before. By turning our backs on consumerism, choosing…

Solar powered irrigation

Irrigation pumps powered by clean renewable energy, such as solar pumps, could solve both the economic and environmental dilemma: they don’t emit greenhouse gases, and…

Reducing the Grid in your Home

Good discussion on moneysavingexpert.com – lets get into the same subject on our own technical forum please It started with someone called Bricken saying: I…
NRG Energy, Arizona solar, Utilitiesin death spiral

NRG comes out against Utilities

The Off-Grid message sometimes seems anti-corporate – a fightback against the big Utilities and their cronies in politics and the media. But big business also…
digital detox, unplug,disconnect,offthegridnews,eric valli

Step Away from the Phone, Sir

U-Wire University of Colorado at Boulder; Boulder, CO – Every few weeks, a group of people — typically a dozen or so professionals, from Silicon…

Stuff to have for a power out

From kk.org “Handheld & powerful, the Waypoint™ pistol-grip spotlight offers high and low intensity modes, emergency signal mode and the latest in power LED technology.…

No man is an island

No man is an island, in the case of those wanting to go off-grid, that must also remain true. So often, those who are looking…
Kansas Underground shelter owner Roberto Vicino of Terravivos

Private Underground Shelters

Disaster preparedness is big business in the USA. The big banks all have shadow rooms, vast cavernous buildings on the edge of New York and…
Thoreau home solar panels

Solar Walden

(PRWEB) November 05, 2013 – Henry David Thoreau, illustrious American writer, philosopher, and naturalist, is going off the grid once again, 168 years after his…

Electricity for 8.5c/kwh

Macy’s of New York is the latest company to install a Bloom Energy fuel cell – which the energy company calls a “server” as it…

Underground home in Cumbria

From what I have read, the underground house is often considered the holy grail of off-grid living, it’s known to be warm in winter, cool…
co-generation gives resilience, energy security

USA Today showcases microgrids

The United States is by far the world’s leader on microgrids. The nation now accounts for nearly two-thirds, or 62%, of global microgrid capacity that’s…
Floating house designs

Introducing Aquatecture

A new architectural movement is leading to fresh opportunities for off-grid living – close to the rivers and seas that carry so much of our…

Water harvesting event

San Diego Permaculture and the Sky Mountain Institute will host the 2013 San Diego Permaculture Convergence, Nov. 9-10, aimed at showing how to harvest rainwater…

Solar powered pyramid

Ever see an off-grid pyramid? Well you are about to. This is the video story of Greg Grant, who began his off-grid existence slow and…

Bye-bye Lulu

Lou Reed was known as Lulu to his friends. It was his gay name, given to him by Andy Warhol. He went off the grid…

Utilities enter the Death Spiral

Electricity and water rates are set to rise sharply because so many households and business are now generating their own power and managing their own…

Net Zero Consulting service

As the world slowly wakes up to the importance of off-grid living, our knowledge is becoming valuable, or should that be invaluable? When a nation…

Hinkley C + QE = Slavery

The spectre of the British people as slaves of the new Chinese superpower just got a step closer. The Brits have agreed to what must…

UK solar homes pass 500,000

Recent data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) shows that nearly 460,000 homes across the UK have solar panels installed, and that…

Let There Be Dark

On October 27th the lights will go out. Imagine 10 days of a catastrophic blackout across the United States. No cell phone service, no ATM…

Marjory Wildcraft

  I just listened to a Coast to Coast am show featuring Marjory Wildcraft as a guest, I have heard her name before and probably…

Tiny homes, cheap!

I am starting to see more and more of these shed style homes, they remind me of Morgan buildings. They are a glorified shed that…

Scumbags at Scottish Power

Its yet another example of rip-off Britain. Scottish Power make it almost impossible for a normal custoimer to switch tariff or energy supplier. But the…

Payback Time

Letter from Reader Good day, Nick. I am a South African electronics engineer who has retired. Having done a bit of research I established that…

No pressure, cooking

No matter where I live, be it off-grid or in an apartment in a busy downtown area or anywhere in between, I would find my…

Rabbits for meat pt 4

OK, so you are on board for raising and eating rabbits, but you want more for your furry food source than just living in small…

Green East

WWF-UK says western society will soon have to look to innovation in Asia for leading green trends. Asian innovations are already rippling across the globe…

Rocket stove updates

I am really excited about the improvements people have been making on rocket stove ovens and thermal mass rocket stove heaters. All you need do…

Rabbits for meat pt 3

This is the 3rd in a series on raising rabbits for meat and fur. Some look at the cute bunnies and can’t imagine eating them,…

Turning hobbies into cash

AKA, doing what you love and getting paid for it! Have to be careful here, it’s starting to sound like one of those infomercials :)…

Hate shopping…

Living out in the wilds of far west Texas, major shopping (for me) has been curtailed… not that I mind though, I’m not a big…

Other people off-grid

I love seeing how other people live off-grid, each of us has our own ways, some are hard core, no electricity of any sort, some…

What to Eat When You’re Broke

  The lower your income is, the more difficult it is to be particular about what you feed your family. This probably isn’t an earth-shattering…

Cuadrilla Killa – Lord Browne

The former boss of British Petroleum, who presided over a declining safety record before he perjured himself in court documents, has spoken up in favour…
woman in vegetable garden,self-sufficiency,food-growing

Fall vegetable garden

Many of the same guidelines apply for fall gardening as spring gardening. The site for the garden needs to have a water source, full sun…

Hobbit home destroyed

A young couple have been left heartbroken after planners ordered their unique ‘hobbit home’ to be bulldozed, effectively leaving them homeless. Charlie Hague and Megan…

Growing vegetables in a tiny space

Growing vegetables in a small space, like a roof-terrace or a backyard has different rules and skills (and work-rate) compared to a larger piece of…
Dogwoof, amazing tourist hangouts

Wierdest holiday destinations

Travel site TripAdvisor announced 10 quirky accommodations in the U.S., as chosen by its editors. According to a release, travelers seeking a unique lodging experience…
Resident of Kivalina

Kivalina village faces extinction

The entire Alaskan village of Kivalina is off-grid, or “unserved” as the official jargon puts it, by water or power utilities. It clings to a…
Umbrella can be used for rainwater harvesting

Tips for harvesting rainwater

Many cities and states encourage rainwater harvesting, yet few homes and commercial buildings have implemented it. Excuses range from the cost of construction to lack…
looters and preppers

Fight them or Feed them

A long thread on City-data Forum has a number of individuals discussing their attitude towards looting in the event of a general social collapse or…

Tanning Rabbit hides

Now that you have chosen to raise rabbits for meat, it’s time to learn how to tan their hides, you can either use the fur…

Rabbits for meat pt 1

Living more frugally can mean growing your own food, that can include more than just plants, it can mean meat. Many people who live in…
off-grid, mind comics, animation

New Prepper Comic Book

Graphic artist Plaid Klaus launched the Off-Grid comic book series in April 2013. The illustrator and writer is focusing on life after a societal collapse…

Off-Grid property for sale

MAJORCA, AUSTRALIA – Barking Owl Creek Farm in the central Victorian goldfields is powered by a solar  unit and there is bottled gas for cooking and heating. There…