Thinking of Moving Off the Grid

[upstatemike]

I'm not really thinking of moving off of the power grid but doing my taxes has forced me to review my connectivity expenses and even a simple cost/benefit analysis shows that I ought to cut back.

I never use my cell phone so that will go right away, followed by my cable/roadrunner service and most of my phone lines. By the end of the year I want to be down to 1 POTS line and maybe DirecTV minus most of the movie channels that keep showing movies from 10 years ago or more.

I'm making a checklist of things I need to change before I make the switch; like getting rid of any software that needs to "phone home" over the Internet to operate. I would appreciate any other ideas of this type that I should add to my list of things to do before I cut the cord.

 

[Guy Lavoie]

Its the things (services) that you pay every month that kill you over the long run. Everything has become so subscription oriented that this kind of expense just seems to keep creeping up over the years. It used to be just phone, heating and power bills, but now you have extra phone lines, internet, cable/sat TV, alarm monitoring, etc. Its tough to cut back on anything we have come to enjoy but sometimes you have to sit back and look at the whole picture. I feel for you, its not easy. Maybe we need to start a "frugal living" forum for this type of thing! At least home automation has the potential for controlling energy use, which is a good starting point given the ever rising cost of electricity.

 

[Rupp]

I would quit eating before I would get rid of my Cable Modem service and HomeSeer. You can by used cars and stop eating out so much but the tecno stuff has to stay.

 

[Digger]

To me moving off the grid is going solar. Solar runs about $8.00 a watt. In many areas you can get it down to $3 or $4 a watt with utility rebates and state and federal tax breaks.

My electric bill is $309 a month on balanced billing. Some day I hope to get off the electric grid (well technically not since you can netmeter back to them any electric you dont need during the day and obtain electric from them later in the day and at night).

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

To me moving off the grid is going solar. Solar runs about $8.00 a watt. In many areas you can get it down to $3 or $4 a watt with utility rebates and state and federal tax breaks.

My electric bill is $309 a month on balanced billing. Some day I hope to get off the electric grid (well technically not since you can netmeter back to them any electric you dont need during the day and obtain electric from them later in the day and at night).

I agree, but how much was your initial outlay? That's what prevented me from going solar.

 

[upstatemike]

I would quit eating before I would get rid of my Cable Modem service and HomeSeer. You can by used cars and stop eating out so much but the tecno stuff has to stay.

I'm going to keep my techno stuff. I'm just getting rid of techno services that want money from me every month. I'll continue to buy new toys but only the kind that I can use without paying any ongoing fees.

 

[JohnWPB]

Guy is certainly right about the subscription services! They add up FAST! It certainly used to be just Cable, Phone and electric... Now days there is SOoo much more!

Looking here, the subscriptions and add-on's to those subscriptions adds up fast!

Cingular $39.99 (But ADD in the national plan, text msging ect boosts it up to almost $60.00 a month for the "$39" plan

DSL 24.95 (Now add the upcharge for the "Extreme (Faster) DSL" amnd home networking, and we're up to $50 a month.

Blockbuster unlimited in store rental (Much easier for me than NetFlix, as blockbuster is 1 block away from my house) $24.95 a month.

Direct TV $39 a month (Add the 3 other boxes and local channels, now its up to $56.60 a month)

Free Credit report online $12.95 a month subscription.

Now add the typical car payments, insurance, mortgage, health insurance, numerous credit card bills, and you can see why bankruptcy is at such a high rate right now.

I also agree with Rupp, I would eat bean burrito's at Taco Bell 5 nights a week before losing the High Speed Internet! (Of course, thinking about this a bit further, It wouldnt make the people in Close Range very happy about it!)

Not just the "High Speed" part, as much as constant connectivity, so those programs CAN "phone home" and alerts can come in and out with out interfering with the phone. I could not go back to having to wait to dial up ever again, or missing calls because the computer was using the phone.

The trend these days is to go to cable modem service, and get rid of the home phone all together. With free Long Distance on 99% of cell carriers, a cell phone is all you need these days. You do not have to subscribe to cable TV to have cable internet service. Unlike DSL, you HAVE to have phone service to get DSL. A good friend has cable modem service, and used Direct TV for television.

 

[Quixote]

I'd like to hear more about ventures into alternative energy and inverters with massive battery arrays. I would like to eliminate a nice chunk of my Hydro bill, to the point where I would consider a small windmill on my roof. Not only is saving money a factor, but there is also the benefit of being somewhat self sufficient in the case of emergency situations.

 

[Rupp]

I would quit eating before I would get rid of my Cable Modem service and HomeSeer. You can by used cars and stop eating out so much but the tecno stuff has to stay.

I'm going to keep my techno stuff. I'm just getting rid of techno services that want money from me every month. I'll continue to buy new toys but only the kind that I can use without paying any ongoing fees.

