How much effort does it take to go off grid (part 1)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2017
- How much effort and money does it take to go off the grid in Australia? Well in this video Steve from www.offthegridinoz.com will tell you what it has cost us and at the same time shows you around the homesite to explain what we have achieved in just six months.
The video was cut short because the battery ran out lol. A follow up will be made.
Please feel free to share and subscribe and visit our website for more information on our ideas of going off the grid in the Central Highlands, Victoria, Australia.
Please feel free to subscribe and share.
Our website:- www.offthegridinoz.com
Mate this is a great set up! Thanks for the tips and hilarious advice.
Luv it mate. I'm looking in to minimising,, property is too large. And I can't afford it. Drought, and lack of work. I have been wanting to do this for a while. I'm a simple Aussie bloke. I don't want much.
Thanks for sharing brother. 👍💚🇦🇺
this is fantastic intel mate. I'm about to commence downsizing house and up-sizing land for self sufficiency and work life balance. Very much enjoying this series.
Love the no-nonsense Aussie talking.. Like your video...
Maria Trayter 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂love your comments 😘😘😘
Great job mate...Trace and I are planning on going off grid in our retirement in a few yrs.....your vids are our template and inspiration......well done...
Absolutely bloody brilliant! Spot on. Put the effort in, do your own research, get, or already have, the required skills and you too can have the offgrid lifestyle.
I am getting rid of mains electricity this year. I am not wealthy by any means but if I can do it, anyone can.
All you need is effort and self responsibility and the world is your oyster. If one was taught those two important traits as a child then one is home and hosed.
Great work mate. All the best with your wicked little village you've got going on :)
Mate love what you've done! Awesome video 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾
Finally found a site made by like minded people love it mate. You get nothing for nothing and I get what you are saying and your only a couple of years older than me. You have to make your own luck thats for sure cheers mate
I'm central Vic as well. LOVE your place. Awesome effort!
Thanks :- ) you could visit ?
Good advise and very down to earth
Brillantly said mate
Great job! That's a lot of work I fully agree, you're a machine!
Awesome setup
Thanks for sharing! Very down to earth mate
thanks mate ........ Cheers Henry :- )
Some good advice & a great set up there! Love the out door kitchen. Though we live in a small country town (built a new home 15 years ago) we'd love to find a scrub block & short term just have it as a weekender with maybe plans to go "off grid" but finding a block not too far away is almost impossible these days especially for a reasonable price. I'm pretty handy being an ex chippie, mechanic & metal fabricator so I can build & fix virtually anything, it's the $$ just for the land being the sticking point (still paying off a previous business) but one can dream. Well done, I'm glad I tripped across your video! 👍
Rod NEVER give up...we thought it impossible as well, just purchased 3 acres in Mannum, South Australia (cost us $79,000 settled in May) it's going to be a LOT of work but worth it. We are not handymen at all but willing to learn we have to be solar + battery back up as otherwise it will be $75,000 to hook up to "normal" electricity, 100% rainwater (but also have tons of river water allocated per year, more than we will ever use) & septic system. Will be retiring (well thats the dream that's spurring us on) in 10 years & want to be debt free when we do....but oh my lord a LOT to learn, a LOT to do.....CAN 'T WAIT
@@patriciacox3963 I'd like to "think" we may still be able to do something but we are not getting any younger & the debt from the business & the home is what's is holding us back (I'd be happy to be paying off a block & the house at the moment but we simply can't move until I've got rid of the costs of business venture) We're in the upper South East of S.A. & I am surprised you got land at Mannum for that. Well done! We are looking for a Sizable bush block, preferably away from everyone so acreage would be our preference. We would be happy to be away from conveniences & though we love the bush, we have to rule out looking at anything with heritage title as you are very restricted in what you can do (which is not much) I'll just keep dreaming, thank you for the Encouragement 👍
@@LimestoneCoastCustoms I know what you mean about Heritage, saw a property at Callington with an old stone cottage approx 1 acre overlooking the river (OMG beautiful) BUT yeah was heritage so NO.... we are 1km outside of town, so close enough but far enough away our surrounding neighbours are on 3 acres plus each & we only have 3 trees on the property (it was originally used for grazing land) which is quite undulating in parts. We too have a modest mortgage $220,000 in "suburbia" our 2 daughters still live at home (22 with grandchild & 20) hubby works his arse off 5.5 days a week 12hr days, we both earth around the same $50,000 we only have his work van finance & are VERY frugal with our money but we just seem to be going nowhere, if we could only get the kids out of the house costs would drop dramatically....so I know exactly how you feel we had been quietly looking for 2yrs & just by some miracle they accepted the offer we scrimped & saved to make happen. GOOD LUCK with absoluety everything I wish we could move up there earlier Id be willing to live out of a tent honestly but Mid Murray Council are a pain in the rear to deal with. Wishing you all the best with everything, sorry about the rant.
