21–30 of 61 posts
>But that meant a fairly severe (but simple) change in behavior, like shutting off the water while lathering up in the shower or brushing teeth.
I am legitimately surprised that people leave water running during the 2+ minutes when brushing their teeth.
For the home I see I need to double my p.v. to 10kWp JUST to achieve a bit more than 50% self-consumption of the year, from 72% maximum in spring/summer to 35% of November-February. WFH to recharge A BIT from p.v. my EV with a realistic relative autonomy I need around 10kWp three phase, not single phase. Witch means three time the plant and it's costs, space etc. Still NOT reaching autonomy.
Not counting the usable life of LiFeP storage and NMC cars...
With my actual setup I can POTENTIALLY halving by home storage operation life be autonomous just from late May to September being VERY attentive in all I do, without counting the car. With a theoretical 10kWp x 3 I might be reasonably autonomous also for car (limiting my trips much) just from June to August. Actually my time-machine is offline and my body live 365 days per year, regardless of the season and actual hours of Sunlight or heating/cooling needs... Oh, and I also need to eat, being unable to create my own food out of my land (except for VERY limited amount of veggies, fish and meat casually hunted in a limited period of the year)... Oh, and of course I need many gears, starting from p.v. who is built by factories unable to run on p.v. themselves.............
Interesting what "off the grid" means today. - full internet access - a pletora of internet capable devices Not exactly my definition. Plus, spending 600€ + 125€ a month for internet isn't exactly something everyone can afford.
Off grid simply means no grid connection. These days that indeed can mean very few compromises with respect to modern comforts like working internet, hot showers, heating, electricity, etc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Off grid simply means no grid connection. These days that indeed can mean very few compromises with respect to modern comforts like working internet, hot showers, heating, electricity, etc.
Some people would disagree with your definition of "grid" that doesn't include internet. I can imagine different people defining "grid" in one of three ways: 1. Physical infrastructure that runs uninterrupted all the way to your home. E.G. Electric grid, gas pipes, copper/fiber telecom wires. 2. The above plus big wireless infrastructure as well, so being on range of a cellphone tower would be on-grid. 3. The whole n…
By definition 3, I suppose off-grid would mean there’s no roads to your house and you’d have to pack everything in, but that level of off-grid would mean that almost everything described as off-grid isn’t and the term is no longer useful.
> The cabins are handmade by Treesign, a local builder of tiny homes. Each house had to be hauled into position by a truck along several miles of dirt roads. This isn't sustainable living, it's a niche luxury product.
So there are potentially a lot more pros than cons.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Off grid simply means no grid connection. These days that indeed can mean very few compromises with respect to modern comforts like working internet, hot showers, heating, electricity, etc.
Off grid is typically defined based on things that help you survive. Water, electricity, and gas help you survive. Internet doesn't.
Not making this up by the way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-grid
I get that a lot of people would love it to mean living like hermit in some hut in the middle of nowhere without a lot of comfort. That's a choice you can make of course and more power too you if you do. But for most of the rest of us, being off grid and having working internet are no longer mutually exclusive.
> The cabins are handmade by Treesign, a local builder of tiny homes. Each house had to be hauled into position by a truck along several miles of dirt roads. This isn't sustainable living, it's a niche luxury product.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The ultimate sustainable living is a commie-block in a reasonable small, walkable city with a good public transport and services mixed with residential areas. If you do that - it doesn't matter what the source of heating, energy etc. is, and what kind of a car (if any) you drive. Even if it's all coal and fossil-fuel powered - you are order of magnitude more sustainable than people living in suburbs with solar panels…
I guess you watch Adam Something, this line is something he repeats a lot and I agree with most of it but as someone who grew up in maisonette block housing (like this https://www.flickr.com/photos/rogersg/44549465930/in/faves-c... ), it is not nearly as nice as living in your own house (even a terraced house). You are at the mercy of your neighbours, shit neighbours, shit time. It's not a bad thing to make compromis…
As someone who has only ever lived in apartments - how is terraced house better, is it because there is no one above you (never heard of the term, but that's what i inferred from googling)?
With regards to water usage: >But that meant a fairly severe (but simple) change in behavior, like shutting off the water while lathering up in the shower or brushing teeth. I am legitimately surprised that people leave water running during the 2+ minutes when brushing their teeth.