12 Tips for Off-Grid Homesteaders to Get Their Homes Ready for Winter

Winter is Coming! Time to get ready!

Check Insulation

Inspect the insulation in your home and make any necessary repairs or improvements. Insulate walls, ceilings, and floors to minimize heat loss and maximize energy efficiency. Consider adding weatherstripping to doors and windows to prevent drafts.

Seal Air Leaks

Identify and seal any air leaks in your home. Use caulking or weatherstripping to seal gaps around windows, doors, pipes, and electrical outlets. This will help retain heat and reduce energy consumption.

Inspect and Clean Chimney or Wood Stove

If you rely on a wood-burning stove or fireplace for heat, ensure it is in proper working condition. Have your chimney inspected and cleaned by a professional to remove creosote buildup and reduce the risk of chimney fires.

Stock up on Firewood

If you use a wood-burning heating system, stock up on an ample supply of dry and seasoned firewood. Ensure it is stored in a dry location away from the house to avoid moisture buildup.

Check Heating Systems

Inspect and service your heating systems, whether it's a furnace, boiler, or alternative heat sources such as solar or geothermal. Clean or replace air filters and ensure all components are functioning efficiently.

Prepare Backup Heating Options

Have backup heating options available in case of power outages or system failures. This could include portable heaters, propane heaters, or a backup generator to power essential heating equipment.

Inspect Roof and Gutters

Check your roof for any signs of damage or leaks. Repair or replace damaged shingles, and clean out gutters and downspouts to prevent ice dams and water buildup.

Protect Pipes and Plumbing

Insulate exposed pipes to prevent freezing and potential bursting. Use pipe insulation or heat tape in areas susceptible to cold temperatures. Drain and shut off outdoor faucets, and consider insulating water tanks and well housings.

Winterize Outdoor Structures

Prepare sheds, barns, and other outdoor structures for winter. Ensure they are weatherproofed, repair any damages, and stock them with necessary supplies and tools for winter maintenance.

Stock Up on Essentials

Build up a supply of essential items to sustain you during winter storms or in case of isolation. This includes non-perishable food, bottled water, batteries, emergency lighting, blankets, and a first aid kit.

Check Batteries and Backup Power

Test and replace batteries in smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and flashlights. If you have a backup power system, such as solar panels or a generator, ensure it is functioning properly and ready for use.

Create an Emergency Plan

Develop an emergency plan that includes communication strategies, evacuation routes, and emergency contact information. Share this plan with family members and ensure everyone is aware of emergency procedures.

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By following these tips and adequately preparing your off-grid home for winter, you can create a comfortable and efficient living environment while minimizing potential risks and challenges that may arise during the colder months.

Survivalism in Texas / How to Build a Brick Stove

 If you've been watching the news lately coming out of Texas you have conclude the following:

#1. Texans almost never see snow. The blizzard has basically paralyzed them because they don't know what to do with the stuff.

#2. Texans don't own snow tires. Hence all the car accidents.

#3. Texans are not used to heating their homes using a fireplace, wood stove, oil furnace, wood furnace, or any other means.

#4. Texans are not used to being without electricity.

#5. The electrical grid in Texas was a giant catastrophe waiting to happen because nobody was maintaining it.

#6. The coal, gas and nuclear power generators are all failing in Texas because nobody thought to winterize their systems like they do in other states.

#7. Very few people in Texas know how to build a fire that doesn't involve burning their house down.

So let's tackle that last part today.

How to Build a Brick Stove or Fireplace

#1. Find or buy some bricks. Old bricks or new. Doesn't matter.

#2. Make some mortar / cement. You can mix it in a bucket if your have to. Avoid touching the stuff with your bare skin.

#3. Based on the number of bricks you have decide on a design that makes sense and makes an efficient use of your bricks. You may need to calculate how many bricks you need for each part of the stove or chimney.

#4. Build your stove or chimney close to a window through which you can put pipes to the exterior of your home so that the smoke has somewhere to go. Alternatively you may need to renovate / build a chimney along with your fireplace.

