Getting off the grid could be the best thing for you and your family
I would imagine that you are glad you’ve moved or are in the process of moving off-grid. Saving money on your power bills and being able to keep the lights on when your neighbors suffer power outages from storms and other problems make it well worth the time you’re putting into becoming self-reliant. You probably already have very little faith in the power monopolies to keep the electric grid functioning properly, and I have some news for you today that will reinforce that opinion.
Did you know that the only way the Federal Emergency Management Agency is legally allowed to provide funds to power utilities following a damaging storm is if the utilities replace “in kind” the electrical components that failed? In other words, the government in its infinite wisdom has decided that the best way to deal with the problem of antiquated and unreliable power grid components is to replace them when they fail with equally antiquated and unreliable components. Is anyone surprised that four weeks after superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast that some people in New York and New Jersey were still without power?
Check out this Wall Street Journal, “In Sandy’s Wake, Time to Upgrade the Power Grid.” In this piece, former New York governor George Pataki spells out the numerous and serious problems with our electrical infrastructure – referring to it as “perhaps the greatest flaw underpinning the American way of life” – and offers solutions that include burying electrical distribution networks and modernizing the transmission systems that carry high-voltage electricity from large power plants to the local distribution level.
The solutions offered by Pataki are sound ones, but he acknowledges that they will be very expensive to implement at a time when many people are already overwhelmed with bills. What he did not mention is something we all already know – the real answer to the problem is getting off the grid.
What did you think about the article’s assessment of the U.S. power grid? Do you agree with the solutions that were proposed? Do you think people will be willing to pay even higher utility bills than they already do in order to enact the proposed changes? I’d love to hear from you about this subject.
Recommended Today
Off Grid Living DVD: Want to a behind-the-scenes tour of a modern off-grid home? Check out this brand-new DVD featuring my friend Kriss who hasn’t paid in dime in electricity for the last 5 years because of his solar and wind power system. This new DVD is getting rave reviews from Power4Patriots customers like Richard O. who said “Awesome video. Nice job and thank you for providing some real hands on and covering all the aspects of off grid living. We need more folks like this plowing the way and teaching as they go.”
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I installed a 10.12KW solar array with both grid tie and hybrid battery based inverters in 2010. It’s nice to have such independence and no power bill. The reason I did it though was because I knew that our White House had become infested with an America hating, communist, Trojan Horse, dog eating, Muslim usurper and things would be soon going down hill for our country. Even I am stunned at how fast he destroyed the country.
Best to get at least 5Kilowatt solar system and big rebate from Govt. Then a couple patriot generators,food and a well with a hand pump.
If you have 5 kl of power plus batteries and a few solar powered patriot generators plus a well with a hand pump plus food from Frank Bates. You should be okay. Get a loan for panels and batteries,you may have to pay anyone back if we have EMP or cyber attack or solar flares.
I am intersted in finding more info on how to make my own grid.. please send the info as soon as possible.
check out http://www.power4patriots.com
What does 1000 life cycles mean? (Regarding the solar generator )
To start with, getting off grid should involve reducing electrical usage now. This does not always involve “doing without” and will reduce electric bill now (who can’t want that!)
– Compact florescent light bulbs cost more but use a lot less power than incandescent and last long time.
– Baths use less hot water than showers and the water can be heated in fireplace, campfire or on gas grill. Used bath water is still good for washing clothes.
– What hot water does come from heater tank can be conserved with foam “jackets” that wrap around pipes. (Cheap at Home Depot and minutes to install.)
– Become a fan of sweat pants and shirts . I keep house thermostat down and stay warm by wearing two layers of sweats in house.
– If windows are drafty or rattle, consider replacing them with nice tight-fitting thermal double paned windows. No sense heating or air conditioning the great outdoors.
– When replacing windows, save the old ones to build little green houses for starting seedlings in early spring.
– If power goes out, re-stack stuff in freezer to eliminate air between items. Then pack newspaper around exposed stuff to insulate from warmer air.
– About water, we have a 5-foot kiddie pool we bought on sale at Wal-Mart really cheap sitting on patio that gathers LOTS of water. I scoop out water, and run it through cheap coffee filter. Now it’s good enough for garden and scrubbing driveway and side of house. I filter it again with quality commercial filter before I use it indoors. If ever in doubt about water purity and safety, pet stores that handle aquarium supplies sell kits that test water and are easy to use.
