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What It’s Like Living Off-Grid

In the summer of 1980, my wife, three-month old son and I moved “off-grid”. We loved living in San Francisco but wanted to live a simpler, more independent lifestyle…

By Greg Seaman Posted Jun 9, 2009

In the summer of 1980, my wife, three-month old son and I moved “off-grid”. We loved living in San Francisco but wanted to live a simpler, more independent lifestyle, and so we bought a small cabin with land on a rural island in the Pacific Northwest. Since there were no services to the island, our home had no electricity. Residents of the island had to create their own electricity or do without.

Now here I sit, almost 30 years later, with the kids grown and their rooms empty, and with some time to reflect on our experience living and raising a family off-grid. But before even considering the challenges and solutions in dealing with our energy needs over the years, one observation seems to leap out: how little things here have changed. We’ve done very little over the years to enhance our energy needs, aside from installing two solar panels last year to power the computer I’m using to write this article. (Alongside my computer on the table here is a kerosene lamp, and a candle for added light.) This lack of change is testament to the feasibility of off-grid living, and my vision for the upcoming years is to keep things pretty much the way they are.

But keeping it simple hasn’t always been simple. We had to learn alternate methods of preserving food, how to build things without power tools, how to cook on a wood stove, how to clean diapers without a washing machine, entertain ourselves without TV, and accept that many common tasks can take longer and be more difficult without electricity. Here are the main challenges we encountered in living off-grid, and how we managed with them.

Lighting

The biggest difficulty we had living off-grid was, and continues to be, lighting. Our home has two small propane lamps over the cooking areas, but we use them sparingly because we have to pack in the propane tanks, and propane is expensive. Our general room lighting is by kerosene lamps, which give off marginal quality light and fumes if the wicks are not carefully trimmed. We also used candles, and are lucky we didn’t burn our place down. We arranged the furniture to make best use of available natural light from the windows. Over time, we adapted our habits to the natural light patterns in nature, e.g. you don’t stay up till midnight reading a novel.

We tried solar power for lights but found that when we need light the most, in winter, there was the least amount of solar energy available. The development of LED bulbs is promising, however, because they require much less energy. Today, we use little ‘clip-on’ book lights with small LED bulbs which are powered by rechargeable AA batteries. These are very efficient and have made things easier and safer for reading and for small task lighting. Our son Ben is installing indoor fixtures for LED area lights which we’ll be testing this winter. We also use LED headlamps when going outdoors at night.

Refrigeration

I remember being at the dock with my wife one hot summer day and seeing a tourist sipping a drink on the deck of his yacht. My wife looked at the drink and said “Looks good!” The tourist said “Well, come aboard and I’ll fix you a drink.” “Oh” my wife said, “I was referring to the ice cubes, not the booze!”. He then proceeded to his on-board ice-maker and gave us a sack of ice. As we hurriedly rowed home before it melted, we thought it curious that his boat had more modern amenities than our home.

Life without ice, or refrigeration, takes some getting used to. No ice cream in summer, no cold beer, no easy way of dealing with food leftovers. But this is only in summer; the rest of the year we have our pantry which keeps things cool and preserved long enough for our needs. Most of the food we eat is fresh from the garden or the sea, or preserved in jars in the pantry. A few years ago I bought a half-sized used RV refrigerator which runs on propane. We use this in the hottest weeks of summer or when guests arrive; a 20-lb propane tank keeps it running for about 3 weeks. But I don’t like running this appliance with its little pilot light flame so close to our cedar house. Ideally, we would use a solar powered refrigerator, but they are very expensive.

Washing Clothes

The only way I could get my wife to participate in an off-grid lifestyle was to help her with the menial tasks which modern appliances were designed to handle. So I enthusiastically set up a cast iron bathtub out in the garden with a fire underneath, propped up an old-fashioned washboard, and started washing the baby diapers by hand. After a few sessions of this I gave up. You don`t need the details – it was too much work and they didn`t get clean enough. (Our neighbours would dye their diapers yellow to make them look a little better.) After trying a few other ideas, we settled on taking our dirty clothes to the Laundromat each time we would go off-island to the nearest town. This worked well, and was a great chance to socialize with other islanders who were doing the same thing. However, it meant we had to own more clothes, and buy more diapers, since it could be as long as a month between trips to town. Today there are very efficient mini-washers which require very little energy to run, and this is a solution for some people who live off-grid.

