Off the grid living

[nacho]

Love this shit...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/for-sale-atlas-missile-base.php

I've always wanted to live on a missile base.  There was one up in NY that was a 20 acre wooded lot or something along those lines.

Actually, I just want to live on a remote lot in the woods.

[monkey!]

In the woods nobody can hear the children scream.

[RottingCorpse]

It doesn't give an asking price.

[nacho]

It doesn't give an asking price.

Some are cheap.

http://www.missilebases.com/properties

If you (and others) are interested in forming a "Greatsociety Trust" and buying one of these as a getaway property, let me know... Because I've been thinking about doing that for a decade.

They aren't livable unless you throw another coule hundred grand at them, but...that's the price of a normal house in DC.  And, even if unimproved, it'll still be 20 acres of rural wasteland that you can park a camper on, or just treat as your own camping preserve.

[nacho]

I'm serious, by the way.  Here:

http://www.missilebases.com/gardner

It needs lots of work, but it's cheap to buy and it has water.  Refurbish the above ground buildings, and maybe add a few.  Clean up the well, add wind power... Just kind of spend a lifetime working on it.  In the meantime, it's 16 private acres. 

This one is well beyond our financial means to retrofit the underground structure:

http://www.missilebases.com/valleyfallskansas

However, it's 46 fenced in wooded acres.  The ground water's bad:
http://kensas.kdhe.state.ks.us/pls/certop/IopX?id=C404403027

But it is on city water.

[RottingCorpse]

I guess water would be a bit of an issue.

Mrs. RC have the dream of getting a place and taking it completely off the grid. In WV there's natural gas everywhere. Get a few solar panels, a greenhouse, and a high end well . . . and Oh, the worlds ending? I'll sit here an watch it burn.

[nacho]

Yeah, living off the grid is very much my dream.  And, if you're willing to work at it, it's not that wild a thing to do. 

Watch Les Stroud's "Off the Grid" (It's on Youtube in parts -- part one is at:

And the first season of It's Not Easy Being Green (hard to find): http://www.newhousefarm.tv/

Stroud spends some big money on his project, largely because he bought a rundown property and had to rebuild everything.  It's Not Easy Being Green is a bit more financially reasonable.

In the end, the big money comes with the power converters.  As the two shows above detail, the windmills (and even a hydrowheel turbine) can all be made from junk. 

[nacho]

I split this into a new thread, because I'd like to talk more about it.  It is a sort of back-burner passion for me.  I'd play at being off the grid when living with the grandparents, and have always craved that sort of freedom.  Perhaps not as rough and tumble as a few of the links in this thread would demand, but I do think there'd be greater happiness in stepping away from the urban/suburban insanity of DC.

[RottingCorpse]

One of the Women's Studies actors took us to her parents' place right outside Gaithersburg that was off the grid. They had HUGE solar panels that powered everything. No gas, but plenty of well water. It all seemed pretty pricey, though you make up some savings in the fact that you're not paying for utilities. Lots of upkeep though. Cleaning a septic tank doesn't seem like a picnic.

Mrs. RC's parents have 33 acres in WV that we'll ultimately inherit. Other than electric, it's pretty much already off the grid. Of course there'll be a huge learning curve with me having to deal with gas lines, and well digging.

Still, it'll be worth it.

[nacho]

It would be pricey in Gaithersburg!  The only affordable way to do it is to go deep rural.  Get some cheap land.  And you'll be off the gas, for sure.  Your 33 acres, of course, is ideal.

Watch the Les Stroud special.  It's 10 parts, I think.  About two hours.  Lots of eye-opening things about the difficulties and prices, even though he has the advantage of being outdoorsey and having a nice nest egg set up for the project. 

I think it's the Stroud special where he goes through hell digging for a well.  He even resorts to a dowser. 

[Poppy Propercock]

They aren't livable unless you throw another coule hundred grand at them, but...that's the price of a normal house in DC.  And, even if unimproved, it'll still be 20 acres of rural wasteland that you can park a camper on, or just treat as your own camping preserve.

Make sure the lot has plenty of timber for our motte-and-bailey! 

[nacho]

But, of course.  And complicated earthworks.  And we'll need to employ several foresters and a small militia infantry.  These we can levy from the village, which we'll also establish.

[RottingCorpse]

Now Mrs. RC is pointing me toward cabins in Asheville, NC.

http://www.mountaindream.com/result.php?table=mountain_cabins

[nacho]

Big film-maker's delight down there.  That's where all of my high school neo-hippies ended up.

I once stayed in a cabin about 1 mile outside of Asheville and was hassled by cops when I tried to buy beer at 9pm.

[nacho]

Been rewatching Stroud today.  What a great special.

But, yes, the using junk to make turbines is It's Not Easy Being Green.  They bought property that had a stream on it, so they used the ruins of a 12th century mill to put in a water wheel that turned an old engine dug up from a trash heap and actually give them (a family of four plus a couple of semi-permanent interns/hanger's on) more power than they needed.  Then they put up two junk-made windmills and turned a (very modest) profit giving back to the grid.