Living off grid any tips thanks

[SteveA]

They say 'Efficiency first' .... Passive Houses: 13 Reasons Why the Future Will Be Dominated by this New Pioneering Trend

[openspaceman]

Hi open your right there 2)3kw will do LED lights thanks Jon

 

 

Actually you can do better than that, I have 3W LEDs with occupancy sensors in hallways and because they are directional they are bright, so I could easily use these in living spaces, the thing is to only use what you need, so say use 10W of lighting for 8 hours a day, a 40W TV for 4 and a 60W laptop for 12 and that's only about 1kWhr for all day, that's two large car batteries' worth to 50% discharge.

 

You cannot use electricity for any heating , pumping or cooking though as these are the big users, a fridge or freezer will use the same again and a washing machine about 1/4 again.

 

So in summer you may get by with about 4kW of installed capacity of solar panels (£6k) and some leisure batteries but in winter you'd need to run a small generator.

[mendiplogs]

Actually you can do better than that, I have 3W LEDs with occupancy sensors in hallways and because they are directional they are bright, so I could easily use these in living spaces, the thing is to only use what you need, so say use 10W of lighting for 8 hours a day, a 40W TV for 4 and a 60W laptop for 12 and that's only about 1kWhr for all day, that's two large car batteries' worth to 50% discharge.

 

You cannot use electricity for any heating , pumping or cooking though as these are the big users, a fridge or freezer will use the same again and a washing machine about 1/4 again.

 

So in summer you may get by with about 4kW of installed capacity of solar panels (£6k) and some leisure batteries but in winter you'd need to run a small generator.

Hi open do you live off grid then thanks Jon

[openspaceman]

Hi open do you live off grid then thanks Jon

 

No Jon, I live in a suburb 25 miles from London, wife refuses to have a gas cooker and when I look after myself I depend on the microwave. I also commute 40 miles to and from work each day so that is by far my biggest energy use even though I achieve 60+ mpg. Energy is a very small portion of my disposable income.

 

Also the house is not well insulated as it was built in 1862 but at least I heat it with logs mostly.

 

I did help out two lady artists who developed an off grid mobile, vegetarian café based on an old Rice horse trailer which toured London until it was stolen.

Edited July 25, 2015 by openspaceman

[mendiplogs]

No Jon, I live in a suburb 25 miles from London, wife refuses to have a gas cooker and when I look after myself I depend on the microwave. I also commute 40 miles to and from work each day so that is by far my biggest energy use even though I achieve 60+ mpg. Energy is a very small portion of my disposable income.

 

Also the house is not well insulated as it was built in 1862 but at least I heat it with logs mostly.

 

I did help out two lady artists who developed an off grid mobile, vegetarian café based on an old Rice horse trailer which toured London until it was stolen.

Hi open thanks that mate Jon 👍

[Woodworks]

Fabric first Jon.

 

As said above a Passive house or close would be mighty good start.

[Fib]

We run a small generator that charges the battery-pack at the moment with an additional waterturbine. Going to install solarpanels in the very near future.

 

Our heating is combined wood burning range/central heating calorgas -works great.

 

Water from mountain spring to header tank. Drinkable after filter and UVlight.

 

Rather big four bedroom/two reception room cottage. You have to work to live like this, but it's great.

[mendiplogs]

We run a small generator that charges the battery-pack at the moment with an additional waterturbine. Going to install solarpanels in the very near future.

 

Our heating is combined wood burning range/central heating calorgas -works great.

 

Water from mountain spring to header tank. Drinkable after filter and UVlight.

 

Rather big four bedroom/two reception room cottage. You have to work to live like this, but it's great.

 

Hi mate thanks for that sounds great thanks Jon

[SteveA]

Hey Jon, whilst you're designing your off grid passivhaus you might want to include an off grid solar PV package into the design of the roof.... I'm no expert on solar PV but apparently it's more efficient to go for a 24v or 48v system (depending on the size system you need).

 

I've read that some people regret going for a 12v system when they want to upgrade at a later date.... it's something to do with the cable sizes & inverter spec, I think.

 

Check out Bimble Solar for an idea on prices: http://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/offgrid-house

Cheers, steve

Edited July 26, 2015 by SteveA

[mendiplogs]

We run a small generator that charges the battery-pack at the moment with an additional waterturbine. Going to install solarpanels in the very near future.

 

Our heating is combined wood burning range/central heating calorgas -works great.

 

Water from mountain spring to header tank. Drinkable after filter and UVlight.

 

Rather big four bedroom/two reception room cottage. You have to work to live like this, but it's great.

 

Hi fib thanks for your in put mate are you in middle of no were your place thanks Jon