Category Archives: New Hampshire

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Off Grid, Grid-Tied or Hybrid Solar Power Array – Which Option Is Best for Your Rural Shed, Cabin or Home in Massachusetts?

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Which Solar Power Option Is Best for Your Rural Shed, Cabin or Home in Massachusetts? Off Grid, Grid-Tied or a Hybrid Solar Power Array?

Off Grid, Grid-Tied or Hybrid Solar Power Array - Which Option Is Best for Your Rural Shed, Cabin or Home in Massachusetts

Off Grid, Grid-Tied or Hybrid Solar Power – Which Option Is Best for Your Rural Shed, Cabin or Home in Massachusetts

Woburn, Massachusetts – As energy rates spike and frustrations with local utility companies continue to increase, a growing number of homeowners here in Massachusetts are seeking out ways to become more energy independent. Boston Solar often gets asked if it is possible to go completely off-grid with solar in Massachusetts for remote cabins and off grid properties.

Boston Solar says that installing solar is one of the best investments off-gridders can make for greater energy independence, and consulting with customers on what the best options are for families that are trying to decide exactly how much energy usage they need to offset for 24×7 operation.

For example, will homesteaders reduce their reliance on the power grid significantly by installing a grid-tied solar PV system, or will they want to cut ties to the local utility completely by installing an off-grid system? Or, will you opt for an in-between, hybrid option? We’ll explain what each of these systems means and help you choose which solar system is right for your home.

Which Solar Power Array Configuration is the Best?

One of the most important decisions you will need to make when you invest in residential solar is whether to install a grid-tied, off-grid, or hybrid system and understand what each of these mean. Here is a brief look at the benefits of each option, and what the implications are for your solar panel installation.

Grid-Tied Solar Power Array

Grid-tied solar systems are designed to provide a large percentage of your electricity needs while still allowing you to draw from the power grid as needed. During the day when the sun is shining, your grid-tied system supplies free and clean power for your home. Then, at night, you draw any electricity you need from the power grid.

Grid-tied systems are a popular option here in Massachusetts because they have a lower upfront cost but still offset a significant portion of a household’s electrical needs. Plus, if your solar system generates more electricity than you need during the day, you have the option to “sell” that electricity back to your local utility for credit if your utility participates in net metering.

Off Grid Solar Power Array

If you want to completely cut ties with your local utility company, you must install an off-grid system. Off-grid solar systems have more solar panels, plus a backup generator and enough battery storage to provide 100% of a household’s electricity needs.

Off-grid solar is typically only for properties that do not have access to the utility grid. If you are someone who heavily values energy independence and therefore want to minimize your reliance on the grid but not fully ready to go completely off-grid, you may want to consider a hybrid system.

Hybrid Solar Power Array

If you are looking for something like a hybrid of grid-tied and off-grid solar, you might consider a grid-tied system with a solar battery. This option is similar to an off-grid system in that it features battery storage, but it is not large enough to provide 100% of your electricity needs.

With this option, you can enjoy the greater energy independence that solar-plus-storage offers, without installing quite as large or expensive of a system on your property. Keep in mind, however, that solar batteries are still relatively expensive compared to solar panels.

Want to speak to an off grid solar expert? Call Boston Solar at 617-841-8484.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@OffGridLiving3

Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns that sell off grid, remote cabin, solar, rainwater harvesting, bushcraft, outdoor adventure, camping, backpacking, tactical prepper gear, tools, products and services that target rural and off grid properties.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with marketing managers, PR contacts and social media specialists as well as websites, portals and ecommerce center that want to launch successful marketing campaigns to an off grid, prepper, and bushcraft target audience that like to prepare for when Shit-Hits-the-Fan situations (SHTF).

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding PR” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to developing donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns to help raise money to introduce innovative new products and services to the marketplace.

