With the river right there I would say ram pump for water, or if you want to go the solar route you can build a bank right into your power shed and have the panels on a smaller version of a chicken tractor so you can swing it with the path of sunlight. :)
have you looked into building a DIY Hydraulic Ram Pump and you can pump it from the River to your Place no electricity needed no matter how far the run is it will pump it up hill. You can by the parts at Lowes or Home depot or any other Big Box Store
The 150' length is not an issue nor is it a problem up hill its the total elevation from the water source to your container There are a lot of Vids and designs on the web as well that are very cheap to build and easy every 1' of drop from the source you get about 8' of elevation. Hope this helps
As for power get a battery bank and a charger. This will save you run time on your generator thus not needing to run generator each time you need power. However, you will need a converter for ac power from the battery bank. Solar is an option also. FYI IF you can afford the wire an ac hydro unit will bring in power from the river. Three miles is to far for dc power and wiring for dc is way to costly. In addition, going hydro power will allow a battery bank to be used as a backup. As for water, it depends on how much work your willing to put in, i'll start with simple first. Rain water is a good option. Being that you don't stay at the cabin all the time get a barrel at lest twice the size as you think you'll need. Daisy chain them together if you need to. This will help to ensure you will have water when you need it. Put up a gutter system to keep bugs out and not waste water. Now from hear you have options to use the water. I would then put in a metal tank that can handle fire to make it a bit safer before entering your filters and I recommend a number of filters as you can drink rainwater if you treat it right. Maybe a cheaper way in using rainwater is burkly water filtration. I would paint the barrals black then white to stop growth inside barrels from sunlight. Now a way to reactivate your well is to build swails to allow water to recharge your well over time. You will have to look at your property to see the best place(s) to create your swails. Basically you want to slowdown the flow of rainwater from running off your land so fast that it doesn't have time to soak into the ground to recharge your well. By me looking at your property from the video you may have massive rocks stopping this process naturally. Therefore you may have to look at an geiological map to see the best place to create your swails. Sometimes there's no easy yes or no answer put research will always tell you what you can't see. The best way to build a swail is to NOT totally stop water from running off your land but slow it down enough so rainwater can flow underground and not on top. So when building swails allow for over flow in heavy rainfall. (Slow down not stop water flow is key) All the info I've given you can be looked up online or via UA-cam. Please test me on anything I've told you.
Go for it! So many residential restrictions, but if you get off the beaten path a bit, you have a lot more freedoms to do things. Makes for a pretty peaceful life.
I know you've probably watched Simple Living Alaska, but they have an entire playlist about their solar system, and they are completely off-grid up in the wilds of Alaska.
Here is an idea - www.ntotank.com/330gallon-nto-white-rebottled-ibc-tote-tank-x8680614 - this tank is located in Gran Rapids, it's much like the one we used (we had larger ones for the community, but this one we used for watering plants). You can set-up an ad-hoc water collection system utilizing either the roof and a tarp that funnels down to a hose, collecting in the tank, or you can buy an inexpensive water pump and water line, pump water from the creek into the holding tank. These options are a great way to keep the eye-sore of rain collection to a minimum. But, if you want a dedicated rain catcher, you do not have to have gutters on both sides of your cabin, as you are in the NP, and rain should not be a limiting factor - so one side used to catch the rain would probably suffice. Also, consider putting a wire screen over the gutter or buy one that is a debris-free model. Utilizing the cistern method, you can utilize gravity to provide your house with enough water pressure for most things, and if you need more, a cheap water pump ($65) would give you all you need for a shower situation. I would also like to know more about the broken well, as it might be easily repaired and with the addition of a pump, you could be all set in no time.