#5. Build it!

• Apply the mortar to one end of each brick evenly before adding it to the brick beside it.
  
• Add a layer of mortar each time you finish one layer of bricks.
• Remember that corner bricks need to have the mortar added to part of the side of the brick, not the end.
• If building a stove remember to find something that makes a suitable door.
• If building a fireplace then some people will want some kind of steel mesh or something similar to avoid sparks from igniting things near the fireplace.
• You may need to build some kind of stonework or brickwork near or around the fireplace for safety reasons.
  

Building a stove or fireplace isn't much more complicated than building a set of Lego blocks. It isn't really that hard to build, it just takes time and effort. If you can build a brick BBQ in your backyard then you can build a fireplace or a stove in your home. The biggest difference is that you need a pipe or a chimney to get rid of the smoke.

Off Grid Air Conditioning in July and August

So today is July 1st.

And July and August are the two hottest months of the year in Ontario. Which is common for anyone who lives in the northern hemisphere.

And I admit, I am a fan of air conditioning.

So going off grid is a problematic thing because I cannot imagine living in a hot humid place, being outside all day in the heat, and then coming home to a house that is likewise hot and unbearable.

So air conditioning is pretty much a necessity to me.

Unfortunately air conditioners also use a lot of electricity.

Typically we are looking at the following amounts for a window air conditioner:

• Large Window Units – 1440 Watts
• Medium Window Unit – 900 Watts
• Small Window Unit – 500 Watts

And in case you were wondering about a Central Air system...

Central Air Conditioner – 3500 Watts

So that is a lot of electricity being used.

Keeping in mind that a good $2,000 wind turbine will only produce a maximum of 3,000 watts on a day with adequate wind, so if you want an air conditioner in your off grid home it had better be a tiny air conditioner (in the bedroom only with the door closed), or else you had best think about getting 2 or more wind turbines or another source of electricity.

eg. You could get a diesel generator to burn diesel, to produce electricity to run the air conditioner.

Ah, the irony of burning diesel to get cooler.

Alternatives to Air Conditioning

#1. Build Underground

Warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer.

 #2. More Shade, Less Heat

Build canopies that go over your home to keep the heat off, creating shade to avoid the sun as much as possible. It doesn't have to be a permanent canopy, you could erect them to be temporary and seasonal.

#3. Cross Drafts with Ventilation

Open windows or doors so that the wind passes through your home and cools it during the process. Works well in combination with lots of shade. You can do this with architecture. Also helps if the "entrance" windows for the draft are facing the source of wind.

#4. Fans only do so much...

 But if you are going to use fans, then ceiling fans are the best for moving the heat out. Fans + a nice cross draft = wonderful.

#5. Geothermal Cooling / Heating

So this method takes more investment in terms of time and money.

What it does is pump water (some geothermal systems use air instead of water) from the house through underground pipes, which then circulates back into the house after cooling down since the ground is cooler. In the winter it can also warm the house using the same method, since the ground further under the earth is warmer in contrast.

While it costs more to install initially, you do save money on electricity later over time. Plus for an off grid home it actually makes the most sense and you want to have to avoid spending too much on your heating and cooling costs.

Conclusions

So you are not restricted to just using air conditioning. There are other options, and some of the options work quite well in combination.

eg. An underground home that uses geothermal cooling/heating, with lots of shade on the entrances and the option to have a cross draft if need be.

Just add three canopies to the house below and you will be pretty close to the ideal. Plus a canopy would keep the water in that pool cooler.

How to Build an Earthen Oven

You will need:

• Clay
• Dirt
• Straw
• Water
• Plastic Tarp (not a necessity, but helpful)
• Bricks (not a necessity, but helpful)

The video below breaks down all the steps you need to do in order to make your own earthen oven for baking bread and other goodies in.

Mmm... pie... mmm... cookies... mmm... more pie...

