Me and my brother are both engineers and we tinker with off-grid existence on our vineyard. Some things we had to implement:
- Electricity: Modern solar tech is suprisingly powerful. We have a tiny 1.6kw system with 3kw batteries plus a Chinese inverter which works amazingly. While it is small, it only cost about $2k altogether, including fittings. We installed it ourselves for the miniscule cost of risking our lives on a roof that's ~30 feet high :)).
- Water: Next problem was water. We already had a 42m deep well, we just bought new pumps and some tech which controls water flow, so when you open the taps and pressure decreases, the pump starts. Works beautifully. Overall cost is a few hundred dollars for parts + installation, which we also paid a few hundred dollars for (we don't always have time to do things ourselves).
- Heated water: once you have water you quickly realize 10C is not always pleasant to shower in. So for $150 we bought a water heater that heats water by 25+ C as it flows through. It works with a gas cannister since our small electric system is not powerful enough to heat water.
- Sewage: we currently only have a compost toilet (ie. a hole dug into ground with a shed around it). We are moments away from having a proper English toilet and a septic tank (? another hole dug into the ground, but this time connecting the toilet inside the house to the pit with pipes)
- Heating, cooking: we have massive masonry heaters and stoves all over the property. I think we heat the house in around -10 C for $3-$5 worths of wood per day.
All in all modern solar enables off grid houses at a scale we could not imagine even a decade ago imho. 10/10 would do it again.
An thoughts on incinerating toilets? They’re like $4k, but that’s cheaper than septic usually and no plumbing. Can run off LP or electricity. A big appeal is that you don’t have to worry about temperatures since they’re waterless. And you can take it with you if you move.
> Heated water: once you have water you quickly realize 10C is not always pleasant to shower in. So for $150 we bought a water heater that heats water by 25+ C as it flows through. It works with a gas cannister since our small electric system is not powerful enough to heat water.
I’ve had good success with an ~40L pot of water on the wood-stove/gas-stove (or sous vide cooler if you have the energy budget) and an immersible battery pump with shower head:
I haven't researched them because I found the price a bit ridiculous. Where I live sewage is not regulated at all so $4k sounds like an overkill. If it's mobile and durable and you like the idea, heck why not?
> I’ve had good success with an ~40L pot of water on the wood-stove/gas-stove
That's a pretty cool one. We went against wood because it's messy (it's enough hassle the heat the house with it) and a gas one is basically the water heater we have in a less compact version I guess.
> We already had a 42m deep well, we just bought new pumps and some tech which controls water flow, so when you open the taps and pressure decreases, the pump starts.
Are the pumps you use designed for that kind of use?
What I was told by my well company was that it is not good for the pump to run for a short time. One of the purposes of the well tank is to provide a buffer so that whenever the pump turns on it can run for a longer time filling the tank instead of just running for that cup of water you just filled.
Not too concerned about durability yet (way too happy with the fact of having water!), but time will tell. The previous pump we used was the same and it handled about a decade or two of abuse and sandy wells (though not in a short lived fashion as you say).
The buffer tank is a good solution but we were actually advised by professionals to go with this slightly more compact and cheaper option. I suspect you are right though.
- Electricity: Modern solar tech is suprisingly powerful. We have a tiny 1.6kw system with 3kw batteries plus a Chinese inverter which works amazingly. While it is small, it only cost about $2k altogether, including fittings. We installed it ourselves for the miniscule cost of risking our lives on a roof that's ~30 feet high :)).
- Water: Next problem was water. We already had a 42m deep well, we just bought new pumps and some tech which controls water flow, so when you open the taps and pressure decreases, the pump starts. Works beautifully. Overall cost is a few hundred dollars for parts + installation, which we also paid a few hundred dollars for (we don't always have time to do things ourselves).
- Heated water: once you have water you quickly realize 10C is not always pleasant to shower in. So for $150 we bought a water heater that heats water by 25+ C as it flows through. It works with a gas cannister since our small electric system is not powerful enough to heat water.
- Sewage: we currently only have a compost toilet (ie. a hole dug into ground with a shed around it). We are moments away from having a proper English toilet and a septic tank (? another hole dug into the ground, but this time connecting the toilet inside the house to the pit with pipes)
- Heating, cooking: we have massive masonry heaters and stoves all over the property. I think we heat the house in around -10 C for $3-$5 worths of wood per day.
All in all modern solar enables off grid houses at a scale we could not imagine even a decade ago imho. 10/10 would do it again.