VENTURING OFF THE GRID-Innovative families save money,gain power with solar,propane,other energy sou

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 2/21/6 | Daniel King

[SmithL]

Arcata, Humboldt County -- Just past noon on a hazy, raw Sunday a few weeks ago, Linda Parkinson did what few homeowners in this storm-battered region could: She turned on the television.

While most Humboldt County residents were reeling from power outages left by devastating rains, Parkinson had electricity to spare. She cooked a feast for a dozen people, took hot showers and threw video-game parties for her 15-year-old son's classmates.

For 24 years, Parkinson, 49, has lived completely off the electric grid, drawing energy exclusively from solar, propane and other renewable on-site power sources.

She isn't alone. Some 180,000 American homeowners live off-grid, according to Richard Perez, publisher of Home Power magazine. Approximately a quarter live in California, and each year the national number grows 33 percent, according to the publisher's database of known off-gridders and estimates of those unreported.

"California is the hotbed of off-grid systems," he said.

Parkinson maintains that the movement is no longer a hippie fad; it's increasingly mainstream and propelled by Americans' desire to eliminate electric bills, keep homes juiced during blackouts, minimize U.S. dependence on fossil fuel and, for activists, send a gesture of defiance to the power companies.

"It's about self-sufficiency," she said, relaxing on the couch in her secluded home. "Living off the grid doesn't mean being disconnected. If anything, I've had an advantage. The power goes out a lot around here," and she still manages to crank household appliances.

In the wireless era, Parkinson said, technology both frees us up and plugs us in, and the off-grid choice is not a retreat from technology but an application of it.

[mugs99]

I lived off the grid for ten years. I like the grid. I can still produce my own power in emergencies, but the grid requires no labor or maintenance expense on my part.

[wouldntbprudent]

Is your furnace in your house or, as I've seen on the internet, in an outdoor furnace house? How is the heat circulated through your home?

[wouldntbprudent]

I used my gas fireplace once and just about used up my kids' college fund in the process.

So how about some variation on the kachelofen?

http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/kachelofen.htm

[wouldntbprudent]

That's what I was thinking---it would be nice to be on the grid but only have to use it when I wanted to.

[mugs99]

it would be nice to be on the grid but only have to use it when I wanted to.

There are times, when the weather is nice, that you can save money generating your own power. And it's a big plus just knowing that you can live in comfort without the grid.

Building your own system isn't difficult. Water is the best way to go if you have a source with enough fall. I have a stream running through my property but not enough fall to use a water wheel. If I could use a wheel, I'd still be off grid.

I'm building a small steam engine to run my 5KW alternator. My main generator runs on gas or propane but costs more than the grid. I have a lot of tree trimmings to get rid of and using them to generate power appeals to my cheap side.
.

[true_blue_texican]

More OT

What part of the country you in?

How well does the corn work out?

[tcostell]

We're outside New york City on the Jersey shore. (My work requires that I be in NYC otherwise we'd be down your way) The corn is great because it's always available. Other than that we'd rather have pellets. The corn costs about the same but leaves a little more ash so it's harder to clean. It also comes in 100 pound bags and the 40 pounders of pellets are just easier.

Apart from that though it's great. and if we have any left over, it's going to fatten up the deer that live in the woods behind our house, which we will then get back in protein next bow season.

Everything goes into the pot.

[tcostell]

We had a gas fireplace which we swore we would never use so we got a fireplace insert. Our first floor is basically one large room so it's perfect for heating it, and the bedrooms are right above it so at night it's plenty warm.