Tag: off-grid
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Cooling Your Home Off-Grid
Rather than rely on fossil fuels or nuclear energy to cool off your home this summer, why not go off-grid? These systems are just as effective, yet they use natural sources of power – not “standard” electricity in order to cool your home down. A geothermal system is just one example. You can also utilize…
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Living Simply in a Tiny Off-Grid Cabin (Video)
Would you be happy living with less? This family certainly is. Living in a tiny cabin on a piece of land in New Zealand, instead of paying rent, they do work-trade for the opportunity to live off the land. You’d be amazed at the simplicity of their dwelling, and yet, they’re clearly very fulfilled. I…
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Survivalist or Homesteader? (Video)
This is a great video from a popular homesteading and survivalism vlogger I really enjoy. He poses the questions: which will survive longer, a homesteader or a survivalist? Are they the same thing? Does one come before the other? I think this is a really great topic since, while homesteading and survivalism are not necessarily…
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Building a Tiny Home
We recently posted an article on the tiny house movement, and I wanted to elaborate a bit more on what it takes to actually build yourself a tiny house. This is one of the biggest appeals of tiny houses, of course, that the initial building materials can be cheap, the construction easy. Many people are…
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The Tiny House Movement: Is It For You?
The tiny house movement, which has gained a lot of traction among those wishing to live more simply, self-sufficiently, or simply economically. It is essentially exactly what it sounds like. More and more people are opting to live in small, or rather, tiny houses, often off-grid or on a homestead as well. The idea is simple. Less…
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Essential Elements Your Homestead Property Needs
Those who are considering buying a homestead property are often very excited about starting this new lifestyle. They are looking for the “perfect” piece of property, and this is not always easy to find, as they do not know exactly what it is they should seek in a homestead. This is especially a problem for…
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Simple Steps to Greater Self-Sufficiency
The goal of everyone who is interested in homesteading is to become more independent and less reliant on the “machine” that seems to run the lives of most people. Many today have no real idea of where their food comes from or what would happen if they no longer had easy access to electricity. They…
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How to Be Prepared for a Power Outage
What happens when you suffer a power outage? A couple of things could happen. You need to wait until the repairs are made and the electric company takes care of things to get the power restored, or you could get the generator going if you have one. Whether you are out in the middle of…
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3 DIY Solar Projects for Your Homestead
The sun is an amazing source of energy, and it is entirely renewable and free. Unfortunately, most people think of solar energy as costly and complicated. You don’t need to break the bank and spend a fortune on fancy, on-grid solar panels to harness the power of the sun! First of all, we use the sun’s…
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Off-Grid Cabin Security (Video)
When you live out in the country, it might seem safer than an urban environment, and in many ways, it definitely is. Those low crime rates aren’t misleading; way less people means way less crime. That being said, there’s still a risk of your property being vandalized or stolen if you aren’t at home, especially…
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Beer Keg Portable Hot Shower (Video)
When I lived completely off-grid, with no running water or electricity, one of the biggest challenges was a hot shower. Paloma hot water heaters were coveted in the community I lived in, but most off-grid tent-dwelling hippies like myself couldn’t afford them. We tried everything. Sun showers, leaving long black hoses out in the sun,…
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Common Mistakes When Going Off-Grid
Getting off-grid and energy independent is really appealing, but can also be pretty intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start when you’ve lived your whole life reliant upon a municipal grid, and as I wrote recently about homesteading in general, it’s OK to make mistakes. But, you can always learn from the mistakes of…
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The Off-Grid Winter Pantry (Video)
When most people think of living off-grid, there are usually two major challenges that come to mind: winter, and food storage. Well, this video shows us that with the right amount of supplies and planning, you don’t have to worry much about either! It is seriously one of my life goals to have a pantry…
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DIY $5 Funnel Solar Oven (Video)
I love off-grid cooking of all kind, and a solar oven is something I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. I always thought that it was fairly expensive to make, but this guy made one for only $5. It’s amazing how much you can cook in one, and it is the most bare-bones…
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Tips for Living Without a Fridge
Refrigerators are one of the great wonders of modern science, and can greatly improve your quality of life. However, we’ve also grown so dependent on them, we don’t even know how to live without them anymore. Many people in the world still live without modern refrigeration, and it’s certainly not impossible. There are many reasons…
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How to Build An Off-Grid Winter Cabin for $300 (Video)
YouTubers and homesteaders Pure Living for Life shared this video last year on how they built an off-grid winter cabin for a few hundred dollars. They had been living in their RV on their property, but as temperatures started to drop they felt they needed something warmer and more secure, and a structure to put…
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No Septic for an Off-Grid Homestead (Video)
Nature happens, and off-grid homesteaders need to deal with it! If you do not have a septic for your off-grid homestead, this is a very cool, low-tech solution. Putting in a septic system can be incredibly pricey, and sanitary waste removal is an important aspect of healthy living. This homesteader has a great alternative if…
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Woodstove Accessories
Having a wood stove is great, not only for heating your house but also for an alternative cooking method when utilities are down. Woodstoves can save a lot of money on heating bills, even compared to fireplaces. But having a woodstove alone won’t offer you the same benefits that you could have if you also…
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Simple Steps to Getting Your Homestead Off-Grid
Living on an off-grid homestead is no small matter. It might take years of planning, research and hard work. Hopefully if you do own property you’ve already considered how possible it might be to live off-grid, or if you are shopping around, this is what you’re thinking about long term. “Off-grid” is a catch-all term…
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Battery Reconditioning: Limitless Homestead Energy
One of the biggest concerns for long-term self-reliance as a homesteader is energy. Most energy sources that we rely on seem to be finite. Especially if you are focused on survival when the grid goes down or being completely off-grid. Gasoline, propane, coal, even wood, all will run out at some point and are difficult…