HI guys. We use to live totally off grid and had propane fridge and freezer but not lights. We had a few very old solar panels for lights. One thing about your fridge. Maybe try rolling it. Propane tends to get air locks in them from time to time. So if you simply roll it it maybe that will work. But do it slowly. lay it down on its back and leave it for a while, then stand it on its top, leave it then on the other side etc until all 4 sides are done. That may solve the problem. We were luck to have a hand pump on our counter top for cold running water and i heated water on the wood stove. Anyways my hubby and i been talking about water catchment lately and even though we live in high snow area....we would still consider eve troughs. However we would take ours down for the winter or have them on hinges to drop them for the winter. A person wouldnt need to have their whole house done only 1 or 2 big sections of the roof. Then either bury a holding tank or have a tank in the basement. Anyways i love off grid living and now with LED lights, now there is no squinting trying to read by 12V lights anymore. Also a small on demand propane hot water heater might be a nice upgrade too.
Look into a 55 gallon drum for water storage and put a long long black hose to the river and use a pump to pump water up to the drum using your generator. At a cabin we go to they have a hand pump for the kitchen sink. I know you're a little distance from the river. I would take fridge to a camper business to have it looked at maybe it needs freon? You're right on for off grid electric by propane or generator. I've watched Boss of the Swamp for ideas. And bought a How To Off Grid book.
Boss, Lori, Frankie, and Tilde - great channel. Long time subscribers. I have an extra plastic 55 gallon drum at home, that I want to use at the cabin for water. Finding a traditional pump that will support 150' of head pressure, always seems kinda costly. Fridge: Yeah, I'm just going to bite the bullet and pull it out and bring it home. There's a camper shop nearby that said they'd take a look at it for me, if I can't figure it out.
@@1870s Look into the ram pump. Seems like there should be a pump out there similar to the ones we see pumping water out of ponds? that can bring up water to the drum. I want to set one by the trailer as it had a gutter. We have a Off Grid Vintage trailer out of state. We do have electric as it was there by the barn. Trailer is 30 amps. But the power co gave us 200 amp as I want a future barn cabin needs 100 amp. We haul water in a 250 gallon container on a trailer for now. The farmer has a permit to put in water spigots in places and will put on next to our property line so we can get water with a hose. That's probably been put on hold with this C-19 and riots. Husband made a dry put for septic till can have outhouse built. I also want a compost toilet. I have a booked called: the Composting Toilet System by David Del Porto. Water Storage by Art Ludwig. The Humanure Handbook.
That is a beautiful cabin. Living off grid seems to be getting a bit easier with solar power being less expensive than it used to be. I think the lack of running water would be more disturbing to me than the electric. While you are waiting to put up the gutters, I would look into getting those huge plastic storage containers (see Doug & Stacy's system). Is the water at the river to cold to take a quick bath there, at least during the summer months? Good luck with getting some ideas from your viewers. Have a Blessed day.
The river is pretty darn chilly. Most of it is spring fed, so even the summer it never really warms up. Since we're only there for short duration at a time, and how cold it gets here in Michigan, I'm not sure I want to mess with having to blow-out and winterize water lines. Full on-demand water would be nice tho.
jamaicans have running water, bits diverted to have tons of pools for hotels and tourists.. so a lot if jamaican homes have up high a rain barrel made of plastic and collects rain water attached to pipe system from the roof more often and provides a ready source of water. my aunts added something that heats the water for our gramps. some kind of geo thermal attachment so now when I'm in the country no more cold showers
SOLAR SOLAR SOLAR we thought we would not have enough power but, we have plenty of power for our needs. We have a Natures head composting toilet and love it. It's only two of us but, any more and it would over whelm it. So we use it only at night and in the snow. My friend created a pulley system to bring the buckets of water up a hill from the brook at his cabin.
Sometimes I think living the old way is good. It does make it more difficult because we are so used to all the conveniences, which I am very thankful for. You do have a nice get away.
Absolutely!! It's funny sometimes when we get home, we'll walk into a room and not even thinking about it, we don't turn on the lights. We just get into such a habit at the cabin, of not always having the "power on" we forget when we get home.
Solar Water Pump with a deep well submersible. Can't you put controls in the building by the river? You can run a surface hose straight up to the house.
Sounds good! We try to film multiple videos while were there. We always try to make sure we include for kind of cooking - especially over the fire. Can't be camp cooking!
