I know most of this forum talks about PSKs and surviving when one is not at home (i.e. work, in transit, etc.). Or BOBs for when ones to leave ones home to flee the area. I haven't seen much talk in terms of establishing your house as a safe haven (not much good in city environments). I'm talking more for those who live in rather secluded areas (farms and ranches, cabins on 50-100 acres, maybe even a mountain retreat).

I was thinking about how you could build a house or cabin to be more self sufficient. Now I'm not talking TEOTWAWKI. What I am saying is I think there are some simple design/construction ideas that would make a house or cabin more efficient. Designed to use societal infrastructure (water, power, sewage) but easily switch to more self-sufficient means. Obviously a deep well would be great if you lived where you could support one.

Here's my list:
1. Solar panels - Many homes have them. Maybe expand their size or be able to set out some extra ones on the lawn during times of power outages. SO, there has to be a way to plug them into the electrical systems.

2. Outerwall Construction - Use 2x6 instead of 2x4 or some newer types of insulation (liquid foam) to better insulate.

3. Roofs and Gutters - Design the gutters on the roof so one could easily collect any water in case of severe drought. Should be an easy modification, maybe need to use more waterproof gutters and design roof for more of a gravity assist. I know in drought times, it doesn't rain alot, but....

4. Electrical Wiring - Rig two sets of wiring outlets (similar to how hospitals do) where certain outlets are linked to a backup generator or solar panel feed. These would be the only outlets that would work, so you can easily prevent unneeded use of electricity. Also establish room lights where only certain lights would work so as to be efficient as possible. No need for all that wattage during a power outage. This might be something you do only in the main living room/family room and the largest bedroom.

5. Indoor/Underground Gardens - I've seen some articles (mostly for manned space missions) on how you could use fancy grow lights, PVC tubes with holes, and a water based soil system to grow your own vegetables. The idea here being less conspicuous that you had a garden making it much easier to protect.

6. Secret Closet or Room - I still think these can be useful. Not like a "panic room" <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />, but maybe more of a hidden storage room that had a hidden access point. Maybe a hidden pantry behind the pantry. Maybe even a second basement, if you could dig that deep.

What do you think? Any one think of some others or maybe have or seen something similar?

<img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

What about water? Obviously you would already have a well, spring, or stream if you were remote. But without electricity how would you pump it? Windmill? Gravity feed? Solar cells? Store it in a cistern? Lots of options, which one do you choose?

And what about alternate communications? How about a HAM radio for distance with a CB for local. In many hurricanes and earthquakes, HAMs have been the only viable communication link.

You pretty much hit the major points of my home improvement wish list.

I've ruled out solar for me. The roof has an ell on the south (suncatching) side that would need to be designed away before I would have enough area to make it worthwhile. That's way too much $$$.

I'm looking into the feasibility of putting a propane tank behind the garage and getting some LP jets to fit the burners on the stove, furnace, & water heater should the flow of natural gas ever be disrupted. The tank wll also serve as a fuel reserve for a LP powered generator.

An electrician friend says he can put a cutover switch in that will prevent any power I generate from backfeeding onto the grid. I guess during a power outage that's one of the bigger threats to the power company guys.

Eventually I would like to add a grain burning stove as a backup heat source. A portable kerosene stove currently fills that role.

A privacy fence around the back yard protects my garden from prying eyes. I'm still weighing the benefits of a hydroponics setup in the basement.

I keep 35 2L soda bottles filled with water and an extra 90 day (at least) supply of canned and dry goods rotated through the pantry.

All incoming water is filtered through a whole house water filter.

Home security can still stand some improvement. I don't have a safe room and, as a bachelor, don't really see an immediate need.

I live in a pretty quiet, blue collar neighborhood that's home to lot's of cops and firefighters and is walking distance to work(<2 miles). I work for the phone company so should be safe from all but the most severe economic downturns.

All in all I think I'm well on my way to urban self sufficiency and have a solid plan for improving and protecting my assets.

One of the better books for ideas that I've bought is "How To Implement A High Security Shelter In The Home" by Joel Skousen. He covers alot, from a hidden room in the closet to a full blown, multi room walk in shelter. He also covers redundant water, power, communications, bug out bags, barter goods, etc.