– Talk to your grandparents. Get them to tell you stories about their childhoods. I’m 57 years old so have my own experiences but I learned a lot from grandparents who got along just fine with little or no electricity.
Finally, talk to grandparents. For me, they lived through the depression, they should know.
in many places if living in a home ” must ” be connected to grid, no choice. If not then evicted
Here’s an option no one seems to talk about. Set up your house completely off the grid, with NO electric. Anytime you give the fat cats an opportunity to feed off of you, they will consume you entirely with no remorse. You are just a pawn in their game.
I have been reading about Spain levying a solar tax. Here is an excerpt from one article.
The Secretary of State for Energy, Alberto Nadal, signed a draft royal decree in which consumption taxes are levied on those who want to start solar power systems on their rooftops. The tax, labeled a “backup toll” is high enough to ensure that it will be cheaper to keep buying energy from current providers.
All it takes is one country to start the ball rolling and watch how fast other countries, including the U.S. will jump on the band wagon.
The probable reason SPAIN wants to do this, is real easy, that BIG solar sys with the heliostats to keep mirrors focoused on the heat sourse, damned bankrupted spain !!!
If you do get off the grid, DO NOT TALK ABOUT IT!!! One lady in Florida told the local news about having been off the grid since her husband died, and in no time flat, her house was condemned for “code violations” and she was evicted! Go ahead and reduce your electric bill to zero – or even get paid by the power company for producing more than you use, but don’t advertise it to the public!
Sad story for someone who is trying to save money. Agree with statement—just do it and stop talking/advertising what has been done!
I think that one point a lot of people are missing, is that it is a lot more effective to live “off grid” (e.g. using solar power), if you are willing to downsize from what the average American is used to taking for granted when the electricity just seems to flow from the wall outlets in unlimited quantity. I know that sitting down and calculating how many panels it would take to provide how much electricity, and which appliances use the most power (either in short periods of time, such as a vacuum or hotplate, or by running continuously such as a refrigerator) really made me a lot more aware of of every kilowatt of energy we use, and “do we really NEED that?” When we sat down and thought about it, there were/are really only a few things that we really need to run all the time, such as a small fridge [not one of the huge side-by-side icemaker versions we have become accustomed to!], a chest freezer, and the internet satellite; everything else, can either be replaced by hand-powered or wood-burning devices or such, or else can be used for such short periods of time (say, using a power saw for 30 minutes) that one could afford to unplug the fridge & freezer for that long. A lot also depends on how large a bank of storage batteries you are able or willing to keep on hand.
All I’m trying to say is, there is a big difference between trying to use solar power to emulate the amount of power you take for granted in a 2500 sq ft suburban home…and the amount you really need, for two people to live in a one BR cabin in a remote mountain area. Become more self-reliant (use your muscles more!) and don’t expect to have an all-electric house, and you should NOT have to pay $20,000 to $40,000 for a “solar system”! Find reputable online dealers for parts and learn to build the system yourself, and you will save even more money; the “contractors” have to make lots of money to cover all their overhead!
You should consider surge power (that startup energy that motors, especially compressors and wellpumps) need to get going). Unless you plan to monitor everything constantly consider if two things, like the freezer and furnace or well pump, try to start at the same time….
Your inverter must be able to be protected from transient overloads like this.
I recommend that you replace the word “hoarding” with “stocking” in your ads for what to put by for emergencies. Hoarding is defined as buying and keeping with intent to sell at a profit in times of shortage. Harding is illegal as is profiteering (selling high in times of shortage). Hoarding has negative connotations – people with the foresight to prepare for disaster (of any sort) should not be saddled with a pejorative label.
People who “collect” and keep animals in horrible conditions and were once called collectors are now called HOARDERS, to point out the negative, illegal, immoral and unacceptable activity in which they engage.
I agree!! I am so sick of all those ads, whether pro or con “prepping”, that label people who want to be prudently prepared as “hoarders”: it makes people think of those unbalanced people whose houses are stacked floor to ceiling with junk, because they can’t bear to throw away a single thing, and can never clean their houses properly as a result.
I am attempting to build my own solar panels. However, the front side,holds the tabs well, the backside does not, and I keep breaking the cells. What do I need to do differently. I’m old so explain nicely. thank you all so much
As my son (I’m old, too!) has taught me, “Google is our friend”! Try Googling “how to build a solar panel” and see what happens, Shirley. Good luck.
