Living Off The Grid

Recently my home heating ‘backup’, a criminally inefficient old furnace, died. Pondering replacement options gave me an opportunity to consider the many ways one can power a furnace.

If you can tolerate the price, I heartily recommend a Stihl powerhead in a size that’s comfortable for your needs, or slightly larger if you can justify a professional saw fitted with a bar that’s not too long.

The Off Grid Living blog carnival, where we share some of the best posts on the internet from people sharing their off grid living tips, personal stories and thoughts.

You can’t put a price on peace of mind and the safety of yourself and your loved ones. Here’s what I’m doing to protect our place.

I just spent two hours researching and choosing a hand-cranked grain mill. Here are a few of the mills I considered and which I ended up going with in the end.

A few pictures from stuff we’ve been up to over the weekend. Working a full time job and trying to take care of an old farm isn’t easy, but it’ll all pay off in the end….

I think I’ll use this spring to feed a pond I plan to dig in the marshy area at the bottom of the hill.

Whatever corporate hack decided to go overboard with silly bells and whistles should be thrown into a volcano so they can get back to making high quality machines. Bottom line: This may be the best snowblower for the price, but it isn’t perfect.

Heating with wood can be as high or low tech as you choose. I favor technology to save labor. You’ll have to choose: woodsplitter or maul.

Guest expert author Fred Roensch, PhD. was kind enough to give us the graphic below, which shows a few different ways one might set up an off-grid water system, including drinking water intake and filtration from different sources and hot water heating, as well as black and grey wastewater use and disposal. Click on the [...]

Primarily, because of the perception by significant number of people that municipal water is not acceptable when coming out of the tap there are thousands of water devices and treatments marketed to the general public.

Domestic water is usually discussed in terms of three types of water: white water”or potable drinking water, grey water and black wastewater. Each type of domestic water will be discussed separately.

Water quality is critical for an off-grid home. Therefore before you purchase land for an off-grid home, have the water source or sources tested for inorganic, organics and bacteria. Contact your local health authorities for specific sampling requirements, local certified laboratories and advice and interpretation of results of the tests.

A simple method that can be used to make very high quality charcoal lump, which is free of impurities and without the need for expensive apparatus or advanced skills.

When you make biodiesel you need some equipment. Most of it is buckets and assorted little stuff but you’ll also need a processor.

When I decided to make biodiesel I had certain notions. My experiences have been unexpectedly different yet better in many ways. Here are a few things worth mentioning.

One thing about property out in the country is that it always seems to be changing. Here are a few pictures of our flooded property in Virginia.

An easy to understand guide to making a batch of biodiesel, including the ingredients, the process and some simple safety considerations everyone should know about when making biodiesel.

Composting toilets provide a low-water, or even water-free, alternative that also allows you to close the poop loop by turning bodily wastes into organic material ready to go back into the soil. They are perfect for off grid homes, cabins, RVs and boats!

Guerrilla gardening is different from traditional gardening because instead of cultivating a home garden, guerrilla gardeners transform neglected public spaces. By beautifying abandoned parking lots, schoolyards, and alleyways, guerrilla gardeners are the Johnny Appleseeds of the urban landscape.