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Les Stroud - Off the Grid
- Thread starter Kaos116
- Start date
Interesting. for the survivor man I would think he knew the number one rule WATER. you need it. That would be number one for me. that and flying the parts in for the cabin? Yikes. (And he was crying about not being able to afford the well diggers.. ) I think if he was a little more careful on how he prioritized things he would have been living there sooner.
Good program and food for thought. the next place will be off grid. the current is just too big and old to do it. (212 years old and Big we only use 1/2 of it as it is.)
Once I get some more work done in the house we will likely be selling and downsizing and up sizing the land amount at the same time. It all takes time as Les said.
Good program and food for thought. the next place will be off grid. the current is just too big and old to do it. (212 years old and Big we only use 1/2 of it as it is.)
Once I get some more work done in the house we will likely be selling and downsizing and up sizing the land amount at the same time. It all takes time as Les said.
I think he mentioned the house being 22'x22' and having a second floor. That would be about ~900 square feet. That is small for 4 people. I can understand the need to downsize. It will keep the 'utilities' needed smaller.
We are in the same boat about downsizing the house and increase the property. Hopefully if all goes as planned this summer. We will be going from ~3000 square foot house to ~1700 and from an 1/8 acre lot to 13.8 acres. We won't be going off the grid completely, but we will be greatly reducing our dependancy to it. But I don't think we will be going to an outhouse![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
We are in the same boat about downsizing the house and increase the property. Hopefully if all goes as planned this summer. We will be going from ~3000 square foot house to ~1700 and from an 1/8 acre lot to 13.8 acres. We won't be going off the grid completely, but we will be greatly reducing our dependancy to it. But I don't think we will be going to an outhouse
If it where just the wife and I,I could see 1000 sq feet if we got rid of a lot of unneeded
items. (thats the problem with close to 3K ft and only 3 people.... it fills up)
I would then have a large outbuilding for my machine/fab shop with a gunsmithing/smithing area.
Smaller is better, We have possibly 7 bedrooms if they where all used as such, with only 3 people. But it was a way to get into a house in 96. (bought from my Grandmother)
we only use 2 bedrooms, and one as a Den/gunroom. 2 spares upstairs with another spare as my sons junkroom. We really need to downsize.
Even if we can just reduce the electric we use that would be nice. (we only heat with Pellet stoves right now haven't bought oil in 4-5 years. and I am reinstalling a wood stove along with the pellet stove this year. (doing land clearing and going to use the cut wood)
Heck Mass won't let you have an outhouse anyway. (if it went to a sealed tank then it would be ok if approved.)
items. (thats the problem with close to 3K ft and only 3 people.... it fills up)
I would then have a large outbuilding for my machine/fab shop with a gunsmithing/smithing area.
Smaller is better, We have possibly 7 bedrooms if they where all used as such, with only 3 people. But it was a way to get into a house in 96. (bought from my Grandmother)
we only use 2 bedrooms, and one as a Den/gunroom. 2 spares upstairs with another spare as my sons junkroom. We really need to downsize.
Even if we can just reduce the electric we use that would be nice. (we only heat with Pellet stoves right now haven't bought oil in 4-5 years. and I am reinstalling a wood stove along with the pellet stove this year. (doing land clearing and going to use the cut wood)
Heck Mass won't let you have an outhouse anyway. (if it went to a sealed tank then it would be ok if approved.)
I watched the WHOOOOLEEE thing...... that is what i call living without government....
but how would i get on NE SHOOTERS??????)
Without government? They had the friggen town inspector there and he even said the inspector could make him tear down the entire cabin they built if he so desired!
900 sq. ft. is tight, but doable. Ask me how I know ...
22x22 won't be 900 sq ft, because you'll have walls, stairs, and other items blocking you. I would love to have a small house on a large tract of land as long as I had appropriate storage in sheds garages for tools and storage. I have a price that I'd take in almost a heart beat for my house if it meant I could go somewhere with a lot more land and become more self-sufficient.
Unfortunately we have allowed our government to make this the norm in most places. When my uncle recently built an Adirondack shelter on his "off the grid" property he had to do the same thing as far as getting inspections and approval. There are still some towns that don't do this and one should always try to find them when buying land like this.
On another note IIRC Les Stroud was putting in propane, I don't consider this "off the grid", useful as hell but still relying on outside sources for replenishment.
It really is a shame. This is a great documentary though. Makes me wish I had to resources right now to do that!
I saw it on tv last night too.
It was very interesting to see that someone that is a regular on tv isn't swimming in money and flaunting it with a 10,000 sq. ft. house. They had to scrimp and make the tough decision the rest of us need to make on a daily basis (sorry for the generality).
The only thing that I would be apprehensive about is the issue with the incoming road and the flooding/snow that they were dealing with building it. If they move there full time they could run into issues with getting help in and out with regards to a medical emergency.
Other than that it was good to see all of the different green options out there that can be incorporated into a new home or existing.
It was very interesting to see that someone that is a regular on tv isn't swimming in money and flaunting it with a 10,000 sq. ft. house. They had to scrimp and make the tough decision the rest of us need to make on a daily basis (sorry for the generality).
The only thing that I would be apprehensive about is the issue with the incoming road and the flooding/snow that they were dealing with building it. If they move there full time they could run into issues with getting help in and out with regards to a medical emergency.
Other than that it was good to see all of the different green options out there that can be incorporated into a new home or existing.
dcmdon
NES Member
I recently renovated my 1100 sq foot 160 year old house. With a wife and child now, we expanded it to 1900 sq ft.
It is not tight at all. Its just well used space. No formal living room. No formal dining room. Open space with "work areas" rather than rooms. I've got a 15 x 30 foot living room with 40 foot sight lines. Its not tight.
I've also built myself the mother of all outbuildings, a 30 x 30 foot barn. Its where a lot of the crap that accumulates in life is stored. But the key thing is that its not taxed like a house. I dont heat it like a house and it didnt cost as much to put up as a house.
I think its a good compromise.
Don
It is not tight at all. Its just well used space. No formal living room. No formal dining room. Open space with "work areas" rather than rooms. I've got a 15 x 30 foot living room with 40 foot sight lines. Its not tight.
I've also built myself the mother of all outbuildings, a 30 x 30 foot barn. Its where a lot of the crap that accumulates in life is stored. But the key thing is that its not taxed like a house. I dont heat it like a house and it didnt cost as much to put up as a house.
I think its a good compromise.
Don
He lost me when he brought in a water witch to dowse the best location for his well.
hes the man