Cooking

To our constant delight, cooking ‘off-grid’ seems to deliver the best tasting meals with relatively little work. We use an old-fashioned wood cookstove which is as easy to use as a modern gas or electric range. And besides providing an ideal cooking surface and oven, the stove also provides us with hot water via the water jacket in the firebox. The cookstove is an Elmira Oval, and it reaches 350 degrees within 20 minutes.

Our home also has a wood heater, and in winter we use this for cooking. It has a large flat top which can hold 4 or 5 saucepans. We’ve become adept at cooking on this heater, thereby saving the firewood needed for the cookstove.

For quick hot meals, or a cup of tea before the stove heats up, we have a small two-burner propane stove similar to those used for camping. We use this in the summer during fire season.

Food seems to be center of life here, and when the cook is at work there is a tangible reverence in the air. Our cookstove is at the heart of our family life – we love to hear the crackling fire and whiff the scents from the oven curling through the room. And is there any smell more wonderful than fresh baked bread?

We realize that cooking with wood is not ideal from an environmental perspective, and we look for ways to be more efficient when using the cookstove. We may prepare several meals at once, we almost always eat together, and we use only well-seasoned wood. We’ve also learned to be patient in off-grid cooking – water doesn’t boil as fast in winter.

Building

Before we moved to our island home, an old man gave me his collection of antique hand tools, which have since been put to good use. Learning to use hand tools was fundamental to getting anything built or fixed, since we did not have a generator to run power tools. Fortunately I had the benefit of learning from an old-timer in the community who was skilled in woodworking using only simple, common hand tools. Through his example, one could see that many carpentry jobs could actually be done as fast or faster than by using power tools – as well as safer, quieter, cheaper and more satisfying. But this was not the case with all jobs. If a long board needed to be perfectly ripped or planed, I would carry it to a neighbor who lived about a mile away with a fully powered workshop.

An invaluable tool for building has been the chainsaw. Besides being essential for cutting firewood, the chainsaw is very handy for many carpentry/building tasks. All the beams and timbers used in rebuilding and adding on to our house were cut with a chainsaw. Also, there are building methods which we used, such as post and beam construction, which lend themselves more to chainsaw/hand tool methods.

There have been some downsides to being limited to hand tools. While some tasks are done quickly using hand tools, most projects do take longer without power tools, and the finished work is not as perfect. I’ve been building my 1200 sq ft home for 29 years and it’s still not done.

Entertainment

Living without the TV, movies and video games while raising children was not a problem. We had board games, crafts, musical instruments, books and all sorts of natural learning materials. Every night my wife would read a book out loud for an hour. Playing together in the evenings was special family time, and the kids never asked for TV.

After we had been living off-grid for seven or eight years, my father-in-law brought us a small black/white TV with a 12v battery. It felt like an intrusion at first, but the only channel we could get showed reruns of Sesame Street, which we found entertaining and instructive for our younger child. This didn’t last long however, since taking the battery to the store for recharging became too tedious. Eventually we broke down and bought a small Honda 350 generator, about the size of a toaster, but it didn’t run right. So we had it repaired and it worked a few more times then quit again for good. In retrospect, we went to a lot of work and expense, and waste, for a few Sesame Street shows.

It seems to follow that when children create their own games and play, they’re more likely to use their own imagination and develop independent thinking skills later in life. Being able to raise children with our own values, and without the distraction of electronic entertainment, was one of the main reasons we wanted to live off-grid.

In conclusion

Our experience living off-grid is neither unique nor stereotypical. Although our community has no electric service, different homes have different degrees of self-generated electricity. Some people have wind generators, others have solar arrays or micro-hydro runs on small streams that provide their power needs. Some residents have big TVs, washing machines, freezers, power tools and all the amenities. With recent advances in efficient appliances and technologies, “off-grid” living can be the same as living anywhere else. But for our family, we felt there was more to be learned by building things by hand, creating our own family culture, and trying to live a little more at the pace of nature. By keeping things simple, we had to rely on each other more to put food on the table and to get things done, and this helped empower the children. As young adults today, I see they are resourceful, independent and confident.

