When people build a house in a modern subdivision, they don’t have to think much about utilities. Electricity comes from the electric company, gas (if it’s available) comes from the gas company, phone comes from the phone company, and water and sewer come from the city. You just connect everything and off you go.
It’s not so simple for us because our lot is a fairly isolated rural lot. There is no water and no sewer (it’s in unincorporated Pima County). There’s no gas company. There is an electric co-op with poles running to the property line.
Electricity
Part of our vision for homesteading means being out of debt and having the fewest possible bills to pay. We also are conscious of the environmental impact and consequences our lifestyle can have. The electrical grid and our consumer appliances, for instance, conspire together to ensure that we consume more electricity than we might realize. My electric coffee maker has a clock and timer (which I never use) that steadily consumes electricity anytime the unit is plugged in. So does the VCR, microwave, and stove. The TV just goes to sleep and never really shuts off, otherwise it won’t be ready when we flip on the remote. All of these items by themselves have a small draw of electricity, but it adds up, and most of us don’t even think about it.
In considering a lifestyle, we would want to take responsibility for all our electricity. That means watching our consumption very carefully, and making sure we use as little electricity as possible. It also means smaller electric bills, which means less demand for income, and that means more time available to spend with family and friends or pursuing the things we are passionate about. We would have to say ‘no’ to many things we might otherwise enjoy, we would have to pass up many conveniences (like leaving the TV plugged in). But that is the cost of a simpler lifestyle, and on the whole, we believe a simpler lifestyle means a higher quality lifestyle.
Update: We’ve considered an off-grid setup, but found that being off-grid isn’t as environmentally-friendly as we once thought. Off-grid solar require batteries, which are highly toxic and only last a few years even when well cared-for. Since the grid is available, a grid-intertie setup may be more what we are looking for. No batteries are required and we would therefore not need to concern ourselves with dumping depleted batteries into hazardous waste. It is also more economical since we will not have to generate enough electricity to handle peak loads, only the average annual load.
We will probably begin with a standard grid connection and add renewable energy sources as our finances permit. It’s best to start with a mind toward conservation, and hopefully one day we will be able to generate enough of our own power to completely offset what we consume.
Gas
Natural gas is not available in our area. We do plan on using propane, as it is relatively inexpensive and we enjoy cooking on a gas range. We will also use a propane tankless water heater and a propane hearth stove for backup heat.
We are including rough plumbing for a solar hot water preheater, but we are licensed foster parents and that requires us to maintain very precise control over water temperature. Solar hot water systems often make water too hot, but the propane tankless water heater we plan to use allows us to set the temperature to exactly 120 degrees, the maximum allowed by state regulations.
We chose a propane hearth stove instead of a wood-burning stove partially for convenience and partially because a steady supply of firewood is not available locally.
Communications
Phone is available and we may consider a phone line if we decide we are okay with the phone bill. Cell phone service is not the best on our current provider. For Internet we are likely to use satellite (the only alternative to that is dial-up). It’s expensive but both of us can use it to earn income, so it’s a worthwhile investment.
Water and Sewer
This is the most challenging resource to deal with. We live in a desert, and water is scarce. The only water available on our property is under it, in the form of groundwater, or above it, in the form of rainfall.
Wells are deep and groundwater is currently overpumped in southern Arizona, so our aquifers are depleting over time. Water for Arizona’s major urban centers (Phoenix and Tucson) is supplied by wells, and the aquifers are recharged with water diverted from the Colorado river. (There isn’t enough rainfall to recharge the aquifers.) Diverting water from the Colorado seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul to me as the Colorado barely makes it to the ocean anymore.
We are painfully aware that drilling a well and relying on it for all our water needs is being part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
To solve our water problem sustainably, we first look to the sky. Our climate provides an average of about 11 inches of rain per year, sometimes as low as 8. Catching all of it off our roof would provide enough water for an average American family of four to flush down the toilet in one year. We plan to use a composting toilet, which requires no water for flushing. We’ve had good luck with a sawdust toilet, which for a family of four requires only two gallons of water per week for washing buckets.
Our second strategy is to reduce consumption and reuse water as much as possible. We will use only high-efficiency appliances, low-flow faucets, and reduced water pressure. We have found that a dishwasher actually reduces water use as it can wash many, many dishes with only a few gallons of water. And besides, anyone who has babies can appreciate a dishwasher for its ability to efficiently sanitize an endless stream of baby bottles!
Effluent from the lavatory sink, bathtub, and washing machine will be diverted to irrigate fruiting shade trees on the west and southwest side of the house, which will in turn create a cooler microclimate (not to mention produce food). That will reduce the cooling load on the house and thereby further reduce energy consumption.
The kitchen sink and the dishwasher must by law drain into an approved blackwater system, something like a mini-septic.
Our stored water may be used to create an above-ground ‘root cellar’ on the north side of the house. By enclosing the tanks, which will be 2,500 gallons or more each, in an insulated room we will create a space with significant thermal mass that is protected from the radical temperature changes outdoors. Since water is often very cool, this space will have an even and cool temperature year round. If we are lucky, it will be the ideal conditions for storing root crops, wine, and other perishable goods… all with no ongoing energy use.
Our plan is to start with one 2,500-gallon cistern, which is about a month’s worth of water for us. We will fill it with hauled water or rainwater when it is available, routing it through an elaborate series of filters to eliminate sediment and bacteria. Since hauling is expensive and energy-intensive, we will drill a well once we can afford it. Hopefully we will be able to care for our property well enough that this will not impact our groundwater supply negatively.
