Man, as I work out the deal on my NM property which is off-grid except for a propane tank(so not really off grid at all), I'm finding my down to earth, logical, engineering mindset isn't fitting well into the mantra of the 'community' of off-grid folk.
I've been communicating with a few of my distant neighbors, and all of it is done by electronic means, only once face to face. They are for the most part rugged individualists who - work for a cement company, or the local B&B/bar, or the gas station, etc. None of them are truly self sufficient with no ties to the power system, as all of them have a gen, just in case and propane tanks. They talk about being self-sufficient but I see a tube of Crest in the bathroom, and Sara-Lee in the fridge, and they sure didn't hand make that purse from Lord & Taylor knock-off.
It's a weird collection of dreamers. I think most of them are trust fund kids but I could be wrong. The closest I've gotten to an actual self contained, and isolated guy lives in a Earthlodge thing in SE NM far, far from the goofy plastic folks around Taos and Santa Fe, along with various places in AZ. He's in a 15x18' mud place, and composts his toilet and rotten food. He dug his own well by hand(he says), and collects firewood for warmth. I'm going to ask if I can come visit and really check him out or if he's full of BS like all the rest of us.
This is what I typically come up against when I look for off-grid info. A typical listing in a off-grid forum:
Living Off The Grid :: Alternative Power - Solar, Wind, Turbine
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Filling LPG Gas Bottles cheap?
I've been communicating with a few of my distant neighbors, and all of it is done by electronic means, only once face to face. They are for the most part rugged individualists who - work for a cement company, or the local B&B/bar, or the gas station, etc. None of them are truly self sufficient with no ties to the power system, as all of them have a gen, just in case and propane tanks. They talk about being self-sufficient but I see a tube of Crest in the bathroom, and Sara-Lee in the fridge, and they sure didn't hand make that purse from Lord & Taylor knock-off.
It's a weird collection of dreamers. I think most of them are trust fund kids but I could be wrong. The closest I've gotten to an actual self contained, and isolated guy lives in a Earthlodge thing in SE NM far, far from the goofy plastic folks around Taos and Santa Fe, along with various places in AZ. He's in a 15x18' mud place, and composts his toilet and rotten food. He dug his own well by hand(he says), and collects firewood for warmth. I'm going to ask if I can come visit and really check him out or if he's full of BS like all the rest of us.
This is what I typically come up against when I look for off-grid info. A typical listing in a off-grid forum:
Living Off The Grid :: Alternative Power - Solar, Wind, Turbine
Actions
Topics ______________________
Filling LPG Gas Bottles cheap?