What You Need to Know Before Living Off the Grid

Everyone defines ‘off the grid’ differently. Some hardcore people hear ‘off the grid’ and they assume that you don’t even have an online presence and are only seen in town once a year to get some supplies that you can’t get yourself at your remote cabin in the woods.

When I talk about off grid, I talk about not being connected to any electrical, water or sewer/septic system.

I currently live off grid in the desert with my family. Have been living off the grid for almost 2 years at the time of writing this post. Sometimes I miss having the ability to just turn on a faucet and run however much water I want (currently have no well, but this is possible with a well, even off grid). Or to run anything I want on electricity.

But at the same time, I was at the behest of someone else for those things. Now we are in full control of our energy, water, heating and cooking needs.

And it feels amazing!

I’d never go back. Ever.

Do you crave a life of living off the grid, not tied down to the system?

I know that we sure did, which is why we currently live off the grid. We get all of our energy needs 100% with solar panels, we haul water (though would love a well one day, just out of our price range at the moment) and we use a composting toilet.

If you’ve ever thought about living off the grid, I want to lay out some thoughts for you. I’m not doing this to scare you away, but some people may have some unrealistic expectations of what living off the grid means.

Here’s what you need to know about living off the grid:

How far are you willing to live away from town

Off grid doesn’t necessarily mean remote, but the two generally coincide because of the type of lifestyle that is generally associated with living off the grid.

We live 30 minutes from a small town, an hour from a slightly larger town and then and hour and a half from the biggest town that has almost everything we need (like Home Depot). Even more so, we have to drive two hours to get to a Costco.

The closest medical care is 30 miles away, but the nearest hospital that would actually be able to tend to the majority of our needs outside of simple diagnosis, would either be an hour and a half or two hours away.

There’s a gas station about 15 minutes away and a very small grocery store about 20 minutes away. So we do have some services available to us. We knew all this going in and were completely fine with it.

If you are not ok being that far from civilization, then you could always find a little off grid property that is just closer to town. You don’t always have to be so far away from a city to live off grid. Just depends on your wants and needs.

What are you willing to live without or make work another way

When you supply the power yourself through solar or other alternative means, you realize quickly how precious all of your power is. Currently our solar limits us so that we aren’t able to run an air conditioner or freeze dryer or even a dehydrator. But we can run basically everything else.

We have plenty of lights, we can run fans during the day, we can watch TV, can charge all of our devices and even run any kitchen appliances we want.

We can always increase our alternative energy, but for now, we are living without certain things, while at the same time, figuring out how to make other things work.

For instance, I can’t run an electric dehydrator, but I made a solar dehydrator and I make do with that. In fact, it works extremely well.

We can’t run an air conditioner, but we made a swamp cooler, we use fans and we also live in the high desert where it doesn’t get as hot as the low desert. We also swim in the hot months and stay in plenty of shade.

We do have a washing machine, but we line dry all of our clothes.

People have lived without modern conveniences for hundreds of thousands of years. Lots of alternative ways to do things, we just need to figure them out or make do without.

Do you know how to fix things yourself

Being able to fix things yourself is a huge asset. Do you know how to fix your own vehicle? Do you know how to fix your solar setup if anything were to go wrong? Do you know how to fix fences or general house maintenance?

Honestly, whether you live off grid or not, being able to fix things yourself is important. However, being off grid can certainly throw a wrench into some things, especially if you run on solar or other alternative energy. There aren’t many people who would be able to diagnose or fix solar issues. In fact, we couldn’t even find someone to come out to install solar onto our property because of how far out we live.

Luckily, my husband designed, put together, expanded and fixes everything solar. So we’re all set there. But my point is, finding people to do things for you could be a problem when living off grid. It just depends on how far away you live and how ‘off grid’ you really are.

On that same note, do you know how to build things

While some people may be willing to travel to your off grid location, many places won’t. Luckily when we bought our washer, they delivered it. But on the other hand, when we were looking into home building options, we couldn’t find a single person who was willing to come out and build at our location.

Of course, we want to build our home ourselves, but we were just researching our options.

My point is, knowing how to build things yourself will not only save you time but money. Plus, you’ll get exactly what you want by doing it yourself.

If you have kids…

My kids have loved the off grid life. Kids are resilient and eager to do whatever as long as it’s with the family. They’re our priority when it comes to keeping them warm and cool. There’s always something to do, they don’t need constant technology in their lives.

In addition, living off the grid doesn’t mean they can’t go to school. But, we have chosen to homeschool for a variety of reasons and it has truly brought us all closer together.

Having kids off grid is really not that much different than on grid. Take care of their basic needs as you would take care of your own, and you’re all set.

Do you need a consistent house temp

We are unable to power an AC with our current solar capabilities. We could certainly increase our solar and battery power, but air conditioners, even swamp coolers or window units, take quite a bit of energy. On that same note, heating options can be limited if not properly planned out.

If you’re looking to be off grid, I would look into building a home that is energy efficient all on its own. Such as an earth sheltered home, adobe home, brick home, passive solar, etc. These types of alternative homes are not only cheaper (especially with lumber prices being what they are right now in May 2021), but they are more energy efficient on their own. They can keep the house cool and warm with little to no effort on your part.

You could also look into geo thermal which is built underground your home. There are some solar heating options for water, but outside of that, heating or cooling an entire home with solar alone can be a challenge, not impossible, but a challenge. Wind energy may be able to contribute, but batteries in general will be helpful.

Most people use propane or a generator, but those both take fuel sources that have to be relied upon by a third party, which might be alright for some time, but if they are suddenly unavailable, do you have alternatives?

Having a wood stove and oven will certainly help during the winter months.

So, while yes, we all want to be comfortable in our own homes, especially during hot and cold months, there will be some planning involved on your part to make sure you’re comfortable. It’s not impossible, but needs to be thought about.

How self-reliant do you want to be

Off grid is usually synonymous with self-reliance, but that doesn’t have to be the case. I have several neighbors who are not connected to the grid, but they still want to live a very ‘city’ life. As in, they don’t want to be without the everyday comforts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with anything you want to do. Being remote and off grid doesn’t always equate to you having to live a self-reliant lifestyle.

Maybe you’re just sick of relying on other people to be in charge of your electricity and water.

So how self-reliant do you want to be while living off grid? Do you want a whole farm life, permaculture, supplying as much produce and meat yourself as possible?

Or do you just want to be disconnected from the power grid?

These are questions you’ll have to answer for yourself. And again, there are no wrong answers.

Living off grid is freedom

Sometimes I joke about connecting to the grid so that I can run a freeze dryer, but it’s only as a joke because I don’t want to 1. be reliant on others for my energy needs and 2. don’t want to pay someone else for my energy needs. I’d much rather increase my solar needs so that it can handle a freeze dryer.

Living off the grid is truly living free. There are always solutions, even if it means to simply increase your solar or wind needs. It may not be immediate, due to the cost of increasing your alternative energy, but it’s always an option.

People lived without modern conveniences for thousands of years. They figured out ways to stay cool, to warm their water and preserve their food without electricity.

At least these days we have so many options for alternative energy needs and they’re getting more affordable everyday.

Would the off grid life create a little more work and effort on your part? Sure. It’s certainly a change and a little more effort will be involved. But it’s not hard, you just have to get into that mindset and be ready to face the challenges.

Before you know it, it’ll just be life.

Do you have any other questions about living off the grid?