Been Thinking About This
Ok, this post is going to seem a little crazy. But I’ve thought about it occasionally for years and I thought I would share. Like many people I am environmentally conscious and solar energy has always been an interest. An off grid home has been a goal, and still is, but is there an “in between alternative?
My crazy idea is to have one room in my house off grid!
I’ll Cheat a Little
I’ll fully admit I’ll cheat a little. Heating and air conditioning for the room is a challenge. Not impossible, but not easy. I guess you could always use a wood stove and cut dead wood, Or your room could be south facing and rely on solar heating. However I envision more of a small room internal to the rest of the house so that the room benefits from the insulation and residual heat and cooling of adjacent rooms.
What Will Be In My Room?
Office / Reading Room
Obviously a good room candidate wouldn’t be power intensive like a kitchen or laundry room. I’m thinking of a small combo office and reading room. I like to write and read, and the basic requirements would be a laptop and lighting. A cell phone could be included as they are easy to charge with very little power.
So we’re talking about an easy chair for reading and a small desk for writing. Everything else is optional.
There are lots of low power consumption lighting solutions. Powering a laptop with long battery life requires enough power to charge the battery.
Video can be on the laptop as can music. Probably headphones or ear plugs work well. Maybe a simple radio with rechargeable batteries ..In fact I have an old Grundig radio that charges with a hand crank.
Sleeping Room
A plain old sleeping room would probably work fine too. Again you need lighting, but not much else, power-wise. Your alarm could be your phone or a small rechargeable battery unit. And again, low power lighting solutions are available here too.
Where To Go Next
So how to power all this? I think a fairly simple solar panel setup charging a couple of solar batteries would work fine. There are plenty of 12 volt lighting options available. You might need an inverter to provide 110 volts to provide a charging outlet for your laptop.
I’m starting to see various levels of solar generators on the market. Some would probably work fine. A quick search on Amazon shows models from a couple hundred to several thousand that claim to be able to power your home for days. Or you could go with a DIY approach. There is lots of solar information available. You just need to do your research.
Either way you will need to find a way to route some wires from your solar source to your room without destroying your house!
So what do you think of my crazy idea? I’ll keep you informed if I decide to give it a try. And of course if we ever take the plunge for a full off grid homestead I’ll let you know that too!
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