The Economics of Firewood

Living Off Grid often means you are using some alternative method of heating your home.

Traditionally wood is seen as the most economical, but is it really cheaper than say propane?

Well lets do the math.

If you use 2000 litres of propane per year (roughly November to April) to heat your off grid home, at 75 cents per litre that comes out to $1,500.

To get the equivalent amount of heat from wood you would need 3 full bush cords for the same November to April time period. At $350 per bush cord (pretty standard rate in Ontario), you are looking at $1,050.

Okay, you saved yourself $450. That makes wood cheaper yes?

Technically, yes.

But what about time consumption?

Once you get those 3 full bush cords you also need to cut the wood with an axe or a mechanical log splitter and then pile up the wood.

Then whenever you need to carry the wood into your home to be used, you need to go through the whole process of carrying it in, lighting a fire in your fireplace or wood-burning stove, and then keep feeding the fire.

You also need to either brush snow off your wood pile regularly, or build a roof that goes over the wood pile, possibly with a large tarp to prevent snow from drifting / blowing in to your wood pile.

Clearly, wood is not the best option for lazy people.

So how much TIME is required to do all that extra work?

Well if you end up toting around wood, chopping it into kindling, etc for 30 minutes (at least 30 minutes minimum) each day, over the course of November 1st to April 30th (181 days) you will spend at least 90.5 hours per year doing all that work.

Is it exercise? Sure. And exercise is good for you.

But how much do you value your time?

Personally I see my time as being worth at least $30 per hour. That is the minimum rate I charge clients in both of my two businesses.

But maybe you only value your time at say, minimum wage. So $15 per hour in Ontario.

90.5 x $15 = $1,357.50

So is wood still cheaper?

$1357.50 for TIME + $1,050 for wood = $2407.50

As opposed to propane. You click a switch on the thermostat and the propane heat starts warming the place up. But you are saving $907.50 worth of your time by being lazy.

What if you cut the wood yourself?

Well first you need to determine how many cords of wood do you need during the colder months? Do you need 3, 4, 5 or 6?

A single person living in a small house might only need 3 cords. Two people or a family living in a larger house are going to need a lot more firewood.

You should also know how much a cord of firewood is:

4 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet of wood.

So a single cord of wood might require you to cut down at least 3 large trees. (Or 2 very large trees.)

Really it depends on the size of the trees available...

So lets say you need 4 cords...

So that is 12 large trees that need to be cut down with a chainsaw, clean the branches and twigs off of it, cut the trunk and larger branches into logs with the chainsaw, and then split into smaller pieces suitable for burning, and then pile them in neatly in rows that you can use during the winter.

All of that is very time consuming. Cutting down a single large tree and processing it will take you about a day. Less time if you have help. So about 12 days to make 4 cords of wood.

Or you could just buy 4 cords of wood for $1,400 from the professionals who do it as a living.

You will also need:

Chainsaw + gasoline + an axe or mechanical wood splitter.

Minimum price of a gas chainsaw at Canadian Tire? $199.99 + HST. Highest price? $669.99 + HST.

Average price $434.99 for a gas chainsaw.

Plus 13% HST, so $491.54 total + however much gasoline you end up using. Lets say $500 even.

Plus repair costs whenever it breaks down, say once every 3 years. Or buy a new chainsaw every so many years. Whichever. Lets assume the cheaper chainsaw breaks more often than the more expensive ones.

So you do all of this work, the cost of the chainsaw is still $500, and you only really saved $900 instead of just buying 4 cords of firewood from your local professional woodcutter.

What about the Trees on your property?

Really depends how many trees you have on your small/medium/large property.

If you have a tiny property you might not be able to cut down 12 large trees each year without seriously effecting your privacy and the general sense of beauty/pride you have in your property.

A very large property might have ample trees that come down during windstorms that you really only need to collect the trees that fall down naturally and cut them up.

Can you just do a mix of both firewood and propane?

Absolutely. Sounds awesome.