No thanks I lived off the grid up in the mountains of Nevada enough for me lol. I'm looking at farms now up in the UP. Can't wait. Finally retired and I'm going to have plumbing and electric. I'm in the lower part of Michigan. I want peace and quiet to busy down here.
one of our rv dometic refrigerators wasn’t working well. we took it for repair and there was a spider web in the access panel outside that needed to be removed. simple fix
I've tried to clean it all out as best I could, but I think I'm just gunna have to bite the bullet and pull it out of the cabin and bring it home - to clean it properly.
Todd, check out DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse. He has DIY battery and solar projects. He's also published a few books as well. That's a neat cabin you have there!
Does the extra wire in your extension cord and length of run cause too much resistance and lower your overall power availability? What about a non-permanent water wheel in the river which could either pump water up the hill or generate electricity? There is always solar and wind options, though that can be an expensive endeavor. I love the rain water collection option, considering you don't live in the cabin full time, you will be sure to have water all the time! Dometic makes some other great appliances...they make stuff for sailboats too so always energy conscious. There is an oven I saw from GoSun.co which could help with some cooking chores.
120V AC doesn't drop that much, for that short of a run. If we were running DC power, yeah it'd definitely be an issue with longer runs - especially at low voltages like 12V. I have an extra 55gallon plastic drum for collection. It'd basically fill up while we're not there, and be ready to go on arrival. That would easily last several showers for quite a bit of people on a long weekend.
. A lot depends on your budget. You also have to know if you plan is to be part timers there or there’s a chance of you full timing. That will matter to your plan. I don’t know how far to river or open space because that can dictate the practicality of any project... Power:: Small solar system if your staying part time there. Maybe set it up to be able to expand it Incase you plan on living there full time. Maybe hydroelectric? Before investing in that I’d consult with a professional or someone that knows a lot about it.. Water : well is expensive Rain water catchment system you mentioned but that is seasonal. You will have to winterize tanks in S of M and piping unless you use underground tanks which are harder to maintain and more expensive. Also a Hydraulic Ram pump that one of your followers mentioned above. Once you get water to house RV tanks with everything pumps in kitchen and Bathroom. I know this if it were my cabin I would also consider putting in some type of composting or incinerator toilet. My wife is not going out in the middle of the night! Good luck to you both.
We're only part timers. Once we retire, we may do longer trips. For now, just (long) weekends. I'd really like to add solar, but I want to keep at least the battery portion portable if I can. Something I could haul back and forth - it gets cold here in winter, and frozen batteries aren't good. While we could add plumbing for running water pretty easy, I'd just end up being another thing we'd have to winterize every year. We also go up in the late fall and early spring sometimes - right now there's nothing we really need to "open up the cabin" for use, and nothing to do to "shut it down" during the colder seasons. That simplicity kinda works for us, for now.
I'm not sure if our setup currently has a filter / trap. It was all plumed with copper tubing when we purchased the cabin 5 years ago. Guess when I dig into pulling the fridge to bring it home, I'll have to make note of that.
Definitely something we want to add. I'd like to just leave the panels there, but have ability to transport batteries back and forth. Rachel really wants to add a composting toilet someday. Me, not so much - Todd
Watch “Off grid with Doug and Stacy.” They are amazing!
We use the same Honda generator, adding a fuel extender tank helps so much. We bought ours through Northern tool.
With the river right there I would say ram pump for water, or if you want to go the solar route you can build a bank right into your power shed and have the panels on a smaller version of a chicken tractor so you can swing it with the path of sunlight. :)
have you looked into building a DIY Hydraulic Ram Pump and you can pump it from the River to your Place no electricity needed no matter how far the run is it will pump it up hill. You can by the parts at Lowes or Home depot or any other Big Box Store
Will it go 150' uphill?
The 150' length is not an issue nor is it a problem up hill its the total elevation from the water source to your container There are a lot of Vids and designs on the web as well that are very cheap to build and easy every 1' of drop from the source you get about 8' of elevation. Hope this helps
As for power get a battery bank and a charger. This will save you run time on your generator thus not needing to run generator each time you need power. However, you will need a converter for ac power from the battery bank. Solar is an option also. FYI IF you can afford the wire an ac hydro unit will bring in power from the river. Three miles is to far for dc power and wiring for dc is way to costly. In addition, going hydro power will allow a battery bank to be used as a backup.
