Off grid utilities!

[Hogmauler]

How do y’all accomplish it? Water, electricity, etc. I’m in for the tutorial!

[Uncle_Milty]

My parents just went through all of this on some property they purchased. Slow and steady wins the race. To get water I initially get a holding tank that you bring water in with it build a system to catch rain water. You can use a pressure washer, pvc pipe and sand shark tip to jet in a shallow well. Generators are great for initial power but you won’t want to run that long term so start looking at building your own solar power supply. Lots of info to gather on doing that and I don’t have time to spell it out. Guy on here that guys by 96CavGT has several threads with boat loads of info on solar setups, definitely worth the read. Sewer is super easy, rent you a miniX and buy you 2 tanks then run field lines. Gotta go or I would give more detail

[Hills of Texas]

My cabin is small scale for weekend use but it consist of solar for led lighting and small appliances and generator for ac and large appliances. Water catchment for utility water, propane on demand water heater. It works pretty good for basically glamping in the middle of nowhere.

[Razrbk89]

I have a big spring for water. No help on electricity, but I’m also thinking about a solar set up. Although it’s pretty rare, we’re the last ones on when the power goes out.

[Voodoo]

I use lithium solar and or generator to recharge lithium.

First, you need to access your needs. Second, get rid of any ideas power is free.

[6.5 shooter]

My place is 100% off grid, and I love it.
I have about 4000 gallon water catchment system that goes thru a first flush system.
My water is pumped thru the house with a 12 volt water pump. The house also has 12 volt lights all thru it. That system is powered from a 400 watt solar system.
I also have a fridge and mini split a/c that is powered from a Honda inverter generator. Those Hondas are super quiet and economical. I will use 4 gallons of fuel during the winter months and 8 gallons during the summer on a typical weekend.
The stove, water heater, and heater run on propane.

[Trapper76]

Wd have a ranch that’s about 15 miles from the nearest electricity, so we’ve been off the grid for about 20yrs. One true game changer that we’ve come across, that was the most beneficial was a residential size propane refrigerator. Propane is very efficient and No more worrying about running out of ice or soggy food.

[rut-ro]

My place is 100% off grid, and I love it.
I have about 4000 gallon water catchment system that goes thru a first flush system.
My water is pumped thru the house with a 12 volt water pump. The house also has 12 volt lights all thru it. That system is powered from a 400 watt solar system.
I also have a fridge and mini split a/c that is powered from a Honda inverter generator. Those Hondas are super quiet and economical. I will use 4 gallons of fuel during the winter months and 8 gallons during the summer.
The stove, water heater, and heater run on propane.

Sounds awesome. How big of a place is it?

[CentralTXHunter]

At the ranch we have a solar powered water well. That’s pretty expensive, but was there when we got it, so that part was fairly easy for us. It fills a storage tank, but other than gravity pressure, we didn’t have much water pressure.

I built this:







It’s a 12 volt RV water pump in the lower box to the right. Small solar panel ran into a solar charge controller, and a deep cycle AGM battery. I mounted a switch in the box. Flip that and it turns on the RV pump and pressurizes water to the entire cabin. While we have a well, you can use the same concept with water totes.

We also run a portable tankless propane hot water heater. (These are pics of our first one. It got wrecked during the freeze last year.)





It runs off a propane tank and D batteries. No electric required. I built a cabinet for it to protect it from the elements and small exhaust stack. It does have minimum psi requirements to work, but the RV pump handles that.

For septic. We just have two 55 gallon barrels and a leach field that runs into the canyon. (All rock here so you aren’t burying anything)

We run a genny for all electric needs. I also installed some cheap solar flood lights I got off Amazon to light our skinning rack and one on each side of the cabin.








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[eastover53]

I will use 4 gallons of fuel during the winter months and 8 gallons during the summer.
.

Gallons per month?

How much usage?

[6.5 shooter]

Gallons per month?

How much usage?

Sorry, I should have added this is a typical weekend.

[6.5 shooter]

Sounds awesome. How big of a place is it?

The house is about 800 sf.