Freedom with the Sun & Wind

Image Gallery With a little hands-on help from their neighbors, Rex and LaVonne Ewing achieved energy independence in their off-the-grid log home, powered by solar-electric panels and wind generator.

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

How a Colorado couple gained energy independence with a lot of gumption and a little elbow grease.

Big decisions never come easily, especially when they go against the grain. So when my wife LaVonne and I told our small-town friends that we intended to untether ourselves from the utility companies, you can imagine the picture this conjured up in their minds: a pair of misguided eccentrics sitting on a hard bench in a crude cabin, huddling around a dim, 12-volt bulb reading dog-eared books with oversized type, while bare wires spark and leaky batteries sizzle in the dark, cold recesses.

Actually, that image wasn't too far from my thoughts three years ago when I knew next to nothing about renewable energy. But we had owned our Colorado mountain property since the late 1980s, and it was time to move out of the flatlands and into the green, spacious hills outside of Masonville, on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. The unwieldy mortgage on the farm alone was enough to tip our hand. But I'd also long ago promised to build LaVonne a log home. Even though she never held my feet to the fire on it, I knew my promise was a debt she dearly wanted paid.

So we sold our lowland farm in the spring of 1999, hauled our belongings up the steep mountain roads and established a comfortable, but modest existence in small cabin, with a few tools and an old, cantankerous Coleman gas generator.

I'd like to say using solar and wind power was a high-minded motivation to save the planet, but our decision-like everyone else's in our area—really—was dictated by the fact that the nearest power line was at least $14,000 away. We figured we could configure a commendable wind and solar system for close to the same price of a few ugly poles and a lot of wire, and avoid a lifetime of electric bills. We were right: By doing the work ourselves, we installed a complete, trouble-free system for less than 512,000.

While I busied myself with plans for the construction of our new house, LaVonne researched suppliers, compared prices and finally ordered everything we needed to generate our own electricity.

When the equipment arrived several weeks later, I noticed the only thing that wasn't heavy, bulky and expensive was the two-page packing slip. It read like a list of instructions to build the International Space Station. But, being limited by a strict budget, the thought of hiring a renewable energy expert was never an option. Instead, I tapped into free, local resources: my neighbors. After all, they'd been living off the grid for years. I made a few visits around the mountain and asked a million questions about wiring this and configuring that until I was fairly certain I knew what I was doing.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print