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Lola's Little Off the Grid Green Cabin & Greenhouse

L

LolaGal

Howdy folks! Welcome to the U design it thread, where We will go from suggestion to reality.

Here's the proposed building site for your approval.

We need a cabin plan with a basement, materials lists and suggestions.

I want to go off the grid so I'm gonna need a windmill, generators, Let's Go Green! I loves my comforts, so no straw shack with cow flop stoves please!

I want big wrap around porches, with a single one floor plan. A loft for storage is needed. Big windows for catching the views a plus.

OK, won't let me load photo, will have to post again.
 
L

LolaGal

picture.php


Tada! No neighbors for miles... a few cow pastures though. :D
 
NOKUY

NOKUY

Active member
Veteran
supplement the wind w/ solar..even if u cant catch it constantly it'll help.

how much sq footage u lookin for....remember its easier to heat and cool and maintain a smaller place.
 
L

LolaGal

Well, a basement of 1000 square feet, so let's say 30 x50 feet upstairs. Solar a definite need! Plus a nice propane generator too. I'm never gonna hook into the grid at all. No definite plans as to materials yet.

Secret entrance upstairs to basement a requirement! :D

I do have a road already!
 
NOKUY

NOKUY

Active member
Veteran
what about gettin a diesel genny...and converting it easy to run on bio diesel.....u can grow soy beans and run the genny on soy bean bio.....thats sort of my plan.

ill have a river by my spread tho so i wont go that road 'til i have too if i cant work in hydro.
 
strydr

strydr

Member
Nokuy is right (on both fronts)
Wind needs solar as a supplement (unless you have 15 MPH+ winds, sustained at least 8 hours a day). Solar is EXPENSIVE. I have a small,portable system (3 panels, 12 batts, and 1 windmill) that used to live on a trailer. It was my Burning Man power pack. Cost well over $5K, and it only put out about 1K of 120VAC. With 6 hours of charge (400W windmill+300W of solar), I could maintain the max load of 1K for about 3-4 hours.

Windmills are cheaper than solar, but they work best in tandem. Usually, (@ least in my neck of the woods) it's either sunny, or windy. not both. I would suggest doing a wind survey first- you can buy/rent wether stations to test the wind load. If wind is sufficient, look for a 1K+ mill (preferably 3-4K)

Also, get a diesel generator. Even if you can't run it off bio, it will be a MUCH better investment. Diesel runs at a much slower RPM, so sound issues are better- also, diesel motors can run well over a million miles (or soo many hours of runtime) with regular maintenance. If you are off the grid, you need the power of a diesel gennie. Your solar/wind setup (unless you go crazy with the cheez wiz) will not be powerful enough to run a bunch of heavy loads, not to mention there will be days with no sun/wind. You will need the gennie to recharg the batts sometime.

Speaking of Batts, start off with the 6volt golf cart batts. You will destroy them. Trust me. Everyone does. Don't start out with the good ones (Trojan L16's), because they are super expensive, and killing a set of L-16's would make a grown man cry :)
 
L

LolaGal

Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely be going solar and wind.
 
L

LolaGal

picture.php


Here's the other view from the "back porch". These pics were taken near nightfall, so you can't really see the blue "mountains" in the back ground over the trees, but there are some distant bluffs that show up and are a pleasing "mountain" view from this angle.

Home of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.
 
L

LolaGal

OK Generator is now diesel and I can plant soybeans on my land, so no problem there.

What about diesel storage now? That's mainly the reason I considered propane, since tanks are so easy to use. I like the 1000 gallon ones or 500.

I don't want to dig a diesel storage tank in the ground...yuck. How do I store a couple thousand gallons? And where do I store the soybeans to turn into soydiesel.

Trying to talk neighbor out of 1700s log cabin made of chestnut logs, it's already taken down.... Will ya'll help me raise it?
 
strydr

strydr

Member
Do you really need 1000 Gal. of diesel storage? How much do you plan on depending on the gennie? Solar/wind/batts? If you plan on living off the gennie, then you will need 1K gals of storage. If it's your backup plan/heavy load days tool, then 100-200 gals would be fine. Esp. if you plan on making biodiesel. Speaking of, your ? about soybean storage, well, not sure about storing them as beans- I would convert to fuel asap. It will take a field of beans to make that much fuel.
Lots of commercial gennies have the fuel tank as part of the enclosure. You shouldn't have to dig a pit. Worst case scenario, get some 55Gal barrels, and build a small "fuel shed"


O, hell ya I'd help ya raise the log cabin :)
 
minds_I

minds_I

Active member
Veteran
LolaGal said:
Howdy folks! Welcome to the U design it thread, where We will go from suggestion to reality.

Here's the proposed building site for your approval.

We need a cabin plan with a basement, materials lists and suggestions.

I want to go off the grid so I'm gonna need a windmill, generators, Let's Go Green! I loves my comforts, so no straw shack with cow flop stoves please!

I want big wrap around porches, with a single one floor plan. A loft for storage is needed. Big windows for catching the views a plus.

OK, won't let me load photo, will have to post again.
Click to expand...


Hello all,

How much money you want to spend...green is not cheap.

minds_I

PS, I have been fooling around with iso shipping containers as housing units...
 
L

LolaGal

Well, I don't want to spend any money, but.... lol.

I'll go as green as my purse lets me.
 
strydr

strydr

Member
Nope, green is not cheap, but if you plan appropriately, you can start with a small system, and build on to it as funds allow.

Start with a inverter/power panel that can provide all the power you will ever want. Buy a windmill (provided you have enough wind), or a few panels- learn to conserve. Conservation is %50 of going off the grid. Buy a few batts. Learn the capabilities of the equipment you have, and build up from there. If you are making enough power for your houshold, but don't have enough runtime, then buy more batts. If you are not producing enough electricity, buy more panels..

You get the idea.
 
strydr

strydr

Member
Justa,
Panel tech is changing, and prices are fluctuating. The panels I have are 6-7 years old now (Astropower 120w), and have put up with all my abuse fine. They still output %90+ original output.

My only suggestion is to buy panels with the highest output you can afford. I'm sorry to sound vague, but I don't like recommending particular brands, without having the 1st hand knowledge about them. A good panel should last you 20 years+ My 120's were top of the line when I bought them- now they are on the low end as far as wattage goes. Nice thing though, you can mix and match panels- doesn't matter the wattage, they can all be tied together.
 
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