I recently got a message from someone who saw one of my comment replies about LED lighting and wanted to know more about my off-grid setup. After starting to respond directly, I figured a bunch of people could benefit from the info, thus this post. If you have other suggestions or advice please give it!
Everything you need to turn a totally off-grid cabin into a home. To my mind this is the best ~$1k you can spend to make "cabin life" enjoyable.
I'm including links to the products I chose after doing a bunch of research. I am in Hawaii, so part of the research was finding items that would ship to Hawaii. If you're not in Hawaii it's definitely worth checking your usual ecommerce sites, you very well may be able to find these same items cheaper elsewhere. (note: I bought my solar panel locally, but am including a link for those of you in the 48)
None of these are affiliate links and I'm not affiliated with any of these companies in any way whatsoever... other than having worked at Home Depot for a month and then quitting mid-shift over some serious corporate evilness I couldn't stomach, so I'm definitely not trying to do them any favors.
$55 -- 12v Water Pump (only needed if you're on rain water catchment or have low water pressure) http://ift.tt/2AhmoPH
$110 -- propane water heater w/ regulator hose & shower handle (requires >15 psi water pressure) http://ift.tt/2ik3elp
2x Lead Acid Deep Cycle Marine Batteries $112 each at my local Wal-Mart, or just $100 if you bring in two old car batteries as cores. Make sure you buy batteries with the same manufacture date stamp, you want a matched pair.
If you have a generator: $50 -- battery charger http://ift.tt/2AhmtTv
Solar Panel: 240 watt, $108 (less than half what I paid a year ago) http://ift.tt/2iiKbrE
Solar Charge Controller: At $128, this is the lowest cost charge controller worth considering: http://ift.tt/2AhmxCJ
You definitely don't want the 20a or 30a models, or anything that is PWM instead of MPPT. This 40a model can easily handle two of the above solar panels wired in series.
Warm White LED strip lights, $6.80 each for 15 feet. I bought 5 strips and stuck them on the tops of my rafters, giving my ceiling a really nice diffuse ambient glow. I wired mine up with speaker wire. http://ift.tt/2ijYXhJ
Speaking of wiring things to car batteries with speaker wire... Inline fuses are a must! 5 pack for less than eight bucks. Make sure you use one of these on each line coming off one of your battery terminals: http://ift.tt/2AhmCX3
400 watt inverter -- charge your laptop and run small electrical appliances. If you can afford it, spend ~$200 on a bigger inverter so you can run more demanding loads. If you go for a smaller one like this, make sure it comes with jumper-cable style clips. $31 -- http://ift.tt/2ikfNwU
USB and car 12v plugs, $10 each. I have one at my bedside, and one by my couch. http://ift.tt/2AhmFCd
Watch a youtube video or two and then do your plumbing super simply with 1/2" PEX. Buy a roll at a local hardware store, one $33 roll was enough for me to do my sink, shower, bath tub, and hose spigots.
Buy the crimping tool online, I got this one for less than $20 http://ift.tt/2ik3i4D
Other things to grab: plumbing fittings and PEX crimp bands, electrical wiring, propane tank for water heater, misc electrical outlets and switches.
That all should be well under $1,000, and will make your cabin life SO MUCH BETTER.
Bonus round: Get a cheap chest freezer for $120 or so at a local big box store and fill it with 6 or 7 one gallon jugs of water. I run my generator to freeze the bottles, and then use it as a refrigerator until 2 or 3 days later when it needs re-freezing. If you bought a bigger inverter you can run the freezer off the solar panels, but the 400 watt inverter linked above definitely can't handle a freezer.
If you want a better long term solution, the Whynter line of 12 volt portable fridge/freezers are fantastic. This one is $425 or so, a bigger one will run you a bit more: http://ift.tt/2Akipll
Edit to add: These LED "Off Road" spotlights make great indoor/outdoor lighting fixtures, I've got two in my kitchen and one on each porch. http://ift.tt/2ijUJGD
$20 car stereo with Bluetooth and AM/FM radio, at Wal-Mart: http://ift.tt/2AkitBB. I bought one of these and found a really nice set of house speakers at a thrift shop for another $20, and can jam out all night without denting my batteries.
Submitted November 29, 2017 at 10:32AM by fanofhumanbehavior http://ift.tt/2ijUPxZ OffGrid
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