As for water, it depends on how much work your willing to put in, i'll start with simple first. Rain water is a good option. Being that you don't stay at the cabin all the time get a barrel at lest twice the size as you think you'll need. Daisy chain them together if you need to. This will help to ensure you will have water when you need it. Put up a gutter system to keep bugs out and not waste water. Now from hear you have options to use the water. I would then put in a metal tank that can handle fire to make it a bit safer before entering your filters and I recommend a number of filters as you can drink rainwater if you treat it right. Maybe a cheaper way in using rainwater is burkly water filtration. I would paint the barrals black then white to stop growth inside barrels from sunlight. Now a way to reactivate your well is to build swails to allow water to recharge your well over time. You will have to look at your property to see the best place(s) to create your swails. Basically you want to slowdown the flow of rainwater from running off your land so fast that it doesn't have time to soak into the ground to recharge your well. By me looking at your property from the video you may have massive rocks stopping this process naturally. Therefore you may have to look at an geiological map to see the best place to create your swails. Sometimes there's no easy yes or no answer put research will always tell you what you can't see. The best way to build a swail is to NOT totally stop water from running off your land but slow it down enough so rainwater can flow underground and not on top. So when building swails allow for over flow in heavy rainfall. (Slow down not stop water flow is key) All the info I've given you can be looked up online or via UA-cam. Please test me on anything I've told you.
I absolutely love your cabin. I want to go off grid so bad. Thanks for sharing. 🤗🌸
Go for it! So many residential restrictions, but if you get off the beaten path a bit, you have a lot more freedoms to do things. Makes for a pretty peaceful life.
I know you've probably watched Simple Living Alaska, but they have an entire playlist about their solar system, and they are completely off-grid up in the wilds of Alaska.
Here is an idea - www.ntotank.com/330gallon-nto-white-rebottled-ibc-tote-tank-x8680614 - this tank is located in Gran Rapids, it's much like the one we used (we had larger ones for the community, but this one we used for watering plants). You can set-up an ad-hoc water collection system utilizing either the roof and a tarp that funnels down to a hose, collecting in the tank, or you can buy an inexpensive water pump and water line, pump water from the creek into the holding tank. These options are a great way to keep the eye-sore of rain collection to a minimum. But, if you want a dedicated rain catcher, you do not have to have gutters on both sides of your cabin, as you are in the NP, and rain should not be a limiting factor - so one side used to catch the rain would probably suffice. Also, consider putting a wire screen over the gutter or buy one that is a debris-free model. Utilizing the cistern method, you can utilize gravity to provide your house with enough water pressure for most things, and if you need more, a cheap water pump ($65) would give you all you need for a shower situation. I would also like to know more about the broken well, as it might be easily repaired and with the addition of a pump, you could be all set in no time.
HI guys. We use to live totally off grid and had propane fridge and freezer but not lights. We had a few very old solar panels for lights. One thing about your fridge. Maybe try rolling it. Propane tends to get air locks in them from time to time. So if you simply roll it it maybe that will work. But do it slowly. lay it down on its back and leave it for a while, then stand it on its top, leave it then on the other side etc until all 4 sides are done. That may solve the problem. We were luck to have a hand pump on our counter top for cold running water and i heated water on the wood stove. Anyways my hubby and i been talking about water catchment lately and even though we live in high snow area....we would still consider eve troughs. However we would take ours down for the winter or have them on hinges to drop them for the winter. A person wouldnt need to have their whole house done only 1 or 2 big sections of the roof. Then either bury a holding tank or have a tank in the basement. Anyways i love off grid living and now with LED lights, now there is no squinting trying to read by 12V lights anymore. Also a small on demand propane hot water heater might be a nice upgrade too.
