Living Off-Grid Comes With Both Savings and Hidden Expenses

Budgeting for the off-grid essentials is one thing, but planning for the hidden costs is harder. Three years in, the savings in rent and utilities alone have already paid for the cost of the property itself. But there were also plenty of big purchases as we set up our homestead.

I installed our off-grid electrical and plumbing systems largely by myself during COVID lockdowns. I did speak to professional installers, unlicensed handy folks with experience putting in systems, and plenty of folks in online forums about what I was getting myself into and how much I should expect to spend.

The price range was huge, especially for installing a new solar system. I described the energy needs of my home and family and received estimates between $2,000 and $20,000. It was baffling.

I eventually found someone local with experience in the solar industry who was willing to take a few hours and go over my situation and options in detail. We came up with a system that was going to cost between $3,000 and $4,000 for all components and supplies to get a basic system up and running to meet most of our needs.

But there were surprises to come.

Setting energy expectations

Skimping in the process of setting up a solar system can lead to costs down the road and even be dangerous. Simple mistakes like choosing the wrong size wire to connect your system components can be a fire hazard.

It can also be tempting to overbuild. You can put two dozen solar panels and fill a room with backup batteries to ensure that you have enough energy to run all sorts of power tools whenever you want, or you can simply start a generator for a few minutes when you need a power boost.

We’ve taken a minimalist approach, as evidenced by our home, which is under 1,000 square feet. Our solar array is rated for 1.23 kilowatts, and we started with a pair of six-volt golf cart batteries wired in series to create a 12-volt system connected to an inverter that can handle the wattage from the solar panels and our 4-kilowatt back-up generator.

It’s a pretty small system by modern energy consumption standards, but this was a deliberate choice. We got rid of our high-powered vacuum cleaner, clothes dryer, Instapot and a few other electron-hungry appliances.

Luxuries we opted to hold on to or even add to our off grid life include a modest-size flat screen TV, a conventional washing machine — although a quite efficient one — and the unusual choice to go with a wood pellet stove for heat. Most people in our off-grid community use propane or a simple wood stove for heat, but after years of dealing with wood stoves elsewhere, pellets offer a worthwhile degree of ease and control, even though it uses an electric igniter to start up. It can be a big power draw that sometimes requires starting up the generator in the low-light days of winter.

Essential electricity expenses

To keep all your electrical gadgets in functioning order, they should “think” they’re on the grid. This means installing quality batteries, inverters, charge controllers, breakers and even wire that can provide a steady, safe supply of electricity at a consistent voltage. There are myriad off-grid stories of appliances being fried by cheap inverters, among other things.

I think we made a mistake using the flooded lead acid golf cart batteries, due to the amount of maintenance and attention they require. It was our best option at the time due to the supply chain problems of 2020, but we’ve since upgraded to lithium batteries, which are safer, lower maintenance, longer lasting and more expensive.

I also believe we should have invested more in a generator that includes more features like remote start, quiet running and a compact size. It’s just very unpleasant when your system’s low-voltage alarm goes off at 4 a.m. in a blizzard, sending you across the property to start the generator.

Other hidden costs

Taking charge of our own water supply required a few big specialty purchases, including a pair of huge 1,600-gallon plastic tanks to store rain and hauled water, a waterless compost toilet and an on-demand hot water heater. All three came with a bit of sticker shock. (see below)

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