More and more people than ever are moving off-grid, and it’s easy to see why. For one thing, it’s a lifestyle that is generally a lot lower cost, once you have everything set up, so you don’t need to worry about having to pay for energy bills each month, and that can be a weight off your mind. It can also be a much more eco-friendly way of living, of course, another considerable benefit for many people. But what are some of the things you need to think about when you are designing your off-grid home?
Energy Supply
First of all, think about how you are going to have energy provided to your home. There are so many options for this, and it will all depend on the kind of setup you have as well as what you are hoping to achieve in general. One way is to have 12 volt leisure batteries hooked up to solar panels, and then running all that through an inverter. This works perfectly well, and with solar power being what it is today, you can do this even in cloudier climes. It’s certainly an option you might want to consider.
Water Source
Of course, water is the most fundamental thing, and you will need to find a way to get it into your off-grid home. The ideal is when you manage to find a natural spring nearby, and then you can simply hook up to it. But if you can’t, you might have to think of something else. It could be you need to set up a system with filters and water pumps, and have a water pump repair carried out from time to time. Or it might be that you are able to access a nearby tap, such as on the canals.
Heating
It’s also vital that you have a way to heat your home, at the very least when it gets to winter time. There are again a lot of different options for this. One simple one is to have a stove or fireplace installed. Wood burners like these work very effectively, and can heat a surprisingly large space in no time. You will need to have a source of something to burn, and you’ll want that to be as eco-friendly as possible, but as long as you have that figured out, this can work really well for your home.
Interior Design
And of course, the interior design is going to be important as it would be with any other home. You want to make it yours, and you want to feel comfortable and happy in the space, so anything you can do to help ensure that is going to be really helpful here. Working on your interior design is going to be really useful, and it’s something that you will probably find you enjoy a lot as part of the overall process as well. Once you have this in place, the rest will naturally follow.
