http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ Forums: Recent Posts en Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:20:19 +0000 http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=446#post-1297 Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:28:55 +0000 Spit 1297@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>i've just bought a vintage Spartan trailer and i'm renovating it for off the grid living.<br /> i'm starting to research my options for water collection. now i get my water in a jug from a spring water dispenser at the grocery for drinking. i have access to communal showers at the workshop that i live in now. i'd like to set up water for a washtub i'm building for the trailer and for drinking. from the alex jones commercials the ecoloblue atmospheric water system intrigued me, but it seems to take quite a lot of power. and possibly a system could be rigged from a common dehumidifier + a filter, but i'm not sure what these are made of...if there's lead, etc. and the other option seems to be rain collection with what seems to be an endless amount of ways to collect it and filter it. and many different opinions on whether it's drinkable or just potable, etc. i'm still researching, got an awful headache from the computer though and would like a little assistance finding a website or some advice detailing the most common options of off the grid water systems. i'm in the middle of a city near the southeast coast with the camper in a fenced in yard. lots of humidity.<br /> there's just too much info online for me to go through...can someone give me some guidance?</p> <p>thanks,<br /> spit </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=407#post-1296 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:42:16 +0000 elnav 1296@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>scjp your post contains a lot of links to a software sales website. This is an inappropriate use of this forum. Kindly stop. I see this kind of post with links to microsoft course sales. I don't know if these are all done by one person or by a whole collective group. Either way it does not seem relevant to off grid living. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=445#post-1295 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:29:52 +0000 elnav 1295@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Are you looking for someone to design the system or just to build it. In other words are you looking for brains or just muscle? </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=442#post-1294 Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:39:06 +0000 marshall 1294@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Achef,</p> <p>It is not that hard to run a business like yours off grid. The main concern is simple reliable access for your customers to find your office and navigate the driveway. Search my site for 'driveway adventures' to see what would not work for you. I have a different kind of work that requires that I visit customer's homes. If your business model included that, then you would have more choices since the driveway fun is yours, not theirs. </p> <p><a href="http://www.genverters.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.genverters.com</a></p> <p>Good luck,<br /> marshall </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=445#post-1293 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:08:08 +0000 patty007 1293@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Is anyone interested in helping us to install a great reliable but not too expensive off grid system in a private island of the Bahamas? </p> <p>We are providing the shelter and the beach is all yours every day after work, of course...lol</p> <p>We need to power the private island with Solar and Wind in order to have enough energy for small houses and/or bungalows with NO A/C but only ceiling fans, but also low consumption appliances such as refrigerator, low density light bulbs, LCD TV, DVD, satellite dish, etc.</p> <p>Let us know your thought on the subject matters<br /> Thanks to all for your help and future corporation...<br /> Patty </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=443#post-1292 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:37:30 +0000 elnav 1292@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>yes! Underground houses were all the rage some 30 - 40 years ago among young architects but somehow the general public never really got on board. Which is not to say the idea was bad just that people are very resistant to change. By coincidence I happened to find an old book published in 1980 dealing with this very topic. It was published by the Rhodale press and the articles written by various staff editors of the Rhodale magazine. Unless you have to blast into solid bedrock the plan may not be that much more expensive. You could opt for a base laid on surface bedrock and then bury the house after construction. I suggest you look into archived architectural books and papers dating back to 1975 - 1985 era and you will find plenty of good results. In fact Finland is an excellent place for such construction. given the climate. Light wells and prisms now help make such housing as bright inside as a surface built house. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=444#post-1291 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:24:54 +0000 elnav 1291@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Fast turtle said: , I'd like to avoid the types with built-in chargers, since we will be doing minimal charging from AC sources. </p> <p>Why the aversion to being able to charge from an AC voltage source in a pinch?