You could simply have firewood for your fireplace and wood-burning stove, which you use for cooking/preparing food, and then use propane most of the time or whenever you feel lazy. Having both options available is certainly a thing to do.

Conclusions???

You really should do what is right for your situation.

You are the best judge as to whether you want to be spending your time getting exercise by collecting firewood or whether you would prefer to just buy propane. Or a mix of the two. There is nothing wrong with doing one, the other, or a mix of both.

Is propane lazier? Of course it is. But it also saves you a lot of time and effort.

So you have to ask yourself, which option is better for you?

Personally, I like having all my options available if I need to. A mix of the two works well for me. The romance of the fireplace, the convenience of the propane heater.

How To make a Self Feeding Fire

Need a way to feed a campfire over a longer length of time?

The above method will keep a fire going for many hours, and require only 4 longer posts and 4 shorter posts to set up. Once going it can burn for 12 to 16 hours before requiring additional logs to keep going.

Insulate your Cabin + Never run out of firewood

Want some quick tips on how to keep your cabin warmer in the winter?

Insulation Tip #1

Pile most of your firewood on the north side of your cabin, blocking the north wind from causing a wind chill effect on your cabin. The wood - even though it is outside - insulates your cabin from the wind chill coming from the north.

Insulation Tip #2

If you have tonnes (literally) of fire wood handy, you can also insulate other sides of your cabin. This effectively makes an insulating barrier and will keep the cabin warmer regardless of which direction the cold wind is coming from.

Insulation Tip #3

Cover your firewood with plastic tarps to keep them dry and weigh down the tarps with rocks or logs so they cannot blow away in the wind. The gaps between the firewood will then be dry air instead of getting wet or clogged with snow. This gives the dual effect of keeping your firewood nice and dry, but also prevents the wind from blowing through the gaps between the wood.

Insulation Tip #4

Fill in excess gaps around your cabin with additional wood. Under the stairs, around the foundation, under the porch, balcony, etc. You can even have fun with how you fill in the gap and make it more decorative, like the image below.

Insulation Tip #5.

You can even build additional structures on your property next to your cabin, creating additional wind breakers to prevent the wind from sucking all the heat out of your cabin. Such structures are also handy for storing non-essentials in - such as bicycles, canoe paddles, and anything which won't be damaged by the cold, but it would be nice to keep drier.

Insulation Tip #6

You can even make firewood fences around your cabin, creating a barrier that will keep out predators and scavengers - and simultaneously create more windbreaks that insulate your cabin.

All of these wind barriers around your cabin slow the wind down and allow your home to save on energy needs because the wind chill effect will be significantly reduced.




So where do you get all this firewood?

Well you can either buy it, cut down the trees yourself (with a chainsaw), or you can even get firewood for free on Craigslist or Kijiji - because sometimes people give it away for free, you just have to pick it up and remove it.

If you get really inventive you can even make mazes, ramps, archways, decorative fences - or even a house or castle. Not that those will insulate your cabin necessarily, but depending on how you use them I guess they could. Add a roof to the maze and suddenly it becomes an useful structure for storing things in.

One Dollar of Energy Conservation Equals $4 of Energy Production

Want to add electricity to your off the grid home?

Well here is a hot tip that will save you a lot of money. Find the most efficient way to use your electricity so that you conserve electricity as much as you can.

Basically what is at stake is the fact that (according to past studies by people exploring conservation of electricity) for every $1 you spend on conserving electricity (and heat / cooling) you can save roughly $3 to $5 (approx. $4) on energy production.

So for example if you spend $1,000 buying more efficient ways of heating, cooling, cooking, etc., then you will save approximately $3,000 to $5,000 on what it would cost to buy enough solar panels, wind turbines, etc in order to provide all the electricity you need for less efficient ways of cooking your food, refrigeration, air conditioning and heating.

That said yes, you can get a fair chunk of electricity from wind power...

And solar to complement the wind power...

And even hydro power, using a micro hydro turbine or water wheel.

