i Don't WANNA go off the grid!!!

[Jake]

Marshall that is reality for living in our day and age, and especially under the present government. But, most of us arnt Donald Trumps, so not preparing for what we can prepare for has its costs. Be prepared, or pay the price, thats life nowadays.

Jafo I have looked at those Harbor Freight backup chargers and I think that they are a good idea. My yurt plan includes a 400+ watt solar two panel system on Amazon, they have a LOT of good homestead solar listed. I am planning for max use of LEDs, I greatly admire the Mongolian nomads, but I note now that even they have sat dishes scattered amongst themselves.

Either we can prepare for the eventualities of life or hope and pray for a dreamed of nanny state to take care of us. Unfortunately under our present admin most nannys we find will closer resemble the female guards at auschwicz. Harsh, a bit exaggerated, but, just a bit. Remember NOs during Katrina.

I do prefer to live on the grid, all said and done, but in the last ten years or so I dont think there has been a year of it without the power going off for at least a week.

[Fdhayward]

And there are always composting toilets and hand water pumps that can be adapted to fairly deep wells so that you can have the best of both worlds.

[Jake]

I am just getting focused on what I want/need for my own corner of the world.

Composting toilets are very well discussed in the book Humanure, available on Amazon. Very enlightening and educational. I think it should be required reading in high school health and science classes.

Hand pumps work very well, surprisingly well. I am looking at ways to pump into a reservoir with a hand pump then a pump faucet at the sink. If/when an electric pump wont be operative. If, you arenot in a real sandy area then wells dont need to be all of that deep. Of course rock is a whole other story.

[Jafo]

I have nothing against hand pumps, but I also have nothing against solar power either. I pump my water with this 12 volt RV pump. It doesn't use much power at all and has great water pressure.

At my camp, I just use an outhouse, but I probably would not if it were my permanent residence. Since there is so much time between use and a high water table, the outhouse practically takes care of itself. Whenever we get a bunch of rain (or melt), the outhouse hole fills up with water and accelerates the biodegrading processes. By the time I get back to camp in the Spring, most of the solids are gone.

[gurt_from_the_yurt]

jafo, i am beyond dense. Do you have links to the solar arrays and batteries that you use? I am totally clueless.

[Jafo]

Here is the solar kit I use, but I should mention that you can frequently find coupons for this item and get the panel kit as low as $129:

Solar Panel Kit - Save on this 45 Watt Solar Panel Kit

I am using EXIDE NG-31 batteries, but I am sure there are better ones.

Here is a video of my setup from a bit ago:

http://www.yurtforum.com/forums/powe...5.html#post136

[Jafo]

Also, I added a smaller inverter for day to day stuff, and keep the big inverter for when I need more power.

[gurt_from_the_yurt]

thank you. dh was quite interested...we'll watch the video as soon as my eyes get unblurry this morning...lol.

[Marshall Eppley]

Hey guys here are a few other things you should look into 1 is called a ram pump. it requires a steady flow of water from a stream spring or what ever. also look at a spiral pump. these are easy to build with a few plumbing supplies.