So if you are thinking of living off-grid, I suggest you start simple, and gradually ‘power up’ if needs increase. And as you evaluate future electric needs, keep in mind what you may be losing as well.

After all these years, our home is still not finished, but every board has a story to tell.

Greg Seaman, the founder and editor of Eartheasy.

Related articles:
Choosing Land for Homestead Living

Our experience with a solar powered refrigerator

Living Large in a Tiny House

More, Better, Faster – living at digital hyperspeed

Warming up to solar ovens

Induction Cooking

Posted in Preparedness Tags homesteading, Off-Grid

Comments

Posted by Greg Seaman

Oct 5, 2009 5:39 pm

You're right Phil, there are some downsides. No ice cream in summer!
Seriously though, if we were living close to people who had electricity and all that goes with it, we might feel like we were missing out on things. But being in a remote location makes it easier.
Many of our chores take longer and are harder to do without power. But we are in good shape as a result and we enjoy the simple things.

Posted by jeremy

Oct 30, 2009 7:14 pm

my congratulations from palma de mallorca spain,

Posted by Willa Grant

Oct 30, 2009 8:35 pm

Thank you for your article- I am planning to retire “Off grid” & I am trying to be realistic about what that will be like. I really liked the kerosene lamp & the computer picture!
Regards

Posted by Rancher Dawn

Nov 30, 2009 3:42 am

All I can say is "BRING MONEY". The start up to "live -off-grid" is not cheep. The gadgits that are needed to "log" are numerous. Just for starters a good wood cook stove can run almost 3K when it is all said and done. A James Washer is $600. Don't forget the the extra lamp oil and wicks………… it is never ending.

Posted by Greg Seaman

Dec 1, 2009 3:33 am

You're right about the cost of a wood cookstove. But many people in our community use old woodstoves they have refurbished themselves.
The first five or six years we lived off-grid, we managed to get by for under $4000 per year. But even raising $4000 was a lot of work!
However, I would say the costs of living off grid are considerably lower than living in town.

Posted by Greg Seaman

Dec 2, 2009 1:36 am

Dawn, I agree entirely. Living off-grid is a lot of work, but living in a beautiful natural environment is the payback. Some days are tougher than others but there's never been a day when I regretted this lifestyle.
Living without electricity was not that much of a problem (but my wife might not agree). Lighting was the main challenge but now we have efficient LEDs that run off our solar panels.
Have you seen the show Victorian Farm? It shows how they managed a big spread like yours, and yes they had oxen with yoke borrowed from a neighboring farm. In our community, a friend had a Jersey cow which produced so much milk that it paid off the cow. And all the free cowpies make the best fertilizer. And the grass gets a free cut. Still. it's a lot of work to milk a cow every morning.
I have to go fix the fence – it's cold and dark but has to be done now. There's a perfect example fo the lifestyle!

Posted by Rancher Dawn

Dec 2, 2009 9:04 am

Greg, Yes to all the above. It is a beautiful to drive up our River Road here on the Oregon Coast, inside a National Forrest, I wouldn't trade it for any thing yet, it is not for everyone. We lived in Alaska for 10 years which sort of got me ready for farm living. I am not a "country girl" to say the least. I have had to learn how to live "off the grid" and now, like Eddie Albert (Green Acres), I wouldn't go back for a million bucks. Had to learn how to can, garden, run the sawn mill and drive a tractor but it can all be done. I am living proof.

Posted by Greg Seaman

Dec 2, 2009 6:47 pm

We have a lot in common Dawn!
When my wife and I made the move to 'off-grid' we thought we were prepared. Looking back on it now I realize how little we knew. We made every mistake in the book and have a lot of funny stories to tell. But , like you, learning to garden, fix things, build our home and boats, store food and such have given us a real sense of security and empowerment.

