The self-sufficient home used to be an idea reserved only for crazy conspiracy theorists who wanted to shut themselves off from the rest of society. But in recent years it’s gaining popularity and a lot of people think that it’s going to be the future for all of us. As traditional methods of powering our homes start to fall out of favor because of their environmental impact, more people are making an effort to generate their own power. As well as all of the environmental benefits, powering your own is also far cheaper. Imagine never having to pay energy bills again. Sounds pretty good, but is it actually possible?
Self-sufficiency isn’t just about the energy that you use, it’s about all of your food and water consumption as well, which is where most people have doubts. Trying to grow all of your own food is a big task and it’s likely that you’ll probably still make a trip to the supermarket from time to time, but if you make some changes around the home, you can get as close as possible to being completely self-sufficient as possible.
Solar And Wind Power
This is the first port of call for anybody that wants to generate their own electricity. Getting solar panels from companies like Sun2u and installing them on your house will generate a fair amount of power, even if you don’t live in a particularly sunny country. Couple that with a few small wind turbines and you’ll be able to power your house all year round. It’s worth noting though, you probably won’t be able to use as much power as you normally would when you’re hooked up to the national grid so you’ll have to curb your usage a little bit. However, a few small changes here and there should be enough to cut your energy use enough to make self-sufficiency viable.
Water Sources
Finding a good water source is the biggest hurdle you’ve got to overcome when you’re trying to be completely self-sufficient and you’re probably still going to have to use the municipal water supply a little bit. If you live in an area that has good groundwater, you could consider drilling your own well but this is a big job. Otherwise, you can collect rainwater in barrels. The problem is, rainwater isn’t very safe for drinking even if you’re purifying it. You can still use it for showering etc. but without a well, you’ll have to rely on the national water supply for your drinking water.
Animals
When it comes to food you’ve got a decision to make. If you decide to go vegetarian or even vegan, producing food will be far easier. It’s still a struggle to grow enough food for the whole family but it’s possible. However, if you want to continue eating meat then you’ll need to keep animals. It’s not likely that you’ll be able to rear animals at a fast enough rate to keep up your normal meat consumption so you’re going to have to make cutbacks either way.
Self-sufficiency is incredibly difficult to achieve in the modern world, but make these changes and you can get pretty close.