I'm with you on that. I do not carry a cell phone for this very reason, I haven't bought a TIVO because of the monthly fees, and I just recently downgraded to basic cable. After buying my new plasma TV and connecting it to a good old fashion antenna I get 6 highdef feeds and this ended up being all I watch. I just wish there was a way to get rid of my electric and gas bills and I would be set.

 

[Digger]

I havent done it yet. Its on the wishlist (for when I get an inheritance).

I would say that the total cost will be about $40K for a 5 kwh system and then I should get back about $20k from the utility and then another $6k or so on tax rebates etc the following year.

So I need to recoup about $14K. That will take about 7 to 10 years depending if I can generate enough electric to save two thirds of my usage. I beleive a 5 kwh system will provide me with 75% of my electric needs but I would add more electrical heating to zone my heat to certian parts of the house and not use my gas furnace at night etc Electric floor radiant heating is very effecient (I put it in my bathroom and its great!)

The solar systems are good for 20 to 25 years. So after about 10 years the savings kick in (based on the above). Some places that sell the systems actually have calculators that estimate the payback if you are interested.

I know someone that is an installer and have to give him a call.

 

[upstatemike]

Not just the "High Speed" part, as much as constant connectivity, so those programs CAN "phone home" and alerts can come in and out with out interfering with the phone. I could not go back to having to wait to dial up ever again, or missing calls because the computer was using the phone.

I'm not going to go back to dial up. When I cut the cord on Roadrunner I cut the cord on the Internet. (Yes, I can live without email). I don't want to pay for constant connectivity just to let programs phone home. I will just pick programs that don't need to phone home.

The trend these days is to go to cable modem service, and get rid of the home phone all together. With free Long Distance on 99% of cell carriers, a cell phone is all you need these days. You do not have to subscribe to cable TV to have cable internet service. Unlike DSL, you HAVE to have phone service to get DSL. A good friend has cable modem service, and used Direct TV for television.

Cable systems do not have battery backup the way phone lines do so are not a good choice for primary phone service. POTS lines often continue to work when the power is off. Cell service is too hard to interface to my PBX so that is also not an option.

 

[Squintz]

I did something very similar just last year. Check with your Cable or Sat provider for limited channel options. I am with Comcast and they offer a limited channel package which includes channels 11 - 27 and a few in the 60 and 70s and it is only $14.00 a month plus the cable internet which brings me to about $56 a month. Because I have broadband i can use vonage VOIP which is only $27 a month compared the the Verizon $60+ for the same service. I was paying well over $160 a month for digital cable, the internet and the phone. Now I have that down to about $83 a month for all three services. So its a little less than half. Ditch the cell if you are not using it as you said you were going to. I know my cell is costing me about $60 a month.

Water is cheap so stop wasting you energy yelling at the kids about leaving the water running and start using that energy to yell at your wife for washing loads of clothes that are not full loads. The dryer is said to be the #1 energy user in a home. You can reduce that cost by hanging your clothes to dry for a while and then stick them in the dryer to finish them off. Sticking them in the dryer for a few minutes helps keep them from getting stiff.

Turn the temperature down on your hot water heater just a little and make sure it is insulated. A ton of energy is lost in uninsulated heaters.

Cut back on the thermostat a little and put an extra shirt on in the winter. If it is the summer time then strip down on your birthday suit and play slip and slide with the wife.

Food is a big waste of money. Buy in bulk and stop buying junk food. Meat satifies your appetite for a longer period of time then complex carbohydrates. So stay away from the cool aid (SUGAR) and reduce your bread intake. Up the frozen vegitables (they are cheaper anyways and have less carbs and more fiber) Water is not the bad tasting and also helps reduce apetite. Oh yeah and stop eating out every pay day. Thats just like wasting $60 for the same romantic dinner you could cook you wife at home for $20.

The biggest thing of all that you can do to reduce your spendings is to stop looking at this site on a daily basis and reduce youre visits to monthly visits or even quarterly Hanging out on these forums have your basment filled up with all kinds of useless gadgets.


Hope that helps!

 

[Spanky]

Our engineering group visited a zero energy Habit For Humanity House in Hickory NC two weeks ago. The house was engineered by Appalachian State University. It had solar hot water and solar electricity which was sold back to the power company.

The stated cost of the solar electricity system was $26K. The excess electricity was sold back to the power company for $.20 / kwh. We were there about 2 PM and it had generated 16 kwh for the day so far.

They said it would take about 7 years to recover the cost of installation after tax rebates.

They also stated that a hail storm could take out the solar cell arrays. Bummer!

 

[TCassio]

Why not cover the solar cells with a screen suspended over the solr cells. I had a solar hot water system about 15 years ago and this is what we did.

 

[Mike]

Free Credit report online $12.95 a month subscription.

If you buy microsoft money (not sure if all versions have it) you get a free year of monitoring from experian. After that it is $90 (or it used to be).

Might want to take advantage of that. Oh, my cut on the savings can be sent to....

just kidding.