Ed

There is a wealth of information on this subject. The "back to the land" movement of the late 70s spawned by MOTHER EARTH NEWS , the many splendid, but short publication runs of RODALE PRESS titles, THE GOOD EARTH CATALOGS, LEHMAN'S HARDWARE CATALOG and a host of other resources can set up the independence seeking landowner in everything from a Amish farm to a hi tech home with computer monitors at the recycling toilet <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Well, I don't completely agree with your rural VS urban assessment, but here are my thoughts on some of your ideas:

2. Outerwall construction - well, start with site selection if possible - in the Northern Temperate zone, a primary Southern hillside exposure is the best, especially if you can add a minor Eastern exposure. Build for your site and climate - there are reasons why the old northern midwest houses are squarish 2 stories with full basements and walk-up attics, for example. A double stud (staggered) wall is better than a deep single stud wall but the difference is only significant in extremely cold climates. I've seen frost rhiming on 2x6 studs in the walls in the winter in the interior of North America - of course, there were other problems (vapor control and ventilation to name two). In most climates bringing the constant temperature line up into the house wall is beneficial, so some version of earth sheltering is worthwhile if one takes the long view (return on investment). Passive solar can have a huge positive or negative effect - it's locale and climate driven. Lots of good books on this stuff (and about as many worthless ones).

3. Roofs and gutters - sure; that's virtually trivial. I'm plumbed up already to be able to do that with a rather significant roof area - but subtly, not blatently so. The part about where to store the diverted water is rather important. I have a short term plan and a medium range plan and the tools and materials on hand to do exactly that. All that stuff is very innocuous and commonplace. For example, dig a hole (you can calculate volume needed very easily) and line it with plastic sheeting. Variations on covering it to reduce evaporation, bird poop, mosquito breeding, etc. You can McGyver the storage and even the collection IF you think ahead a little bit and have a few items on hand.

4. Electrical wiring - nah, no need and it's pretty expensive. Use a transfer switch to cut out the utility service and cut in the generator (or battery-fed inverter) and use your breaker panel to switch off all non-essential branch circuits. All you need to do is take a half hour with a helper to build a GOOD branch circuit map (switch breakers off and see what doesn't have power) and then decide what breakers to turn off. Tape a copy of your list to the inside of your panel and you're set. Don't rely on the mandatory included circuit labels in your panel (what? You mean they forgot to do that! go figure...) - they are not specific enough for this application. You need to know exactly what outlets and lights are controled by which breaker. If you're really into it you can even code cover plates with little color-coordinated dots or something similar... ("green dot breaker controls green dot outlets....")

Caveat: You MUST balance the load between legs on your 220v feed (your genset IS a 220v if it has a 220v outlet, even if you only "use" the 110v outlets) and if you don't know what I'm talking about, get an electrician buddy to help you figure that out or hire that done when you have the transfer switch put in

(BTW, it's illegal to hardwire a generator in without a transfer switch ANYWHERE if you have a connection to the grid because homeowners have killed so many linemen over the years feeding power back out of the house. Also stupid, but that's another debate...)

If you know what you're doing, many jurisdictions allow homeowners to do all this work yourself. If you don't know what you're doing... bite the bullet and hire a pro.

The ONLY reason to run dual electrical circuits would be IF you simply MUST feed some non-standard electrical power (like 12v DC) and don't want the risk of accidentally plugging your fancy 12 volt washing machine into the 110v AC outlet when the line power is on... and in a case like that, your household wiring is too small to carry the required current anyway (can we say "FIRE!") - but those are pretty rare and fancy scenarios. Solid state inverters and voltage boosters are so common and (relatively) cheap nowadays as to make that a pretty desperate move anyway - it's very now easy to condition any input to standard frequency and standard line voltage.

6. Secret closet or cupboard - very good idea; very easy to do in most houses and even rentals (depending on how you do it, it can be "removable" and non-marring in a rental). There have been a few magazine articles about that over the last several years. Think about how much volume you really need and make it no larger - it's harder to discover small hidden storage than a "secret room", which is usually obvious to even a casual observer. You may even find that there are useful hidden spaces intrisic in many built-in features - the fun challenge is in converting them to accessable uses. It's sorta like learning to see varying hares (snowshoe rabbits) in their white camo in the snow - they're invisible until you finally see one the first time and ever thereafter you see them everywhere. Maybe pro burglars develop that knack, too... any LEO's care to comment?

I'm usually interested in this sort of thinking about "what if" - bet there are lots of great ideas floating around here on the topic. Hope my comments are useful to you.