I love your place, the personal design makes it a real home and not a average house.
Thanks mate. We love it too. :) cheers Kerri and Steve.
Love you're work m8🤙
Lovely property , hubby and i thinking to go solar and off grid, it worries us a bit, we always been hooked on the grid, so it is a bit overwhelming. No miracles, down our small block, our house is still building....all colorbond inside out....a true tin house. and yes, we also in our 60 and dreaming of living behind the city when we retire...all look lovely, take care
Thanks for the kind words. It may feel daunting if you have never tried it before, but it is still doable if you think things through. Your house sounds interesting by the way :) Love the idea of colorbond inside and out :)
Awesome video mate cheers
This is Awesome brother, thanks for the info and fucking well done bud :)
Like your thinking.... 👍
Cheers Steve
What I don't understand is the approval process for building your own structures and also for setting up electrical and plumbing systems etc and yes, I have tried to look into it.
Came back to the ridge (Lightning Ridge ) bout 5 yrs ago not rocket science learnt as I went $8 grand becomes a system that runs off grid am building an earth packet extension tires free from the local tip as you said its about how much sweat you are prepared too put in
Nice work.
would not to have to skip through in order to get to the nuts and bolts of living off grid! cool!
Good job mate!
Hey Stevo; we miss you ! How about a rainwater harvesting video, or a Summer update video ? A big HI to Kerry too.
Yer , we have been a bit distracted of late , sorry about that , but we will be back soon and with a bit of new news about us too :- )
cheers Steve and Kerri :- )
The whole set up looks fantastic. Amazing job. Well done- one query- EPS panels for construction - isn't this extremely flammable for what looks to be a bushfire prone area?
Thanks :- )
EPS is steel lined both sides . No foam is exposed and it has a very good fire rating for that reason ... If you stop and think about a normal home , even with fire rated exteriors , if they catch anywhere in side or where ever , the entire rest of any home goes up like a bomb anyway ...
I could not set this house on fire if I tried ... Steel just wont catch fire and every inch or the exterior is steel without any gaps ..
:- )
Planning to go off grid too! Wru loc? Planning to settle in st mrys
Did the council expect you to make a road going to your property? I've been thinking of buying this property that is off grid but the local council won't approve any building permit until there is a council approved gravel road going about 800m away from the entrance to the property. Got no idea what the cost might be.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. Did you use an EPS kit home, or how did you work the design/engineering?
Giday Ansel ... no she is no kit home. The story behind how we got to get to understand this material EPS is a long one that hey , I am not going to write a book about here now lolol but the short story is that this stuff has great span capabilities as well as many other advantages ... If you are building with full permits ect , you will need the ye old engineer and draft person to get up the pretty pics and specs :- ) I have been building for 35 years or so , so to answer your question , I worked it all out myself ... cheers Steve
G'day Steve. Thanks for the fast reply. I appreciate it. I've subscribed to your channel. You've sold me on the EPS :-)
whats solar cost
The only thing I would worry about is keeping cool enough on those summer days. My partner has a million issues and they're impossible to predict.
hi boffin schist... we have evaporative cooling ruclips.net/video/ewiQwyNTlCY/видео.html :)
Try cob! In the summer it stays cool
I like your fire pit - but are there any issues having roofing over it? Also, when you talk about the months it took to build the house, are you talking about full time, daily work - or chipping away after the 9-5 job? Sweet set up.
Giday Frankie ... As I mention in the one of the video's the roof is ventilated through lattice in the apex of each section , so no , once the fire is running hot the little smoke created is just about un noticeable.. As far as the build time goes , yes we spent 6 months full time 12 hours a day 7 days a week to build the self contained Tiny house / cabin to live in , while we built the 15 meter long shed , outdoor kitchen and the main house , along with getting the raised bed gardens started... all in approx 6 months .. We are still adding to things now , but the bulk was done in that time frame ... cheers Steve
Off the grid in oz. Jesus that's a lot of work. Cheers for replying. I'll be following along :)
I would love a tiny home on solar power... What would it cost to get someone to build a tiny place as shown. ?... Well done
You are right, we even dont have a TV, just use NBN, you are a qualified plumber, why dont you D
IY solar hot water? or was too much trouble to do it?
