This Is How I Disappeared From the Grid

The grid is defined in many ways. There’s the power grid, the communication grid defined by the Internet and other communication services, and even the grid that delivers natural gas, water, and other common services. All of them are not free. We pay for these services and the bills are not getting any cheaper. This is how I disappeared from the grid and how you can do it too.

We also pay another price as our personal and financial information is shared with companies and people who are total strangers to us. It’s wearying and as the costs continue to climb, some of us have decided to move towards a more self-sufficient and hopefully secure approach.

Getting Off the Grids

The first move for anyone trying to establish a self-sufficient lifestyle is to find alternatives to electric power. You don’t have to shut it all off overnight, but there are some smart and effective moves to reduce your electric bill and possibly get off the electric power grid altogether. Here are some moves I’ve made:

Go Solar

Solar power is free. You have to buy solar panels, controllers, meters, and probably a few power inverters in addition to battery options for storage, but it’s a one-time cost. Once you have your solar panels in place and either batteries or a solar generator -you’ve made a big move toward electrical independence.

Generators

Some are powered by gas or diesel. You still have to buy the fuels but when solar power fails due to cloudy days or a sunless winter -you have a backup.

You can even connect a generator to power your whole house, but here again, you need to consider your fuel costs and availability.

Related: Modular Backyard Power Plant Review

Wind Power

Some locations are subject to regular winds. Farm country is a good example. If wind is a constant companion, consider windmills to generate power and recharge your battery storage. Just remember that windy days vary so think of this as another addition to other systems like solar or generators.

Heating Alternatives

Most of us rely on natural gas or electricity to produce heat during cold months. There are alternatives. Wood-burning stoves are a possibility if you have access to a good wood supply. Pellet stoves are another alternative and the pellets are typically cheaper than what you would pay for both natural gas and the electricity to power a forced-air heating system.

I have a cabin and consider a large propane tank but I opted for pellets. The stove runs great, the cabin is always warm and the only maintenance is occasional vacuuming and emptying the ash cup.

Alternative Water

This is a tough one. Most of us get our water from municipal water supplies, which is one of our biggest utility bills. Some of us have wells but that well pump needs electricity to run. But there are other ways to find water.

Rain Water Collection

The roofs of our homes are an outstanding rainwater collection area. We even have gutters to funnel the rain. It’s not hard and not expensive to funnel that rainwater into a barrel or series of barrels. A spigot at the bottom of the barrel(s) makes it easy to draw the water and use it wherever you need it.

Related: 5 Ingenious Methods To Get FREE WATER In All 50 States During A Crisis

It’s a bit labor intensive but it’s free, and rainwater is naturally soft and often the best for gardens and cooking. Just make sure you filter and purify first before drinking it or cooking with it. Bird droppings often cover a roof and that will typically pollute any rainwater running off a roof.

A Hand Pump

Our ancestors used to pump water from a well by hand. It’s good exercise and another way to disappear from the grid and those monthly water bills. Installing one in a shed or back porch may make it easier to pump in the colder, winter months.

Composting Toilets

You can’t flush a toilet without water and if you don’t have enough water (usually 2 gallons) to flush a toilet, consider a composting toilet. When properly assembled and maintained it will not produce any odors and the bucket in the toilet can then be dumped into a pit. It’s another approach that requires a bit of extra work, but if you’re trying to cut loose from a grid of support systems you have to expect a bit of that.

Getting Private on the Internet

We’ve become increasingly dependent on the Internet for everything from banking to shopping to communication. It might be time to moderate our Internet usage. Personally, I got off Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites. They’ve become a haven for hackers and I’ve returned to a conventional communication approach. It’s called getting in the car and going to visit with someone and talking to them face to face. When did we forget how to do that?

It’s also worth thinking about financial transactions on the Internet. At the very least, engage and use 2-factor authentication, and if you can -just go to the bank.

Wireless

It’s not uncommon to see sidewalks filled with people staring at their wireless mobile phones. It makes you wonder how much information we’re sharing with hackers and scammers while we think we’re reaching out to a circle of friends.

There are wireless mobile security programs worth considering. AVAST is free and will at least give you some level of protection. You can download it on the Internet. And then, maybe start to minimize that Internet usage. That’s hard for many of us, but it might be nice to actually see someone on the street who doesn’t have their face planted in a cellphone.

There’s also the old walkie-talkie alternative. They’re two-way radios that can reach up to half a mile. What we did as kids might serve us once again.

Just Learn to Change the Way You Do Things

This could include moving to a more remote location, Installing many of the alternatives we suggested or just conserving resources and changing behaviors.

The reason people want to walk away and disappear from the grids varies, but if you’re fed up with higher and higher utility bills and the constant threat of identity theft and scammers -it may be worth considering disappearing from all of those things that make everything so hard.

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