What does living “off the grid” mean?

The concept of living off-the-grid is used a lot, but what exactly does it mean? While technically referring to the concept of having the ability to live completely self-sufficiently and to be disconnected from the main electric and water grids, to many, living off-the-grid also means moving to the countryside, having a simpler life by reducing the number of resources consumed, and participating more in the preservation of the environment through various activities.

Seeing as most of us still have to work and have children that need to go to school, we might not be able to be completely self-sustainable in a remote location. To create and prepare for an off-grid life that best suits your own vision, it helps to start with considerations around what going off-grid could mean for you specifically.

Why do people choose to live off-the-grid?

There are multiple reasons to adopt this lifestyle. Here are four of the most common reasons for adopting this way of life:

1. It’s more environmentally friendly:

The environmental benefits that accompany off-the-grid living are vast. Whatever you do to become less reliant on the main city gridlines will greatly reduce wasteful practices of having to produce water, electricity or food on such a large scale.

2. It encourages healthier living:

From growing your own food to using a bicycle to get around, living this kind of lifestyle could potentially help you live healthier. By generating your own water, electricity, and food supplies, you can also become more in touch with your surroundings which could reduce stress and enhance your sense of purpose.

3. It can be extremely cost-efficient:

For many, cutting costs can be an attractive reason for going off the grid. By reducing the resources being consumed, and instead producing these resources yourself, you will be able to achieve cost efficiency. For example, relying on solar power instead of buying Eskom power can cut down costs in the long run.

4. It can help you reduce your carbon footprint:

For environmentalists, a smaller carbon footprint is an important factor and therefore they choose a lifestyle that reduces the damage done to our environment.

How to start living off-the-grid

While it's certainly easier to work remotely and ‘escape’ to the countryside than ever before, going off-the-grid still requires a lot of careful planning and resourcefulness. Some of these considerations include:

Powered by solar

Solar power is the conversion of renewable energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using concentrated solar power, or a combination. South Africa is famous for its sunshine – an average of 2,500 hours of sun every year. This is why solar power is a viable option for many South Africans.

Powered by gas

Bottled gas is stored in LPG bottles, cylinders, or larger vessels and is primarily used as heating, hot water, cooking, and auto fuel. It is an affordable option, and relatively simple to implement. Bottled gas is a versatile, transportable, low carbon fuel, which also lowers your carbon footprint.

Battery powered

If you want to save the most money possible, you'll need enough battery storage to cover your energy usage when your solar panels aren't producing – somewhere around 2-3 batteries depending on the size and consumption of your household. If you want to keep the power on when the grid is down, you'll usually just need one solar battery. Depending on your energy needs and how conservative you can be with the energy you do have stored, a home battery backup can usually last a day or two during an outage.

Grey water

Instead of using clean water to water the gardens or to flush the toilet, you could use the leftover water from washing clothes or showering. Plus, this greywater also contains nutrients derived from the residues and soaps in the water, which feed and nourish the soil to produce lush plants.

Rainwater

In addition to grey water, rainwater could vastly help with the reduction of your reliance on the grid. Even though rainwater could be contaminated, it could be very effective for the use of other daily functions such as laundry, gardening, or flushing toilets.

Recycling

Recycling should be the first step towards living off-the-grid. Recycling reduces the amount of waste that gets sent to landfills and incinerators. The chemicals released from the waste in these landfills are very harmful to the environment and thus, recycling genuinely helps with preserving the environment. In addition, recycling helps slow down global warming, reduces pollution, and helps conserve energy.

Create your own compost heap

Instead of throwing food waste into the trash, start a heap in the garden to create your own compost. Compost helps maintain the quality of the soil by enriching it with nutrients from the decomposed organic material. It helps maintain moisture and therefore reduces the need for water. In addition, composting protects plants from potential diseases and overall results in the growth of healthier plants.

Upcycle

Upcycling is the reusing of unwanted or used objects into an object of higher value. Similar to recycling and composting, upcycling helps reduce the number of chemicals released into the atmosphere by landfills and incinerators, as well as reduces the need to produce new materials, which also helps maintain resources.

Benefits of getting off-the-grid

Implementing some of the technologies and techniques mentioned above would not only benefit the environment, but could help increase the value of your property as well. Energy efficiency has become a buzzword for house hunters, and not just because of load shedding; homeowners all around the world are trying to go green. A property that is less dependent on the grid makes for a sound investment opportunity.

If you need help finding the perfect real estate to start your off-grid journey, speak to your local RE/MAX real estate office and let the team that sells the most property in South Africa assist you.