Updating 'the Facilities'

Solar Power, Water, Shower, Outhouse, Laundry, Refrigeration and Kitchen.

Since I wrote ‘The Facilities’ two years ago about the shower and outhouse, a lot has changed. We have a new means of refrigeration, the shower is indoors, and I have a laundry machine.
I finished ‘The Facilities’ by saying

‘It’s a slow process figuring out the most efficient way to do things off grid. It takes patience, time and a lot of thought.
To me - living mindfully is worth it.’

2 years later, life’s a lot easier. Not easy, but easier. I’m happy with the changes we’ve made, the mistakes we’ve learned from and the direction things are moving in. I have everything I need and more improvements on the horizon.

Panels, Controller, Batteries, Inverter. Solar doesn’t have to be complicated.

Solar Power

The solar array powers the house easily but is still hindered by a small 1,000W inverter. With this inverter, I shower, wash dishes, do laundry or vacuum but not at the same time. I can’t use things with heating elements, like a coffee maker or hair dryer. To change that, we have a 3,000-watt inverter ready to be installed when time permits. With it, I’ll be able to set the automatic coffeemaker and wake up to a freshly brewed pot of coffee. I’m excited for that!

Simple and effective. The water from the bath and laundry waters the yard, so I always use eco-friendly detergents.

Laundry

The little 110V washing machine has been a game changer. One side is a normal washer, while the other side is a spinner. It’s light enough that when I want to do laundry I put it into the bathtub. That way the water drains out of the bath, and I can fill it with warm water using the shower.

Water

We do not have a well. Instead, we carry water in the back of a truck from a spring at the bottom of the property and store it uphill to gravity feed to the yard. That way, hoses for watering plants and animals work without the use of power. From there we store water near the house so that our 1/4hp, 110V pump can push water into the house with enough pressure for the shower.

Bringing water to the top. Just a smidge more than a Tacoma’s payload.

Refrigeration

Until this summer I’ve lived without a fridge. After Curt added batteries to the solar setup he decided to try plugging in an electric mini fridge that we already had. To our surprise, it worked - efficiently! It’s been plugged in all summer and working great, even freezing things in the back.

We also have a propane deep freeze. It works well most of the time and spends on average 30lbs of propane per month. Sometimes it turns off without notice which is certainly inconvenient, and it seems to have a wiring issue. Though it’s been working for us, the customer service of the particular brand has left a lot to be desired.

Periodically I put sphagnum moss and sawdust into the outhouse hole. The microbes in the moss help to reduce smell.

The Outhouse

The outhouse hasn’t changed one iota. Though it isn’t my ideal, it works. It’s a hole in the ground, with a small room on top of it. In the future, we plan to make a bathroom in the house for #1 only. That way it’ll be able to go with the greywater to a future orchard next to the house.

Water from the spring is moved to the upper storage, where it’s then gravity-fed to the animals and the house.

Shower and Bath

Having the cast iron bathtub and shower in the front room is temporary but it works great. The original shower house was just too cold in the winter and impossible to use due to freeze-up. Even if I could tough out the cold, water hoses don’t. We plan to build an attached bathroom off of the side of the new front room, but for now, it works great and I quite like it.

The on-demand shower requires water pressure to work. Gravity-feeding water stored uphill worked for a summer but didn’t create quite enough pressure to work well. Now that the solar array has grown, simply plugging it into a submersible pump works fantastically to run the shower. With the flip of a switch, the shower fires up and provides hot water in seconds

Always remember, devices like this create a lot of carbon monoxide and need to be well ventilated.

Kitchen

My kitchen is very simple. The 2 burner stove and oven are propane. They’re intended for camping, but the small size works great in the shipping container. The future plans include moving the kitchen out into the front room, where it’s brighter and allows for more ventilation. Though I love the small space of the shipping container, cooking inside it causes that small-apartment-food-stink.

When I go to town, I often find myself absent-mindedly kicking under the counter looking for the switch.

The kitchen sink uses water in a bucket under the counter. In the bucket is a small fish tank pump which pumps water up and through the tap. Instead of using a normal faucet that relies on water pressure, we wired the fish tank pump to a 12V switch on the floor. It’s a simple touchless sink!

It’s a Lifestyle

This isn’t a life of convenience by any means, but adding some conveniences has helped us to move forward. There will always be fuels to collect and carry home and things to maintain. With the improvements we’ve made and are continuing to make, it’s getting easier.

I’m being careful not to allow the conveniences to become complications, as they often do. Though it’s been difficult I’m glad it’s taken years to figure out, and that we’ve been methodical.