Family Goes Off The Grid

[Ken]

Looking at the numbers, it seems like staying on the grid may be less expensive.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091113/NEWS/911130315

[owl_girl]

that would depend on how you manage going off grid. there are lots of ways to generate power and if your thrifty about it you can do it at a reasonable cost. or you could learn to live without power.

[2dumb2kwit]

Looking at the numbers, it seems like staying on the grid may be less expensive.

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091113/NEWS/911130315

At one time, I did a fair amount of reading, about alt. energy. The people that are really into it will tell you that it isn't free energy! The only ones that seem to actually save money, by using alt. energy, are the ones that build houses far from power lines. If it cost $50,000 to tie into the grid, then alt. energy may be cheaper.

[Pal334]

Sounds like he loves to tinker. Good for him for trying.

[2dumb2kwit]

I was just speaking to the cash part. I guess there is a different value, to each person, for the idea of greener energy, being self sufficient, and being able to say, "Yeah, I built this."

I'd guess that in this group, there is big value in one, or more, of those things! LOL

[wildWoman]

As Owl Girl points out, it depends. A stint of 8 years of off-grid living cost me exactly $0.- because I had nothing to plug in. As with everything else in life, it's the personal choices everybody makes. Nobody "needs" electricity - people want it. Gigantic difference.