Nope, not at all , may get around to doing it in the near future , but for the moment the instantaneous HWS are fine and cost jack chit to run ....and also run through winter without the sun :- ) I also have a wood chip heater hws ready to hook up when and if needed ...
Love it!! In America you can be fined and lose your land if the electric company runs a line to your neighbors and you don't hook up!!
JEEZ here in Oz they wanted to charge us $75,000 just to hook up to "normal" electricity then of course the on going bills... i don't think so
Insane so you have no choice either way, I wonder if anyone has contested that & won…
Hi mate, would 10kw be enough for 1-5 people living in a house off grid, I use a lot of equipment all to get her each day I use around 3-5000watts on tools?
Would that be 10 KW of panels ? and what you can pull out might depend on when you are using it ? At night it will depend on not only your inverter size , but the size of your battery bank ?
Having said that , if your inverter is big enough to handle 10KW of pannels , then you should have no issues in sunny day light weather ... cheers Steve
if you run lights at 12v how about appliances, fridge tv washing machine coud those run n 12v ? or 240v?
Well yes you could run near everything on ow voltage these days ... but we have both 240 V and 12 V ... this vid tells better about what we do ...
ruclips.net/video/QAfirxllMl0/видео.html
How much did council/ Gov mess with you and pick your pocket in fees?
do you's run your washing machine on your solar system?. how often a week?
Yep , a rather std top mid sized loader and yes , we can run it at near any time during the daylight hours when the solar is being charged ...
At night time we do not use it , just to keep the load off the batteries ... but we could use it at night if we had too :- ) cheers Steve
Awesome work mate. Did you have any trouble with building permits or council restrictions? I ask because we are also in Victoria and seriously considering making a move out of suburban rat race. Cheers
Sorry but I never answer that question clearly on a public forum mate ... but to say the least , the way I work is not a path easily traveled as far as most shires go in Vic ... If you are looking for fuss free , no issues and no potential dramas .... go the normal orthodox way that most everyone does and pay the full price that the system extracts from those compliant people that work within the rules completely ... cheers Steve :- )
My question is ''what about council? Does everything have to go through council still regardless if you are off-grid?''
Yep ... depending on how far you go in country , but generally , if you ask any shire , they will want to go through the whole nine yards with you ... Having said that , many just do not bother to and run the risk of trouble if ? they are caught ... Off Being Grid makes no difference ...
cheers Steve
Hey buddy did u get plant permission for any builds mainly the kitchen so wanna copy but don’t wanna get permits and pay really
Free standing pergolas and out door open kitchens , if you build them yourself and they do not cost over the shires min free standing non habitable building value ? and that you could ask about anonymously :- ) do not require permits ... and that son is all I can say :- )
Cool mate, but why dark grey that attracts the heat, and where isthedouble glazing,certinally cuts xown on solar requirements, speaking from experience experience here. But good on y'all!
The grey is to blend with the bush and the main house has double glazing to most windows , not because it is needed but because the windows we found were already double glazed ... NONE of our windows get jack chit direct sun and because the house is built from EPS , it holds the cool and holds the heat very well ... it is easy to heat and cool , so double glazing everything would have done next to nothing and cost a ton ...
cheers Steve
had a good laugh at the ending..sorry city slickers lol
only one question,,, Council legal requirements on off grid in vic
They vary from shire to shire ... but as far as just being not connected to the grid goes there are no laws against it as such .. but, as with any building , the rule is that it should comply to building code .... on or off grid...
Do you have problems with SNAKES alive creatures in your Outdoor Kitchen? Love what has been done in the time you had done... Reminds me of my Parents doing OUR childhood home in Blacktown Sydney in the early 1960/s doing all a bit at a time without going to banks and built their home in 4 years while living in a small garage...
We have NEVER seen snakes in our outdoor kitchen. We have had the occasional mouse, lol. Thanks for your kind words. And isn't it lovely to get your memories stirred up :) cheers Kerri
Hello Kerri...Thank you for the reply...glad to hear of the No Snake seen around your place...Must be due to the doggie...occasional mouse is alright I think...Your way of building, indeed made me recall my Parents building their Home in Sydney's outer suburb of mentioned town... This being done in early 1960/s ...We were New Australians and had to save and put money aside for each and every building material...Also, I and sister used to clear Old bricks from the mortar on it after school times with our Mum... It was fun for the two of us...They never had to owe money to the Bank... Most new Aussie/s built summer kitchens and used it abundantly and in winter to cook food/tucker that had strong odours like cabbage rolls and bean soups...Oh, and you are right...Not many younger blokes would do what you are doing now days to have a home built nice and steady like...Hope you will enjoy the life more each day...From GriffithNSW, am with regards...Cheers...
