Summary
Today Iām joined by Ben, a sustainable living enthusiast from South Australia who lives completely off-grid with his wife and children.
Ben’s a member of the Aussie FIRE Discussion Facebook Group who posted about his self-sufficient home last year which really struck a chord with the community (it’s still one of the most popular submissions to date). Ben has been kind enough to share his story of building an off-grid house and living sustainably in South Australia.
Some of the topics in todayās episode include:
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How Ben and his wife designed and built a completely off-grid home.
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Their journey towards the dream of sustainable living.
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The primary driver of going off-grid and building this house.
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Utilising a solar energy system to completely power a family home.
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How much does it really cost and how long will it last?
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How to deal with heating and cooling when youāre not connected to the grid.
- Running water and the challenge of sustainable water usage when rain is your only supply.
- How to create a domestic system that generates zero wastewater.
- The bottom line – what was the total cost of the project?
Show Notes
- Aussie FIRE Discussion Group
- Lithium-Ion Battery Test Centre
- CSRIO Solar PV for your home: testing whatās Watt
Transcript:
Heads up grammar Police, the following transcription is half human half machine and not 100% perfect so expect a few typos and errors…
Coming Soon
One of a number of companies solving the EV and home Battery recycling challenges to deliver a closed-loop economy – https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/10/tesla-jb-straubel-redwood-materials-battery-recycling.html
Eyy nice! Thanks for the link š
Great pod once again AFB!
I enjoyed hearing about something other than investing, and Ben’s story about sustainable and off grid living is awesome to hear about.
There are so many aspects to the FI journey other than just investing – there’s increasing earnings, building a business, side hustles, savings, automation, simplicity, minimalism, sustainability, charity, volunteering, giving back/contributing, and living your best lift.
I’d enjoy hearing more about these on future posts and pods ššš
Yeah I’m finding myself more and more interesting in the other aspects of FIRE. Such a far cry from what I was like at the start. It was all about the numbers and excel models baby š
Thanks for your time and effort in releasing informative podcasts.
We installed an 8.2kWh Fronius inverter with 10.7kWh of QCell panels on the roof in Western Victoria , all monitored with a Fronius ower meter We run a Hydrotherm heat pump (since Feb 2020), gas central heating and cooling.
We use a API to push out power usage and creation to PVOutput if you are interested below. Happy to answer any questions. I find we wouldn’t want to have a smaller system, as the heat pump can use 7kWh per day in winter.
Send me a WhatsApp or email with any questions.
https://pvoutput.org/list.jsp?id=73094&sid=65853