Look into a 55 gallon drum for water storage and put a long long black hose to the river and use a pump to pump water up to the drum using your generator. At a cabin we go to they have a hand pump for the kitchen sink. I know you're a little distance from the river. I would take fridge to a camper business to have it looked at maybe it needs freon? You're right on for off grid electric by propane or generator. I've watched Boss of the Swamp for ideas. And bought a How To Off Grid book.
Boss, Lori, Frankie, and Tilde - great channel. Long time subscribers. I have an extra plastic 55 gallon drum at home, that I want to use at the cabin for water. Finding a traditional pump that will support 150' of head pressure, always seems kinda costly.
Fridge: Yeah, I'm just going to bite the bullet and pull it out and bring it home. There's a camper shop nearby that said they'd take a look at it for me, if I can't figure it out.
@@1870s Look into the ram pump. Seems like there should be a pump out there similar to the ones we see pumping water out of ponds? that can bring up water to the drum. I want to set one by the trailer as it had a gutter. We have a Off Grid Vintage trailer out of state. We do have electric as it was there by the barn. Trailer is 30 amps. But the power co gave us 200 amp as I want a future barn cabin needs 100 amp. We haul water in a 250 gallon container on a trailer for now. The farmer has a permit to put in water spigots in places and will put on next to our property line so we can get water with a hose. That's probably been put on hold with this C-19 and riots. Husband made a dry put for septic till can have outhouse built. I also want a compost toilet. I have a booked called: the Composting Toilet System by David Del Porto. Water Storage by Art Ludwig. The Humanure Handbook.
That is a beautiful cabin. Living off grid seems to be getting a bit easier with solar power being less expensive than it used to be. I think the lack of running water would be more disturbing to me than the electric. While you are waiting to put up the gutters, I would look into getting those huge plastic storage containers (see Doug & Stacy's system). Is the water at the river to cold to take a quick bath there, at least during the summer months? Good luck with getting some ideas from your viewers. Have a Blessed day.
The river is pretty darn chilly. Most of it is spring fed, so even the summer it never really warms up. Since we're only there for short duration at a time, and how cold it gets here in Michigan, I'm not sure I want to mess with having to blow-out and winterize water lines. Full on-demand water would be nice tho.
jamaicans have running water, bits diverted to have tons of pools for hotels and tourists.. so a lot if jamaican homes have up high a rain barrel made of plastic and collects rain water attached to pipe system from the roof more often and provides a ready source of water. my aunts added something that heats the water for our gramps. some kind of geo thermal attachment so now when I'm in the country no more cold showers
Thank you for sharing
SOLAR SOLAR SOLAR we thought we would not have enough power but, we have plenty of power for our needs. We have a Natures head composting toilet and love it. It's only two of us but, any more and it would over whelm it. So we use it only at night and in the snow. My friend created a pulley system to bring the buckets of water up a hill from the brook at his cabin.
I really want a composting toilet!
Sometimes I think living the old way is good. It does make it more difficult because we are so used to all the conveniences, which I am very thankful for. You do have a nice get away.
Absolutely!! It's funny sometimes when we get home, we'll walk into a room and not even thinking about it, we don't turn on the lights. We just get into such a habit at the cabin, of not always having the "power on" we forget when we get home.
Solar Water Pump with a deep well submersible. Can't you put controls in the building by the river? You can run a surface hose straight up to the house.
Maybe a bit about how you cook, but I think that was on the first video. Nice peaceful place to relax and unwind I bet.
Sounds good! We try to film multiple videos while were there. We always try to make sure we include for kind of cooking - especially over the fire. Can't be camp cooking!
What about getting the old well running again and getting a composting toilet inside?
No thanks I lived off the grid up in the mountains of Nevada enough for me lol. I'm looking at farms now up in the UP. Can't wait. Finally retired and I'm going to have plumbing and electric. I'm in the lower part of Michigan. I want peace and quiet to busy down here.
Haha, I get it.
one of our rv dometic refrigerators wasn’t working well. we took it for repair and there was a spider web in the access panel outside that needed to be removed. simple fix
I've tried to clean it all out as best I could, but I think I'm just gunna have to bite the bullet and pull it out of the cabin and bring it home - to clean it properly.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
living traditions you tube channel has a small cabin for guests on their property. they have a video with the solar generator you mentioned.
