Living off the grid...

Spore · 05-05-2011 1:38am #1

Anyone know anyone that's gone completely 'off the grid'? Ever done it personally? (obviously if you post on boards the military-industrial complex has got you back, man)

Thinking of going off the grid for various reasons, prime amoung them being that I pissed off a lot of people lately, life-trolling y'all, and need to get the hell away from here and cover me tracks while I'm at it.

Anyone any advice of how to be a big hippy gay-lord how to live an old-fashioned analogue existence, preferably in the woods somewhere...

TeddyTedson · 05-05-2011 1:39am

Move to leitrim.

dlofnep · 05-05-2011 1:41am

Live on a boat. I did it for a whole weekend. Some craic!

Aoifey! · 05-05-2011 1:43am

1. Get massive loan form the bank
2. Buy boat
3. Acquire good quality hooker
4. Bring boat to mysterious location nobody has ever heard of
5. ?????
6. PROFIT!

ardinn · 05-05-2011 1:44am

Say hello to the BADGER!!!!!

Pace2008 · 05-05-2011 1:45am

A friend of mine knows a hippy lad who lives alone completely self-sufficiently. Tends and eats his own crops, has a little well dug (bit dubious about that part as crusties are pretty averse to water), grows weed like it's nobody's business and even makes his own DMT!

Happy as a pig in ****e by all accounts.

opr · 05-05-2011 1:48am

Should give this a watch OP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgTGPJtvmS8

Opr

KungPao · 05-05-2011 1:52am

I'd love to do it.

I'd like to live like that old dude in Red Dead Redemption, who you collect the flowers for.

Just me and the missus in a hut, in the middle of nowhere.

TeddyTedson · 05-05-2011 1:55am

I'd love to do it. Live in space or something. I'd grow my own Vegg. Kill Spring lambs for food and clothes. Fish the sea. Make my own beer.
Get the bird pregnant for the sake of expanding the business.
A man can dream, much.

mink_man · 05-05-2011 1:57am

I remember there was some fella in Ireland who wrote a book about living in nature or something, he used to get up in the morning to chop his firewood, bathed in the local rivers and lived in a caravan, no electricity water or anything.

ArtyM · 05-05-2011 1:57am

Try Tipperary, they are not expecting analog for another 10 years.

mink_man · 05-05-2011 2:01am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyqavzuFZ3c

watch this.

xsiborg · 05-05-2011 2:09am

my original plan as a child was when i'd retire i'd move to one of the more remote parts of america, that was covered in a forest, with a lake, where i could build a cabin log and live out my days fishing and hunting...

an encounter with the neighbours daughter a few years later made me wonder what the hell was i thinking back then!

hightower1 · 05-05-2011 2:21am

Well you dont need to be isolated to go "off grid", Obviously you wanna get out of developed places, somewhere like one of the larger favelas in brazil are crowded and dont have cencus information. Next thing is obvious but no net , utility service, telephone etc.

You'll need money so a job is a must unless the reason your going off grid also netted you a nice nest egg (again thats a whole other issue as anyone will watch movement of the money to find you). Make sure the job is cash in hand, no union and short term. If you can then prostitution is a good source of revenue) Keep changing jobs but be smart, dont get notoriety.

Keep in mind, nothing familiar... the more you try keep close the more they have to use against you and find you. Keep your head down and keep moving.

Best of luck.

Buceph · 05-05-2011 2:25am

Read the book on Christopher McCandless or watch the Sean Penn film Into the Wild.

Moral of the story is unless you're smart you could end up in trouble or dead, and you have to decide if that freedom is worth an early grave.

g_moriarty · 05-05-2011 2:29am

You should move to <Insert Non-Dublin County> !

Haha! Chortle! Guffaw!

skelliser · 05-05-2011 2:38am

i see there is a free gaff going in a place called abbottabad in Pakistan.
The previous occupant had tried the living in caves thing but it wasnt great so preferred this place.

Although you gotta beware of low flying helicopters at night!!

Jesus Wept · 05-05-2011 2:44am

The ones who film and blog about it and get tv shows about themselves are obviously tools.

Chnandler Bong · 05-05-2011 2:54am

mink_man wrote: »

I remember there was some fella in Ireland who wrote a book about living in nature or something, he used to get up in the morning to chop his firewood, bathed in the local rivers and lived in a caravan, no electricity water or anything.

Must of been from Cavan

Spore · 05-05-2011 10:46am

Right, I've quit my job and just got my train ticket otta' here. Gonna give it a try, see how long I last before I crack...