<br /> I would assume you have done your homework and realize that combination charger /inverters are simply using the same components but running the current flow in reverse. There is no real savings by having a dedicated inverter only and then having to buy a seperate and inferior charger when you realize the need for some kind of charging after a proponged period of no wind or solar charging.<br /> Internally the combination device only differs by the inclusion of a transfer relay and the neutral to ground switching required to make it safe. At most the total cost of components amount to maybe $50 worth of parts. Any greater price differential is simply due to markup not real cost. I know because I used to work for an inverter manufacturer. I won't name names since this is not a sales pitch for any one brand.<br /> What you should be looking for is the associated feature set each brand comes with.<br /> For starters why so much power? Who guided you in developing a power budget? My uncle lives off grid and has a jacuzzci hot tub, a 52 in satellite TV plus every kitchen gadget you can imagine. He does this mostly on a 3kW Outback inverter. Because he is a stubborn logger who will not listen to good advice he does need a big diesel genset for his 300 foot deep well submersible pump. However there are technical solutions to overcome the start surge from a submersible well pump. I could show you how to do the same task with a 2 kW genset from costco or Walmart.<br /> My point being you can save money by starting with a 2500 - 3000 size inverter which can be supplemented by adding multiple units in parallel should you really need the extra power. I design such systems for a living and the majority of clients are quite happy with 3kW.<br /> Among the desirable feature set of the combi units is the inclusion of a battery monitor that acts like a fuel gage to tell you how much charger remains in the battery bank. Don't believe the simple voltage bar graphs that really are not that accurate. The battery monitors actually count each watt extracted from the battery or add each watt added from wind or solar charging. In fact it is able to combine the total from multiple sources. Furthermore these combination chargers often have the ability to control the charge rate based in the size of the charging source be it an 800 watt little portable gasoline genset or a 10 kw Diesel generator, They have battery voltage alarms to warn you when its time to start the generator in a pinch. Believe me this does happen. Excessive snow fall, prolonged cloudy periods, and sometimes freezing rain even. I hear you guys really had a lousy winter this year.<br /> Don't kid yourself by thinking an automotive type charger is going to bail you out. They are usually constant voltage taper chargers and will take two to three times as long as the smart chargers found inside the combination models. Just think of the time and fuel burn involved.<br /> On the subject of 230V submersible pumps don't get sucked into one of the systems that require two inverter each delivering 120V being hooked in tandem to deliver 240V to a big pump. Either use a step up transformer and a soft start module to drive the pump or if your plans include full air conditioning etc. then select a 230V output inverter and use a step down transformer to provide the 120 V for utility outlets. The latter approach is what I now use because the systems of twinning two 120V to deliver 240V is still crippled if one of them has a problem. The result being you have no inverter at all. with my approach if one goes down you still have 50% capacity remaining.<br /> Since you are just now building I would assume your electrical wiring is done to NEC code which insist on the usual North American NEC dictated center tapped neutral. Its the worst possible system approach but if you are off-grid you have some latitude to work around it. Manufacturers like Outback are committed to supporting this concept but there are other ways that are as safe and has more benefits.<br /> Don't make any final purchase decisions before you have completed your entire load budget to the nth degree.<br /> You are right there are a gazillion inverter companies out there but not all of them will recommend a specific model for your benefit, more often they do so to enhance their own profit margin. And you can bet they are not going to recommend their competitor even if it has a better feature set that more closely meet your needs. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=444#post-1290 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:09:30 +0000 FastTurtle 1290@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Hello,<br /> We are currently building a home on our tree farm in TN and are looking for suggestions for good pure-sine wave inverters in the 2500 to 5000 watt range for a fully off-the-grid system. </p> <p>The inverters will run from a battery bank of at least 4-6 kw-hr capacity, which will be the heart of the sytem. The batteries will be kept charged with wind and solar (and generator when necessary). </p> <p>There's such a huge selection out there for inverters, I don't know where to begin. I do know that we would like a pure-sine wave type (not modified). Also, I'd like to avoid the types with built-in chargers, since we will be doing minimal charging from AC sources. </p> <p>What are you all's thoughts on this? </p> <p>Thanks!