Tom and Barbara were two people who wanted to be off the grid.
Way off the grid.
They wanted nothing more than to stop depending upon Uncle Sam and the corporate world for their existence.
Up to now, Tom had been able to quit his job, and Barbara was getting close to being able to do the same.
They had so far successfully produced food in their garden not only for themselves, but to sell a surplus to the local grocers.
In addition to their food supply, they had put a plan together to rely less on public utilities for their water.
At least as far as living in the city could afford them.
Now, Tom set his sights on working out a plan to take his home "off the grid", out of the hands of the public electric works.
He needed a way to provide his own electricity, so that he and Barbara could stop using electricity from the city.
He did his research and found that he had three options for an alternative power source to bring electricity into their home: solar energy, wind power, and hydropower.
Solar panels could be used for two purposes.
The first would be direct power sourcing of their appliances in their home.
The second would be to heat water for their showers and dishes.
Research showed Tom that there were many do-it-yourself solar energy kits available for just a couple hundred dollars.
With their surplus crops, they could have this in place in just a couple of months.
For wind power, they would need to put together a wind turbine, which they found could be acquired for not a lot of money, but Tom felt the solar energy kit should be purchased first.
With the wind turbine, they could get a generator and attach the turbine to it and use both as a back up power source to their appliances.
Hydropower, or water power, required a bit more research.
At first, Tom was exasperated, looking at all the work involved.
He had thought he could pile up dirt in the back corner of his backyard, set up a source of water, run it through a pipe to a generator that would not only supply electricity to their house, but also pump the water back up the hill to the source of water, to have it go all over again.
What a lot of work! Luckily for Tom and Barbara, they had a stream running behind their property.
The incline was steep enough that they could run a pipe of 2-4 inch diameter upstream, so that natural pressure could be created when the stream's running water was forced through the pipe.
The rest of Tom's plan could be adapted using the stream's running water, rather than an independent water source.
The excess electrical energy from their hydropower unit was able to be diverted to a nearby water heater.
When all was in place, Tom stood back and beamed with pride at his accomplishment.
He and Barbara were truly "off the grid" now.
Barbara patted Tom on the back, telling him how happy she was with Tom's efforts.
She just had one comment.
Something was missing from their layout.
"I know, I know," Tom cried.
"A chicken coop.
" A chicken coop would give them everything from free meat and eggs, to fertilizer for their garden and an extra source of income to add in with the income from their garden surplus.
Barbara was on her way home from working a job.
Could this be why she was so insistent on Tom building a chicken coop?
Way off the grid.
They wanted nothing more than to stop depending upon Uncle Sam and the corporate world for their existence.
Up to now, Tom had been able to quit his job, and Barbara was getting close to being able to do the same.
They had so far successfully produced food in their garden not only for themselves, but to sell a surplus to the local grocers.
In addition to their food supply, they had put a plan together to rely less on public utilities for their water.
At least as far as living in the city could afford them.
Now, Tom set his sights on working out a plan to take his home "off the grid", out of the hands of the public electric works.
He needed a way to provide his own electricity, so that he and Barbara could stop using electricity from the city.
He did his research and found that he had three options for an alternative power source to bring electricity into their home: solar energy, wind power, and hydropower.
Solar panels could be used for two purposes.
The first would be direct power sourcing of their appliances in their home.
The second would be to heat water for their showers and dishes.
Research showed Tom that there were many do-it-yourself solar energy kits available for just a couple hundred dollars.
With their surplus crops, they could have this in place in just a couple of months.
For wind power, they would need to put together a wind turbine, which they found could be acquired for not a lot of money, but Tom felt the solar energy kit should be purchased first.
With the wind turbine, they could get a generator and attach the turbine to it and use both as a back up power source to their appliances.
Hydropower, or water power, required a bit more research.
At first, Tom was exasperated, looking at all the work involved.
He had thought he could pile up dirt in the back corner of his backyard, set up a source of water, run it through a pipe to a generator that would not only supply electricity to their house, but also pump the water back up the hill to the source of water, to have it go all over again.
What a lot of work! Luckily for Tom and Barbara, they had a stream running behind their property.
The incline was steep enough that they could run a pipe of 2-4 inch diameter upstream, so that natural pressure could be created when the stream's running water was forced through the pipe.
The rest of Tom's plan could be adapted using the stream's running water, rather than an independent water source.
The excess electrical energy from their hydropower unit was able to be diverted to a nearby water heater.
When all was in place, Tom stood back and beamed with pride at his accomplishment.
He and Barbara were truly "off the grid" now.
Barbara patted Tom on the back, telling him how happy she was with Tom's efforts.
She just had one comment.
Something was missing from their layout.
"I know, I know," Tom cried.
"A chicken coop.
" A chicken coop would give them everything from free meat and eggs, to fertilizer for their garden and an extra source of income to add in with the income from their garden surplus.
Barbara was on her way home from working a job.
Could this be why she was so insistent on Tom building a chicken coop?