The wood-shed of Oz

Nigel Hargreaves lives on the eastern seaboard of Australia. He sent us his hopes for an off-grid future:

Its warm in here!

My first residence in Australia was a wooden shed which some friends and I converted using re-cycled Australian hardwood timber.
I had two 75W PV panels to supply electricity to a bank of six 2V ex-telephone exchange, alkaline batteries. Most of the lights were single, hi intensity laser diodes. There was a 600W inverter for conventional stuff like a stereo and laptop computer.

Bottled gas was my cooking fuel and occasionally, when my roof-fed water tank was up, I would light a fire under a cast-iron bath outdoors for a hot bath, using off-cuts and litter from the surrounding woodland. I also had a pot-belly stove which heated the place in the winter, but my roof insulation was lacking and a great home for rats coming in from the cold!

This could have been improved by better design of course – and kept me cooler in summer too.

I built a dry compost toilet (aerobic digestion) out of a standard wheelie bin which served me very well. Grey water went through pipes to feed the surrounding trees and bamboo I planted for shade. Some salads and vegetables were grown on another plot of land a few hundred metres away.

I am keen to buy/build my own house in the future. I intend to take advantage of Aussie Federal government subsidies to buy solar hot water and PV energy systems.

At the moment I work as a Solar hot water system installer and can see the benefits of this in a country like Australia. I also favour PV in Australia, having experience as a consulting engineer installing solar powered water pumps in South Darfur, Sudan, in the 1980’s. Presently I am thinking about making the PV system grid- connected, to earn money as an electricity generator and reduce the maintenance and cost through the absence of batteries, although I haven’t finalised this as it will depend on the location of the land I buy and whether there already is mains power at the site.

Ground source heat pumps and straw-bailed walls are also of interest in a future design.

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 Use and Outdoor Camping

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31% Off $149.99 $102.99 (as of October 10, 2024 20:12 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

120WH CAPACITY: The power station has a power capacity of 120Wh/33,000mAh which the camping power supply can power most electronic devices efficiently. It can fully charge mobile phone 10+ times, the laptop 2 times, the CPAP machine 3 hours (the time... read more

Portable Power Station 600W, Powkey 296Wh Battery Backup with 2 Pure Sine Wave AC Outlets, USB-C PD100W and 2 Wireless Chargers, Solar Generator (Solar Panel Optional) for Outdoor Camping/RVs/Home Use

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$275.54 (as of October 10, 2024 20:12 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

CAMPING BATTERY WITH MOST PORTS: The outdoor backup lithium battery features 2 x AC outlet (110V 600W in total), 2 x USB-A port, 2 x USB-C port, 2 x 10W Wireless Charger, 2 x 12V DC port and 2 x charging port (USB-C, DC). Our portable power generator... read more

powkey Portable Power Station 800W with 3 AC Outlets, 110V/740Wh Solar Generator(Solar Panel Optional), 200,000mAh Emergency Backup Lithium-ion Battery for Outdoors Travel RV Trip Camping CPAP Machine

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$569.99 (as of October 10, 2024 20:12 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

The outdoor backup lithium battery features 3 x AC outlet (110V 800W in total), 2 x USB-A port, 2 x USB-C port, 2 x 10W Wireless Charger, 2 x 12V DC port and 2 x charging port (Anderson, DC). Our portable power generator with wireless charger, you ca... read more

Generac B4177GS Generator Battery Charger Genuine Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Part

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$29.99 $22.99 (as of October 10, 2024 20:12 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

This part is compatible with models including; 030247-01,030247,1656-1,01893,030240,030242,580326310,580326311,030477A-01,580754952,580754951,580329140,580754950,01925,020573-00,030237,030216,030337-0,030210,030338-1,580325650,030470-1,030471-0,58032... read more

Portable Power Station 350W, Powkey 260Wh/70,000mAh Backup Lithium Battery, 110V Pure Sine Wave Power Bank with 2 AC Outlets, Portable Generator for Outdoors Camping Travel Hunting Emergency

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$192.98 (as of October 10, 2024 20:12 GMT +01:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Multiple Charging Ports: 2* Pure Sine Wave AC outlets (110V 350W ), 2* USB-A ports (5V, 3.1A total),1* USB-C port , 2* DC Outputs(12V 8A; 24V 3A) and 1* 12V DC car port to charge your devices, and 1 * 10W wireless charging pad are also equipped 3 Cha... read more