PREPARING FOR POWER
This took a lot of thinking and a lot of debate.
Honestly, originally we were thinking offgrid. For a lot of reasons, that seemed like a very good idea. However, for a variety of reasons we are deciding to get power to our property, and we have been getting prepared lately.
WHY ON GRID?
For one, the initial cost of going solar is more than we are able to swing at this moment. It seemed like a small monthly bill would be easier to fit into our finances than one large lump sum front, but that is not the only reason. Our neighbors @jaguarlife and @ladyjag are also building a house right now, and they are going on grid. However, to run a line all the way to their house would have cost them thousands of dollars extra, because only so many feet and poles are provided for free from the power company. By us also getting power at the same time, we have twice the distance and twice the poles to work with, which saves them thousands of dollars.
MANY HELPERS AND LOTS OF EQUIPMENT
Assembling the pole took a bit of work, so even Monster Truck the Pepper pitched in. Once all that parts were hooked up, all that was left was to erect it in place.
To get things started we used a skid steer with a trenching attachment. This is basically a giant chainsaw looking thing that can cut through earth, roots, clay and rocks. Since we were going in to the earth four feet anyway, we figured that this would be a good start.
Nest came the auger, which is also a beast of a machine. @Bluerthangreen and I purchased this attachment for his skid steer last year, because it'll come in handy for everything from digging fence post holes to planting trees.
It definitely got the job done and dug the hole deep enough for this project. I cannot imagine the time and effort that it would take doing this by hand.
@Bluerthangreen and I put the pole in its hole and began to fill in the soil around it. Unfortunately his spade shovel had previously went "flying off the handle," but he still got the job started.
Just to make sure that they played a part, I sent my @little-peppers in to finish the job. As usually, they worked thier little tails off and did a good job with their portion of the work. We are moving forward bit by bit, and are hoping to begin building in March, but we will see!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-power-pole
Until next time…
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That's so nice of you to change your plans just to help out the neighbors. Makes me admire you even more.
Yeah, it was a tough call, but I think that we made the right decision.
Love thy neighbor as thyself...
Amen to that.
Remember you can always do solar in combination later. When financing allows. OR you can work on solar a little at a time. When doing your house make allowances so that you can go solar or wind in the future. PLAN AHEAD.
I love that idea of doing both. We are on grid, but would love to do both...just incase.
You should also factor in solar hot water. You get the most bang for your buck. You can even build your own solar panels.
Right, excellent point!
I’m supporting you kids, “woouw, you can do it, come on come on kids!” hehe
They are so cute...
Thanks for the encouragement!
LOL, you took that last shot in the middle of the dark, because you were so slow filling in the post hole. Next time, use a BIGGER shovel!
It really takes a lot to go off grid.
And it saves so much pain in the future.
But, I cannot fault you for getting there this way.
Thank for the encouragement, and the shovel tip!
I prefer going off the grid but in my country there are many things that could go wrong so we just stick with a lot of alternatives.
As I type this comment, we are running the generator, but power supply is steady in the city and not my native village. Some people use inverters or solar panels as well.
We believe in if plan A doesn't work, plan B should be on standby.
That's right. If the grid goes down, we will be able to adjust.
So, if I go to visit you again next summer, I will be able to help you build your house?
Absolutely!
Awesome to see you moving forward on your future homestead!
Yes it is!
Looks like a big operation. Nice progress.
Getting everyone involved and looks like the kids are enjoying the time being spent with them.