If you have water near your off-the-grid home then water is a very good source of power that many people don't even explore the option of tapping into. You can build a micro dam, use a river's natural current and a water wheel, or even a generator that turns thanks to waves.

I even heard of one family that built their home over top of a stream, dammed it with a turbine, and then had the river flow through an artificial riverbed in their living room and exit the far side of the house in a waterfalls that turned an overshot water wheel. So they were getting electricity from the turbine, the water cooled their home like an air conditioner, and the water wheel on the far side was both attractive and provided additional electricity.

The stream froze up during the winter, but during the Spring, Summer and Fall they had most of the electricity they needed just from the stream. (A waterproof latch was closed on both entrance and exit during the winter and they would wash to artificial waterbed each winter.)

But to make any of this work that it provides enough electricity for your needs, having more energy efficient household items makes much more sense.

I for one believe in wood stoves strongly when it comes to heating and also cooking. Saves on both heating and cooking costs. The problem is that many people use their wood stoves just for heating and it never occurs to them they could use it for cooking too.

If you shop around however you can find wood stoves that you can cook on. And they are well worth the investment in my opinion.

Heating your home with wood is fairly cheap, but it also can be improved by getting a more energy efficient wood stove that allows you to get more heat out of it.

The problem with wood stoves is that a lot of the heat is lost through the chimney. As such I strongly recommend reading independent energy efficiency reviews on your wood stove before purchasing. If you can get a more energy efficient wood stove you will not regret having something that heats your home cheaply and efficiently. (Note that this is not the same as the fine particle emissions rating, that is something completely different.)

Zero Energy Home

The rather simple looking home above is designed to be "zero energy" - which in this case means it is off the grid, uses super efficient electrical devices within the home, and gets all of its energy from solar and wind power.

The south facing windows help keeps the home warm in the winter, and cool in the summer by using exterior blinds to shut out the sun.

List of Cooling Systems for Off the Grid Living

Air conditioners use a lot of electricity, but there are other ways to keep your home cool if you are living off the grid - although having the necessary cash is prohibitive for some of these ideas below.

#1. Geothermal - Useful for both heating your home in the winter and cooling your home in the summer. Basically it recycles air from below the ground into your home, which then averages out the temperature since the temperature below ground is much cooler in the summer and much warmer in the winter. (Kind of useless in spring or autumn however.)

#2. Cross Breeze - This is an old way of doing things, but still effective. You use drapes to keep out the heat from the sun, but open the windows on opposite sides of the house to let a cross breeze go through the entire house.

#3. Water Cooled Air Conditioner - Honestly I only have a vague idea of how it works, here is the diagram below. From what I can tell it works similar to a geothermal unit, but using water as a cooling agent.

#4. Dehumidifier - Often it isn't so much the heat that is a nuisance. It is the humidity in the air that makes it feel even hotter. To solve this a Dehumidifier can be a very handy solution - and price wise they don't cost much. Energy use varies however so look for an energy efficient one.

#5. Trees - This is an old trick. You plant leafy deciduous trees on the southern side of your house and pine / spruce trees on the north side. In the summer the leafy trees on the south provide shade and absorb a lot of the heat. In the winter the evergreens provide protection from winds from the north, while the leafless trees on the south side let in warmth from the sun.

#6. Ivy - Grow ivy and similar vines (eg. grapes) on the south, west and east sides of your home. The ivy absorbs a lot of the heat from the sun and keeps the house cooler. However ivy can cause damage to the brickwork of your home over the long term.

#7. Reflective Shutters - Shutters by themselves are handy things, but what if they were designed to be more like mirrors? Reflective shutters bounce light/heat away from your windows and keep the interior cooler.

Note: You can also get reflective blinds, but they're less effective because they're inside the window, whereas shutters are on the outside.

#8. Ceiling Vent - Similar to a cross breeze, but since hot air rises this is more effective.

