Going "Off Grid"

[Orionaut]

Assuming, hypothetically, that one is in a position whereby one has a well/borehole for water, septic tank for sewerage, oil/solid fuel for heating and sufficient solar/wind/CHP/etc capacity to meet ones electricity needs,

How does one get oneself officially "Cut Off" (IE no utility supply or accounts at all)

Edit to add, Should this be in "Home and garden"?

 

[Orionaut]

Are there really many that don't have mains water? Are people still using hand pumps or something?

Back in the 60's/70's the farm we, as a family, used to stay at for our summer holidays in Cornwall had, as its sole domestic water supply, a hand pump in the kitchen.

The only other source for potable liquid was the Cows. Our breakfast cornflakes came with warm frothy milk that ten minutes earlier was inside said Cows!

Wonderful really.

 

[Orionaut]

Would you want to cut off completely though. Being able to sell your excess power back to the grid and buy power if weather prevented your method(s) from working would be useful.

If you are a "low user" the standing/daily charges that utility accounts all seem to apply these days are particularly painful ​

And yes, I am asking because I am shortly to be in a position where all this is a significant possibility.

I dare say there are all sorts of regulatory/technical hoops one would need to jump through in order to sell surplus electricity. I really do not want to be bothered. Sad really since what I have in mind will almost certainly be capable of generating an excess at certain times of the year, possibly quite a significant excess (5-10Kw)

 

[Orionaut]

I've been following this guy on youtube for awhile now:

He lives totally off grid, I'm not really planning on doing the same anytime soon but I find the idea of doing so pretty interesting.

I have one of these (This is not mine)

These old Listers can run continuously, literally, for months, even years. They generate around 4KWhr/litre of pretty much anything you want to put into them (Diesel, heating oil, Waste motor oil, Chip fat, Rendered down dead bodies of ones enemies, etc )

I also have a rather more powerful 7.5KVa gen set that I built from scratch based on a Perkins 4108 diesel engine (With a marine exhaust manifold to maximise the heat>Water CHP utility)

(Unfortunately the 4108 has a hydraulically regulated, rather than a mechanically regulated, injector pump so its speed regulation is poor, I modified the springs to improve matters but there is still a lot of droop between no load and full load. I have set it to 60Hz no load to 50Hz full load. The Leroy Summer alternator is fine within this range since it is rated at both speeds.)

So yes, I have plans!

I will be posting more about this in the future.

 

[Orionaut]

In this case, you do not legally have to buy anything from any of these companies. Just contact them and have them close the accounts, they will need to come out and disconnect you for which i cant think that there could possibly be a charge if you are stating that you want nothing from them.

The only services which i couldnt imaging wanting cut off are power and telephone/fibre (however fixed line internet is delivered in your area). Even if you do manage to generate 4KWH/L, the cheapest readily available bulk fuel is what...kerosene? This is over 50ppl+5%VAT at least here in Oxon. You might as well just buy power from the grid with zero noise/hassle/setup required? Internet, i wouldnt personally want to swap FTTP with 4G regardless of cost.

You are missing the point. I need the kerosene for heating anyway. the electricity would come as a free by-product # (For half the year anyway, for the other half Sunlight might well be enough to do the job)

(# Obviously not-free. there is a lot of work and other expense involved in being off-grid. But I have always liked the idea of Autarky, or at least as much Autarky as I can achieve. it is one of the reasons why I am a hard Brexiter! )