29 replies to this topic

[Collin1000]

I just watched some of your videos and I have to say, very impressive! I could never pull that off now but maybe 10 years down the road from now!

[jenifer123]

This is really very nice idea to use solar and wind power to generate electricity. I am not living in off grid but this idea is really helpful for all who are living in off grid area.

[Phil]

I am living grid tied but have the capability to go off if the need arises.  There is someone who lives in my area off grid, I think I'll try to hunt them down and introduce myself.

That cabin looks great!  I'll have to check out your video's.  Solar has never been cheaper so now is a good time for people to take the plunge either off grid or grid tied.  If I'd have known how cheap they would become I'd have moved farther out and gone off grid.

[aphil]

I appreciate you sharing your lifestyle Solarman. I will keep up with your videos because I do want to learn how to live off the grid. Your property is looking really good and you should be proud of all the work you are doing. it truly took vision and determination to get to where you are from where you said you started. It indicates to me what I need to do to be successful.

[dziomek]

solarman, on 02 May 2012 - 08:17 PM, said:

Hi folks, just wanted to introduce myself and share my off-grid experiences.

I have been living off-grid for over 15 years now. Started small living in a camp trailer with one 45 watt solar panel and an old truck battery to power a water pump and lights. I saved enough in two years to build a 14x14 off-grid cabin.

The cabin has a kitchen, dining area, living area and bathroom downstairs and large bedroom and office upstairs. My power system is 580 watts solar and 400 watts wind which runs my water pump, lights, tv, laptop, fridge and lots of gadgets. I use a solar composting toilet of my own design and hand drilled my water well. Heat is woodstove with backup propane.

I have lots of vids of my cabin and system on youtube for ideas:

youtube solarcabin

I hope to make some friends and share off-grid ideas!

LaMar

I bought your e-book from Lulu a couple of weeks ago - some very good information in it. I will be purchasing a printed copy at some point as well, but for now am happy with what I have read in it.

[Pat]

This sounds like something to have as a backup for when the power goes out like it just did on the east coast?

[Magic Pixel]

Hi All, and Hi Solarman, what a house, what a man!

I would love to make the same kind of changes but the thing about the world as it is, is that all lives are enmeshed with the system that exists and your world, which is a much better world that has a place for the natural world rather than a purely self-centred man-made world, exists in a time bygone or a time yet to come for most of us. But as you and others like you prove, it is not that remote or fantastic. At some point, the purely man-made world that I mentioned earlier should be outlawed!

[ACSAPA]

saver, on 14 May 2012 - 01:31 AM, said:

Thanks :)

I'm past thinking there's one right way for everyone to live, people just aren't all the same.

BUT what you're doing is something that a lot more people should know about. It occurs to me I have no idea how environmental subjects are tackled in schools. I guess as part of geography.

I agree. Even if not everyone chooses this way of living people should know more about how it works and what all their options are. Some people live on the grid because they just don't know any better.  They don't realize that there are other choices.

[steph84]

I found so many informative related videos just from this one video. I even learned how to live in my van if I ever became homeless. It's amazing at how much information is on youtube. They should start up a whole section like Khan University and create some type of video classroom section.

[meowcow]

Thanks for sharing your story with us! It really serves as an inspiration as it shows that it really can be done, even if you just start out small. I have aspirations of being able to do this as well someday. I'm still hoping that the price of solar panels go even further down in the near future, as I prefer to just save all of my money now and buy everything and set up everything at one time. A slightly different path to yours but ultimately the same thing, I believe. Still, it is very nice to hear about someone who is actually living it right now and having something concrete instead of theoretical. For now, I guess I'll just have to stick to my energy saving utilities and hope that I can scrape enough money and courage someday to live as you live, as I suspect a lot of our members aspire to do so as well. So again, thank you for sharing your story with us. :)