WHAT IS NEEDED IS A SWITCH SO WHEN THE POWER GOES OFF YOU CAN SEND THE POWER FROM OUR SOLAR PANEL INTO YOUR SYSTEM (AND NOT THE GRID) SO THAT DURNING DAYLITE YOU CAN STILL MAKE DINNER, ICE CUBES ETC. BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN!!!!!!
I see a lot of questions but no one helping.
Why bother with any of this ? If the USA has a problem and the government falls apart no solar power will save your life.
GUNS and AMMO will help for a short time and who wants to live hiding or running ????
This is just MHO
One last thing I bought the complete project and books from power4patriots they is awesome but real sad to think it will take 40 thousand bucks to run my house again who has that kind of money to spare and time to keep up with batteries
have looked into what the power company will do if I provide power to the grid here with my solar panels and wind mills !!! What I have found is very disturbing, they have a program for this but membership is closed and a long waiting list is in place. They will not tell me any thing about a time membership will open at all. So this means if I tie to the grid with my panels and wind mills I can not be paid at all. Oh yea if I do tie to grid my inverters will all be Island Protected so no one gets hurt if up a pole with my system. been there done that not fun believe me. So another choice is to wire my house for my power — not grid tied — for my system I will not use batteries at all, never again will I maintain batteries. I maintained 300 batteries every month for almost a year never again. Oh yea these batteries were very long lasting batteries used round the clock and they would always need more water and acid every month they were about 2.5 feet high and 1.5 feet diameter glass
In your remarks you mentioned:
“So another choice is to wire my house for my power — not grid tied — for my system I will not use batteries at all, never again will I maintain batteries.”
I’m just looking into solar power. I thought there was either grid-tied or battery. You seem to be a proponent of a non-grid tied system that uses no batteries. How would such a system work when the sun is not shining?
for day time my off grid would be power used — for dark time my system would be grid tied — switching must be safe for workers on grid system and automatic
Hello Frank
I am looking at a solar hot water system. Active system with drain back tank and pump. But have a large question about how big in gallons does the tank need to be so as 4 of us have shower hot water at 11 pm ??? sun is not heating water after about 5 o’clock or sooner on average year round and 6 hours is a long time to have hot water for 4 showers.
A lot will depend on how big of a backup storage battery set you have. Small amt of battery storage, and once the sun is no longer shining, you will quickly run out. Lots of backup storage, and you can run things for longer after dark. (But personally I don’t know that I would try to heat lots of water using electric, unless it is with one of the “tankless” water heater that heats on demand.)
Of course, the other alternative is to change your showering schedule, & take showers while the sun is shining.
all of us working up into night time so day light showers are not a choice most of time. I will not have batteries for this at all.
— Another choice is a 50 gallon hot water well insulated underground tank. By using 20 gallons before new water is allowed in would supply hot water for 4 showers at 11 pm if needed
Does anyone know anything about the magnetic free energy system? Looks like a magnetic wheel almost and is suppose to furnish free energy for your home or is that a hoax?Supposedly you can use this guys plans and built it yourself.
it’s a hoax.
We looked into a whole house solar system. It was costly (about $20k) and didn’t do what we wanted. The agreement with my local power company is that if I install solar panels on the house, I have to install a second meter. I always buy electricity for my needs, but then the other meter is used to sell my power back to them. Sounds good until I asked the question: “what happens if there is a large scale power outage?” The answer is that if the grid goes down, so do I. The solar company could sell me a much smaller system with batteries for the same price, but it would not be adequate to power much of my house. I was looking into a solar generator and found the Sunrunner system that looks close to what I am looking for at about half the cost (or less) of the house system. Does anyone know anything about solar generators or the Sunrunner in particular?
Frank, have you heard about the effort here in Ohio to reinstate Thorium energy? Please check out
energyfromthorium.com website.
are the power companys going to pay for the upgrades first,and then charge the higher price
or charge the people a higher price first.to pay for the upgrades.
I think that the best solution for a lot of people for off-grid power is a steam engine driving a 12v automobile alternator to charge several batteries and a 115vac/220vac generator to run the house and well pump. I have about 7 acres of woods and an endless supply wood.
I have seen a number of articles on converting things like 2-cycle and 4-cycle engines and air compressors into steam engines and would like to see someone develop and sell a kit to convert a common and very available 2-cycle engine into a steam engine. It would need to be a larger one to drive the alternator and generator at the same time, but a small one would drive them individually. It would also have to include a boiler assembly or information on how to buy or build one, or buy the parts to build one. Selling a boiler assembly may have too many legal restrictions, so plans with a parts list and list of suppliers might be the way to go.