</p> <p>JP<br /> Fast Turtle Farm </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=443#post-1289 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:56:31 +0000 tkarttu 1289@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Hi All.<br /> Could a Hobbit house with some passive techniques provide a relatively comfort off-grid living even here in Finland, over 60 deg North? My plan is certainly expensive but is it feasible? <a href="http://koti.mbnet.fi/maaputki/engindex.html" rel="nofollow">http://koti.mbnet.fi/maaputki/engindex.html</a> - Solar House Plan link on the left. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=268#post-1288 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:29:41 +0000 sscp exam 1288@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids or slurries, or gases. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. 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Wonder about its use in trailers as I have read some threads about tankless, but they were all very expensive. This one is not!!!</p> <p>Have also seen on Walmart ad, a Coleman camping portable hot water heater, but it has a faucet attached <a href="http://www.examsheets.com/exam/70-561.htm">70-561</a>.</p> <p>I got fed up when we spent money to replace our old Atwood and after 2yrs of faithful winterizing, came to trailer one day to find the Atwood tank had split. 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Since a massage therapist can pretty much go wherever they are being summoned or work in a office. They have the choice to be as busy as they want to be. So my idea is that i want to run my business from home and have my home be off grid as much as possible. I am doing the research because I want to incorporate more than one form of an alternate, renewable energy source. Also i picked the type of house that i am going to build to further maximize the efficiency of power usage so that nothing goes to waste, i will be doing all this from the ground up literally so any suggestions and information is welcome. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=441#post-1283 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:07 +0000 wmorris6472 1283@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>what do people think about the recent announcement that loans could be made available to help with the costs of installations? we supply and install solar pv and thermal systems&gt; we find the main reason we that prevents people installing solar panels is the upfront cost. so this new announcement should really help things. One concern we have is that if there is a change of government, will the new government be enthusiastic for the solar industry.</p> <p>we would like to lobby the conservatives to make sure home loans for solar stays on the political agenda</p> <p><a href="http://biggreencompany.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://biggreencompany.co.uk</a> </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=61#post-1282 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:47:39 +0000 eSaver 1282@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>CLF's use gas, mercury particles and phosphor to create light. The gas becomes excited by electricity, and when combined with mercury particles, produces invisible ultraviolet light. The UV light then hits the white phosphor coating inside the bulb causing it to fluoresce and emit white light. There is circuitry inside the base of the light that stops it from flickering like in old fluoro lights.</p> <p>Most CFL's have a charge up time usually using about 5 times the bulbs wattage rate for roughly 10 minutes, making them inefficient for areas where fast switching is needed and where lights are frequently switched on and off. They also take around 30-45 seconds to reach full light output from a cold start.</p> <p>The main issue with CFL's is the large amount of energy and materials that go into manufacturing them. Fluorescent tubes can contain up to 15mg of mercury that is an extremely toxic element, especially dangerous to pregnant women, babies and children. One fluorescent tube contains enough mercury to pollute 30,000 litres of water. It is essential that all CFL's and Fluorescent tubes are recycled appropriately.</p> <p>LED lights and tubes use diodes instead of gas or heated filaments to produce light making them the most energy efficient lighting option available. LED technology has increased dramatically in recent years and LED Lights are now bright and efficient enough to power an entire home while enabling saving of up to 90% on lighting bills. For more information on LED lights see <a href="http://www.led-lamps.net.au" rel="nofollow">http://www.led-lamps.net.au</a> or for led specific products, <a href="http://www.anllighting.com.au" rel="nofollow">http://www.anllighting.com.au</a> </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=438#post-1281 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:57:33 +0000 rune2402 1281@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Thank you for that. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=438#post-1280 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:34:24 +0000 elnav 1280@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Most likely not.<br /> One place I lived at long ago, the area was originally rural then cottages appeared because of the nearby lake. Soon an enterprising owner of a good well ( nice clean good tasting water) provided private pipeing system for water. At some point the area was full of cottages and people began winterizing them to live in year round as a low cost retirement home. Fifty years later the septic beds or just plain 55 gallon drums in the ground not to mention outhouses caused real sanitation problems every time it rained.