If you have a cat in the house you will have less problem with snakes..
@@DANIEL-ls5ku I have 3 dogs & 3 cats & live in suburbia (atm) but still one of my dogs got bit by a snake in our backyard & survived for a couple of days but unfortunately complications arose from the antivenin...well let's just say it can happen anywhere
I got some of those mcg ants nest
Even that little house would have required a building permit. Was that an issue?
Enough :- ) no more chit ... from either of us ok :- )
I just found your channel. I'm 50 ex mechanic and divorced, lost the house etc, I have to rent but I really want to off grid live.
Any suggestions?
Jason , mate , that is a hard one to give any specific advice on and I do understand where you are atm from my own experience .... I could write a small book on what I think you could do , but perhaps ? a phone call if you are serious about advice might be better ... feel free to give me a call mate .... 0418836651 and don't stress about me putting my mobile number up here :- ) as it is scattered all over our network anyway lololol Just a thought ,as well if you have not as yet ? ... you might want to join our Facebook groups ? and ask this question ? facebook.com/groups/1271098689651173 cheers Steve
Hey as a 27 year old you wont kill me that easy LOL.I think one of the good things about off grid is burning the cheque book and getting stuck in. To many people in city or suburbia are to set in there ways. I.E oh this has broken call a plumber oh the doors denigrated, then go down the hardware store and buy a door and diy that's do it yourself not: Dangerously Incompitent Youth LOL .
where u live in Vic. does it get cold in winter??? thinking of the outdoor kitchen in winter
Hi Graeme ..Central Highlands vic ... and yep . it gets down into the minus -1 in winter here .. We still use our out door kitchen all year though
for many reasons ... That why I set this latest one up with everything
that we could afford packed into it ... As they say , build it and
they will come :- ) If you fit a kitchen out with gear to use it for
many different things , you are encouraged to just put a jacket on when
its cold and light the fire pit to cheer it up when its cold and gloomy
... cheers Steve
I eventually want to go off grid and the open kitchen is what I was thinking also
have the kitchen in between 2 40ft shipping containers
1 a bedroom/walk-in wardrobe
other lounge room office
with an open bathroom also
also helps I like the cold hahaha
Gee , I missed your comment Graeme .... sorry about that ... the cold ? where are you mate ? sounds like you have a good solid plan though :- ) cheers Steve
Central High Lands ... Vic 20 min on the north side of Maryborough
You are very right. We are offgrid and its alot of work with less money.
You made it a lot of work!
takes lots of energy. (i mean inner body and mind energy, not electricity.)
I'm not a big fan of EPS. Interlocking Compressed Earth Bricks have better thermal mass, easy to build and low cost.
No would argue about mud or compressed earth bricks being good or low cost , but I am sure as hell going to go with easy to build with ... ?
After you make them then lay them then seal them ... I think the word easy might be a little understated :- ) and yes , I have quite a bit of experience with these types of buildings in mud or rammed earth ...
They require and incredible amount of effort and time , they also need quite a bit of attention after laying too ... but having said that , anyone with the time and a few skills I am sure would love them .
... and btw , just to clarify , my point in the vid was not to say EPS was the best , but show it for what it is , very low cost , quick to build and easy to assemble with great insulating qualities built in ... cheers Steve :- )
I think a 1kw solar is enough I recommend you set up a amazon shopping list with a 1kw complete system in it then when people as you that you can sent them the link and go there you go.
Don't order from amazon, that man has way too much money already & he doesn't pay his fair share of taxes but his workers pay their taxes, in unfair working conditions.
@@charzemc no don't buy from amazon but the list gives you / people a idea what you need and if they want to get it from somewhere else they can msg you.
Effort or F-it?
Where's part 2 steve?
part 2 ruclips.net/video/I85xpMqxJr0/видео.html
part 3 ruclips.net/video/t-1NYUc5EmA/видео.html
part 4 ruclips.net/video/WCNP9YKAj2E/видео.html
cheers
Just buried in the list son :- )
pt 2 ruclips.net/video/I85xpMqxJr0/видео.html
pt 3 ruclips.net/video/t-1NYUc5EmA/видео.html
gas bottle'?
And yer ... what about gas bottle ?
ha... what do you use it for, that was my question. thanks
@@MrEavon Sorry , did not think it was a question , more like questioning the use :- ) my bad .... I run LPG for H/Water and one cook top , mostly through summer here when its to dam warm to use the wood fired appliances ....