Living off the Grid

The home, which is near Vulcan, Alta., is built with large south-facing windows angled to collect sunlight and heat. It has solar panels to generate electricity and cisterns to collect rain and snow melt that will be filtered for drinking water, as well as a self-contained sewage system.

Have you ever just wished to live off of the grid, in a secluded part of the world with no one to bother you? Well, husband and wife, Margy and Wayne Lutz did! They now live in their ultimate dream home: a float cabin in Powell Lake, British Columbia.

When snowboarders Susan Scott and David Scott of Scott & Scott Architects set out to build themselves an off-the-grid alpine cabin, they let the free spirit of their sport be their design guide. Located on the north end of Vancouver Island, the structure is located in an area renowned for its powder.

It was in 2011 that I first understood what off-grid living really meant. Before then I had heard people claim they were off-grid if they switched their cell phone off for a day or two. Other people thought anyone who lived in remote places was off-grid. None of that made any sense.

To be a genuine off-gridder your home is not connected to electricity from the power grid and your home does not access a town or regional water supply. You are without access to community utilities including waste disposal. In the days before the invention of mobile / cell phones, living off grid represented significant social isolation.

Living off of the grid doesn't have to include sacrificing the good life, just take a look at Wayne Adams, 66, and Catherine King, 59. This awesome Canadian couple spent 20 years creating a floating masterpiece located off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Construction of the self-sustaining floating island paradise began in 1991.

Wouldn't it be nice to own your own green dream home, made with recycled and natural materials and packed with custom features? Whether you're an experienced builder or have never picked up a power tool in your life, you can build a natural eco-friendly home with user-friendly, low-cost materials like cob, cordwood, straw and the dirt and wood from your own land.

Keith Robertson and Jennifer Corson of Solterre Design have built themeselves a house that presses so many buttons it's hard to know where to start. It is a 1500 square foot test bed of green tech mixed with simple passive design, with a green roof on top.

Off-the-grid homes operate independently of all public utility services. Gas, electricity, water, sewage disposal - it's all generated supplied or disposed of by independent means. Estimates for off-grid homes are approximately 300,000 off-grid homes in the United States and another 40,000 in the UK[1]. Why would you want to go off-grid?