03-27-2014, 04:22 PM
For both electricity and water, grid/county supplied is a steal compared to what it costs to provide for yourself off-grid unless you are sufficiently far off the beaten path that the supplier would make you pay for extending their service. If you already have grid power it is not going to be cheaper to go off-grid. However, I read all the time about preppers and how far they will go to ensure that they have what they need when "the grid goes down". Thousands of rounds of ammunition, bales of toilet paper, twinkies and MREs with a shelf life of 20 years, etc. For them the point is security, actual or imagined. I am not a prepper and I am not anticipating TEOTWAWKI, but I think it is a good idea to experiment with various back-up systems. For example I have seen the opinion expressed with regard to catchment tank size that 4,000 gallons of water only costs a couple of hundred dollars so why spend $1,000 extra for a larger tank? Elsewhere I have read frantic posts asking who can deliver water because someone has company visiting and they are almost out, but all water haulers have a long waiting list (duh, the reason YOU need water is because of a drought). That cheap thrill of having when the general public doesn't is what that extra $1,000 is all about. It also happens to be good planning and just darn useful at times. So go ahead and set up a small system as a hobby and for practice.