Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Off Grid?

To Be Off Grid Or Not To Be Off Grid.

Homeless, Off Grid
That Is The Question...

Doing some GOOGLE searches on off grid living have turned up some interesting results. This guy in Denver is said to be living off grid, yet he's living virtually homeless in a warehouse. He's a dumpster diver, storing his dives in a refrigerator. And he's off grid?

Why is it so difficult to understand?

If you're plugged in, you're not off grid. Somebody is paying his electric bill for his refrigerator and I wouldn't be suprized if he's running an extension cord to power some other goodies. I would.

I was show electrician for a carnival out of Salisbury, Massachusetts. One season I arrived a little early and ran a wire to my trailer from a nearby power pole. I was arrested for stealing power.

Why is it a guy can power his refrigerator and be written up as living off grid? He's homeless, living off the laurels of others and published as living off grid.

Some of the "off grid" articles I've seen are written by people living in their ivory towers; explaining to others what they need to live off grid. How does this make any sense? Not until you're off grid yourself, should you have anything to say about it. To truly understand what living off grid means, you must prepare as best as you can. Then as a test, go out to your electrical box and shut off the breaker labled "MAIN". Now see how long you can live without power. Perhaps for the first time, you'll flip the light switch and experience the empty feeling of living in darkness. You'll throw something in the microwave, but there's no power to conveniently heat your food. Another test of your off grid preperation would be to load up your car with everything you've prepared for in the event of a power failure. Now; head off into the hills and see how long you can live that way.

Perhaps there needs to be a more accurate definition of what "living off grid" is.

Off Grid

Technically, OFF GRID means you would NOT be connected to the electrical grid - the power companies.

Off Grid In The Wilderness

Some would define being off grid as living entirely without infrastructure of any kind. By this defintion, we're not off grid. We buy fuel; gasoline, kerosene and diesel. We cut and gather down dead wood to burn in our wood stove for heat and cooking. We buy our food from grocery stores. We fill our water tanks from a potable water source. Although I have several levels of water purification including ultra violet, I'm not fully enabled. The day will come when I pump water from a stream and purify it, but I'm not there yet. We depend upon finding wood, fuel, food and potable water.

Does that mean we're not living off grid? We rely on infrastructure. We're snow birds, we rely on highways so we can go north in summer and south in winter. Yet I'd say that we are truly off grid. If there would be an argument related to better defing the meaning of living off grid, I'd like to know it.

Living Off Grid In A Semi

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Ely, Nevada

We left Cedar City, Utah a couple days following the radiator replacement when I was sure the repair was successful. Checking for leaks, I replaced a hose clamp. Now we could leave town, traveling east on Highway 56 to Highway 93, then north to Ely, Nevada. We had business in Nevada. The truck registration would expire in September.

We aren't in a hurry. The trip to Ely, Nevada would be less than 200 miles, but there were a couple mountain passes along the way. Highway 56 to Panaca, Nevada went over the Panaca Summit where we stayed 6 days. This was on BLM land, yet we were visited by the Sheriff who checked our ID's to verify we had no warrants against us, and if my semi was stolen. He said his office had received 8 calls regarding my semi, that people just have to be in other people's business. We hiked to some of the mountain peaks to have a look around, exploring along the way, taking pictures and cut some of the down dead cedar to replenish our wood supply.

Exploring Along The Way

We went on to Panaca, Nevada where I re-filled the water tanks at the local park, then fueled at the junction of Highway 56 and 93. We headed north on Highway 93 to Pioche, Nevada, but in Pioche I couldn't find a good place to hang a while. There would be a Labor Day celebration in Pioche we would have liked to see. We'd continue north on Highway 93.

Connors Pass is another mountain pass south of Ely, Nevada where we parked for several days. We hiked to the nearby peaks, explored and cut dead White Pine for firewood. Then, down the road to a wildlife viewing area, located several miles south of Ely, Nevada on Highway 93. We stayed for several days taking in the 30 mile view of the valley.

At Ely, Nevada, I expected to get internet. Before I leave an area, I check the Sprint Coverage Map to determine where I can get internet service. I should have gotten internet in many areas along the way, yet we hadn't gotten internet since we left Cedar City, Utah. I can see the cell towers. No internet. The next couple days I'd determine the reason why. I plugged my Franklin Tri-Mode USB into Jewel's computer and ran some diagnostics. Internet was available on her PC. After some time, I discovered Roam Guard was blocking our access. I turned Roam Guard off, plugged the Tri-Mode USB into my Cradlepoint MBR95 router and now we have internet to all our devices via WiFi.

Today, when I came out of the truck stop with a can of beer, Jewel was running toward me. A water pipe had exploded. She shut off the water pump and came out of the trailer to the truck stop where she met me. I chased into the trailer and saw the SharkBite nylon water pipe had blown near the wood stove. Water was running from the blown pipe from the bottom of the water heater. I shut off the valve at the bottom of the water heater.

Nevada Northern Railway Ely, Nevada

Today, we visited the Renaissance Village in Ely, Nevada. These replicas resemble the houses of 100 years past. I got the idea of heating our water from these early water heating systems.

This is a semi, an 18 wheeler. I built the trailer to be livable a couple years ago, yet there are some imperfections. A nylon pipe a little too close to the stove blew open. I have many of the needed parts and supplies for such a disaster. In in an hour the problem was fixed.

Besides the wood stove, I have a Brunton AF. Jewel has posted a couple pictures, from her blog, one of me lighting the stove and another brewing coffee. I've had this stove a couple years and use it when I need a very hot stove. I'm pictured lighting it with a propane torch because the torch gets the stove to operating temperature much quicker. The wick used in the lighting process has long since burned out. I've cleaned the jet many times and it's probably gotten larger. When I'm lighting this stove with a propane torch it is easy to turn the fuel up too fast, causing it to squirt raw fuel up into the air with flames several feet high. Although this is an all fuel stove, I'd recommend kerosene. Gasoline works well also, but tends to dissolve the pump. I've siphoned diesel from my main tanks in a pinch and mixing with kerosene works well however straight truck diesel clogs the jet. I've never used propane with this stove because propane defeats the purpose of getting the most bang for the buck. We have a propane stove as well, but cooking your food with propane is more expensive. Perhaps one day I'll get the fittings so we can use a 2 gallon propane tank rather than the cylinders. The cylinders frost and burn one burner perhaps a half hour. The cylinders cost $5 for two, and I buy 5 gallons of kerosene about twice a year.