period self sufficient lifestyle duplicate post!!!!

[angrybird]

Our renovation is nearing completion apart from the lime render so i'm starting to get itchy feet!
I have seen a beautiful little cottage for sale set in almost 7 acres and have often thought of living a more self sufficient lifestyle.
The cottage has its own water supply but no electricity. I know there are ways around this but is this lifestyle a step too far ?

 

[88v8]

If you are economically self-sufficient and in good health, it could be enjoyable and satisfying.
If you have to work for a living and do the 'good life' bit in your spare time, it could be an awful slog.
My wife spends all day in the third-acre garden and tending her veggie 'field' - which is only 140 x 40ft - and she's busy out there, not sitting around.

Growing enough veg to last even a few months is quite an undertaking, and then there's meat, and eggs, and keeping the boundary hedges in order, and running the diesel generator a few hours to charge the batteries. And in the winter there's logs to cut and ashes to haul.
If it were me, I suspect the novelty would wear off.

And currently I seem to have developed a DVT which is causing me difficulties, makes one realise that health is a fragile thing.

However, for a while, if you have the money, why not. You'll never know unless you try. Be sure though that the water supply is secure and the land is suitable for growing whatever crops you want, preferably with a south backing. North slopes, for instance, do not conduce to veg.

Looking further ahead, bear in mind that you may one day wish to sell, and there are relatively few nutters who'd buy a house wi'out electric.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

I've often wondered what "a self-sufficient lifestyle" actually means.

 

[middi]

I've often wondered what "a self-sufficient lifestyle" actually means.

To be able to drive to the nearest supermarket all by yourself :wink:

Middi

 

[Zebra]

I knew a bloke who lived off grid, no electricity, no water, no gas. He had a woodburner, and a well, although he couldn't drink from it. Used to buy bottled water for drinking, and cook on top of the stove, as far as cooking went. I think he used to eat in pubs or takeaways mostly. He had a composting toilet in a separate shed, on which he used to tip ash from the fire, or sawdust. No bathroom, don't know how he bathed. No telly or anything like that, although he had a laptop and mobile internet connection, when he could charge it somewhere. Eventually he got solar panels and a light fitting or two.
It's not what you'd call self-sufficient, as he was very dependent on supermarkets and launderettes and the like, but it was off-grid, and it was rather sustainable.
But you have water, just no electricity. Do you think you could live with very little? How much electricity do you tend to use? The computer, clearly. But are you a gadgets-and-big-telly sort of person?
Perhaps with a woodburner for heat and a back-boiler on it for hot water, you could manage with solar panels only.
What is your aim in this - is it just that you fancy the cottage? Is it particularly that you want a low-carbon lifestyle? Or to live the simple life? I reckon it's do-able, anything is, but not easy.

 

[Flyfisher]

What is your aim in this -

I think that's the key question.

It's fairly easy to go 'off-grid' but it's hardly 'self-sufficient' or sustainable if you rely on supermarkets and launderettes.

Frankly, I don't believe anyone is really prepared to live an honestly self-sufficient lifestyle in the sense of not being dependent on anyone else. Still, that's fair enough and if you grow an excess of fruit and veg then it's 'self-sufficient' to barter those things for other goods that you can't actually make for yourself isn't it? Thus, when your horse (because you won't have a car will you? :wink: ) needs shoeing then it's 'self-sufficient' to call the blacksmith and have him doing the job for you in exchange for a load of spuds or, more likely, chicken or two. But what about when you want a solar panel for some electricity? Who can make such things for you and will they do it for some eggs or a leg of lamb? Not to worry . . . swap your surplus produce for an 'IOU' (let's call it 'money') and then exchange it with anyone for anything. This makes bartering far easier because you don't have to worry about finding a solar panel maker who wants eggs or chickens. Furthermore, if you have other skills than just growing things then you could offer to do stuff for other people in exchange for some more 'IOUs', which you can then exchange for other things, like computers and smartphones and internet access. But is that really 'self-sufficiency'? Well, as long as you're not dependent on people just giving you stuff for nothing, then what else is it? If you can pay your way, then you're self sufficient aren't you?

 

[Feltwell]

The parents of a friend of my father's lived on a farm outside the Norfolk village where I grew up, which despite only being about 2 miles from the village had no mains services at all apart from a telephone.

They managed fine - water was from a borehole, sewage went to a septic tank, gas came in calor gas bottles, but electricity was a problem - they had an old diesel generator that was on some kind of circuit where it could detect when current was being called for, so for example you'd flick one of the ancient, Bakelite lightswitches in the house and the generator would slowly crank into life, 10 seconds or so later the light would flicker into life.

The problem was the generator - it was always going wrong, I remember it as it was a chance to go out there with my Dad, whilst he was fixing the generator I was having great fun playing on the tractors, combine harvesters, and Lord knows what other sorts of lethal machinery!

I'm sure a modern generator setup could be made quieter and more reliable than this setup, but they coped with it admirably.

There was someone on here *ages* ago who was posting who lived completely off-grid. Hang on a mo, just found them......

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1108&p=24420&hilit=off+grid#p24420

 

[skier-hughes]

Wonder what happened to Jane?
I did my lime course with her husband and visited their lovely house and family.
The turbine was quite big for a house, they sat at the top of a windy hill, magnificent views. There was a massive battery store.

 

[Flyfisher]

I seem to remember some discussion about how she was able to claim FIT payments for the excess electricity they generated, even though they were not actually connected to the grid. Something about a loophole whereby the electricity companies account for 'green' energy generation in a single pot and have to show a certain percentage of green generation.

Found it here, at the end of the topic . . . .
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7266&p=78141