this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
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Offgrid living

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Everything off grid; power, water, self-sufficiency; whether you're doing it or aspiring.

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[–] BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes, but it depends what you mean by energy. Electricity to power everything would need electricity generators. Heat for cooking or heating could be more basic wood burning.

Oil / petrol electricity generators are common but may not fit an off grid lifestyle given the need and dependency on usually commercial fuel sources plus environmental concerns. Renewable energy sources would probably be preferred for off grid living.

Wood and wood-gas electricity generators exist. Wood-gas generators involved making a gas from wood and then burning that gas to generate electricity. It takes time to produce the gas though.

Solar and wind power generators are probably the best options for electricity. As they are dependent on a variable energy source, a decent battery to store energy is essential and it's probably best to pair it with a back up fuel based energy source, even if just for emergency heat (such as wood stove to provide heat in winter should you not be able to generate electricity).

If you have a good flowing water source (river or waterfall) then that can also generate electricity but the practicalities of setting that up may preclude it as an option. Also generally a large enough moving water source may not be something individuals have access to; but might be an option for an off grid community.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Have you any idea of biofuels ?

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The question is too vague to answer well, but I have run a high autonomy household for 10 years, so it's possible. Solar with battery storage, small wind generator to supplement things during storms. Heating uses wood.

Latitude 59, so I get an electrical energy crisis every winter, but on most winters, I don't have to start a gasoline generator or bring electricity over with my e-car.

If you're on a lower latitude, it becomes simpler, if you only have enough surface for solar panels.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do you have any video showing how wind energy can be utilised during storms ?

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

No. Also, I apologize for being a bit rude, but what would you gain from having a video of a home wind generator working? There's probably thousands of such videos on the Internet.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I would like to see how a home wind generator creates electricity, particularly the mechanism.

Small wind turbines work by having blades that spin a shaft connected to a generator (usually with magnets and coils) that converts the rotational energy into electricity - you can find some great comparisons of home wind generators on gearscouts.com if youre looking for emergency power solutions with the best watt-hour value.

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Here's a reasonably representative photo.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Exotic, rare, not representative of everyday things.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You're the admin of this instance ?

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Moderator of community, not admin of instance.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm going to join a vegan community which is also going to live off grid.

Can I post video links related to smart cities in your community ? This is one of the reasons why we wish to go off grid......

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

smart cities

There must be a better community for that. A city, especially a smart city, would not be considered off grid.

I am not a member there, but I would take a look at "c/urbanism". It is about cities.

[–] Docker@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You get me wrong. I'm against cities and urbanism altogether.

I'm for off grid living.

[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 days ago

Regardless of whether an opinion is for or against something, the recommended subject matter of this community is definitely not smart cities, but off-grid living.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Isn't that the idea behind offgrid living? I mean people do it, so obviously it can. Energy can be harvested by solar panels for electricity, or converted in a diesel generator from oil/petroleum which you'd need to buy. And you can chop down wood and burn it to heat the place or cook something... The smarty-pants answer is - energy isn't "created", you convert it. So I think the answer is more where do you get the energy source. As with wood, that might be available around a cabin in the woods. Solar and wind might be avalable almost everywhere, and you can buy devices to convert it and batteries to store it. Other things like oil probably need to be bought.