Sagebrush & Solar

When some people think of off grid living, they think of a bearded hermit who lives in a cabin nestled deep in the woods. Candlelight, deerskin shirt, sharpens his ax every night…you get the picture.

“Will you have electricity?” is the first question I’m usually asked. The answer is yes – we’re just not attached to the city power grid. We will be using solar panels, a battery bank, and a backup generator for emergencies (IE, no sun).

The definition of off-grid living is living in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. So, it’s not as rustic as you’d think. In fact, many off grid houses are just as modern and beautiful as a “regular” house.

Our water situation (which we’ll get into more later) is a little trickier in the sense that we don’t currently have a well and will be storing water in large retention tanks. We will have to cart our water from town; my dad has a water tank to do so, and we essentially rent a water meter from the local water company and fill up from a hydrant. We then pay for the water as any resident would.

We aren’t hooked up to city sewer (waaaay too far away) and will be installing a septic tank.

We also have internet — it’s satellite, so it isn’t hooked up to the local cable company’s lines.