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Thread: Freedom from Utility companies

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    VIP Member! MountainGirl's Avatar
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    Freedom from Utility companies

    Quote Originally Posted by TJC44 View Post
    Our forecast is a solid week of >90F. Today is expected to be 97. NWS is showing heat warnings in a huge area. Need to prep backup power for freezer, frig, AC & fans. Lots of wattage.
    Quote Originally Posted by hawgrider View Post
    Fuse are popping in sections around here 8k without power yesterday we were lucky and on the right side of the outtage yesterday. Aging electrical equipment that they didnt touch while building all the new big foot home neighborhoods where cornfields used to be. 4pm peak usage fuses blow or transformers fail.
    I've got a question for you two - and EVERYBODY - about something.

    Unless you live in an apartment, where it would be impossible to do, instead of having 'emergency backup' - why not tell your power company to go shove - and live totally unhooked from them full time? Forget the 'sell the excess back' game. You can use it all.

    Yes, major bucks. BUT - if you're already in your final retirement place/etc, there's no reason to not. If you're not yet there - everything in the system you can take with you and hook back up - and your house is already wired for it.

    It would have cost us over $40K to have power brought to the property line. The system we have cost somewhere just under $20K (dont recall exact). But, here's what it does, every day:
    220 well pump (160'), 81gal pressure tank fills 4 or 5 times a day (flush, showers, watering outside etc)
    Ref/freezer
    Microwave, toasters, hot plates, crockpot (got one going now), Tom's Keurig (lol)
    W/D
    A/C
    Lights, tv, comp systems, radios, music all day...
    Vacuum, HairDryer,
    Shop tools & cordless tool chargers
    Big battery chargers
    (Tom runs welder off the shop gen)

    This place is just like an all-electric home, and we use lots of wattage. The only difference* is instead of a main feed coming in to the breaker box from a utility company - the feed comes in from the battery bank (through the inverter, etc) which is replenished by the sun, even on overcast days.

    I'm not bragging, or saying my way is better, so put a sock in that thought.

    I'm just wondering, is doing this something any of you have really considered or looked in to?

    All thoughts welcome, thanks!



    *****
    *We heat with the wood stove, and have a propane range in the kitchen. When the propane HW tank needs replacing, we're going to switch to elec HW - and may do the same for the range at some point. Not having to mess with propane would be a blessing too.
    Now deferring to the judgement of horses ~ because Truth comes in 30 round bursts.

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    VIP Member! BucketBack's Avatar
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    LPG sucks, Natural Gas stops 600' away.
    Keep Your Head Up, And your Stick On The Ice.

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    VIP Member! MountainGirl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BucketBack View Post
    LPG sucks, Natural Gas stops 600' away.
    Yes, it does suck, and (shtf, etc) who knows for how long, or if, it would be obtainable.
    Same for Natural Gas, too.
    Now deferring to the judgement of horses ~ because Truth comes in 30 round bursts.

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    I'm watching out for a wood burner at yard sale prices.

    An average 10 acres of oak will produce enough deadfall to heat for a winter. I live next to 1000 acres
    Keep Your Head Up, And your Stick On The Ice.

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  9. #5
    Some maybe most metro suburban areas won't let you disconnect. Just happened in Florida not to long ago they (government) went after a off grid house in a suburban neighborhood.
    "The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath." W. C. Fields

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    VIP Member! MountainGirl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hawgrider View Post
    Some maybe most metro suburban areas won't let you disconnect. Just happened in Florida not to long ago they (government) went after a off grid house in a suburban neighborhood.
    That would piss me off.

    What I'd do then would be
    1) install a new panel, switch the utility's line over to it, and run one little lamp on the city power.
    2) run the solar feed into the old panel - with all the existing house lines in place.

    That way I'm not 'off-grid' and would know there's a power outage when the lamp goes out. LOL

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	christmas-story-26-inch-leg-lamp-leg-only-1000-web.jpg 
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    Thanks for your reply
    Now deferring to the judgement of horses ~ because Truth comes in 30 round bursts.

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    Little Miss Chatterbox Kfilly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MountainGirl View Post
    I've got a question for you two - and EVERYBODY - about something.

    Unless you live in an apartment, where it would be impossible to do, instead of having 'emergency backup' - why not tell your power company to go shove - and live totally unhooked from them full time? Forget the 'sell the excess back' game. You can use it all.

    Yes, major bucks. BUT - if you're already in your final retirement place/etc, there's no reason to not. If you're not yet there - everything in the system you can take with you and hook back up - and your house is already wired for it.

