Download Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility Gary Collins 9781570673733 Books
Download Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility Gary Collins 9781570673733 Books


In Living Off The Grid, you'll discover
Download Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility Gary Collins 9781570673733 Books
"I appreciate the down to earth & practical approach the author took. This was a very imformative book & I am glad he shares his mistakes & successes, so we don't have to learn everything the hard way. I just wish his other books on this subject were all combined in one as "The Ultimate Guide for Going off the Grid". Or something like that. I am planning and taking steps toward this & will probably buy more of his books. I think this was a good place to start."
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Tags : Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility [Gary Collins] on . Worried that living off the grid means a life without comfort and convenience? Discover how to unplug without sacrificing the joys of the modern world. <br /><br />Wondering if an off the grid lifestyle is right for you? Scared that it'll be too challenging for you and your family to handle? Author and speaker Gary Collins literally wrote the book on how to transition to a life off the grid. After almost a decade of walking the walk,Gary Collins,Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility,Second Nature Publishing,157067373X,Home Garden / Home Design,Do-It-Yourself,GENERAL,HOUSE HOME / Do-It-Yourself / General,HOUSE HOME / Small Spaces,HOUSE HOME / Sustainable Living,How-to/Do-it-yourself,Non-Fiction,United States
Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility Gary Collins 9781570673733 Books Reviews :
Living Off the Grid What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility Gary Collins 9781570673733 Books Reviews
- When surveying resources for the off-grid lifestyle, first it is useful to assess which category you might fall into
1) "Average" people who hope to save money, lead a simpler life, and go back to the land as simple and independently as they possibly can (often called "homesteaders");
2) Preppers and other people who want to go off-grid completely, frequently by outfitting a primary or secondary "bug out" property;
3) Boondockers - people who reject property ownership and wish to travel around the country in an off-grid, totally self-contained RV;
Mr. Collins falls somewhere between Option 2 and Option 3, in that he has chosen to live part of the year in a self-contained RV, but maintains an off-grid home to go back to part of the year.
With that in mind (myself having dabbled in all three groups), I found Mr. Collin's advice to be solid and spot-on. "Living Off the Grid" starts out with a phase most of the prepper books don't cover ... setting aside a bit of money first and founding the kind of job which will allow you to pack up and move off the grid. Without a financial cushion and a way to earn a future living, your off-grid plans will fail.
From there the book discusses what kinds of campers and trailers you might want to purchase if you wish to either live in it while building your new off-grid house, or to travel the country and live off-grid in an RV. I found the information adequate for "live in while you build," but if you want to live an off-grid boondocking lifestyle (where you take advantage of BLM land to camp for free), you will need to look someplace else. Nothing wrong with that, the "boondocking lifestyle" just isn't covered in this book. Mr. Collins provides some real useful information about the difficulties of getting an off-grid RV onto your new, remote off-grid property that are frequently overlooked in other books.
He also has a good overview on siting a good piece of land, with definite criteria that you should be looking for.
He has good advice for dealing with contractors while building your off-grid house, and more importantly, there are several chapters which provide a very thorough overview of the different kinds of off-grid energy systems and which combination might be necessary for your off-grid house, including wind, solar, micro-hydro, and geothermal. I would have appreciated differentiation between "true" geothermal (you live near a hot spot) vs. ground source heat pump (ambient ground temperature) as the systems serve different niches, but since most people have never heard of EITHER type of system this oversight can be forgiven.
What you WON'T find in this book tips on homesteading, food storage, root cellars, or hunting. You'd be better off looking for a book which deals more with Off-Grid Lifestyle #1 (see above).
Overall, this book contains solid advice. My only criticism is that the author comes at the off-grid lifestyle from the point of view of somebody who had access to, or the ability to earn in a short period of time, a significant amount of money to invest. If you are at the lower end of the income scale, many of the things he recommends will seem beyond your reach.
Disclosure I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. I do not know the author, and this did not influence my opinion. - I am a senior citizen who has recently retired and I am preparing to move one more time. I won't be going completely off grid, but I want to incorporate solar and wind energy generation as well as efficient building techniques Gary Collins book has become my quick reference guide to get me headed in the right dirction.
- Honestly is not what I was expecting. I had more of a "romantic" idea about off the grid living and the book is on the "practical" side.
I did learn a lot.
And it was well written. - I appreciate the down to earth & practical approach the author took. This was a very imformative book & I am glad he shares his mistakes & successes, so we don't have to learn everything the hard way. I just wish his other books on this subject were all combined in one as "The Ultimate Guide for Going off the Grid". Or something like that. I am planning and taking steps toward this & will probably buy more of his books. I think this was a good place to start.
- Book was OK for somebody doesn’t have a lot of common sense they might enjoy the book more
- A lot of redundancies when compared to second book (Going off the grid). From the perspective of being moderately informed, it quite plainly - crashed on the attention spectrum. We had purchased the set thinking it would be good referendums for our adventure. Unfortunately, we were disappointed.
- I've read quite a few books about self-sustainable and off-grid living, but this is the first one I've found that has a macro level discussion. By this I mean that the author works hard to discuss all different options for living off-grid, beginning with several different vehicles you can live in (RV, van, etc.). Now, the typical image that comes to mind when you say "I live off grid" is a cabin in the woods, far from civilization. But the author is keen to note that you can live off grid in the Walmart parking lot in an RV ... well, sort of.
To me, the essence of living off grid is all about not being hooked into the power, fuel, and sanitation infrastructure. NOTE that a lot of RV dwellers are very connected to those grids. So you'll have to pay close attention to the chapters on RV living to note that not all RV life is off grid.
There are chapters on portable structures, tiny houses, power (solar, mainly), and more in this book. The only reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I get the sense that the author is more of an RV guy and less of an off-the-grid survivalist who's lived for years in the woods. I prefer the woodsman's perspective on off-grid living, I guess. That's my bias.
A professional eBook that reads and looks just like a regular book. Not one of those 15 page cheapo eBooks. This one is the real deal. - This is a worthwhile addition to Collins’ earlier books covering topics related to transitioning to off-grid living. It provides useful reading for anyone contemplating such a new adventure, although some sections seem directed towards a very novice audience; e.g., providing a definition of solar power. There is considerable overlap with his previous books in the first several chapters, although the author warned his readers this occurs, and the author needed to do this in order to introduce supplementary material for actually living off the grid.
Many of the best parts of the book cover Collins’ own experiences and mistakes. He does a wonderful job sharing his lessons learned. He usually provides model numbers and/or product names that worked (or did not work) for him, although his advice is more of an overview than a step-by-step manual. There were a few instances where I would have welcomed lengthier discussions; e.g., he describes moveable solar panels as being ‘not worth the money,’ but did not present actual numbers to the reader. It was unclear if that conclusion was based on his location in northeastern WA, or is also applicable to the sunbelt. Overall, there is a lot of useful information in this readable little book.
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