Not sure that staying put and going green is going to be that easy. Was researching that how air tight your home is, is a major concern because even if you go "green" in heating and cooling that you could still use too much energy, even if it's renewable. So now I have to figure out how air tight my home is, and then what exactly the new windows are galvanized with, and where they are placed to decide what needs to be changed, fixed, filled in, and so on before we even try to change things to a renewable energy source. Whats the use of getting different heating and cooling source if it's just going to seep out our walls. I though that having a brick house would be beneficial, but now I'm finding out it's not that much of an insulator unless I'm in the mid-west or south-west, where temperatures change dramatically from day to night. Here in Maryland it's not much help as the temperature is usually only a few degree different. I was looking into cotton insulation as it has a high R value and low environmental impact both in the home air quality and the manufacturing, but not sure if we are going to change to that yet, as I want to do more research.
Okay, I admit that going green and off-grid sounds great but now that we are trying to plan what needs to be changed first it's a lot more involved then changing our energy source and planting trees and shrubs to help. Not sure how long this is going to take. Our original timetable was a little over two years depending on finances, now I would be happy to finish in under five. Hopefully some of the tax breaks will increase and maybe the cost will go down so I can speed it up and get pros to do more. We'll see what happens. I may be a little discouraged right now, but I refuse to give up!
Mar 23, 2007
I'm Confused
Okay why is it President Bush (at off-grid.net)doesn't seem to keen on environmental policy, yet his ranch in Texas is off-grid? Al Gore (at www.wnd.com) is all for environmental policy, yet his home isn't?
I know that I didn't think that "An Inconvenient Truth" was a gospel to be followed by all those who care about the future of the Earth. You would think that someone who does a documentary on the need to be self-sufficient and not to waste energy, wouldn't use 20x the national average. Yet President Bush realized that going off-grid while it may cost more up front, is actually cheaper if you plan to live in the home for a long term ( usually over 10 years).
So I guess the right argument would be that if you go off-grid you will actually be saving money in the long run, and you can claim your doing it for the good of the world. That may work better then "You need to save the planet before it kills you". Not sure which I would personally use but hey it's great to have options! Another one could be if more people do it then it will be cheaper and payback would happen quicker for those of us in the mobile population that anything over 5 years is just to far to plan for.
Of course, I actually believe that no argument will work until a person wants to change or sees the need for it. Since gas prices hitting over $3.00 didn't do it, then not much is as those who can will continue to just grin and bear it until they can't anymore. So until those people feel the pinch either in their wallet or their conscious I won't hold my breath or waste it arguing with what I think they should. I'm going to quietly, at least in my neighborhood, make changes to my home to make me feel better and give my children a better environment, till it's time to not be so quite. This is my outlet for now, maybe one day the neighbors will ask about it but, for now I'm keeping mum.
I know that I didn't think that "An Inconvenient Truth" was a gospel to be followed by all those who care about the future of the Earth. You would think that someone who does a documentary on the need to be self-sufficient and not to waste energy, wouldn't use 20x the national average. Yet President Bush realized that going off-grid while it may cost more up front, is actually cheaper if you plan to live in the home for a long term ( usually over 10 years).
So I guess the right argument would be that if you go off-grid you will actually be saving money in the long run, and you can claim your doing it for the good of the world. That may work better then "You need to save the planet before it kills you". Not sure which I would personally use but hey it's great to have options! Another one could be if more people do it then it will be cheaper and payback would happen quicker for those of us in the mobile population that anything over 5 years is just to far to plan for.
Of course, I actually believe that no argument will work until a person wants to change or sees the need for it. Since gas prices hitting over $3.00 didn't do it, then not much is as those who can will continue to just grin and bear it until they can't anymore. So until those people feel the pinch either in their wallet or their conscious I won't hold my breath or waste it arguing with what I think they should. I'm going to quietly, at least in my neighborhood, make changes to my home to make me feel better and give my children a better environment, till it's time to not be so quite. This is my outlet for now, maybe one day the neighbors will ask about it but, for now I'm keeping mum.