    It would have cost us over $40K to have power brought to the property line. The system we have cost somewhere just under $20K (dont recall exact). But, here's what it does, every day:
    220 well pump (160'), 81gal pressure tank fills 4 or 5 times a day (flush, showers, watering outside etc)
    Ref/freezer
    Microwave, toasters, hot plates, crockpot (got one going now), Tom's Keurig (lol)
    W/D
    A/C
    Lights, tv, comp systems, radios, music all day...
    Vacuum, HairDryer,
    Shop tools & cordless tool chargers
    Big battery chargers
    (Tom runs welder off the shop gen)

    This place is just like an all-electric home, and we use lots of wattage. The only difference* is instead of a main feed coming in to the breaker box from a utility company - the feed comes in from the battery bank (through the inverter, etc) which is replenished by the sun, even on overcast days.

    I'm not bragging, or saying my way is better, so put a sock in that thought.

    I'm just wondering, is doing this something any of you have really considered or looked in to?

    All thoughts welcome, thanks!



    *****
    *We heat with the wood stove, and have a propane range in the kitchen. When the propane HW tank needs replacing, we're going to switch to elec HW - and may do the same for the range at some point. Not having to mess with propane would be a blessing too.
    The reason people are not allowed to live off grid goes back to the days of Nicholai Tesla. Tesla allegedly (I believe he did) built a way to generate free electricity. The story goes that JP Morgan heard about this, and he purchased the idea from Tesla. Morgan subsequently buried the idea which means most people are now dependent upon a power grid which Wall Street Banks own a large percent of. These people will not let people off of their control grid as it grants them money and power. As for the rest of the story, Tesla ended up dying broke and a largely forgotten man. Few people even heard of his Tesla device.

    A Tesla device is something along these lines:

    https://youtu.be/-pDJVCCTycQ
    Last edited by Kfilly; 07-01-2018 at 05:54 PM.

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  15. #8
    VIP Member! MountainGirl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kfilly View Post
    ...most people are now dependent...
    Only because they choose to be.

    Yes, that's harsh, and sometimes the choices made are the only ones for the situation.
    Been there, done that.

    But there are usually ways, to do what you want to do, when you want something enough to actually do it.



    (I'll go read your Tesla thread now, thanks!)
    Now deferring to the judgement of horses ~ because Truth comes in 30 round bursts.

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  17. #9
    Super Moderator TJC44's Avatar
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    I am in suburbia hell right now. So close to the airport I can see the pilot smiling on Final approach.
    I do plan on uprooting myself, but it will take a few more years to pull off. I am just hoping to stay employed for that long, then I will be heading North, and disappear from the face of the Earth for 99.99999999% of the population. Today was brutal, I ended up shelling out $300 for another 12000 BTU's of cool. Yes, off grid that would not even be a consideration.
    Mrs TJC does not have the same mindset. She would leave this place too, but she wants Florida. Who in their right minds goes to ass sweating hot, humid Florida???(sorry, Sparky, Slippy, RPD), but she still hates being hot, and inside the house got up to 91 today. I know I am rambling, trying to stay on point, too many Twisted Teas today.
    O.K. Like I said, I am looking at property, with acreage, cheap, to disappear to. I do have 100 watts of solar on standby, I dam near pulled the trigger on a new generator today, still not ruling it out, I need to see how the grid handles a super hot Monday, we will be close to capacity.
    A little more time.............................................. ...
    BAH FUCKING HUMBUG!

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    Quote Originally Posted by MountainGirl View Post
    Only because they choose to be.

    Yes, that's harsh, and sometimes the choices made are the only ones for the situation.
    Been there, done that.

    But there are usually ways, to do what you want to do, when you want something enough to actually do it.
    My system is much smaller than yours, . . . only 4KW peak, . . . 2KW continuous, . . . but with two auto batteries, . . . it'll do my basic household needs minus the A/C and the electric stove.

    Conservation would allow the freezer to be topped off today, . . . fridge tomorrow, . . . would give me an hour on the computer each day, . . . and lights for about 3 hours at night.

    No, . . . no well pump, no A/C, no furnace, have to cook on a wood stove, . . . but my system will take care of me and my wife indefinitely, . . . and initial total cost was well under $1000.

    May God bless,
    Dwight
    If you can breathe, . . . thank God.

    If you can read, . . . thank a teacher.

    If you can read in English, . . . thank a veteran.

    www.dwightsgunleather.com

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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