How to Start Living Off the Grid?

Living off-grid can be a dream come true. You might aspire to full self-sufficiency, or maybe you’re prepping for Armageddon or a zombie apocalypse. Regardless of your motivations, the idea of taking care of one’s own needs — from alternate electricity and water sources to food and entertainment — is growing in popularity.

What Does Living Off-Grid Mean?

In its most basic form, living “off-grid” means your home isn’t connected to a local power grid. If the power you use in your home is from a municipal power hub, then you’re on the grid.

You have to pay money to use grid power and there’s an outage at the main hub (or if your local lines are damaged), your power will go down. This can cause a few hours of inconvenience or it can mean several days without water for rural folks whose pumps are powered by electricity.

When you’re living off-grid, it means that you either have a power source of your own, or you’re living without electricity. You might also be disconnected from other municipal lines such as water and sewage. Maybe you have an outhouse and a well, or a septic tank and a rainwater catchment system.

How to Start Living Off the Grid

1. Start Planning

If you’ve been considering living off-grid for a while, the first step is to make a list of your needs in order of priority. This will give you a clear idea of where you’ll need to put in the most effort for off-grid planning.

For example, let’s say you have a family of four: two adults, one child, one teenager. One adult works from home and needs a reliable energy source for at least eight hours a day so they can tend to emails, Zoom calls, etc. Also, consider the electricity required for kids to do their homework and for the family to have movie nights every weekend.

What about water? Are you connected to the municipal water line? Do you have the option to dig a well on your property? If a well isn’t an option, does your area get enough rain or snow for a catchment and cistern system?

Now think about food. Does your stove use electricity or gas? Add that power source to the list. Same with a refrigerator. Will you be able to store food safely in a cold cellar? Or will you need electricity to power a fridge and freezer?

Write down all the things you do on a given day and determine how much energy, water, and food are required to allow things to run smoothly.

2. Find Out the Off-Grid Laws in Your Area

Many people are surprised to discover just how constrictive laws are regarding off-grid living. You’ll have to familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations regarding alternative options in your area. This is more of an issue if you’re trying to live partially off-grid in a suburban or semi-rural environment.

Best Places For Living Off-Grid

If you live in the United States, some of the most friendly states for off-grid living are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas. In Canada, your best options are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

Choose an area that has a combination of comfortable climate, permissive building codes, low cost of living, alternative freshwater sources, optimal solar, hydro, or wind power potential, and healthy soil for growing crops.

3. Consider Your Surroundings

If you’ve found what you think is an ideal location for off-grid living, be thorough while researching the surrounding environment.

For instance, let’s say you’ve found an amazing parcel of land. It’s zoned for agriculture, livestock, and building a dwelling. There’s a clean water resource nearby, and no issues regarding composting toilets and solar power.

That’s great. But what about the local wildlife, both flora, and fauna? If you’re planning to grow a ton of your own vegetables, herbs, nuts, and fruits, which species are around that might prey upon them? Will you lose all your greens to elk, deer, and groundhogs? Are flocks of crows going to obliterate your corn and blueberries?

4. Determine Your Budget and Get Researching

As you’ve likely determined by reading this far, shifting to off-grid living will require a fair bit of monetary investment. If you want to have autonomous electricity, water, and food, you’re going to have to sort out the means of doing so. That means buying all the equipment you’ll need to live comfortably in your new lifestyle.Every single idea you have for off-grid living has to be rock solid in terms of planning.

Electricity

Your individual or group needs will determine the type of power equipment you’ll need to buy. For instance, if you live by yourself and prefer books over Netflix, you can get away with only using electricity for an hour or so a day. A family that relies on power for employment and entertainment will need a lot more.

Solar power is a great option.The technology has improved tremendously in the last 40 years, and of all the current renewable energy technologies.

With solar, you can slap them on the roof of your home or garage, create towers for them, or create a grid if you have a large enough parcel of land.

There are even portable panels that you can pop onto the roof of your car or drape over your backpack when you're out hiking during the day.

Water

A human will die after a few days without water, so a proper water source is a priority. Since you can live without electricity, you’ll probably want to shift water to the top of the priority list.

Will you have a source of clean, potable water if you disconnect from your local water grid system? Or are you moving to a location where you’ll be able to source it from the land?

If you’re going for rainwater and snow catchment, will you use aboveground storage tanks or underground cisterns? How much money do you have to invest in those and maintain them if they rupture?

Food

You have your water options sorted. Now, what about food? Living off-grid usually includes providing as much food for yourself and your family as possible. If you all eat a plant-based diet, then you’ll need to determine how much space you’ll need to grow enough for everyone.

Determine which plants everyone will eat, as there’s no point in growing okra or kale if someone hates it. Then you’ll need to test your soil to see what amendments are needed to make it fertile. After that, budget for the seeds or seedlings you need to purchase.

Start Small, Right Where You Are

You don’t need to sell all your belongings and head out to the woods in order to start adopting an off-grid lifestyle. In fact, you can start to make small changes right now that can lead you to more off-grid options in the near future.

Whether you live in an urban apartment or a semi-rural home, you can start reducing your dependence on the power grid by making a few small changes. Get some portable solar panels and use them to charge your phone, tablet, or laptop. Create a water catchment bucket for your balcony or back patio, and use it to water herbs and small vegetable plants you’re growing on your windowsills.

Hang your laundry outside to dry whenever possible: this doesn’t use any power and will do wonders to lower your electricity bill. Do you have a backyard? Get a cistern and rig up an outdoor shower. They’re wonderful, and you’ll be able to start (or end) your day with a blissful wash outside whenever the weather is nice.

Grow as much food as you can, wherever you can. Turn scraps into soups, preserves, and seasonings for other meals. Make your own clothes if you can, use candles in the evening instead of turning all the lights on.

Ease into this lifestyle bit by bit with small changes, while determining what type of lifestyle you really want to have. Once you’ve determined how it is you want to live, you can take firm steps to make that the reality. Just keep making lists, researching the best options for the items you feel that you’ll need, and set money aside to make it all happen.