- If you're watching this video right now on the internet
there's a very good chance you're nowhere near
off the grid.
Sorry.
(funky music)
Are you sick of paying your utility bills
or maybe you wanna go to a greener lifestyle
with less reliance on fossil fuels?
Then, maybe it's time to ditch the grid completely, man.
I'm talking about the power grid.
The one thing that links all our homes together
with power, natural gas, water and landlines.
Instead of relying on these services,
you can do it yourself and go off the grid.
As of 2006, more than 180,000 homes in the U.S.
are supplying their own power.
If you're one of them, we'd love to hear from you
in the comments about your experience.
If not, let's get started with a quick introduction
to our How Stuff Works article,
How Living Off the Grid Works.
Probably the most important part
of going off the grid is no longer being
dependent on the power company.
The first way to shake free from the man
is by implementing a little solar power in your home.
By using photovoltaic solar panels on your roof,
you can collect the sun's light and convert it into energy.
This light is collected in silicon semiconductors
that knock loose electrons from the stored energy.
By forcing these electrons to flow in one direction,
the panel creates a direct current.
When that passes through an inverter, zippity zap,
it converts into an alternating current
that powers your home.
Or maybe the sun's not your jam
and you're more like Jim Morrison
in Riders on the Storm.
Well, you can harness wind with power, too,
with turbines that look like airplane propellers.
As the wind blows by, the turbine's blades move,
spinning a rotor and turning that energy into electricity.
This kind of clean energy costs only three cents
an hour to generate.
Whereas, coal burning electricity costs 10 of them pennies.
Once you're getting your power from either
the sun or the wind, now you can abandon
your reliance on the city's waterlines.
Did you know you can tap your own water
by digging a deep well in the ground
and pumping H2O upward?
You'll wanna hire a licensed driller
but according to the EPA, roughly 15% of homes
in the U.S. get their water from wells on their property.
Once you've installed a filter in there,
the water will taste much better, too.
So, don't let anyone fool you into drinking
well water that tastes like dirt or dead squirrels.
And, if they already did, subscribe to our channel
and we'll take care of the rest.
Or, you could always buy something called a cistern.
Not to be confused with a Kristen.
That kind of sounds alike.
It's basically a big tank that holds water
that you collect from the rain gutters.
And, the cool thing is that when the cistern
is higher than your faucets, gravity will
take care of pumping the water pressure
into your home.
Just a heads up though, if you live in
a heavily polluted area, you're gonna wanna
stay away from drinking whatever
bile it is that falls from your unnatural sky.
And, speaking of disgusting liquids,
to truly go off the grid, you're gonna wanna
dump your sewer line as well.
But, where will all that gross stuff
that comes out of me go, you're probably asking.
Well, that's where a septic system comes in.
Basically, you put a big metal tank
on your property to collect all that nasty in.
Bacteria breaks down inside into scum, sludge and liquid.
This liquid then flows out into a distant
drainage field and mother earth
acts as a natural filter that absorbs
anything harmful as nutrients.
You'll still need to get a professional
to pump the tank out once a year though.
Unless you wanna go digging around
in your own filth, that is.
Well, that should get you started on the path
to going off the grid.
There's other stuff to know as well,
like how to dispose of garbage,
how to adapt to you off the grid lifestyle
and how to augment your energy needs
when the wind ain't a blowin'
and the sun ain't a shinin'.
You'll find all that and more in the original
article I mentioned on howstuffworks.com.