WOW!! I am terribly sorry, I have meant to keep this updated fairly frequently, and well time slips away so easily... What is the old saying about the road paved with good intentions? well anyway..
We have had our cabin, roughly about a year now out here in Sugar Tree, TN. We have had alot of triumphs (no not motorcycles.grrrr damnit) and we have learned so much in such a short amount of time truthfully.
Why is the simple life named that??? who was ignorant to call it that and have it stick? I d call it work your ass off day in and day out every day..and hope you catch up at some point hahaha.
I still run the generator way too much, but eventually that should diminish .
currently we do have a water tower erected. We gather water from an artesian well , or spring house, however you wish to call it. It is pure clean water straight from the ground. their is a local spot that people flock to from all over to gather water here, so we followed suit. With the aid of an electric pump from harbor freight and a couple big blue 55 plastic barrels , we fill them up and transport it up to our home, then reversing the fill and eject hoses, I connect to a pvc coupling at the base of my tower and simply fill it up, 300 gallons is what it holds, not alot but for a first tower that is semi permanent...its pretty good... lasts about a week, usually give or take a day. I could connect to city water at the road...but its very heavily chlorinated and i get sick whenever i drink it without cooking it, and my eyes dont like the chemicals they turn all red and get irritated by it. people pay sometimes over a dollar a bottle (20 oz) at a gas station or convenience store for something I can get basically free and that just makes more sence.
It is approx 12 ft high from ground level where it sits,,, in addition it is uphill from the house, so that gives us a little more gravity pressure. it feeds our kitchen sink, and bathtub quiet nicely. eventually some sort of hot water heater will be added , probably solar, down the road. till then, we still use solar showers set in the sun to bake, 3 hrs approx gives us 125 degree water, cannot take a shower in the sunlight right after getting home from work if they have been out any length of time, very scalding hot. We do heat water on a small propane camp stove or on the woodstove in the house when its going ,...which also humidifies the air inside.
In just a year , we went from empty cabin to insulated, heated, flooring, walls up, sink and tubs installed and functional, electrical, and everything else we had to do outside,,some of our chores are daily/ weekly and time consuming..all while still having to goto work, and still setting aside recreational time as much as possible to enjoy with the family.
We have one large solar panel , and needing many more, we have one small windmill for electricity, and it works great just wish it were windier....getting into that season soon tho. a few golf cart type batteries linked together, Just a simple 12vdc setup, so any car/rv accessories work great. but we also have one large power inverter that feeds the house thru separate circuits so most of our stuff is normal everyday everyone has type stuff.. we just tend to watch the power consumption rating of products before we buy them, huge wattage devices don't necessarily mean that they are any better than their smaller rated family members. That is mostly propaganda anyway to say you have the biggest, and well honestly so the power companies can make more off you while you use them lol .
It always seems to never get done fast enough, no matter what it may be. I still catch myself saying,, well I wish we coulda got this done and this done and this done...but then I remember and tell myself... We ARE doing it.... WE ARE off grid living, WE ARE getting everything done, and although it seems slow, we've truly
accomplished a lot in just a year. TO THINK how much better next year this time will be.