Mar 22, 2007
Found a neat site
I found a neat site deicated to going or living off-grid. Unfortunately it's not aimed at us here in the USA. But it does have articles from some people here and in Canada, so it's not to far off. I put it in the links to the right. Off-Grid.net. I found some interesting things there and it has great links to find even more info. I've been looking though it and can'y wait to check out some more later. But just thought I'd dropped thid in while I was at lunch. Back to work now. I'll let you know if I find anything else while I'm searching. I have to go look for a dumpster and someone to take down the dead 80ft tree in my front yard (oh what fun!), I know I want to go off grid but not because the tree takes all the wires with it! So now that it seems to be warming I am hoping to find a deal. If not then I will just have to do a budget adjustment for what I planned for this summer. Knew I couldn't keep to the pace we planned out but was hoping to at least start a project before snarls happened. Well that's my luck! I'll keep you posted on if and when I can start redoing those gardens, since they need a complete overhaul. I really wanted to pick my own berries this summer though:(
Mar 20, 2007
It's Not Quite What I thought
Well starting to research what entails a green house finds that it can have a very broad meaning at least to me. Seems that any building that uses "alternative" ways to heat, cool, supply energy, heat water, etc. could be considered green depending on who you ask. So now we need to decide how "green" is right for us and what is possible with our limited budget. If we cash out our equity for construction and supplies, we fear that if prices keep going down then we could be stuck with a mortgage that is worth more then our home. That definitely doesn't appeal so we are going to do it slowly and put what sweat equity into it that we can. Not as simple as it may seem as my husband averages about 16-18hr days and I work from home while the children are at school or sleeping. The good news is that our children are getting old enough to actually help with some of the projects. The youngest is now 5 and she can carry and play with the dog. The older girls are 7 and 8 and have an interest in plants so they can work in the gardens, our son is 11 and big enough to help with some labor as long as it's not to dangerous. At least that's the plan right now. I've been looking at greenhouses, boy do I wish my father lived closer! He loves to build and has all those great toys to make it easy, but he's over 3hrs away, so he's only on call for the day projects. Like putting a deck on the back that I hope to turn into a sun room later. One that can be used to heat the house during the winter, plus keep the dwarf trees alive till summer.
But some quick things I've found is a Firebrite reflector that is supposed to increase your heat output from your fireplace up to 80%. Another thing for our fireplace is a cast-iron grate that has a fireback attached so that the warmth will reflect and stay longer. We have a functioning fireplace that we used to have to use with our old furnace but since grate placement was essential for heat and an inch either way could make it to cold or to close for sparks, we stopped using it with the new furnace. So maybe if one of these work, we can enjoy fires on chilly nights instead of upping the thermostat. To bad I found them now and not in the beginning of winter, I didn't even get the chimney swept this year because we hardly used it the last two years, now I'm regretting that with the cold fronts that last a couple days then it's back to 60's and 70's. A fire is one thing I will have next winter. Oh well I will let you know which I try and what I think! Anyone has one or has tried either please let me know!
I'm still on the lookout for little things I can change. I've already changed our light bulbs over, make sure the lights are out when not in use ( with four kids I seem to always be doing that LOL), recycling bottles and paper, started using rechargeable batteries and am trying to check if products are made from recycled materials and if the are environmentally friendly (i.e. breakdown easily, or can be reused, no poison to leach out). Looking into getting a solar charger for the batteries then only the initial cost of the batteries is what I pay no recharging fee to the electric company. Oh, well enough for today. Off to bed to recharge my battery before the sun and children are up for another day of work and research.
But some quick things I've found is a Firebrite reflector that is supposed to increase your heat output from your fireplace up to 80%. Another thing for our fireplace is a cast-iron grate that has a fireback attached so that the warmth will reflect and stay longer. We have a functioning fireplace that we used to have to use with our old furnace but since grate placement was essential for heat and an inch either way could make it to cold or to close for sparks, we stopped using it with the new furnace. So maybe if one of these work, we can enjoy fires on chilly nights instead of upping the thermostat. To bad I found them now and not in the beginning of winter, I didn't even get the chimney swept this year because we hardly used it the last two years, now I'm regretting that with the cold fronts that last a couple days then it's back to 60's and 70's. A fire is one thing I will have next winter. Oh well I will let you know which I try and what I think! Anyone has one or has tried either please let me know!
I'm still on the lookout for little things I can change. I've already changed our light bulbs over, make sure the lights are out when not in use ( with four kids I seem to always be doing that LOL), recycling bottles and paper, started using rechargeable batteries and am trying to check if products are made from recycled materials and if the are environmentally friendly (i.e. breakdown easily, or can be reused, no poison to leach out). Looking into getting a solar charger for the batteries then only the initial cost of the batteries is what I pay no recharging fee to the electric company. Oh, well enough for today. Off to bed to recharge my battery before the sun and children are up for another day of work and research.
Mar 19, 2007
Going Green At Home
Well as much as we wanted to move to go green it seems that the powers that be want us to start at our current home first. If anyone has been watching the real estate market and how mortgage companies seem to be having increasingly difficult times, we decided to take the hint.
We are going to continue adjusting our current home until things don't seem so scary out there. Plus as hubby points out we already started with this one, and we know what's left, no new "oops"! Since we just changed half the windows and upgraded all the appliances to energy star 3 years ago, we can now go from there. Plus the more we were looking for a house that took in account sunlight, slope of the lot, and trees, we realized that our home already did that. We have a 1/3 acre lot less then a mile from the city, so we have enough land to plant a small garden, but still close enough that we can get paid a city rate for our work. Can't build the compost toilet anytime soon, but I think hubby is glad about that as the children range from 5-11, so some fear on if they'll remember to cover it up, when they sometimes forget to flush!
