Story Time Thursday

One thing I’ve seen commonly associated with homesteading is off-grid living. While the idea is similar, it’s not exactly the same. Homesteading usually is focused more on food production, while off-grid is focused on independence from “the grid”, particularly when it comes to energy.

Off-grid can mean simply living without electricity, but this is not an option or not an ideal solution for most people. Usually this is a temporary step for people wanting to homestead and live off-grid.

What off-grid living means for most is producing their own energy. Something we would like to look into for ourselves is setting up solar panels with a battery backup. In sunny areas, this can produce plenty of electricity and is a common choice for off-grid living and homesteaders.

Generators are another common option for off-grid living. The downside is that these generally run off of gas or diesel, which can be expensive if this is your sole power source. However, this can be good backup to a solar system for the days there isn’t enough sun.

For many, the ideal solution might be to remain connected to the power grid and simply rely on a solar system or generator as a backup. With power outages and rolling blackouts becoming more common, particularly in western states, it’s becoming more and more appealing to have a backup plan to keep the a/c and other essentials running.

Steps to energy independence and how it relates to homesteading:

• You don’t have to be off-grid to homestead

• Off-grid can work well as just a backup plan, rather than the main plan

• Solar and generators are the two top options to produce your own electricity

• Other energy sources are options but tend to produce less energy or are less reliable