How to Build a Rocket Mass Heater to Heat the Crawl Space of Your Off Grid Home, Cabin or Shed

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Heating the Crawl Space of Your Home, Cabin or Shed with a Rocket Mass Heater to Keep Your Home Warm During the Coldest Polar Vortex

What is a rocket mass heater?

A rocket mass heater a hyper efficient wood stove that uses far less wood to get a far more effective result, whether it’s heating or cooking. It grew out of efforts in developing countries to build a more fuel efficient, safer cooking stove and it has since morphed into an idea that could eventually replace your furnace.

When building your first off grid cabin, one of the chief concerns is what is the best to heat it. Most people rely entirely on wood fuel. A regular wood burning stove will make a big dent in the precious wood pile. But not with a rocket mass heater. For those who haven’t encountered one before, the rocket mass heater (RMH) is a well proven though not widely used way to burn wood very efficiently, and then capture all the heat produced, in a mass – normally a bench or bed – by passing the flue horizontally through it. (see below)

Off Grid Living – How to Build a Rocket Mass Heater to Heat a Home or Cabin

First it burns small fuel, which we typically don’t use in our range cooker. Secondly, it burns very efficiently and thus cleanly, so less fuel is required. Most people are a little skeptical about the claims made for RMHs, especially the cleanliness of the exhaust and the temperatures that could be reached inside the burner, but they are indeed very true.

Most will require a 20ft horizontal flue, heat retaining bench that snakes its way around the crawl space underneath the cabin and a 50 gallon steel drum needs to be designed as part of a building as outlined in the diagram above. It would be smart to build this at the same time your build your home or cabin.

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How to Build a Predator Proof Chicken Coop to Protect Against Coyotes, Foxes, Skunks, Opossums and Raccoons

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Off Grid Living – How to Build a Predator Proof Chicken Coop
to Protect Against Coyotes, Foxes, Skunks, Opossums and Raccoons

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Off Grid Living - How to Build a Predator Proof Chicken Coop to Protect Against Foxes, Skunks, Opossums and Raccoons

Off Grid Living – How to Build a Predator Proof Chicken Coop to Protect Against Bobcats, Coyotes, Foxes, Skunks, Opossums, Raccoons and Other Annoying Varmints

How to Build a Predator Proof Chicken Coop to Protect Against Coyotes, Foxes, Opossums, Raccoons, Skunks, Snakes, Owls, Hawks and Eagles

New Hampshire – Raising chickens for meat and eggs has been an important staple for pioneers for thousands of years. We highly recommend researching the links below and use them to plan ahead before building your first chicken coop and chicken run.

Building a predator proof chicken fortress will prevent a lot of worrying and stress about coming home to find all 50 of your chickens with their heads pulled off by a raccoon, fox or skunk that was able to grab them through flimsy chicken wire fences. Welded wire fences, buried hog panels, stones, electric fences and other valuable defense mechanisms will help secure your chicken coop and chicken run and make it safe from all predators.

Click on the picture above to view more photos of precisely how to build a rock solid chicken coop and utilize proactive steps that will help you build a chicken coop that is easy to clean and that will keep all of those dang nighttime varmints out including bears, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, mountain lions, opossums, raccoons, skunks, snakes, wolves and other varmints as well as protect against daytime flying predators such eagles, hawks, owls,

Please join our Off Grid Living Discussion Group on Facebook

To learn more and discuss off grid topics, please join our free Facebook group at:
Off Grid Living: Prepping to Live Off the Grid
Or, read more topics in our “Guide to Off Grid Living” at:
https://LivingOffGrid.Home.Blog/Guide-to-Off-Grid-Living/

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#Bears #Bobcats #ChickenCoops #ChickenRuns #ChickenWire #Chickens #Coyotes #DuckHuts #Ducks #Eagles #ElectricFence #Fence #Foxes #Hawks #HogPanels #MountainLions #NewHampshire #OffGridLiving #LivingOffGrid #News #Opossums #Owls #Predator #RabbitHutch #Rabbits #Raccoons #Skunks #Snakes #Solar #SolarLighting #UnitedStates #Varmints #WeldedWire #Wolves