Posted by Greg Seaman

Dec 31, 2009 5:20 pm

Thanks Shane. My wife has been keeping notes and says she is going to write a book about our experiences living off grid. It would be a fun project because we have so many stories (usually about our own mistakes as young and naive homesteaders.)
If you are considering this kind of lifestyle, please feel free to email me with your questions. I'm happy to help if I can. greg@eartheasy.com

Posted by tammy

Feb 15, 2010 9:03 pm

I really admire what yall do . it is amazing to hear your stories. I thought I was more or less ready to go off grid but now i know im not. ive lived for 10 years with electricity, ac, heat , everything. but ive kept my costs low with two boys and a husband, we manage to live on $6,000 a year. I traded a car for an old trailer house and used free wood crates to fix it up. me and my neighbor grow a garden that feeds 7 on a daily basis. I just wanted to wish congrats to all who have made the jump and survived. lol

Posted by Rancher Dawn

Mar 20, 2010 7:11 pm

Hi Greg and everyone who has a mind to "OG",
Our latest project went smoothly. We finally got in our "Bakers Choice", wood stove. The Amish are the BEST at making high quality, functional "OG" products. Am wondering do you know of anyone here in the Pacific Northwest who makes washer/wringer machines that are powered by hand-crank? I do have a Wonderwasher but it is small, as you might know. I would be interested in something that could really take some volume. Also, Greg, have you heard about the SOLAR GENERATOR. if so, do you have a certain company that you might suggest to us. If gas were ever to dry-up or get so expensive that we cannot afford it we might all be happy to own a solar-gen.
Thanks for your on going help.

Posted by Greg Seaman

Mar 20, 2010 8:24 pm

Thanks Tammy. I hope this article has not discouraged you from trying an off-grid lifestyle. I feel this lifestyle has contributed greatly to our family's sense of security and well-being. The off-grid life is not for everyone, but you sound like the type that adopts well to thrifty, independent living. I also have two sons, and living off-grid, I think, has been very good for them. Even as young children they felt empowered with a sense of purpose every day, because we need each other to make it work.

Posted by Greg Seaman

Mar 20, 2010 8:43 pm

Hi Dawn,
I agree with you about the quality of Amish products – your Baker's Choice will last a lifetime. And isn't it pleasant to experience real quality in a product that is designed to last!
As regards the washing machine, we like the Wonderwasher, and have a number of friends who use this for washing clothes. Yes, it is small, which is why it is so efficient. I do not know of any local suppliers of hand-crank washers, sorry. We've been through the wringer (sorry, couldn't resist the pun)with the logistics of washing clothes, and found that larger machines require too much power. In the end, we opted to send our laundry to a laundromat. The cost is low, and the only thing is we need more clothing to accommodate the delay when sending out the wash.
The 'solar generator' is just a solar panel, charge controller, and a battery with an inverter in a compact unit. We use the same system but bought the components separately. I prefer this because the cost is lower and the system is easy to expand if we want more power in the future.

Posted by Rancher Dawn

Mar 28, 2010 3:17 am

Greg, Nice to hear back from you. Can you elaborate a little on the solar set-up that you have to run your gen-set. Do you use a "regular" gen, gas type? How did you make the hook up? I would like to know more about how you did this. We really need to be thinking about what life might be if gas goes up to 6-10 bucks a gallon. We would really appreicate your help.
Well, I guess WonderWasher it will be until I can find a crank-wringer. Amish is the way to go!

Posted by Greg Seaman

Mar 28, 2010 5:53 pm

Hi Dawn,
Our alternate (solar) power setup is independent of a gas generator. The system is very basic: one solar panel which leads to a small charge controller and through to a battery bank. We have two deep cycle batteries. An inverter is connected to the batteries which converts DC to AC, allowing us to power a few AC items such as my computer, a few LED lights, and a small battery charger which recharges the battery for a handheld drill/screwdriver. Our refrigerator runs on DC, so it is also connected to the batteries (bypassing the inverter). There is almost zero maintenance, except to ensure the batteries have enough water every few months.
We also have a small 750 watt gas generator which is my backup in case the batteries get low and there is no solar power. In these cases, not often, I run the generator to a battery charger which keeps the battery bank topped up. I would estimate that we use less than a gallon of gas per month on average (more in winter, less in summer).

Posted by Danielle M

Mar 29, 2010 12:40 am

Thanks for ths inspiration! Living on a homestead off-grid has been a dream of mine and your example shows it is possible. I would like to learn more about your experience raising children in this environment, since I plan to have a family. Any ideas would be welcome, thanks.