I'll ease myself into it, get a small apartment some place. Get rid of the phone first. Close all my internet accounts. Get myself site-wide banned from boards.ie. Take out all my savings in cash. Cut up credit cards / laser cards. Get a cash-in-hand job (though savings should see me through a few months). I'll keep a diary for when I do crack and end up posting all on boards.ie...

So boards, cheerio, take care. It's been swell!

Buceph · 05-05-2011 10:51am

Can I have your stuff?

biko · 05-05-2011 10:59am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden

JONJO THE MISER · 05-05-2011 11:44am

Ive always lived the idea of living off the grid, lived in a tent before for a few months and loved it.

Kasabian · 05-05-2011 11:59am

Buceph wrote: »

Read the book on Christopher McCandless or watch the Sean Penn film Into the Wild.

Moral of the story is unless you're smart you could end up in trouble or dead, and you have to decide if that freedom is worth an early grave.

McCandless imo never experienced true freedom, he was running from his past. True freedom would be very hard to find when a person has their memories.

I believe that an early grave would be a decent compromise to totally feel true freedom.

Dyr · 05-05-2011 12:05pm

I'd love to try it but I can't because I can't stand stupid f**king american phrases like "off the grid"

orourkeda · 05-05-2011 12:08pm

Spore wrote: »

Anyone know anyone that's gone completely 'off the grid'? Ever done it personally? (obviously if you post on boards the military-industrial complex has got you back, man)

Thinking of going off the grid for various reasons, prime amoung them being that I pissed off a lot of people lately, life-trolling y'all, and need to get the hell away from here and cover me tracks while I'm at it.

Anyone any advice of how to be a big hippy gay-lord how to live an old-fashioned analogue existence, preferably in the woods somewhere...

Off the rails perhaps?

EverEvolving · 05-05-2011 12:11pm

Wait, wait, what did you do that was so bad to piss everyone off OP?

Buceph · 05-05-2011 12:12pm

Kasabian wrote: »

McCandless imo never experienced true freedom, he was running from his past. True freedom would be very hard to find when a person has their memories.

I believe that an early grave would be a decent compromise to totally feel true freedom.

I never said he had true freedom.

Daegerty · 05-05-2011 12:15pm

Always wanted to but never tried it. Solar panels, wind turbine, ****load of batteries and a daysul generator for the rainy days. preferably on a very remote island. some day when i have the money I suppose

hardCopy · 05-05-2011 12:46pm

A friend of mine lived on a beach in the south pacific for about 6 weeks.

Slept on the beach at night and caught enough fish to feed himself every day. He made friends with the locals though so didn't really go for the seclusion.

Wouldn't be so nice when the typhoons hit though.

ScumLord · 05-05-2011 1:14pm

We don't have a grid in Ireland, just throw away your debit card and grow a beard, job done.

enda1 · 05-05-2011 1:17pm

There's an absolute bollox load of investment required to build and maintain the generating capacity (I presume we're talking renewable?), and then another fat sum for the batteries. You need about 1 weeks peak supply apparently in batteries to manage a continuous supply of electricity.

Not worth the investment from a financial point of view, but may be fun I guess...

Daegerty · 05-05-2011 1:28pm

enda1 wrote: »

There's an absolute bollox load of investment required to build and maintain the generating capacity (I presume we're talking renewable?), and then another fat sum for the batteries. You need about 1 weeks peak supply apparently in batteries to manage a continuous supply of electricity.

Not worth the investment from a financial point of view, but may be fun I guess...

if you use old car batteries then you can cut out a lot of the investment. what you'd save on standing charges from the ESB will buy you a fairly decent solar panel every year

an awful lot of it will be cutting out electricity usage. no dishwasher, immersion heater or anything of the sort. you can use 12v lights and appliances where possible so you can get away with a lower power inverter

you'd need backboiler & solar water heating, bottled gas cooking or if you consider that cheating a solar concentrator or roast your meat on the spit.

GavRedKing · 05-05-2011 1:32pm

Spore wrote: »

Right, I've quit my job and just got my train ticket otta' here. Gonna give it a try, see how long I last before I crack...

I'll ease myself into it, get a small apartment some place. Get rid of the phone first. Close all my internet accounts. Get myself site-wide banned from boards.ie. Take out all my savings in cash. Cut up credit cards / laser cards. Get a cash-in-hand job (though savings should see me through a few months). I'll keep a diary for when I do crack and end up posting all on boards.ie...

So boards, cheerio, take care. It's been swell!

You site-banned yet nah? May I suggest winding up a Mod or post something risky go out all guns blazing.