How to Heat Water with Solar Hot Water Heaters and Stove Water Heating Jackets

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The Benefits of Using Passive Solar Heating and Wood Stove Water Heating Jackets to Heat Water for an Off Grid Shed, Cabin or Home

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How to Use Off Grid Solar Collectors to Product Free Hot Water

How to Use Passive Solar Collectors to Product Free Hot Water for Off Grid Properties

Various Types of Solar Hot Water Heaters to Heat Water for Off Grid Homes

United States – There are many options for solar water heaters that range from inexpensive home-made jobs to high-end state of the art commercial models.

If you switch to a solar water heating system, your use of electricity or propane will drop significantly; that number will approach zero rapidly if your backup heating system is a wood stove or firebox with a water jacket rather than occasional use utility electricity.

The home-made options are typically not suited for use during times of the year when temperatures dip below freezing. You would need to winterized them before any threat of fall or winter weather arrives. There are probably hundreds of variations that may be found on the internet. They range from coils of black plastic pipe on one’s roof to coils of copper inside a box with outer glass cover (creating a greenhouse effect).

Some of these utilize a DC electric circulating pump. It pushes the heated water into a storage tank and bring fresh cool water into the heater. This pump may be activated by a switch that is temperature controlled. But some are directly connected to a solar panel and only run when the sun is shining (precisely the same times that the water is being heated and needs to be circulated).

Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water Heaters

Evacuated tube models are composed of numerous rows of glass tubes with another smaller tube inside each of the larger tubes. A vacuum is pulled between each of the two tubes which greatly lessens the loss of heat to outside weather. Water or an antifreeze solution is then circulated through the inner tubes.

The advantages of evacuated tubes lie in greater efficiency and less heat lost. So they work quite well even during surprisingly cool temperatures. However they are somewhat fragile and may not be as suited to areas with a great amount of snow and ice due to the potential for breakage from buildup.

Flat Panel Solar Hot Water Heaters

These heaters look much like solar electric panels but contain tiny water passages which enable a great amount of surface area to come in contact with the heat from the sun. While not as efficient as evacuated tubes, flat panels still work very well and are certainly more rugged when faced with heavy snow and icy conditions.

Typically an antifreeze solution is circulated through the tubes or panels and the hot fluid is routed inside to a heat exchanger which transfers the heat of the fluid to the home’s hot water. There are some varieties of evacuated tube heaters that are called drain down systems, which do not require the use of antifreeze because the water drains away from exposed areas once the water cools off.

Thermo-Siphon Solar Hot Water Heaters

It is possible to set up a solar water heating system that doesn’t require an electric circulating pump. This would be called a thermo-siphon system, operating on the principle that heat rises.

This was the type of system we planned to install for our cabin in the summertime. The disadvantages would be the amount of work involved in installation, significant cost of commercial systems, and reliance on an electric circulating pump (unless it is set up as a thermo-siphon system).

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Solar Powered Lighting Systems for Off Grid Cabins and Sheds

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Off Grid Living: Solar Powered Lighting
Systems for Off Grid Cabins and Sheds

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Solar Powered Lighting Systems for Off Grid Cabins and Sheds

How to Install Off Grid Solar-Powered Lights

One of the first things you’ll learn when camping or off grid living is that without electricity, it gets dark quickly.

But solar power is a great way to provide a wide variety of lighting and security systems that will let see what is making that big bumping sound in the backyard at 2:00 am in the morning.

How Off Grid Solar Lights Work

Solar spotlights are powered by photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight to electricity on the atomic level. Each cell contains a thin, flat semiconductor panel with a positive charge on one side and negative on the other. Sunlight causes the semiconductor’s atoms to blow apart, releasing electrons; the electrons are recaptured as electric current between the positive and negative charges. The electricity then travels through a cable to power the spotlight. Solar energy is also stored in the interior battery for use at night or on cloudy days.

