Commonly Asked Questions
About The Off Grid Project
Below are some of the most commonly asked questions and answers about The Off Grid Project.
Note: These questions are listed randomly as the questions arrise and not in order of importance
- Why dont you give up on chickens
- Why dont you get a truck container
- Why dont you mount the solar panels on the RV roof
- Why dont you just use the RV as a work shop/chicken coop
- Why is everything temporary on your property
- How do you or how did you get internet out there
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Q. Why dont you give up on chickens? What is the reason you are keeping chickens?
A. The main reason that I have chickens is to eat ticks. Ticks carry lymes disease and that can disable or kill you. Chickens eat ticks and just about anything else that moves. The chickens also keep down the harmful insect population. This is the reason I want my birds to free range around the perimeter of the meadow instead of safely in a small chicken coop built up like Fort Knox.
I also keep chickens for their eggs and, eventually meat. I hope to raise chickens for sale one day too.
Q. Why dont you get a truck container and use that instead of all those tents?
A. A friend of mine who drives truck says there is no way a big rig can turn into the lane due to the narrow road and there are two large stone pillars on the sides of the dirt lane. He also says a big rig would not be able to cross the bridge over the creek.
Q. Why dont you just mount the solar panels on the RV roof and move it into the middle of the meadow?
A. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, the RV roof is made of fiberglass and putting holes in an old fiberglass roof may cause it to crack or split. The panels would have to be bolted down or the wind would destroy them. Another reason is that the RV would still be far from the house and I would still need longer wires which means losses in the lines. And yet another reason is that I want to remove everything from the meadow but for the tiny house and the garden.
Q. Why dont you use the RV as a work shop or a chicken coop?
A. For one thing the RV is huge and I would not be able to move it into the woods by the work shop tent. This is where I want to have my permanent work shop established. For another thing eventually I want to clean up the place and get rid of all tents and campers around here. The RV will never look nice in plain sight over there. As a chicken coop the same answer applies. I just want to clean the place up nicely.
Q. Why is everything temporary on your property?
A. This is a sort of complicated question but the simpliest answer is that the township has codes and regulations. Until I build a McMansion according to their specs and regulations, I cannot build anything permanent out here. This means that everything has to be portable or temporary, including the chicken tractor and my tiny house on wheels.
Q. How do you get internet out there? How did you get internet in the old camper?
A. I used to have a Verizon cell phone with a true unlimited internet flate rate back when I lived in the camper. Actually I had that as my primary source of internet until around 2015 some time. Then I got a DSL line installed. This is the only connection I have to the outside world. They had to run a 1/4 mile of cable through the woods to my tiny house in order for me to get the internet connection. But I have no land line phone service and do not plan to have any.
A support forum has been set up to help you complete your own goal. We will be happy to assist you on the way to energy independence. The Do It Yourself World Forum