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ADone that 30 years+ ago, got expensive. Maybe technology have gotten better...
Maybe so... I haven't really looked into it. Was it expensive for the cost of propane, or the fridge itself? I'd be fine without refrigeration, if that was easier. Maybe get ice in town sometimes in the summer.
Concerning water, I was accustomed to using 5 gallons/week for bathing and washing dishes, so I think I could manage fine with 100 times that much collected off the roof. And hauled water isn't expensive if you don't use much. In many places in NM the cost and quality of well water is prohibitive if you are on a low budget.
Maybe so... I haven't really looked into it. Was it expensive for the cost of propane, or the fridge itself? I'd be fine without refrigeration, if that was easier. Maybe get ice in town sometimes in the summer.
We had free use of a camper years ago, it was cheaper and more reliable to buy ice locally while traveling. We use to also have a source of cheap "dry ice" from a local airport, which I have seen being sold locally around here. The propane refridge might have been defective. I was told that if you did not level it properly i would not work well, and leveling it was a pain.
I would like to have a mostly underground house which would be very cheap to heat and cool, however.
I don't know how popular it is today, but at one time there were many people living in sod houses, dugouts and pit houses. The ancient jornado mogollon peoples first lived in pit houses in the southwest before "progressing" to the above ground adobe and rock structures we think of as "pueblos."
I've read accounts of the homesteaders who once settled the area now known as Pie Town, NM and dugout living was the norm for some of them.
I know one lady who lives in an earth berm home in Lincoln County - quite unique and she and her former husband did all of the work originally.
PS I once owned a travel trailer that had propane refrigeration and it worked fine, but it also converted to electric when parked where electricity hookups were available. Propane was also the lighting source - sans electrical. Same thing for the water system - had a water tank for use when a regular water supply wasn't available. The tank was pressurized by a small battery operated compressor.
Interesting. I don't think sod houses, dugouts and pit houses are very common these days. If I don't manage to get into an underground house someday, there are several good alternatives. I want something with lots of insulation, both sound- and temperature-wise!
Propane is a rather expensive way of doing things, isn't it? I can't think of propane without thinking of King of the Hill.
Propane is a rather expensive way of doing things, isn't it?
When I traveled with a RV, the cost of propane was the least of my concerns. I have no idea what the relative cost is today compared to the 1970s, which is my point of reference.
My comments were directed more to the practicality of using propane as an alternative energy source for refrigeration/cooking/lighting - costs aside. Finding a refill station for propane "back then" was more of an inconvenience than it is today with grocery and other retail outlets having bottle exchanges for BBQ grills, etc.
We're off the grid in a 600 sq ft strawbale with a 530 watt solar system of 6 batteries & 4 panels which with inverter, charge controller, etc cost $7500. We run wild blue for 2 computers, a small dorm-size frig wrapped in silver insulation, lamps & a radio. We estimate our usage about 1600 watts per day. We also have 2 panels for our solar pump for our well.
It's all fun & games until we have a few days of clouds.
We have outhouse & chofu stove to heat our rubbermaid stock tank hot tub (which takes all day to fill & heat) Not as romantic as it sounds until we can finally get in at 104 degrees.
But it's hard to consider myself off-the-grid when I can now sit on my laptop on wild blue, posting on C-D LOL.
Thanks. How is the Wild Blue working out... good service? I've heard a lot of complaints about satellite internet, but some seem to do fine with it.
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