Tom

I have experimented with cabins on a smaller level. My final analysis is that they should be used in winter. The rest of the time a simple shelter will do. Living out of your backpack works alot better for me, and whilste I was learning the ways of the cabin (shack actually <img src="images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />) I amassed a large number of hand tools that were laying around my parents farm. It isn't completley self sufficient, but like most of us, I do need a little external help for some parts of my lifestyle. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

So most of the time I usually hang around "under the stars" but in inclement weather I have my '"lair" as I affectionatley call it. <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

"Backwoods Home Magazine" seems to be another good source.

I'll second Backwoods Home. Dave Duffy (the publisher) & his magazine are great. I've been a subscriber for years, & a reader for even longer. Web site: http://www.backwoodshome.com/

Check out the books section, too. Jeff Yago's book on engery independence, among others. I have a book I got via BHM on building an energy independent home, but the title escapes me at the moment.

David

>>The ONLY reason to run dual electrical circuits would be IF you simply MUST feed some non-standard electrical power (like 12v DC) and don't want the risk of accidentally plugging your fancy 12 volt washing machine into the 110v AC outlet when the line power is on... and in a case like that, your household wiring is too small to carry the required current anyway (can we say "FIRE!") - but those are pretty rare and fancy scenarios. Solid state inverters and voltage boosters are so common and (relatively) cheap nowadays as to make that a pretty desperate move anyway - it's very now easy to condition any input to standard frequency and standard line voltage. <<

I'm not sure what you have against an independent 12-volt system, but I'd love to hear you elaborate on the cons. Running separate 12-volt lines, together with a solar panel array and a series of deep-cycle marine batteries is a good way to supplement your grid power, especially in an area where the grid is frequently out or intermittent. Converters are an option, and are ok when the 110 is on. But the energy lost due to inefficiency is too high for coverters to be relied on in a "survival" situation, or one I like to call "Fort Homestead". The websites mentioned elsewhere in this thread can tell you about 12-volt systems, and you can search the web under RV equipment to find what equipment and appliances are available.

<<I'm not sure what you have against an independent 12-volt system, but I'd love to hear you elaborate on the cons. Running separate 12-volt lines, together with a solar panel array and a series of deep-cycle marine batteries is a good way to supplement your grid power, especially in an area where the grid is frequently out or intermittent. Converters are an option, and are ok when the 110 is on. But the energy lost due to inefficiency is too high for coverters to be relied on in a "survival" situation, or one I like to call "Fort Homestead". The websites mentioned elsewhere in this thread can tell you about 12-volt systems, and you can search the web under RV equipment to find what equipment and appliances are available.>>

I don't have anything at all against 12VDC <grin>. You're reading too much into what I wrote. Put it back into the context of the original post and my reply to the original post. Or you can suffer through another of my lengthy posts, which follows:

So to answer you... I have first hand experience with DC appliances, generators of many sorts and configurations, and inverters (both mechanical and solid state). Plenty of experience with what the RV world offers in the way of propane, 12vdc, and line voltage gadgets.

Here's a thought: Where every gram counts, does NASA use 12vdc? NOPE. Wires and motors would be too big. 12vdc is an expedient for a home; there are not many compelling reasons to do a lot of expensive preparatory work to use emergency 12vdc. Actually, there aren't a lot of compelling reasons to use 12vdc in automobiles anymore, either, and I suspect we're about to see some regulations about that melt away. If DC is the flavor, there are plenty of good reasons to kick the voltage up. And something like, say, 120 volt, is no harder to get from solar panels than 12 volt because neither 12v nor 120v is the "native" voltage of a solar cell - 12 volt panels are groups of cells connected in series rather than parallel in order to kick the voltage up to 12 volts.

Efficiencies. Hmmm. Perhaps, but so what? It's not as bad as most folks think, and don't forget that one does not simply wire solar panels to batteries - unless you like to replace batteries VERY frequently. They run through a solid state battery charging control station of some sort - which is no more or less intrinsically efficient than any other circuit. The lower the voltage the less efficient that process is. Kick things up an order of magnitude and we'll talk - read on.