Uses for Off Grid Solar Security Lights

Solar spotlights are particularly useful in illuminating outdoor spaces where traditional extension cords or bundles of wiring aren’t practical, such as in formal gardens, large open lawns or residential entrances. Newer models offer light emitting diodes (LEDs), which illuminate more effectively and efficiently than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. Whether you choose to light a wide area from above or train the beam from ground level on an individual object, such as garden statuary, you can easily install individual spotlights without hiring a professional contractor.

Best Places to Install Off Grid Solar Lights

The foremost concern with installing solar spotlights is ensuring that enough sunlight reaches the photovoltaic cell. Spotlights today usually feature a long power cable between the cell and the actual light, so you can place the cell in a sunny spot that receives about eight hours of light a day, and position the spotlight where you want it.

For ground-level lighting, stake the cell in the ground so the cell faces the brightest sun, and then stake the light in the ground a few feet away from the object you wish to illuminate. Train the beam upward to focus on the object.

Mounting solar spotlights over entrances, garage doors or decks involves screwing the light’s baseplate into the vertical wall or post over the area you want to brighten, then angling the light’s beam downwards. With these types, the solar cell may be attached to the light’s hood or via a power cable; in both cases, the cell still needs to receive sufficient sunlight for operation.

Source: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/install-solarpowered-spotlights-79769.html

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How to Select a Wood Stove Based on the Size of Your Off Grid Cabin

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The 6 Essential Considerations for Buying the Right-Sized
Wood Burning Stove for Your Off Grid Shed, Cabin or Home

By 30X40 Design Workshop

The video above presents a comprehensive buying guide for wood stoves – a primer on exactly what you’ll need to know before buying a wood stove for your off grid shed, cabin, container home, earthship, steel building, tent, tiny house, yurt and/or any other type of off home.

Top Stove Buying Decision Include:

Steel vs. Cast Iron Cost
Stove Output (BTU vs. Size)
Firebox size
Efficiency Catalytic vs. Non-Catalytic
Flue (Interior and Exterior)
Hearth Protection
Wood Storage Ash Pan
Aesthetics Maintenance

Checklist of Items to Consider when Buying a Wood Stove:

It may be summer now, but winter is coming and its going to be a cold one. Here are some simple considerations to think about when buying the right wood stove for your shed, cabin or other type of off grid home.

1. Decide Between a Fireplace and a Wood Burning Stove

There are two main types of wood stoves. A fireplace, which is usually imbedded into a wall and a free standing stove, which sits in an open air space somewhere in a room. Fireplaces are usually open and waste a lot of energy and are prone to fires outside the fireplace as popping wood can send sparks flying out onto the room’s floor.

Free standing stoves are usually better because they can control the burn rate of your wood. They are much safer because they keep the fire enclosed inside a door. And, they radiant heat on a 360 degree basis, which is really important in very cold climates. When combined with masonry stone walls, they will heat up stone that will do a great job of efficiently heating up your home and keeping it toasty warm.

2. How Large Should Your Heat Source Be?

Picking the right sized wood stove for your living space is critical. A number of wood stoves for sale come with huge fireboxes, 3, 4, and sometimes even 5 cubic feet. But with modern insulation and the supplementary heat that most houses have now, these are usually overkill. A home between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet usually calls for a wood stove with a firebox between 2 and 2.5 cubic feet. If you’re heating a smaller space, like a garage or a cabin, you might want to try looking for even smaller wood burning stoves – 1 to 1.5 cubic feet.

3. Efficiency, Efficiency, Efficiency – Meeting EPA Standards

Higher efficiency means less money spent on wood, less work chopping and hauling wood, and a product that is better for the environment. Older wood stoves tend to be inefficient and waste wood and many companies don’t publish their efficiencies as a result. Look for wood stoves for sale that have EPA listed efficiencies of 70% or above to get the most bang for your buck. Some new stoves, like MF Fire’s Catalyst, also come with smart thermostat technology that helps to cut down on overheating, giving a real world efficiency boost of 20 to 25%. Buying a wood stove from MF Fire means less chopping, less stacking, and fewer trips to the wood pile during winter storms.

