Want to live off-grid?

Doomsday Prepper Forums

Help Support Doomsday Prepper Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I need a 3 ton. An 18 seer costs about $6k, but the efficiency would pay the difference in about 3 years.

Hell, we spent about $2500 to get the bottom of the frog spray foamed (that’s where the unit is), and it paid for itself in 2 years.
So far the units I’m looking at only go up to 16seer. I’ll dig some more, but think my old unit is around 10,so anything is an improvement.
 
Lol, one night without AC is miserable! I had a friend call me with no power yesterday. It was midday and when I pulled up he was sitting in the carport. I was able to restore power for the house but the condenser fan was toast on his AC. I don’t do AC work but probably could have found a motor to replace it, but he said an AC guy worked on it days ago so he called him back. Luckily he got the unit going by the evening. Even if my main unit fails, I will get a window unit for the bedroom to sleep in while I’m waiting for the new unit to get going again. I love the south, but not everything about it!

Never understood why more US southerners never built underground like they do out NV / AZ way, constant 56 F all year round.
 
I would get your house tested, if your windows and insulation isnt on par with seer rating of the unit its not worth it.
I used 2 by 6’s on the walls and have r36 in the floor and ceilings so it’s tighter than most. I agree there’s a cost benefit ratio to consider. If it takes too long to make back the difference it’s not worth it. I only found up to 16seer on a quick look again for sale on line, and will be ok with that jump in price from the 14 seer.
 
I've always reckoned that once the collapse comes about, for whatever reason-i'm not too concerned about the cause ,we will have to revert to a pre industrial revolution type lifestyle- everything done by our own labour using hand tools. I have a friend in Australia who already lives an 18th century lifestyle in the forest even down to wearing 18th century clothing which he makes himself.
generators and solar panels are all well and good until the parts that make them run start breaking down, without access to a manufacturing base they will be just so much scrap metal.
 
I've always reckoned that once the collapse comes about, for whatever reason-i'm not too concerned about the cause ,we will have to revert to a pre industrial revolution type lifestyle- everything done by our own labour using hand tools. I have a friend in Australia who already lives an 18th century lifestyle in the forest even down to wearing 18th century clothing which he makes himself.
generators and solar panels are all well and good until the parts that make them run start breaking down, without access to a manufacturing base they will be just so much scrap metal.
I figure I’m probably old enough to be able to keep most things running at least until I wear out too. I’ve always been ok at scavenging parts or improvising . I am glad I don’t have small kids just starting out though. I do believe the next generation will have a rougher time of things.
 
scavenging all depends on what is left behind after the collapse and also the number of survivors, a large number of survivors will use up what is left faster than a small number.
also i'm not going to place my survival on relying on finding stuff to use, if I haven't got it i'll do without it, scavenging could be dangerous post event again depending on how many survivors.
i'll start from a basic level which I know I can survive at, as I've done it before, any more than that is a bonus.I don't need much. i'm not trying to recreate my current lifestyle post event.
have a look at "tales from the green valley" on youtube, this is how I see us all living post SHTF.(maybe not those clothes though!:))
 
Last edited:
Never understood why more US southerners never built underground like they do out NV / AZ way, constant 56 F all year round.
Depends on where in the South you live. Here and every other place I've lived, the water table it too high most of the time to do much underground. Not only will the water get in your way during construction, things you bury are liable to float up out of the ground. And even if you do get them to stay put, they have to be 100% water tight.

Not saying it can't be done, it's just a real bother.

The other option is to "bury" it above ground. Build it above ground then cover it with dirt. You can get close to the constant temperature that way.
 
Depends on where in the South you live. Here and every other place I've lived, the water table it too high most of the time to do much underground. Not only will the water get in your way during construction, things you bury are liable to float up out of the ground. And even if you do get them to stay put, they have to be 100% water tight.

Not saying it can't be done, it's just a real bother.

The other option is to "bury" it above ground. Build it above ground then cover it with dirt. You can get close to the constant temperature that way.

Reminds me of the time a coworker bought a new fiberglass tornado shelter. They dug a big hole, poured concrete in the bottom, put the shelter (with a couple steel rods made into its base) into the concrete in the hole and covered it up. Looked great, and then there was a big storm with about 3 inches of rain.

It was floating the next morning... the water had made it so buoyant that it ripped the steel rods out of the fiberglass.... lol.
 
Depends on where in the South you live. Here and every other place I've lived, the water table it too high most of the time to do much underground. Not only will the water get in your way during construction, things you bury are liable to float up out of the ground. And even if you do get them to stay put, they have to be 100% water tight.

Not saying it can't be done, it's just a real bother.

The other option is to "bury" it above ground. Build it above ground then cover it with dirt. You can get close to the constant temperature that way.
Build mounds, just like our native americans did a thousand years ago.
 
Depends on where in the South you live. Here and every other place I've lived, the water table it too high most of the time to do much underground. Not only will the water get in your way during construction, things you bury are liable to float up out of the ground. And even if you do get them to stay put, they have to be 100% water tight.

Not saying it can't be done, it's just a real bother.

The other option is to "bury" it above ground. Build it above ground then cover it with dirt. You can get close to the constant temperature that way.


I saw what best can be described as double skinned residences in NM, looked pretty much like your normal US single story home but with a seocondary roof on poles about 2 ft over the first roof painted white to reflect the sunlight and heat. dunno how effective it was but it most have some effect.

Burying above ground is good providing you put enough dirt over the top to stabilise the air temp at ground lvel inside.
 
Homestead rescue has been entertaining for me on the most part. Even saw a few tricks in there that I could do if need be. But, like all shows they do a lot of editing and make some home owners look like complete idiots. I do have to wonder how some of them survive at all. . .
They had to be rescued, that says it pretty much. I did post on the site once and said I didn't think they would be able to keep the road open to the top of the hill due to seasonal torrential downpours, but the owners responded to me. I was shocked, but in any case they had put a lot of money into it, said bought that land that was split with some on the bottom and a lot way up top and no way to get up there because it was all they could afford. I had to think they could have found better land and not put so much into creating and maintaining a road. Roads are expensive. But, what blows my mind is that they often have resources and don't even know how to use them. They can't even figure it out. If you can't problem solve I don't think you should try it. They just get way in over their heads.
 
I saw what best can be described as double skinned residences in NM, looked pretty much like your normal US single story home but with a seocondary roof on poles about 2 ft over the first roof painted white to reflect the sunlight and heat. dunno how effective it was but it most have some effect.

Burying above ground is good providing you put enough dirt over the top to stabilise the air temp at ground lvel inside.
Like living in a mound. I wouldn't want to live in a sodie so I don't think I'd like mound living much either. but, you do what you have to do. Mayb half sunk and the mound on top , like some root cellars where the soil is moist, that might be OK. dunno.
 
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
 

Latest posts

Back
Top