22. living off-grid

Back when we started dreaming in MN about our future lives in MT, we were really excited to pursue off-grid living. We wanted to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, to be more mindful of our energy expenditure, to be first-hand stewards of our environment, and to save a little money on our monthly expenses. One of the draws of our current house was that it seemed to be set up perfectly for just that! Solar powered electricity, water from the (very deep) well on the property, and a wood stove for heat. Perfect!

It was only after we moved in that we realized how naive we had been.

Not that we regret it, mind you, but there has definitely been a HUGE learning curve. And a realization that no one (the previous owners, the inspectors, our realtor, or the neighbors) pointed out the incredible blinders that we had on as we imagined this idyllic life for ourselves. For example:

1. There is no lumberyard nearby. So wood for our fireplace involves driving about an hour each way to fill up the back of the pickup with scraps. The wood is cheap (less than $25 for the full truck bed), but when you add on the time and the cost of fuel there/back, it adds up. And since we didn't want to risk running out (see previous post for fear of what the winter will be like up here), Husband ended up getting seven full loads. A pretty big up-front cost in order to have "no" heat bill for the winter.

Two loads. (And building a wood shed is definitely on our to-do list.)

2. The solar power doesn't work so well on cloudy days. I mean, we always knew we'd have to run the generator a bit, but no one told us just how much we'd have to run the generator. We didn't run it hardly at all for the first month we were here (August/September), but after that we started getting cloudy days and we also realized that the panels, although placed high enough above our Quonset directly to the south of them, are situated just between two hills - which effectively block both the early morning light and also the afternoon/evening light. Not a big deal in summer, but definitely an issue as the days get shorter. So recently the neighbors told us that the old owners used to run their generator for SIX HOURS PER DAY in the winter!! Quite different from the "oh, we just use it for back-up on cloudy days" story that they told us. We're already looking into whether we can cost-effectively move the panels to a better location on our property...

Husband built a shed for the new (stronger, more fuel-efficient) generator we invested in. 

3. We absolutely LOVE having visitors, but it was quite a shock to see our energy consumption change each time we've had house guests. Even in just the few months that we've lived here, we've already gotten MUCH better about turning off lights when we leave a room, using task lighting instead of whole-room lighting, not keeping electronics plugged in overnight, etc.  A huge apology to my parents (and my inlaws) for every time I've left all the lights on in the house!!


Well, we wanted an adventure when we moved, and we have definitely been getting that! It's just been so challenging in completely unexpected ways. Pretty soon we'll be true pros as this off-grid living stuff, but in the mean we are definitely soaking up the knowledge as our blinders are ripped from our naive little eyes. :)