Week 3…Living Off Grid…
When we first started
discussing our plans to go tiny with friends and family they had many questions
for us. So where will you stay? What about work? What about the dogs, etc. I had to shrug my shoulders at many of the
questions because not only did I not know, I didn’t even know what all I didn’t
know. You may have seen a post that has been going
around the internet of a nice little cabin in the woods asking if you had all
of the food you needed would you live in it the month of January for $100,000? Most people are like YES! Because let’s face
it, what WOULDN’T we do for a month for $100,000?! What they fail to tell you is whether the
house is on grid, etc. Food is only one
item to consider before living in that little (probably $30,000 to build)
cabin.
So with the 2 weeks in the
forest and now over 1 week in a small town living off grid, I have the
following to say:
While living without a full
hookup (electricity, cable, wireless, sewer, water) is possible and I am sure
easier than in years past, it’s still not easy.
There is much more to consider and seemingly a lot more Math :P (NOT my best subject.) You have to factor a lot of things into your
daily life:
1. Heating, how do you heat? Do
you run a generator and use an electric heater?
We have an onboard furnace but it needs LP gas so do we use our onboard
LP tank or external tank? The onboard is
much larger so it needs filled less frequently but it’s also harder to find
places that fill RV tanks (and usually the places that do are much more
expensive) and you have to shell out more money at once and move your entire
home to fill it. The smaller tank is
more easily filled, less to fill at once but again more frequent fills
needed.
2. Charging phones and tablets and running your refrigerator and
TVs. Again as one, they are easy enough
to maintain (well except the frig and microwave which take a LOT of
power). We have to run the generator to
maintain the power needed while we microwave.
Adam chose to split up the power so sometimes when the generator is
running it’s charging the house batteries which are used for the frig. Usually, it’s during this time we watch TV
and charge our phones, etc. We have one
house battery that is used to do the DC work (yeah I know what?) and that works
the furnace blower, the lights and water pump.
We do have some solar panels which generate some energy but we need to
get longer cables so we can move them around as needed with the movement of the
sun. Where we are sitting is pretty
shaded so they are not used as efficiently as they could be. We have to be aware of every bit of
electricity we are using. Charging your
phone? Try NOT microwaving a snack while
doing so. Wanna make toast? No microwaving during that. Need to dry your hair? No one can vacuum while you do that.
3. Data, Data, Data! UGH DATA! Because we have both worked for a cable
company for so long, it’s easy to forget how much data you are using. Downloading, streaming, working, surfing, all
of it DATA SUCKERS L I want my house unlimited
cable BACK! Try living on 10 gigs or less a month FOR YOUR
WHOLE FAMILY! Seriously, this is a hard
one!
4. Cable TV, NOPE! We are lucky
in that we get a few local channels over the air but depending on weather we
get more or less and don’t forget, that TV sucks a LOT of energy!
5. Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Water is probably the easiest item to
replenish in that you can purchase all types of jugs to fill and you are able
to collect water in a bucket if needed for flushing, etc. But drinkable water is limited to what your
house/rig holds and is as refillable as your neighbor’s hose, nearest rest
station, etc. How much water do YOU use
for bathing, showering and dishes, etc.
6. Waste. Ok you have used your
water and bathroom, now you need to empty those used gray and black tanks. Where?
You can sometimes find a place like Camping World or a roadside rest
with a dump tank. If those are not
available then what? AND do you buy a
portable caddy to empty into then take THAT to dump station or keep taking your
rig (and if your tiny is not on wheels then….)??? There can be costs for dumping so something
to keep in mind. Using a composting
toilet is one way to eliminate the black tank and limit water usage but again
what do you do with the compost?
7. Garbage. Where are you going
to dispose of all of your trash? How much
trash are you responsible for making? Do
you recycle? If so, where do you keep bins or whatever you are using to collect
items before taking to recycle?
8. Laundry. Do you have a
washer/dryer in your tiny? If so, you are
now dealing with the energy to use them and the waste water when you do. If
not, do you have a bathhouse or laundry nearby? Handy but also have extra cost. Do you wash in the tiny and then hang to
dry? Again, water being a precious
resource.
9. Pets. What do you do with
your used cat litter? If you have dogs,
what do you do with their waste? Where
do you walk them or exercise them? What
about their baths?
Let’s consider we have figured out all of the
answers to the above. Now consider the
other necessities of life. Those non
tangibles if you will. So all of your
truly necessary needs are being met, what do you do all day? What types of things, places and people do
you need in your life to be happy? What
about a church or gym? Bottom line, what
do you DO ALL DAY?!
Depending on where we were and what was
available, that drove how I spend my time.
When we were at a full hook up, we had more options. I
have been working some hours remotely so that takes a very small portion of my
time. We also have been looking for land
and or our next place to visit or stay so that takes some time (and electric
and data). The pets of course need
attention and exercise and feeding, etc.
Also time is needed to maintain the home with groceries, cleaning,
laundry, etc. But what do you do with
your time? Like what do you do for fun
if you will? I really enjoy movies but
am limited by the amount of electric (for TV) and data for streaming; even
watching a DVD that I own takes power. What
else do YOU need to feel happy and complete?
A good coffee shop nearby? A
place to jog or a gym? It’s funny how
when you break it down to starting from scratch the things you will spend the time and money to include in your
life.
We have taken some day trips to see the gulf
beach and explored some trails and even found a few parks that DID allow dogs
(what is with that?) so we have spent quite a bit of our time outside which was
our plan. I found a church when we were
in Georgia and attended a few times and am currently attending one in the small
town we are staying. Adam has taken his
RC cars to a few parks with tracks and ran them. Other
than that, we really haven’t done a whole lot.
Money is tight, understandably and without a “home base” seeking work is
tricky.
I look forward to a day when we DO have our own
land and have our tiny built and can enjoy a nice fenced yard for the dogs to
run freely about. I dream about having
unlimited cable internet and a nice big bathtub. A nearby ice cream shop is welcome along with
someplace that makes great breakfast potatoes.
While loved ones in the area would be nice, at least I can use my
unlimited data to skype J. Finding a job that
challenges me and allows me to learn something new is always a plus as would be
a pool (even a small kiddie type) as long as I am going to be where the weather
is nice.
So you see, living tiny isn’t just about the
space you reside in for me. It’s about
taking everything away and rebuilding a life that includes only the things you
NEED and LOVE and minimizing all the clutter and unnecessary noise of the crazy
lives we recently lived.
As much as I have learned and Adam has kept us
comfortable during the last few weeks, I look forward to the day when he says:
“THAT’S IT, WE ARE GOING BAAAAAACK ON THE GRID!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUuKoI_SMVQ
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