Though now that we have decided to stay I'm sorry to say that I have to change the reason of this blog from finding and making an Eco-friendly home to converting our existing home to an Eco-friendly one.
I'm already making plans about adding a deck, and changing our gardens to become more efficient. I'm going to add some berries to the garden so that we can harvest them, plus we are looking into dwarf trees. I plan on having a cutting garden so that I can supply my flowers without buying them. We plan on clearing the backyard so that we can plan a little garden to help with vegetables. Now I really wished I paid more attention when my Memaw was canning. Oh well I'm sure that can still be learned, even though getting a vacuum sealer and freezing works too!
I'm off to do some more research about my plans. I have great ideas, but we can only do so much at a time, especially since I refuse to pay someone to do it for us (at least at this point). I'm hoping that I can teach my children what I learned helping my grandparents with their garden (keep in mind that it was a 1/2 acre garden and feed them throughout the winter) that food doesn't magically appear in the supermarket and it tastes better when you know exactly where it came from and what went in it.
We are going to continue adjusting our current home until things don't seem so scary out there. Plus as hubby points out we already started with this one, and we know what's left, no new "oops"! Since we just changed half the windows and upgraded all the appliances to energy star 3 years ago, we can now go from there. Plus the more we were looking for a house that took in account sunlight, slope of the lot, and trees, we realized that our home already did that. We have a 1/3 acre lot less then a mile from the city, so we have enough land to plant a small garden, but still close enough that we can get paid a city rate for our work. Can't build the compost toilet anytime soon, but I think hubby is glad about that as the children range from 5-11, so some fear on if they'll remember to cover it up, when they sometimes forget to flush!
Though now that we have decided to stay I'm sorry to say that I have to change the reason of this blog from finding and making an Eco-friendly home to converting our existing home to an Eco-friendly one.
I'm already making plans about adding a deck, and changing our gardens to become more efficient. I'm going to add some berries to the garden so that we can harvest them, plus we are looking into dwarf trees. I plan on having a cutting garden so that I can supply my flowers without buying them. We plan on clearing the backyard so that we can plan a little garden to help with vegetables. Now I really wished I paid more attention when my Memaw was canning. Oh well I'm sure that can still be learned, even though getting a vacuum sealer and freezing works too!
I'm off to do some more research about my plans. I have great ideas, but we can only do so much at a time, especially since I refuse to pay someone to do it for us (at least at this point). I'm hoping that I can teach my children what I learned helping my grandparents with their garden (keep in mind that it was a 1/2 acre garden and feed them throughout the winter) that food doesn't magically appear in the supermarket and it tastes better when you know exactly where it came from and what went in it.
Mar 10, 2007
Still looking for that Special Place
Well I certainly didn't think that finding that special place would be as difficult as it is turning out to be. We are trying to stick with already built houses that need work (most a lot of it) so that we don't build on unused land. But that seems to bring so many different problems. We prefer to find one that can be gutted and start from there to make it as green as possible but most houses haven't been built to take advantage of the natural resources. So we now are looking for houses built in the early 1900's or earlier and they are either already rehabbed (but without green methods and practices) or need so much work that we will definitely need a place to stay during the rehab. Since we were planning on selling our home and living in the new one while we rehabbed it to be more energy efficient and eco-friendly. So now we have to decide if we should get something that need a little more work so it will be cheaper, but we don't have to sell the one we're living in until the new one is at least livable. Or do we buy a lot that never had a home and then build from scratch. This really didn't seem to be that hard to decide when we started looking actively for a new home we have spent the last few years investigating new technologies and old to decide what we could do to lighten our load on the planet and now that we are actively trying to do that we find all new possibilities that we though we had already thought through. So I hope you enjoy our journey because I can tell you from the start we're having it will definitely be informative and hopefully something we can laugh about when we get through it.
Mar 2, 2007
Hello World
Hi. This blog is dedicated to my husband and my search for a new home and then making that home self-sufficient, or Off-Grid. I figured it would be a great story to share. So I'll start with who we are and where we currently live. We are a family of six, one husband and wife, one son (11), and three daughters (8, 7, and 5) and our various pets (One dog, two cats, hermit crabs and fish). We live in Baltimore,MD and are looking to move to a more rural setting to take ourselves off the grid. We are looking currently in western Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Luckily my husband and I work from home so we have a little more freedom as we will be taking our jobs with us. This journey will surely have its ups and downs but it will definitely not be boring. And for any of you out there thinking of doing the same thing you can watch us do all the mistakes and then get it right the first time. I welcome comments and advice as we will surely need them. We both grew up in the suburbs around Baltimore so this is going to be interesting. I hope you come along for the ride.
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