All you need to go off-grid

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Courses, guides & tutorials

Staying off the search engine’s grid

Admittedly, its hard to stay off all the grids all the time. Sometimes you worry about energy – another time its the pesky info-theft by the big companies after your marketing profile.

All major search engines collect, store and share search data – that is how they make much of their money. Some, such as Google claim that the data is held in a way which is “anonymous and untraceable” but that is not always the case. Certainly Google can assist any state or law enforcement organisation with a legitimate enquiry (for a small fee).

This data can also be accessed by rogue employees and, more scary, indirectly by advertisers. Most search engines send your search criteria along with details about your computer, location and IP address to the sites you click on, therefore allowing them access to data about you!…

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November 24, 2012 2 Comments
Communities

Keeping it real – keeping it warm

Fall is here, that means winter is just around the proverbial corner. For most of us, that means having to keep our homes warm in some manner. For us, that means using our wood burning stove that PB designed and built himself when we lived back in the city and had access to a friend’s metal shop. It’s all made out of 3/16 plate steel with schedule 40 steel pipe for the flue (we aren’t afraid of flue fires). He poured about an inch and a half of refractory cement in the bottom. It serves double duty when I want to cook something on top of it, it makes great tortillas and pizza.  The whole thing weighs in at around 200 pounds, I am still amazed at the fact that PB managed to get it inside the skycastle without any help, up to the second floor (our living space) that didn’t have steps yet, we used a ladder to get in and out.…

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October 16, 2012 2 Comments
Courses, guides & tutorials

Manage your own power station

Useful article on producer.com which explains the math of power consumption – what is a kilowatt hour exactly? And goes through a checklist of energy-consumption behavior you will want to change when you begin to live off-grid.

Electrical consumption must be reduced by transferring major heating loads to other sources of energy. Electrical clothes dryers and water heaters can be replaced by gas-powered units. Hot water heating can also be done with solar thermal systems or be fired by gas or wood. Your building’s energy efficiency, passive solar collection and natural indoor lighting become much more important when trying to get off the grid.
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October 12, 2012 1 Comment
Courses, guides & tutorials

Garlic for a self-sufficient garden

Garlic is an essential ingredient in any situation where you have no access to antibiotics – or cannot afford them. Buy heads here for your garden. Turn it into an industry and sell them at your local farmers market (this book will help you do it right).

One medium-sized clove of garlic daily provides health boosting effects. Numerous over-the-counter supplements are available from Amazon as are enteric-coated tablets. Those who don’t like the strong flavour can try deodorised capsules. It is a cornerstone of good health.

This is not myth. Garlic has long been known a medicinal food in the wisest of ancient cultures. For centuries garlic has been used as a medicinal and culinary substance in India, China, Greece and other countries. It has been used as a salve for everything from headaches to colds to infections and healing wounds. It was used to protect against plague by monks in the Middle Ages. Hippocrates used garlic vapors to treat cervical cancer. Garlic poultices were placed on wounds during World War II as an inexpensive and apparently quite effective replacement for antibiotics which were scarce during wartime.…

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September 30, 2012 2 Comments

Underground shelters

A second home or cabin that just happens to be 20′ underground? Could be useful if you live in a tornado area, or think the Iranians might try a pre-emptive strike on the Florida Keys. Infowars has featured a state-of-the-art pre-manufactured, underground steel survival shelter – “above FEMA and military standards” but with luxurious interiors” and to be installed underground off the grid for a very affordable price.…

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September 24, 2012 No Comments
Communities

How to build an evaporative cooler

I know that for many of us, it’s getting closer to fall, summer will soon be a distant memory… but I am still intrigued when I see innovative ways to cool our homes and ourselves. I found this easy to do DIY evaporative cooler while surfing the internet today. I like the quirky look of the offset holes in the orange 5 gallon bucket, and the industrial look of the curved elbow duct.…

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September 1, 2012 2 Comments

Solar Charge Controllers

If you have a simple off-grid setup with just one panel or even a few solar panels and several batteries, the other vital ingredient is a charge controller that regulates the power going from the panel to the battery and shuts off power input when the batteries are fully charged.

This makes the process of running your own power station almost maintenance free.

When you are starting up its best to buy a medium-priced controller so that you can add a few panels and batteries to the mix before having to upgrade. The HQRP 20A Solar Panel Battery Charge Controller / Regulator 12V / 24V 20 Amp 300W with PWM Type of Charging retails at under $50 on Amazon.…

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August 8, 2012 6 Comments
Courses, guides & tutorials

Aquaponics greenhouse for $50 – DIY

You live in a small urban dwelling – an apartment with a balcony or rooftop, or in a house with a tiny yard. So how can you make a small step towards self-sufficiency?

We’re here to tell you it is possible – but don’t take our word for it: ask Aquaponics Steve.

Aquaponics is defined as “sustainable food production system that combines plant-growing with a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish). It was Steve’s years working in a pet shop that gave him the know-how. The secret is in breeding the bacteria from fish waste – sounds yucky but it works – with no need to use creepy chemicals.

He shows you how to make a tiny greenhouse and stock it full of plants for just $50. However if you want to spring for a solar panel, car battery and pump then you can go the whole way to a full aquaponics set up. …

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July 12, 2012 18 Comments

Choose your location by the light map

If you are looking to get away from it all and live off the grid, there is one difficult problem – how do you choose where is “away from it all.” Which is the most isolated part of the USA or the UK, or Canada, or any other Western country?

A new set of photos from space could provide some help on the matter. If you go for the darker parts of the country you are also choosing the emptier parts. Overlay what you already know about the climate and other factors such as employment prospects, and the light map could be a good guide…

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July 8, 2012 3 Comments
Courses, guides & tutorials

Home for less than $20,000

An electrician from England built himself and his girlfriend alarge comfy home for less than $20,000, (£12,000). Daniel Bond turned a double-decker bus into his new home after being priced out of the housing market

The couple were unable to afford a deposit and found it almost impossible to get a mortgage because he is a self employed electrician and the British banks are not lending. So he rented a scrap of land in Kent, Southern England, and spent four months turning a neglected vehicle into a two bedroom home
It is kitted out with a double bedroom, a twin bedroom, kitchen, TV lounge, bar, toilet and bathroom. …

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June 29, 2012 14 Comments

How We Went Off-Grid

Order Here How We Went Off-Grid

20 x 8 Ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Desert Sand

Order Here 20 x 8 Ft. Outdoor Storage Shed, Desert Sand