The choice of low voltage DC is more like a lifestyle choice (unless one has unlimeted resources). Is 12vdc handy? Yeah, for a few things like expedient or emergency lighting (automotive lightbulbs, auto batteries, RV stuff, etc.) But serious work? No way! The amperages required are huge, and therefore so are the conductors. Power for DC is the simple product of voltage and amperage. (It's a little more complicated for AC and I won't drag folks thru a beginning juice course to yak about RMS blah blah blah) I'm too lazy to go drag out some of my "Producing Your Own Power" type references, so I'll do this on the fly:

For example take a washing machine, which typically has a 1/2 hp motor (SAE HP; SI HP is smaller). That's close enough to 1/2 of 746 watts, or about 373 watts. We won't dicker about "is that output?" (usually it is for NEMA AC motors) or input (which would be a larger value). I'll just stipulate that the motor will use up to 373 watts. At 12vdc that means it would take over 31 amps to run the motor at its rated power. The same motor in 120vdc would take a little over 3 amps. (And the required amperage for 120vAC is similar). THERE IS NO WAY AROUND THIS if you use low voltage appliances that do the same work as standard household voltage appliances. TANSTAAFL. If you want a kw-hr of work performed, you gotta put in a kw-hr worth of energy plus losses. A 31 amp circuit would take a MINIMUM of dedicated 10 gauge wires (NOTHING else on the circuit), and that's for a short run (and on the margin for safety - those will get warm). And 1/2 HP is nothing; your toaster draws more current. (A LOT more). I have on more than one occasion melted 6 foot long 00 gauge cables off the battery terminals feeding a 2hp nominal 12 volt dc motor. Melted.

Speaking of losses - except at extremely high voltages, there are significant line losses with DC compared to AC. There are wiring runs of over 100 feet in typical houses from the distribution panel to the point-of use - and I'm not including the 100 foot extension cord used to run the weed whacker (or whatever) - I'm talking about the hard-wired circuits. There will be a significant voltage drop which kicks up the amperage requirement which kicks up the conductor size required... it's a vicious cycle. Bottom line is that conductor size must get very very large.

Even blowers/fans suck amps on 12vdc. Ever notice that most automobile blowers (small as they are) have at least a 20amp fuse on them?

And there is a whole 'nother area: an appliance is either 12vdc or 120vac; it cannot be both. There ARE some types of motors that will run on either AC or DC and some small appliances and hand tools use that type of motor BUT it does matter what the voltage is. A dual voltage household implies duplicate appliances - or there is little point. That, plus wiring, is pretty expensive, not to mention taking up a lot of space.

Because there ARE a lot of 12vdc gadgets around, it may make some sense for some situations to have some things that run on 12vdc. Sump pump? Sure; there are models available that are 12vdc because they run off a storage battery that is kept charged by line power. Lights? Sure. Just use standard auto stuff and/or RV stuff. For example, I've got 12vDC standard light bulbs - low wattage - that screw into my regular trouble lights and a few gadgets I made up let me connect them to a 12vdc source. I also have a few RV 12vdc flourescent light fixtures - oops! Actually, they have an integrated solid state device in them to kick the voltage up, but they LOOK LIKE they require 12vdc. (Actually, running a similar output standard flouro light fixture off a separate inverter is more efficient, which is one reason why I stopped scrounging those particular RV fixtures)

And I have a few 12vdc tools left around because it was convenient for me when afield - but I also have moved away from that to (for now) an on-board invertor and mostly use standard tools when afield now. Plus I have a 4kw genset anyway because my power DOES drop out regularly even though I live in town. (I choose not to hardwire my genset as I sometimes use it portable - even at home, where the 120vac line loss to the back of my property makes it impractical to lay an extension cord to run something like a circular saw drawing around 13.5 amps). I probably will add on-board welding/line power to a couple of my vehicles in the next year or so - but the line power on those actually comes from some solid state wizardry. About the only 12volt "appliance" I might retain is on-board compressed air - depending on the vehicle (not enough room under the hood in one for engine-driven compressor)

I think some solar panels to charge a modest battery bank to power some selected low voltage light circuits is fine, although the total cost will be equal or greater to what a genset costs. I helped do up some "Mother Earth" type homesteads with 12vdc stuff in the past and the best I can say about them is that they were spartan. None of those places that are still occupied are on 12vdc today - it doesn't work out well. Even then it was an exercise in what could be done rather than what should be done. I'm richer for having learned how to do those things - I can "McGuyver" more things as a result - but I learned more about how NOT to power a household than anything else.

That's a whole lot more than 2 cents worth... as I wrote up top, I've got nothing against 12vdc. But put my response in context, please.

HTH to explain my post because this is all I care to write on this topic, LoL!

Regards,

Tom