ScumLord · 05-05-2011 1:34pm

Daegerty wrote: »

if you use old car batteries then you can cut out a lot of the investment. what you'd save on standing charges from the ESB will buy you a fairly decent solar panel every year

an awful lot of it will be cutting out electricity usage. no dishwasher, immersion heater or anything of the sort. you can use 12v lights and appliances where possible so you can get away with a lower power inverter

you'd need backboiler & solar water heating, bottled gas cooking or if you consider that cheating a solar concentrator or roast your meat on the spit.

Batteries don't work to well with wind power. You know how if you don't let the battery in you phone go down to empty and fully charge it again it shortens the life span of your battery? It ends up not being able to hold much of a charge for any amount of time.

This is a big problem with wind power storage, because it may only fill half the battery and then the wind dies, it kills batteries rapidly.

Daegerty · 05-05-2011 1:40pm

ScumLord wrote: »

Batteries don't work to well with wind power. You know how if you don't let the battery in you phone go down to empty and fully charge it again it shortens the life span of your battery? It ends up not being able to hold much of a charge for any amount of time.

This is a big problem with wind power storage, because it may only fill half the battery and then the wind dies, it kills batteries rapidly.

solar is a more reliable source of power, you are guaranteed some bit of power every day.

ideally car batteries should be kept above 80% charge so you'd need a fair few of them but plenty of them available for free.

enda1 · 05-05-2011 1:43pm

ScumLord wrote: »

Batteries don't work to well with wind power. You know how if you don't let the battery in you phone go down to empty and fully charge it again it shortens the life span of your battery? It ends up not being able to hold much of a charge for any amount of time.

This is a big problem with wind power storage, because it may only fill half the battery and then the wind dies, it kills batteries rapidly.

I think this situation is less bad for NiMh than for Li Ion though. Also depending on how you manage your battery stack plays a large importance. For example if you take from all batteries simultaneously or deplete them one by one would be quite influential.

At least I know it's possible to do as a colleague of a close friend has done exactly this in Wicklow somewhere.

Celly Smunt · 05-05-2011 1:50pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHCe4c2h_VA

skip to 7:20,sounds perfect.

hardCopy · 05-05-2011 2:05pm

Would you need electricity though? If I was trying to 'get away from it' I probably wouldn't want a PC or TV. Maybe a waterwheel to charge powertools for occasional repairs or something? Heat the house with locally cut wood.

Fukuyama · 05-05-2011 2:24pm

http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-Solar-Water-Heater-for-your-Home-300/

Fairly basic. No electricity. A nice hot shower and maybe even a heating system if you're feeling creative.

Daegerty · 05-05-2011 2:24pm

hardCopy wrote: »

Would you need electricity though? If I was trying to 'get away from it' I probably wouldn't want a PC or TV. Maybe a waterwheel to charge powertools for occasional repairs or something? Heat the house with locally cut wood.

Just because you want to live off the grid doesn't mean you want to live in the stone age

yellowlabrador · 05-05-2011 2:27pm

I did it for 15 years, as a single parent with 2 kids. I had a wind generator and it's not cheap. You need NEW batteries every year and also you need solid copper wiring. The wind generator itself needs lots of maintenance and expect to spend quite a lot of time on the roof. Would I do it again? yes but without children, children are very conservative and want to be the same as everyone else. so they want tv, light to do the homework, clean clothes, let alone computers, xboxes etc. It's definitely a lifestyle choice and hard work. Chopping wood every morning to cook and heat water, washing clothes with water carried from a well, bathwater etc. In the winter, the most you can expect from alternative energy is a radio and 1 or 2 strip lights for an hour.
A good energy source that gets overlooked is a waterturbine. If you've got land, a height difference, a good supply of water it would be more reliable than wind.

R P McMurphy · 05-05-2011 2:37pm

yellowlabrador wrote: »

I did it for 15 years, as a single parent with 2 kids. I had a wind generator and it's not cheap. You need NEW batteries every year and also you need solid copper wiring. The wind generator itself needs lots of maintenance and expect to spend quite a lot of time on the roof. Would I do it again? yes but without children, children are very conservative and want to be the same as everyone else. so they want tv, light to do the homework, clean clothes, let alone computers, xboxes etc. It's definitely a lifestyle choice and hard work. Chopping wood every morning to cook and heat water, washing clothes with water carried from a well, bathwater etc. In the winter, the most you can expect from alternative energy is a radio and 1 or 2 strip lights for an hour.
A good energy source that gets overlooked is a waterturbine. If you've got land, a height difference, a good supply of water it would be more reliable than wind.

Why did you opt for that lifestyle and why did you leave it? I can see how it would be difficult with children given they don't want to stand out

ScumLord · 05-05-2011 2:52pm

enda1 wrote: »

At least I know it's possible to do as a colleague of a close friend has done exactly this in Wicklow somewhere.