We watch them, but didn't realize they had a cabin. I'll have to search their channel and check it out.
That 1870's Homestead The video is titled. the perfect off grid solar for our tiny house guest cabin.
Todd, check out DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse. He has DIY battery and solar projects. He's also published a few books as well. That's a neat cabin you have there!
Already subscribed to him. He's got some great content, and explains things really well.
Excellent 👍 video.. Blessings
Thank you Carolyn!
Does the extra wire in your extension cord and length of run cause too much resistance and lower your overall power availability? What about a non-permanent water wheel in the river which could either pump water up the hill or generate electricity? There is always solar and wind options, though that can be an expensive endeavor. I love the rain water collection option, considering you don't live in the cabin full time, you will be sure to have water all the time!
Dometic makes some other great appliances...they make stuff for sailboats too so always energy conscious. There is an oven I saw from GoSun.co which could help with some cooking chores.
120V AC doesn't drop that much, for that short of a run. If we were running DC power, yeah it'd definitely be an issue with longer runs - especially at low voltages like 12V. I have an extra 55gallon plastic drum for collection. It'd basically fill up while we're not there, and be ready to go on arrival. That would easily last several showers for quite a bit of people on a long weekend.
.
A lot depends on your budget. You also have to know if you plan is to be part timers there or there’s a chance of you full timing. That will matter to your plan. I don’t know how far to river or open space because that can dictate the practicality of any project... Power:: Small solar system if your staying part time there. Maybe set it up to be able to expand it Incase you plan on living there full time. Maybe hydroelectric? Before investing in that I’d consult with a professional or someone that knows a lot about it.. Water : well is expensive Rain water catchment system you mentioned but that is seasonal. You will have to winterize tanks in S of M and piping unless you use underground tanks which are harder to maintain and more expensive. Also a Hydraulic Ram pump that one of your followers mentioned above. Once you get water to house RV tanks with everything pumps in kitchen and Bathroom. I know this if it were my cabin I would also consider putting in some type of composting or incinerator toilet. My wife is not going out in the middle of the night!
Good luck to you both.
We're only part timers. Once we retire, we may do longer trips. For now, just (long) weekends.
I'd really like to add solar, but I want to keep at least the battery portion portable if I can. Something I could haul back and forth - it gets cold here in winter, and frozen batteries aren't good.
While we could add plumbing for running water pretty easy, I'd just end up being another thing we'd have to winterize every year. We also go up in the late fall and early spring sometimes - right now there's nothing we really need to "open up the cabin" for use, and nothing to do to "shut it down" during the colder seasons. That simplicity kinda works for us, for now.
Thank you. Have you installed larger solid panels on your property
we have (2) rigid panels, but they aren't permanently mounted. Our tree canopy is so large, we often have to "chase" the sun with them.
Cabin looks nice! Wonder if you could use some solar panels to help with power!
Definitely something we want to add. I'd like to just leave the panels there, but have ability to transport batteries back and forth.
Could you run a hose down to the water and add a pump to pull the water up to the cabin instead of carrying it?
It'd take quite a pump. It's about 150' uphill.
Do they reccomend any type of propane filter or sediment trap with your refrigerator?
I'm not sure if our setup currently has a filter / trap. It was all plumed with copper tubing when we purchased the cabin 5 years ago. Guess when I dig into pulling the fridge to bring it home, I'll have to make note of that.
@@1870s We have a Big Buddy propane heater and they sell a separate screw on filter...something may be available for your fridge???
Solar on the roof for more energy and composting towelette perhaps
Definitely something we want to add. I'd like to just leave the panels there, but have ability to transport batteries back and forth. Rachel really wants to add a composting toilet someday. Me, not so much - Todd
Thanks for sharing, have a question on the propane fridge is it vented? If so how is it done? TIA
Yes. It must be vented. Our vents through the wall, with vents to keep critters out
A battery stick vacuum
turn your goat house into your bathhouse/sauna