10/31/2025
Powered by the sun.
When most people think of an off-grid lifestyle, they think of doing without. In our case, we are not deprived of any creature comforts. Our wood stove keeps the tiny house toasty during the winter and our ac keeps us cool during the hottest part of summer. We have internet and can stream our favorite shows and movies. The only real difference between our life hooked into the grid and our life now is that we are more conscious of our resource usage. When outfitting our tiny house, we made choices based on our projected power usage with an eye towards being as energy efficient as feasible. We will transfer lessons learned in the tiny house when we eventually build our bigger house.
For the most part, Meadow Haven Farm is off-grid. We are self-contained when it comes to water and sewer. From a power standpoint, we are not completely independent. We have solar panels and batteries that provide all the electricity for our tiny house and our farm office. However, we use propane to power our hot water heater and an office space heater. Fortunately, a grill sized gas bottle will provide a month of hot water and office heat.
For us, going solar was a really cost effective solution to our energy needs. The closest power line to us is between 1/4 to 1/2 mile away. Even if the power company paid some of the cost, running lines would have been really expensive, possibly costing as much as our solar setup. Aside from the costs of running lines, power companies in this part of Virginia charge high rates, especially during the winter. We routinely see social media posts where local residents complain about bills in excess of $1000 during high usage periods. With power bills running rhat high, it doesn’t take long to recoup our investment in solar.
If you want to see our solar setup, join us tomorrow for our social from 1 to 4. We may even bring out our solar powered dog Penelope.