Posted by Nanna

Mar 30, 2010 6:24 am

Hello! living "off the grid" sounds like a typical everyday lifestyle of some Native Americans in rural areas. I know this because my grandmother is one of them. Just a few weeks ago electricity finally reached her house. The cool thing is she still uses her oil lamps:)
I have spent most of my summers and school breaks, helping her haul water, tend to the animals, pick wild herbs and some veggies and loved it! We would go into town once a week and get blocked ice which lasted a week. She had a shade-house where she kept a regular-sized ice chest, huge water barrels, a bread box, and hung her salted meat.
I read your problem having no fridge. .. i may have a solution for you… A house that I had the chance to visit had a fridge, but it wasn't your traditional fridge.. this fridge was built into the house! on the coldest side of course. It was like a pantry, but only difference is it had two holes in it from the outside. One on the top the other at the bottom. The cool air comes in at the bottom and the hot air goes out the top.. It worked pretty well for this individual and it might work for you.:)

Posted by Greg Seaman

Mar 30, 2010 6:51 pm

Thanks Nanna,
The pantry at your grandmother's place sounds similar to what we have used – a 8' x 8' cool room attached to the north side of the house with screened openings for ventilation. This provides the basic refrigeration we need for most of the year. However, we cannot freeze things or keep fresh milk cold enough for safe drinking in summer. It has worked for us for 30 years, but needs rebuilding this summer. The cedar shake roof is rotting in spots, and mice have found their way in.
We do have problems with freezing in winter, which can ruin our storerd fruit. During a cold snap we have to pull the boxes inside which is a lot of work. Our new cool room will be better insulated so that during cold snaps we can leave a kerosene lamp on in the cool room to maintain a minimal temperature to prevent freezing.
Since this article was written, we have purchased a DC powered refrigerator which we run with solar power. The unit is very efficient and uses less power than a 60 watt lightbulb. Now we can keep garden produce fresh longer, and the large chest-style unit is mouse proof, another bonus!

Posted by memy

Apr 6, 2010 8:25 pm

Its easy to make bucket loads of ice any time. It requires and 5 gallon bucket, small oxygen cylinder, 10 pound propane tank, some pipe, a needle valve, a ball valve, some water, some ammonia. Pipe the two bottles together with the ball valve inserted and a bypass pipe for the needle valve. Fill the larger propane tank with water then add ammonia to fill the oxygen bottle (all valves closed). Now palce oxygen bottle into bucket filled with water and "crack" the needle valve open. As the ammonia hits the water it will be absorbed and as it evaporates from the small tank it will freeze the water solid. Some times you can get two bucket loads of ice per run. Break the ice off the cylinder…. Now to regenerate the ammonia, place the larger tank into a bed of coals, and the smaller tank back in a bucket of water. Open the ball valve, close the needle valve. The heat will drive off the ammonia back to the smaller tank. Once the larger tank is 200 degrees F stop before you steam the water out into the other bottle, close the ball valve and let it all cool; you are ready for the next days ice making.

Posted by DanD

Apr 7, 2010 2:33 am

So, how exactly do you get your food? Do you garden it or hunt and fish in the wild?

From what I understand it take 4000 square feet of garden per person to grow enough food using intensive organic gardening.

As to the food storage, seems like canning is to much to do and using the old lacto-fermentation methods to store food would be easier.do.

Last question, what do you to make money? How much does it take? What products do you have to buy? Ok, so last few questions.. So many more.. as we are moving towards off grid using 16000 square feet of garden, producer gas from home-made charcoal to run a engine to pump water and generate power for tools, humanure composting ect ect ect.. Would love to talk to you..

Posted by Greg Seaman

Apr 7, 2010 3:30 am

Hi Dan,
For food, yes, we garden, hunt, fish. We used to keep chickens, both egg birds and meat birds. We have access to clams and oysters. We also go to town and buy things to augment our diet.
For the garden, 4000 square feet sound about right. I would suggest you keep the garden small-ish and expand as you need.
We found canning not too difficult, but I can't speak for my wife who did most of the work.
Money? At first I did odd jobs like fencing, carpentry, whatever. Then I got together with a firend who had a generator and shop, and we started a wood working business. I stayed with this for 20 years ..a very modest income but enough to make ends meet.
Today, this website provides a living for me and my family.
If you have questions, email me at greg@eartheasy.com