<br /> By this time people petitioned to make this rural 'cottage' area a real village and then . . .<br /> Eventually sanitation sewers, and real power poles were brought in. The township decreed that in fairness to all; every lot owner had to pay an equal share of the sewage system so whether or not you hooked up you paid the frontage charge for sewers and water and electricity. I knew someone who did live off grid there with an outhouse and kerosene lights just like they had done since before the war. But they had to pay the frontage charge like everybody else. After all they reaped the benefit of the lot increasing in value from $50 back then to $25,000 now. All of it done without making a single improvement to the property.<br /> The place was an eye sore, with stagnant cesspool water which was a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the smell was enough to make you gag at times. The water ponding over flowed onto a public walkway turning it into a mud wallow and prevented public movement unless you wore boots. The alternative was a quarter mile detour for kids going to school. In situations like that being off grid really was a nuisance to neighbors. The guy eventually moved to the Yukon 'cuz he didn't like people. So where does individual rights stop and civic responsibility begin. Was it fair for him to impose his cheap skate living conditions onto neighboring properties. He was just looking for cheap housing because he inherited the place from his grandfather. Never paid a cent himself but liked it when he made many thousands of $$ because of rising property values.<br /> Because of him and a few others, the township eventually formulated some rules that prohibited some things like erecting a shack on an empty lot and squatting there. Public health insisted on proper sanitation disposal and also prevention of stagnant ponds the were breeding grounds for mosquitoes. That kind of thing. If you chose to use kerosene lights instead of electric lights fine but don't expect to run a genset that is noisy. And don't expect the neighbor to cut down his shade trees because it prevented you from using solar panels or getting wind for a turbine.<br /> If your place is big enough that you are out of sight - out of mind most likely there are fewer rules. Sanitation is the exception. Dumping raw sewage can percolate into the ground water and ruin everybodys well water. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=440#post-1279 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:50:07 +0000 jones112 1279@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>i just want to introduce this good news to the house,i just got a loan today from this company PACE FINANCE COMPANY.they offered $5000.so if you need any help then here is the place to be. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=439#post-1278 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:14:56 +0000 rune2402 1278@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Just wondering if anyone has any advice about New Mexico? Any issues concerning safe areas? Suggestions for best areas to go off grid there? 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These are not hair brained DIY projects but fully funded and scientifically documented test projects run by university or industry groups. In addition the methods and technology is scalable.Meaning it can be done on a small subsistence homestead as easily as it can be done on a 1000 head dairy farm. I did a Google search for 'Methane digester' and found so much material to look at I had to stop reading after several hours and I never got past the first page. I viewed videos of running operations that literally spanned the world. Many of them in foreign languages indicating this is a wide spread activity not a few isolated experimental cases. The point of this post is not to provide a detailed explanation of how its done, but to inform people who may not have heard about it before hand. Those Who are interested can then delve into it with a Google search. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=436#post-1271 Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:30:18 +0000 elnav 1271@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>To some people off-grid means doing totally without any support from municipal services and to some people going off grid involves a total avoidance of fossil fuel use for anything. However unless you live in balmy climates requiring neither heating or cooling go to bed at sunset, and rise at dawn, there comes a time when you need light, heat or fans for ventilation. Electricity is still the most universal method of energy use because it is readily converted into some other form of energy such as heat, light, or motion.<br /> Electrical energy can be stored in batteries but sun, wind, and flowing water can occasionally fail to provide sufficient energy to meet your needs. This is where a generator comes in handy. Those people who for whatever reason eschew any sort of fossil fuelled generator may want to cover all possibilities by having all three; wind, sun, and water power sources of electrical energy. This rapidly becomes very expensive. Not to mention which, present day technology means the controllers of each such device does not play nice with the other types when charging batteries. The end result is you end up duplicating your entire power generating system for each method. Doing so is very costly.