Fib new Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Hi all, Took us a little while, but we found a nice house in the Scottish Borders. Nice old cottage -but renovated about 8 years ago. There are however a few challenges... House is off grid - no water, no electrics and so on. It can be heated by a central heating system on gas, but we will concert this to solid fuel central heating. Water supply is no problem either -there's a spring near the house and we will install a particle and UV filtration system. Only thing that I'm still struggling with is the power supply. At the moment all power needed is generated by a diesel/electric generator and deep cycle batteries. There is a hydro/electric generator, but this realy doesn't supply enough to make things work. Anyone on here who lives off the grid as well? Anyone any ideas how we can supply the house with power any other way than by using a diesel/electric generator? The system works fine by the way, but it would be nice not to be totally relying on only this system. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkill Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 you should join up to the forum ukpreppers lol you might need it being away from it all , do like the idea of it though , must be very peaceful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorismyhero Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 wind turbine? solar cells? both??? How much electricity do you NEED how much would you LIKE Use led lighting remember to turn off ALL wall warts SHUT down over night your internet hub and your puter....I mean properly...switch it OFF with the switch on the back you "might" be able to get away with a system that provides a total of about 2 kw per hour on average ..during the day time.....to both supply your daytime needs AND charge your battery bank.... BUT you will need a humungous battery bank to store that amount... ..think drawing from a 12v car or leisure type battery.... I Kw at 12 v is approx 83 amps... so each battery will be able to provide about an hour of power drawn at 1Kw. This is a complicated subject, and you really need to speak to someone who is "into" dealing with the potential problems of this type of system.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 I have a book entitled " off the grid" its by the centre for alternative technology C.A.T. people near Machynlleth west wales it might help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorismyhero Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 well worth a read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 SHUT down over night your internet hub and your puter....I mean properly...switch it OFF with the switch on the back Shutting down the router is a bad idea on standard ADSL. a 4G dongle would be the answer. (if you get 4G... doubtful) biogas generator? There are plenty of specific forums for this sort of stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) It's something you have to get used to. Use 12v equipment like in caravans, and use a laptop not a desktop this can be ran off a 12v adapter. Some time you will have no power other than the generator. Solar in Scotland can still work but wind and hydro might be better. Can you upgrade the hydro electric system to a better one? Can you still get poss tubs and sticks? Figgy Edited November 24, 2014 by figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onatangent Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) The American off the grid peeps are an interesting read for new technologies that aren't common place over here yet. iirc parents were looking into a miniature gas turbine affair for electricity generation and some heating from by products of generation. Was a couple of years ago since I looked at it for them so brain is foggy. Edited November 24, 2014 by onatangent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) have you got a stream.......waterwheel and dynamo small stream...make a dam...and fill for 12 hours ...generate for 12 hours Edited November 24, 2014 by ditchman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fib new Posted November 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 As said, system works ok at the moment -we don't expect it to be without problems- but I'm interested in any means or technologies that can make life eassier. We're looking into solar cells at the moment and which methods we can use to store electricity. Thanks so far! Nice to see so many replies in such a short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brazzy Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Solar cells and battery bank is the way most go. Generators as backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victorismyhero Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 one thing to beware of... I'm NOT entirely certain BUT....I think there is a legal limit to the amount of "energy storage" you can have, Certainly for a vehicle you cannot have more than (I think) 3.6KWh of battery capacity on board your vehicle in total...how this applies to HGV's may be a seperate issue...??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andypaint Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Wind and upgrade your hydro power is cheapest and most reliable way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onatangent Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 With regard to solar panels hold out for the new ones the Americans have develops that are infra red receiving flexible cells so produce energy for something like 22hrs a day. Worth a floogle search or similar. Was announced on a tech show last year now I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Hyrdo is dependant on the head of water and flow, ( I knew a guy who built the largest private hydro plant in UK/Europe, now when he wants more money he opens a big red tap...........) If you have a good head (height) and flow then you you can manage the flow to give you peak generation at peak demand, however controlling and monitoring multiple generation sources and storage efficiently without some sophisticated control gear is going to be very tricky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 (edited) With regard to solar panels hold out for the new ones the Americans have develops that are infra red receiving flexible cells so produce energy for something like 22hrs a day. Worth a floogle search or similar. Was announced on a tech show last year now I think.Just had a look online at this technology and it looks good, harvests the mid range infra red Rays the earth gives off after being heated by the sun during the day, and uses the uv rays as a normal solar panel does but through nano antennas. At this rate it won't be long before solar roof tiles are available. Figgy Edited November 25, 2014 by figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Something that I have often thought about is How much electric would one need to keep an oil/gas central heating working if the electric goes down power cuts you would need power for switches and pumps a bit off subject or is it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Something that I have often thought about is How much electric would one need to keep an oil/gas central heating working if the electric goes down power cuts you would need power for switches and pumps a bit off subject or is it. Easy read the tech spec of the boiler and pump there will be a wattage for each easy to work out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 I was looking at moving to tue borders and living in a caravan a few year back. I was going to go with 12v lighting, radio, 3 way fridge and a gas cooker off a bottle! Of course that means I would uave to go with a manual washer for clothes etc but wouldn't have worried me. For me the highest uses are Washing machine and cooker at the mo. So they are the two main changes I would need to make, hence gas cooker and manual washer. Heating would have been mainly log stove! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossberg-operator Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0966693213/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1416874391&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashman Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 I thought "off the grid" meant giving up the luxuries of modern living like tv and Internet and embracing having a a dump in a bucket and poor personal hygiene. Therefore, all this talk of what electrical gear irrelevant, as you should be limited to a wind up radio to hear about the apocalypse/alien invasion/Russian invasion or from whatever else you're running away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fib new Posted November 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 About the central heating pumps -I was wondering the same thing. Pumps don't use that much power. Am now thinking about a seperated system for heating, lighting aso. Washing machine would be used when running the generator -in fact, all appliances that use a lot of wattage will be used at the same time by plugging in to the diesel/electric generator. It's not that we were looking to go off the grid. The house has no electrics because it's just to far from the main road and it would be to expensive -to us at least- to connect it. It's not a big concern to us, we know it needs some getting used to, but it will be fine in the end. Just curious about solutions from people over here since most of them here seem to be able to think of the beaten path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashman Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Fib new, on 25 Nov 2014 - 06:43 AM, said: It's not that we were looking to go off the grid. The house has no electrics because it's just to far from the main road and it would be to expensive -to us at least- to connect it. In that case, do what the ####s do - wire up to the nearest street lamp. Hey presto, back on the National Grid - for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Because your going to solid fuel for your heating, you could always go to a gravity central heating system, it's how it used to be done without pumps and stats and any electricity at all. Figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Because your going to solid fuel for your heating, you could always go to a gravity central heating system, it's how it used to be done without pumps and stats and any electricity at all. Figgy Agreed get some cheap land and plant short rotation coppice for fuel, both for heat and cooking (via a rayburn/aga) and enhance the existing hydro electrics, no more power cuts or bills If you need logs approach the forestry commission and buy the right to scavenge on cleared areas of forest, cost about £50 a year when I last did it, you can collect as much fuel wood as you want. Edited November 25, 2014 by islandgun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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