#9. Fans - Not the most effective route honestly. Fans work best in combination with a cross breeze or a ceiling vent. Otherwise you are just blowing hot air around. A dehumidifier is a more effective use of your electricity on a hot and humid day. If you simply must get a fan then get a ceiling fan.

#10. Start using your imagination. Everything from building an ice cellar to bringing blocks of ice out of the freezer.

Off the Grid Technology

The following is a list of technological things useful for making a green home that is off the grid.

ELECTRICITY
Wind Turbine
Solar Panels
Hydrogen Power Converter
Water Turbine / Water Wheel
Wave Power Generator
Battery System

HEATING / COOLING
Geothermal
Solar Thermal Collector
Biomass Stove

WATER
Water Tank
Water Pump
Water Filter
Hot Water Tank / Hot Water Heater

WASTE
Septic Tank
Incinerator

If your home is completely self sufficient you won't even need a connection to the electricity grid (and you pay less land taxes if you don't have the connection). However the cost of getting all of these fancy toys for your home can be daunting which is why many people prefer a DIY approach to Off the Grid living.

Falling Off The Grid - Homeless People in Ontario

It may seem silly to some people that there are people who deliberately want to get "off the grid" so to speak, when homeless people "fall of the grid" accidentally when they get evicted, can't find a new place to live, can't afford a new place to live, and end up homeless on the street because there isn't enough affordable housing.

INTERESTING FACTS

#1. Toronto has approx. 50,000 homeless people - enough for a small city!

#2. 80% of Toronto's homeless population already have jobs (minimum wage type jobs). The problem is that the cost of rent is too high and despite having a job, they still cannot find an affordable place to live.

#3. Only 6% of homeless people have schizophrenia. So the stereotype that all homeless people are "crazy and lazy" is completely false. Most homeless people are actually hard working and perfectly sane, they just can't find a place that can afford while working a crappy minimum wage job.

It makes you realize we could problem solve a lot of our homelessness problems just by raising the minimum wage and making sure we are building affordable homes. See my other post "Solving Toronto's Homeless Problem".

What is weird is how for the 20% of homeless people who don't have a job, why do they stay in Toronto? Or any city for that matter? Why aren't they learning how to fish, how to hunt, how to garden, finding some piece of government owned land in northern Canada - and living off the land?

Well, it is because many of them still hold out hope that they will find a job (somehow) and find a place they can afford to live in. They simply haven't given up hope that they can somehow do those things.

Which to me means they should be coming up with more business savvy things to write on their cardboard placards when begging. Things like:

"I have a master's degree in engineering. Hire me!" and then begging outside the building of some kind of engineering company.

or

"I have a bachelor's degree in marketing. Hire me!" and sit outside an advertising agency.

Eventually someone walking by will see their placard and think "Hey, why shouldn't I hire that guy?"

Well you might think "Oh, he might have a drug addiction or be an alcoholic." True, but there are also lots of alcoholics and drug addicts that manage to hold down a job anyway, regardless. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford for example has a long history of drug and alcohol addiction dating back to the 1980s.

No, the sad fact is that most homeless people simply cannot afford a place to stay.

Check out the following quotes about homelessness and energy costs by Toronto charity worker Edward de Gale.

"Canada is the second coldest country on earth and with a climate like Canada’s, energy, like food and housing is a necessity of life." - Edward de Gale. 

"It is a little known fact that the inability to pay basic utilities/energy is the second leading economic cause of homelessness in this country." - Edward de Gale.

"Over 50,000 households a year have their power disconnected in Ontario while thousands of others struggle to provide the necessary energy to stay warm and cook meals. That’s one household with their power cut every 10 minutes, every hour, of every day, for a year." - Edward de Gale.

"Many Ontario households must choose between eating and heating, and seniors and those with special needs must choose between medication and heating." - Edward de Gale.

"Families, with minor children, unable to provide basic utilities/energy for their children are vulnerable to child protection orders because they are unable to provide the necessities of life." - Edward de Gale.