<br /> The alternative is to have some kind of motor driven generator. If getting totally away from fossil fuel dependence is your objective, there is an option of making your own methane gas from manure and the methane can be used as fuel for an internal combustion engine to drive a generator to charge batteries for storing electrical energy.<br /> If you have a large enough farm with enough livestock, you may be able to generate enough methane gas to be totally self sufficient. Methane gas can be used to cook with, heat the house and even give lighting provided you used mantled lanterns. Methane burns with a near invisible blue flame that is not good for light. However as is done with propane camping lanterns you can run such lanterns on methane. In the past there have been demonstration projects involving farms that already have large quantities of manure. several of these projects became completely self sufficient by generating their own electricity and even compressing the gas for use as fuel in their farm vehicles. Fuel tank capacity puts a limit on driving range so at present it may not be practical to do this for vehicles leaving the farm and driving long distances to town. It may not be feasible to find a place for an emergency refill.<br /> Creating methane is quite simple. It forms naturally from decomposing manure and rotting vegetation. Collecting and storing it becomes slightly more complicated.<br /> Modifying a regular gasoline fuelled motor is relatively simple. There are companies that sell conversion kits. Unlike with propane, there is no internal modifications required to convert a motor to run on methane instead of gasoline. Even a quick Google search will yield enough results to keep you reading for hours and YouTube has a lot of videos showing running generators. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=434#post-1270 Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:42:28 +0000 elnav 1270@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Win your question asking for a comparison of hybrid, off-grid, diesel generator and conventional generator,technically has many possible interpretations and as many answers. A complete answer would fill a book. Especially when you ask for a technical answer. Diesel versus conventional generator. The obvious answer is the kind of fuel used but diesel engines tend to last three times as long between service intervals than comparable power gasoline engines. However Gasoline engines are convertible to run on propane, natural gas, or methane. All of the gaseous fuelled engines have spark ignition and thus run at lower compression compared to diesel which is compression ignition. Diesels can be converted to run on vegetable oil derivatives. Both diesel and gasoline engines are capable of running a fuel mixed with ethanol. Perhaps this is where you got the 'hybrid"label from.<br /> One difficulty with diesel engines especially those running vegetable derived fuels has to do with low ambient temperatures. When cold such fuels tend to reach a gel point at much higher temperature than gaseous fuel 'gasoline' type engines. At that point the fuel does not flow and you see engine stoppages or not even starting.<br /> It is common procedure to have electric fuel heaters on diesel engines. In fact most road vehicles include a glow plug start sequence for cold weather starts and my ford truck had heaters in both fuel filter and the pipe inline between lift pump and the injection pump. The electrical energy required for this heating may be too much for a limited capacity off-grid system with a depleted battery bank. My recommendation would be to use a gasoline engine for cold weather starting. However since gasoline is relatively expensive this fuel option may not be as economical in the long run. Much depends on your location and climate. Where I live we see -30 C temps sometimes for a week or more on end and diesels are really hard to start. Now you need to consider an insulated generator building or else other means of pre-heating the diesel for a cold start. Propane suffers from a similar issue. The vapor point of propane at which it volatizes is -34 C but above that there is a point where the vapor cannot develop enough pressure in the tank to get a motor going. Natural gas is okay that way but you may find it difficult to get natural gas in an off-grid location.<br /> I'm still not sure where the 'hybrid' label comes into play. Are you asking to compare 'hybrid' with off-grid? Or hybrid generators with conventional generators? </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=303#post-1269 Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:06:59 +0000 elnav 1269@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Sucello where in BC is your farm located? I'm in the Prince George area </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=434#post-1268 Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:44:16 +0000 elnav 1268@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Hybrid off-grid diesel generator? Generally speaking the term hybrid is used with respect to propulsion systems as in 'hybrid cars" It has also been misused in referring to multi-fuel internal combustion engines but neither term really makes sense when speaking about off-grid applications of generators. regardless of what they use for fuel.