I have a friend who was an early adopter I have another friend who claims the battery issue has become a lot better lately. I still think storing the energy is it's biggest problem. If some creative person could find a way to convert wind energy into potential stored energy by maybe moving water so it could utilise gravity later they'd be onto a winner but a water method sounds very expensive and would have a fairly large footprint.

I still think pooling a small towns bio waste if the best solution we know we'll always be producing tonnes of bio waste, from our own bodies output to left over food we would have a guaranteed cycle of energy and fertilizer for all time.

yellowlabrador · 05-05-2011 2:59pm

R P McMurphy wrote: »

Why did you opt for that lifestyle and why did you leave it? I can see how it would be difficult with children given they don't want to stand out

I was involved in the 'green' movement as a teenager and I've always been interested in alternative lifestyles. I speak 4 languages, have an economics degree and an engineering degree so I'm not a dropout or even a hippy.
I started off living in a cooperative housing scheme, where we all helped build our own houses in a city, then moved to the country when my son was severely ill with asthma. I felt an outdoors, healthy lifestyle would benefit both my children. I lived first in a little wooden house on the edge of a nature reserve, with no running water or mains, but surrounded by lovely woods, cliffs and beaches. I had a variety of neighbours who were ordinary folk, but also interested in a different way of living. My kids had an idyllic childhood and they still feel privileged. The hard bit was the integration in school. I took my son and daughter out of mainstream education when my son was 7 and daughter 10. They both went back to secondary here in Ireland at 13. Mainly because I don't think it's good for children to be secluded from the 'outside' world.
It was mainly for them that I moved back to town and all the luxuries.
Children don't want to be different and also doing homework by candle light is quite horrible. Also teenagers want lot's of clothes and things like mobile phones etc.
Both my children are grownup now, we're still alternative culturally but they both have good jobs and share a house in the city.
There are more ways than one to save the planet. I'm carefull with my energy use, I'm careful in what I buy, I try to figure out hidden costs in what I consume, I make my own clothes etc.
The cheapest way to produce electricity is to be connected to the mains, also It's always there.

enda1 · 05-05-2011 3:01pm

Imagine all the Turlough Hills throughout the country!
Though that's very true. Batteries are a huge cost and probably the biggest investment and maintenance cost.

Perhaps hydrogen in the future and fuel cells will provide a good storage solution. Time will tell.

Mr Benevolent · 05-05-2011 3:50pm

Pace2008 wrote: »

A friend of mine knows a hippy lad who lives alone completely self-sufficiently. Tends and eats his own crops, has a little well dug (bit dubious about that part as crusties are pretty averse to water), grows weed like it's nobody's business and even makes his own DMT!

Happy as a pig in ****e by all accounts.

He doesn't bother making his own soap then.

ScumLord · 05-05-2011 4:57pm

enda1 wrote: »

Perhaps hydrogen in the future and fuel cells will provide a good storage solution. Time will tell.

the problem with hydrogen is it's a futuristic solution that will require the most advanced of human science to achieve and run. It'll be great for machines but on a local and home basis it's not going to be accessible to the average Joe, I don't think they'll be easily rechargeable in the home. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe they'll be dirt cheap but I doubt it.

On a local level bio-waste is simple science that anyone could build and maintain.

enda1 · 05-05-2011 5:01pm

ScumLord wrote: »

the problem with hydrogen is it's a futuristic solution that will require the most advanced of human science to achieve and run. It'll be great for machines but on a local and home basis it's not going to be accessible to the average Joe, I don't think they'll be easily rechargeable in the home. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe they'll be dirt cheap but I doubt it.

On a local level bio-waste is simple science that anyone could build and maintain.

That's why I said in the future.

Hydrogen vehicles are not such a distant eventuality. The interesting mid-term solution will be the possibility to use your car as a storage solution. When electric cars become more popular they will act as a very useful sink of energy and source when the wind aint a blowin'.

dvpower · 05-05-2011 5:40pm

Aoifey! wrote: »

1. Get massive loan form the bank
2. Buy boat
3. Acquire good quality hooker
4. Bring boat to mysterious location nobody has ever heard of
5. ?????
6. PROFIT!

Buy two boats?

Daegerty · 05-05-2011 5:42pm

enda1 wrote: »

That's why I said in the future.

Hydrogen vehicles are not such a distant eventuality. The interesting mid-term solution will be the possibility to use your car as a storage solution. When electric cars become more popular they will act as a very useful sink of energy and source when the wind aint a blowin'.

Hydrogen cars havn't been distant since the 70's.

Like more efficient solar panel.

Living off the grid...

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