Earthship post #3
August 2016
Nearly one month in
We’ve settled in nicely to our new home and routines. We got our son and his kids a 5th wheel. It’s older, but he seems pleased and it gives them, and us, our own spaces.
Our plan to remain debt free may be a big concern soon. Our money has gone quickly. We’ve had to pay for many extras the county is requiring. We got the plans for the house last night, and just as I had predicted, it’s complicated. It’s way more that Dave can do alone. Then of course there’s the money issue. We are both feeling a bit overwhelmed, but I’ve been praying and a sense of peace has overtaken me.
We had the perk test done and received the plans for the septic system from the engineer for that. Looks like we’ll be okay in that respect.
Dave has had two different contractors out to give us bids for the dirt and septic system work. The first guy was really excited and wanted to do some trade in landscaping rocks, but called a few days later and told us he was too busy and couldn’t do our project. We weren’t exactly sure what happened. He was so excited, but then turned cold.
Oh well, we are using our son-in-law’s brother instead. He is very busy though and can’t work us in until October. That’s disappointing, but understandable. Summer is their busy time. He’s also given us the name of a general contractor who may be able to help us out without costing us all the rest of our money.
We contacted a few places for a solar system and through a few referrals came up with a company that specializes in off grid systems. Dave met with them and was very excited to possibly work with them. They’ll give us a bid for a couple of different plans for us to choose from. I was reluctant to go ahead with the solar system since we probably won’t get to really build until spring, but after Dave shared that we could be using the system for our campers instead of the noisy expensive gas generator, and I prayed about it, I realized he’s absolutely right. Again, I was holding back because of the money, but I know now, we need to get as much done this fall as possible. The Lord will provide. This was His plan all along anyway.
We’ve got a place for our kids, a shed for the dogs, a tentative place for our home and lots and lots of hope for a bright future.
We went with http://www.backwoodssolar.com for our system; they were very helpful on the phone. They explained all the parts I needed, and then I went through their catalog and picked all the middle of the road brand names, best bang for the buck. The cool thing about getting your solar is you can use it to run your tools while building. There are also cheaper ways to do it. You can build a smaller system and save money and when the house is built add on to the system. Starry Hilder is a fun person to watch on Youtube, she tells how she and her husband installed their cheaper solar system without too much cost and expanded it since.
Thanks we found a great local solar company Mountain Power solutions. Great guys and so easy to work with. It’s pretty exciting to actually start living off the grid with help from great people!
I understand the desire to work with someone local. Backwoods is local in my area and I ended up dropping by more than once for advice especially when it came to wiring
I love these guys. My hubby and I have a million questions every time they stop by. They are very patient and helpful and said they will go over everything when we actually get the final from the county.
Even off the grid, there are codes, inspections and government red tape. 😬
Even off the grid there are permits, inspections and government red tape. 😬