The Three Core Necessities Living Off the Grid [View All]

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Living off the grid the 3 core necessities become quickly apparent.


1) Shelter

2) Thermal Stability (Heating|Cooling)

3) Water


An optional number 4) would be electricity, but the aforementioned three must be fulfilled first, and not in that order, but sort of all at once. Those three are critical to carbon-based life form survival and fecundity.


The 4th is nice if you want to have the internet available. :)


I say this because after living off grid for the last three months, it's these things I find myself most concerned about. Electricity is available, in limited amounts, so I've been giving a great deal of thought to alternative methods of achieving these three core necessities using little to no electricity. So make note: if you ever find yourself living off grid, remember these two simple words:


Thermal Mass.


Thermal Mass seems to be something of a well-kept secret that no one wants to talk about beyond how to waterproof your basement. Perhaps because it's cheap, strong and efficient, eh? In any case, I've been putting the concept of thermal mass into practical application, and the results have been outstanding. Using a mere 40 watts,

I should be able to keep my water and chickens cool this summer, as well as the produce from the garden. I'm accomplishing this using -- you guessed it --thermal mass.

It was exciting to see a concept perform so well in practical application, so I wanted to share.


This is a picture of the root cellar, under construction. When complete, it will be 14' long with an 11' ceiling and a 4' thick roof. The temperature should vary very little.




This water storage culvert holds about a thousand gallons. The thick walls and shade cloth keep the evaporation down, and a pump and solar aerator circulate the water to keep it fresh and cool.