4. Clean Air and the New EPA Regulations

Gone are the days of smoke belching potbelly stoves. New clean air standards have set a high bar, restricting wood stove smoke emissions to only 2.0 grams/hour by January 2020, making nearly 85% of currently available wood stove illegal to sell. But some manufacturers are still trying to squeeze out their old units before the deadline. To get the cleanest and most efficient burn, look for wood burning stoves for sale with EPA listed emissions below 2.0 g/hr.

5. Catalytic or Non-Catalytic Fireboxes

When they were first introduced in the 80’s catalytic stoves, or wood burning stoves that use a catalytic combustor to reduce emissions, got a bad reputation. These initial poorly designed wood burning stoves were impossible to get started and used catalytic combustors that fouled and went bad after only a few seasons. New catalytic stoves don’t have those problems.

Most catalytic wood stoves for sale today are significantly cleaner and more efficient than their non-catalytic counterparts and those catalytic combustors can last for 10 years or more. When they do need to be replaced, the replacements generally cost less than $100. Some catalytic stoves can be harder to start, but buying a wood stove with new smart stove technology like automatic igniters or MF Fire’s TurboStart technology makes them easier to start than ever.

6. Smart Wood Burning Stoves

Technology is in everything nowadays: phones, cars, even refrigerators. Modern wood stoves are no exception. Some new wood stoves include features that make it easier to start, remotely control your burn, and even to protect your family from chimney fires. Buying a wood stove with these modern features help those of us who are getting up in years to do a little less work and have a lot more peace of mind. While smart wood stoves frequently cost a bit more, buying a wood stove with the added features are usually more than worth it.

7. Gathering and Stacking Wood

Acquiring, stacking and moving wood will become a part of your life. I personally embrace these as part of my choice to live in a cold climate, and I feel like the added effort is good for both myself and the environment — but it’s certainly not for everyone.

Source: https://mffire.com/

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Homes for Living Off Grid in New Hampshire

Searching for Information on How to Start Living Off Grid in New Hampshire? Our Living-Off-Grid.com Site Provides Everything You Need to Research Before Building an Off Grid Cabin in New Hampshire

How to Start Living Off Grid in New Hampshire

Have questions about what it will take to live off the grid in New Hampshire? Visit Living-Off-Grid.com to learn how to buy land in New Hampshire, select the type of home you want to build, size your solar power array for electricity, build a rainwater collection system for fresh water, provide heat with a wood stove, grow a raised bed garden, and more.

Who Wants to Start Living Off Grid in New Hampshire?

What is the Best Way to Find Affordable Off Grid Land for Sale in New Hampshire?

What Kind of Off Grid Home Would You Like Build in New Hampshire?

How Much Solar Will You Need for Electricity in New Hampshire?

How Much Rainwater Will You Need to Harvest in New Hampshire?

How Will You Heat Your Off Grid Cabin in New Hampshire?

How Will You Provide Food for Your Family in New Hampshire?

How to Build Fences/Roads for Off Grid Properties in New Hampshire?

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Best Countries to Live OffGrid Outside the United States

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How to Build the World’s Best Mouse Trap for Only $5 that’s Easy to Build

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Off Grid Living – How to Build the World’s
Best Mouse Trap for Only $5 Easy to build

Off Grid Living – How to Build a PVC Trap for Rats, Mice, Squirrels, Turtles & Raccoons

Catches and kills mice and rats all night long. No need to reset or re-bait. Rolling log mouse trap. This trap works best if you can get the holes drilled exactly in the centers of the pipe ends. In hind site I would have drilled them before pushing them onto the pipe.

Read, see and learn more at: https://buff.ly/2HSgWI7

Watch the #YouTube #Video: https://youtu.be/n1EsnIshQYw

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