Off the wall thoughts: or thoughts that don't require a thread.

Got this idea from another site im on.
If it's not kosher, admin can delete it. It's cool.
Just thought a thread for random thoughts or a "sounding board" would/could be handy.

This Sunday we are heading west to check out some land to buy. It's not a lot or very big, only 6.17 acres. The price is good and the payments are workable.
There's nothing on the land but trees and a stream.
So, I'll have to build a house (and garage), get water & electric (both are at the street). But we want to "go green/off-grid" by going solar and have well water.
And it'll be a place to play in the xj.

You will never recoup your cost of going 100% off grid.
Sounds like a good idea but the stuff is too expensive, I have tried.
Better check with your county, some places will not give you a building permit if you do not have utility power. For sure no banks will finance it.

Sorry to be a buzz kill.
Itg will cost about $30,000.00 to build and off grid solar electric system.
But I have tried it costs a butt load of money to go off grid.
http://www.oasismt.com/usedsolar.html
This is a site that sells used solar equipment. check out the prices.
If you want any information let me know, I have a shit ton of resources.

Another good site
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-information/start-here/offgrid-calculator

@seanR thanks for the links & info.
What I've learned about going solar... Yes it is very expensive to get started. But I'm not thinking of being able to run a mansion , just a couple lights, fridge , a fan or two & an a/c unit. The biggest cost is the batteries and converter.
The area we live in the prices of electricity keeps going up. Almost have to have two or three jobs just to pay rent and cover the bills.
We ain't trying to drop money that we don't have on a system. But we also don't want to drop a ton on the power company just to get power to the house... That we have to build.
The land is designated "unrestricted". And from my knowledge, which isn't as much as others, as long as you don't have a contractor coming in and building... You don't need a permit. As long as I have a plan n a good handful of friends, I think a house can be built in no time, without Uncle Sam poking his nose in our business.

You will need 220v to run a well pump.
That there is minimum $5000.00 inverter.
To run an A/C and a 'fridge, that really ads up fast.
to run a small inverter to run a TV you can get one of the cheapies from the tractor supply.
Run 12 volt lights, run as much 12 volt stuff as you can, inverters are not very efficient and suck up a lot of power.
You can get 12 volt flat screen TVs.
your well pump, refrigerator and A/C will be your biggest power draws.
How are you going to heat your water? Go with propane if you want to stay off grid.
Natural Gas is way cheaper though.
Do not choose electric it will double your power consumption.


Here are my calculations.
we average 1200 Kwh per month, but we have a hot tub we use year 'round and we heat water with an electric hot water heater, so we are on the high end.
We also have all brand new energy star rated appliances, which is kind of a joke, but new appliances are much more energy efficient than older ones.
We heat and cook and with propane.

Comed is our electricity suppler they are one of the most expensive electric companies in the country.
We pay around $0.12 per Kwh.
It would cost me around $30,000.00 to build a system that will run my house the way it is now.
How much electricity can I buy for $30,000.00?
Even after the system is set up and paid for, your battery bank will need to be replaced every 5 years or so, $10,000,00 again, every five years.
People will tell you that you can use the batteries longer, but I have seen them go bad in as little as 3 years.

I am currently installing an outdoor wood furnace to heat my house, shop, domestic hot water and the hot tub.

Where in East TN are you??

Wood furnace works for me!
I've seen those "off-grid" turbo/jet (wood burning) heaters/stoves that heat water and the surounding area via duct work.
Hh6 just asked about running a generator to run the 'fridge. Which is her biggest concern. With that comes the expense of fuel.
All I'm sure about is that I am not going to hang my head n be a slave to the power/water companies .

cracked-butt said:

Wood furnace works for me!
I've seen those "off-grid" turbo/jet (wood burning) heaters/stoves that heat water and the surounding area via duct work.
Hh6 just asked about running a generator to run the 'fridge. Which is her biggest concern. With that comes the expense of fuel.
All I'm sure about is that I am not going to hang my head n be a slave to the power/water companies .

Click to expand...

Running your refrigerator and well pump off of a generator will enslave you far more than writing a $50.00 check to the power company each month.

Cottontail said:

Where in East TN are you??

Click to expand...

The Sevierville / Pigeon Forge area. For now. The land we are looking at is up near Robbins though, Morgan county.

seanR said:

Running your refrigerator and well pump off of a generator will enslave you far more than writing a $50.00 check to the power company each month.

Click to expand...

Yeah I figured that. If I didn't have to build a 300+ foot tall windmill Id consider going that route. But as its looking, we are going to have to tap into the public/city utilities to get started. Then "unplug" when we have gotten all set up.

This would be a great day to go play in the mud! 2 things are stopping us from doing it... 1: lack of fuel to & 2: don't know where the trails are.
Six years in eastern tennessee and have been too busy working to be able to get out with ANY group (local or otherwise).
Ain't that how it always is though?

Gonna go to the gym to hit the pool, sauna & hottub.
Anyone else got memberships to a gym?

Well this is a bummer. The land owner company called today, and due to a neighbor questioning zoning of lot 1 (we were going to look at lot 2), they postponed showing any more of the properties right there.
Could be a blessing in disguise though. But man we had coordinated with others n everything to do this tomorrow.
Oh well, it happens sometimes. See what happens in the next week or so.

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

I may be a little bit ancious (sp?) about getting this land. I am just so ready to get away from all the garbage that goes along with a tourist town. So ready to get back to our roots... Back to country living.
Ok I'm ranting... Because it's bugging the crap out of me.

Anyone get to see the moon the last couple of nights? It's been too overcast to see it here. Was wanting to see how red it was but the clouds wouldn't let her show through.

I saw the eclipse it was pretty cool but I was too lazy to drive out of town so there was a lot of light pollution.

My dad lives in Arizona they have a water truck come fill their water tank every month or so and it's cheaper than what they paid in CA utility water. Maybe check if that kind of service is around for a decent price.

Another option is a solar trickle well pump that never stops running to fill a potable water tank. Probably cost you around 1500 (not including tank) for the pump setup.
You'd need a booster pump to pressurize the house. I've ran the HF booster pump for years, they say it takes 10 amps at 120v so I imagine others are around the same. I warranty it out every other year or so it's no good for long term.

I'll look into both of those. But I'm thinking I'll be leaning more towards the trickle pump. Or even a (secondary?) old fashioned hand pump to get started with. Just not too sure how far down I'll need to dig/drill to hit the water table.


Down at my old job the moon was showing very well. Saw a pic of it that someone posted on FB. But i can't post pics in here from my phone... I'm not that talented. Lol


Well, looks like tomorrow is our last day at this address. Going to be staying in a fifth wheel trailer in a camp ground . At least until we can gather the money to get the land we are looking at.

Goodluck man.

Thanks Albandit! Could use some gooder luck right about now!

The trailer was a bust. Cannot live in a place that's infested with mold, black mold. With our health issues already we are not going to add that crap into the mix!
So now we are back to square one... Looking at campers for sale. Just coming up with it.

7 + acres @ $2500 down, 645 monthly mortgage. House already on the land, and all that good stuff.

As opposed to the 6.17 acres and I have to do all the work to make it livable (house, electric, water etc). Which can get extremely expensive very quickly.

Just got word.... I'm going to have a grand son!!! Daughter-in-law just texted me once she hot out of the dr office from finding out. My son doesn't even know yet, he's at work.