<br /> Hybrid vehicles recapture energy by regenerative braking as when the momentum of the vehicle causes the wheels to keep turning while applying a drag that turns the electric motor backwards and recharges the battery a little bit. Although it is not specifically mentioned hybrid engine systems run at variable speed. </p> <p>Conventional generator sets run at a constant speed to produce a fixed frequency and a steady voltage. Some generators are multi fuel where they can switch from one fuel to another such as regular diesel to vegetable oil fuel and at times this has also been labelled as 'hybrid' by non technical journalists who really should not write about technical subjects they are not qualified to comment on. They tend to quote experts but lack the insight to accurately quote a complex subject in fewer words.<br /> One generator that comes to mind is the Honda EU2000i which is variable speed but as far as I know it does not run on multiple fuels only gasoline.<br /> Any generator is capable of being used in an application that is off-grid. In fact if you are connected to the grid why would you bother to run a generator and pay more for power. If the utility power fails because the grid wires broke then you are already 'off-grid' and you now need the generator as a back up. You have to watch these marketing people and non technical journalists. They tend to confuse even simple technical subjects. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=435#post-1267 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:02:33 +0000 manupatree 1267@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>Last year I spent 6 months living off the land in a Treehouse I built myself from natural and recycled materials. The life of a 21st century hunter-gatherer. Trying to work out how to go off grid permanently...just got to convince the fiancee! Check it out, book to follow in May.</p> <p><a href="http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/huntergathering_wild_fres/2009/06/the-treehouse-diaries-time-for-the-river-to-deliver.html" rel="nofollow">http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/huntergathering_wild_fres/2009/06/the-treehouse-diaries-time-for-the-river-to-deliver.html</a> </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=434#post-1266 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:32 +0000 marshall 1266@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>win,</p> <p>The normal off grid system contains a battery bank and some kind of backup charging system. The backup charging system can be diesel, biodiesel, propane, or gas powered motor/generator. The solar/wind reduces the frequency of the backup generator run and its time. The combination of a generator, battery bank, and inverter is called a Genverter system. </p> <p>Every off grid power setup is a Genverter system PLUS free charging sources like wind, sun, and hydro. So for example, comparing a straight diesel only power system to a diesel powered Genverter system is easy. The generator only solution must be run, just to power a 20W light when needed, and all the excess power is wasted. When the other equipment for a Genverter is added, you only run the generator to charge batteries, otherwise power is available 24/7.</p> <p>Hope this helps clarify things for you.</p> <p>Kindly,<br /> Marshall<br /> <a href="http://www.genverters.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.genverters.com</a> </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=308#post-1265 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:21:24 +0000 fcheshire 1265@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>My wife and I have gone organic for about a year now. We have lost weight and bloat and feel better then we ever have felt in our lives. It sounds like we would have enjoyed this festival. The idea of being off the grid is new to me. </p> <p>I work with <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/30034/lloyd-pro-group-car-insurance-agency-in-decatur-ga">Car insurance in decatur GA</a> currently, I don't think there are too many off gridders here in town. That is why I'm looking forward to learning much from this community. </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=434#post-1264 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:42:27 +0000 win 1264@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p>I'd like to know the comparison of hybrid, off-grid, diesel generator and conventional generator,technically.<br /> Could anyone do me a favour? </p> http://www.off-grid.net/forum/topic.php?id=433#post-1263 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 06:11:53 +0000 theorygame 1263@http://www.off-grid.net/forum/ <p><img src="http://www.off-grid.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/tdomf/4697/DSC06720.jpg" /></p> <p>This 3112 square foot home on 4.72 private acres is a rare opportunity to enjoy a sustainable off grid lifestyle for a fraction of it’s cost. Located in the desirable Williamson Valley/Morgan Ranch area.Inside-3 Bedrooms, plus potential for a 2nd Master Suite , a large office and hobby/studio area,huge custom Arizona room with radiant in floor heating in the natural flagstone floors. Outdoors you will find a lighted Sports Court ( which could be coverted to a Barn,Garage or Workshop) Home could also be used as an in-law set up in South Wing. Tastefully remodeled with custom tile,wood, stone accents ,hardwood floors. Home has two Kiva fireplaces, a wood-burning stove. Outdoor covered and uncovered decks. Solar set up,includes dry cell maintanence free batteries,inverters,and Kohler propane fired back up generator. </p>