We are renovating the house to solidify our standing on the rock for another twenty years, to add a guest bedroom and deck but also to improve the systems. At the end of the day it matters not if we have new kitchen cabinets if our systems don’t work. 

To set us up for the next thirty years in the style with which we would like to live out our aged sunset years ( I am still not coping well with turning sixty) I need simple.  Simple in my world is as little propane as possible.

To forestall showing you pictures of the progress until I have a completed roof, windows and walls I am going to give a little dry boring account of what our systems will be at the end of the day. A day, I suggest might be at the end of September.

The Reno is coming along nicely.. Sure, I have no kitchen whatsoever and am washing my dishes in the bathroom sink but I always did like camping…. The metal roof isn’t on but it isn’t beyond reasonable expectation to be soon.. very soon. We have all of our walls. The glass for the windows should be here next week and rumor has it the interior doors will be ready by the 24th. Again.. I am fairly confident that we will be water tight by the end of the month and a fully functioning house in September.

So here it is.. Living Off Grid my style.  Not like a crazy person skinning squirrels on the front porch and cooking berries by the light of the moon.. but Off the Grid with every comfort of the city but no city of the city.. few people, less noise more peace.

We will have

Solar  –  8 panels 4 X 250 watts plus 4 X 285 watts giving us a total of 2140 watts. They will be on the new roof facing south/south-east (152 degrees).

Metal roof – The new roof is 26 gauge diamond rib metal. We went with the 26 gauge for its ability to withstand heavy winds..

Batteries – 8 Surrette batteries each weighing 124 pounds and carry 460 amp hours each.. They are good for about 4400 watts per day   …  The existing batteries will be reused in the bunkie.

Invertor – New inverter is a 4 kilowatt Magnum. Dual 120/240 volt. Existing invertor will be reused in the bunkie.

Wood Stove – Pacific Energy super 27 wood stove with a water coil attached to a 40 gallon bronze water tank. Over the winter E will be making a solar water heating panel to attach to the same bronze tank in the summer months.

Fridge – New fridge is 16.6 cubic foot 24 volt unique solar fridge. The freezer is 4.8 cubic feet.. It uses 850 watts per day. My trips to town will be fewer and fewer with the ability to stock more supplies.

Hot Water – Our on demand hot water system is a Bosch 520HN Turbo igniter propane system. Doesn’t require a pilot light.

Oven – Our oven remains the same as we like its size and it works just great. Propane, 24 inches wide, four burners. Electric ignition .AC not battery.. No pilot light needed. We find it just has to be big enough for an occasional turkey.. Anything larger is a waste of propane to heat it up…

Generator – We still have our 7 kilowatt diesel Kubota generator  and it will probably out live us all.

Water – We have two five hundred gallon water tanks in the garden. We have four thousand gallons of storage at the top of the property. All are fed from the well and water is distributed through the same system both to the garden and down to the house.

Propane  – We have six forty pound tanks of propane which we rotate through four at a time. With the removal of the fridge from the propane demand and the addition of the hot water tank to the wood stove our propane demand during the winter should be reduced drastically.

Boring information for many but I felt it needed to be recorded.

So, now that I am finished dealing with my Moms stuff I am finally going to be able to deal with a small health issue tomorrow. I was at the hospital yesterday for some preop tests. The technician looks at me and says “You aren’t fifty yet, are you?”  The hospital lab technician is my

new best friend