Living Off the Grid (And Without Propane)

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Bill and Lorraine Kemp have been living off the grid for 20 years. They power their home with electricity from solar and wind electric systems, heat with wood, and use solar and wood-fired water heating.
Bill and Lorraine Kemp have been living off the grid for 20 years. They power their home with electricity from solar and wind electric systems, heat with wood, and use solar and wood-fired water heating.
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About 85 percent of the home’s power comes from solar electric panels.
About 85 percent of the home’s power comes from solar electric panels.
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These solar water heating panels provide about 60 percent of the Kemps’ hot water.
These solar water heating panels provide about 60 percent of the Kemps’ hot water.
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When the Kemps moved away from propane, they ended up with several stoves they use for different purposes. This woodstove is for home heating.
When the Kemps moved away from propane, they ended up with several stoves they use for different purposes. This woodstove is for home heating.
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The electricity the Kemps generate feeds into this bank of batteries.
The electricity the Kemps generate feeds into this bank of batteries.
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Lorraine and Bill Kemp (shown here with dogs Shadow and Cedar) have committed to consuming as little fossil fuel energy in their home as possible. The 1.5-kilowatt wind turbine in the background supplies about 10 percent of their electricity.
Lorraine and Bill Kemp (shown here with dogs Shadow and Cedar) have committed to consuming as little fossil fuel energy in their home as possible. The 1.5-kilowatt wind turbine in the background supplies about 10 percent of their electricity.
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This energy-efficient electric induction cooktop is used for cooking during summer.
This energy-efficient electric induction cooktop is used for cooking during summer.
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This wood cookstove helps with heating, water heating and winter cooking.
This wood cookstove helps with heating, water heating and winter cooking.
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The Kemps’ renewable energy systems produce enough electricity to power all of the usual home electronics, including a large television.
The Kemps’ renewable energy systems produce enough electricity to power all of the usual home electronics, including a large television.

Twenty years ago, when my wife, Lorraine, and I decided to move off the grid, our motivation was simple. Lorraine wanted to move closer to her family, preferably to a piece of land large enough to offer some privacy and plenty of room to support her “addiction” to animals. A lot at the back of her family’s farm fit the bill (and the wallet). There was only one downside: It would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to connect the property to the nearest electric lines. The solution was obvious: Don’t connect to the grid and instead plan to run our house entirely with renewable energy. We put our plan into action, and have been enjoying off the grid living ever since. Here’s how we run our rural Ontario home using an absolute minimum of fossil fuel energy.

An Efficient, Off-Grid Home

We built our home to look like a traditional country farmhouse from the early 1900s, and added some passive solar features to reduce the heating and cooling load. For example, the large roof overhang on the front porch shades the house from direct sunlight in the summertime while allowing the low-angle winter sun to warm the house. We also made the home as energy efficient as possible. We insulated primarily with blown-in cellulose, manufactured from recycled paper products. For areas that were difficult to insulate in this manner, we used spray foam (urethane) insulation, which has the added benefit of forming its own vapor barrier. Other energy-efficient features of our home include solar-powered vent fans, radiant-barrier insulation, vapor and wind barriers, and careful joint sealing.

Our domestic water system is “off the grid,” too, and we’ve made it as efficient and eco-friendly as possible. We have a standard drilled well with a deep-well submersible pump and a large water-pressure accumulator tank to minimize pump cycling. Our fixtures are all low-flow or ultra-low flow, which keeps our water consumption well below half the Canadian national average of 91 gallons per person per day. Our septic tank has an effluent filter, and a leaching bed that allows our wastewater to percolate through the earth and right back into the water table. To keep the water clean, we have always used natural and phosphate-free cleaners.

Solar and Wind Power

  • Published on Sep 21, 2011
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