There are plenty of 12v appliances available through stores for RVers and truckers and they aren’t very expensive.
Mother Earth News had an article a few years ago about a couple who used a Pinto engine to do the same thing, which would be fine as long as gasoline is available. I think they ran it about a half-hour to an hour a day to charge their batteries and pump water into their storage tank. They also used the heat from the engine to provide all of their hot water. A steam engine of sufficient size could provide all those things.
A steam engine could be designed to be started with natural gas and the fire box could burn a number of things, like wood, coal, natural gas, waste oil, trash, etc. The firebox could even supply hot water heat to the house or a shop. The ash could be plowed into the garden if it was from natural substances like wood and paper.
The large, “Fresnal Lens” could be a great way to heat any water or “Boiler Type system that runs copper pipes with fins around the inner baseboard of a home, at least during the day. It will start the fire at end of day to have the water heat at night. I did heating-A/C for yrs. before injured. We had a nat. gas boiler but a lens & 55 gal barrel with pipes would heat good. Build it off the ground so you can use wood at night, if needed! good luck & peace. Better is to drill 1-2 100ft holes & run special black pipe(2 1/2”)
and the temp at that depth is the same year round. You’d have to pump it up but it’s called, “Geo-Thermal” & it’ll heat & cool a consistent temp & you can get this info from some city dept.’s or drill & ck. the temps yourself. Worth looking into, I am!
Getting off grid, or at least having a way to power the necessities in a manner that doesn’t depend on grid power to function (even a whole house generator burning natural gas will fail if there’s no power to the gas plant), is the best bet. It’s not nearly as easy as it’s made out to be, especially for those with significant disabilities such as myself. I’m a paraplegic so I have no option but to pay someone else to do the work. That means dishing out big bucks, which means going even deeper into debt.
:(
This is just another example of one of the greatest lies. “I’m from the government I’m here to help you?” Why do they think they have to run our lives? Leave us alone!
I agree with Christi Dea about the riots. Next time the power goes out, I will not bother with candles, camp lanterns, or power from the inverter I carry in my truck. I will go out and RIOT (but I will not try to loot any Korean-owned businesses, as that can lead to bullet holes).
My off-grid resources are limited, but I have gotten started with a motorcycle battery and a small solar panel. It is enough to keep small things running (ham radio, cell phone, snailbook computer), and once I used it to jumpstart my car. I little juice goes a long way when things are down.
What I really would like: a system that feeds surplus power back into the grid when the sun is shining. The solar power marketing people are eager to install such a system, in exchange for a lien on my property and a high interest rate loan… but they use the grid itself as a battery, charge controller, and regulator. What happens when the grid goes down? They avoid that topic.
I have a tool shack in the back of the property that needs power. I think a 2 kW inverter, a couple of batteries, a charge controller, and a modest solar panel could operate all of the power tools there, and be cheaper than the cost of a unionized electrician running grid power out there. In an emergency, that power could be brought to the house. Coming soon…
I wish WATER was as easy; I have no idea how to drill and manage a water well. Without water, I have to go 5 miles to the Pacific Ocean for seawater. Not exactly survivable.
To drill your own well google deeprock hydra drill. It is very doable
I just watched FoxNews last night and they had an expert on Cyberwarfare on the show that said that the Chinese could attempt to hack into our power grid and shut it down basically any time they want. He said it was called “prepping the field” before launching a traditional ground war, although one has to wonder if a ground war would even be necessary. They could just shut down the grid and sit back and watch as the riots broke out
Any ground war attack on the USA would be a totally different thing than we have ever seen in the past. Never, that I know of, has a large country had such an armed citizenry, nor such a large percentage of trained military. “Aint NOBODY gonna mess with US!”
In an outright invasion it would be the Revolutionary War all over again and the world knows it.
I agree to getting off the power grid! I plan to somehow do this and am just starting to find out now, the energy is there and available. To utilize it and keep the hardware working will be less expensive.
I need to find the resources which will work.
is solar power effective in the northeast?
Again, a lot depends on how much you are trying to run, and how big a set of storage batteries you have. If you are only trying to run a few electric appliances, then obviously you need a lot less than if you are trying to heat your whole house. But that in turn depends on if you have another viable supply of fuel, such as wood for burning. If you are trying to run an entire “modern” house with solar power, including heating and A/C, then maybe not so much.