(Article from Yavapai Living Magazine)

Off The Grid and In the Hills

BY PAMELA RAVENWOOD

Wanting to move somewhere you can get away from it all? If you truly want to remove yourself from civilization as we know it, sometimes it takes some sacrifices; like lack of standard services such as power, gas, and phone. But this didn’t stop Cottonwood architect Chris Vernosky. Vernosky and his wife Dale Walker built their house exactly where they wanted, on the south side of Mingus Mountain and although they didn’t have the modern hook-ups, they hardly live without.

“People think that when you live off the grid you are living in a shack with none of the modern conveniences,” Vernosky said. “This couldn’t be further from the truth. We have computers, television, VCR, running water, even a washer and dryer. It just takes some work to make all of this happen.”

Approaching Vernosky’s home, you better stop and lock in the four-wheel drive. The road is steep and rough. Once you arrive, you can appreciate why the couple tolerate the conditions; panoramic views of Dewey, Prescott Valley, Prescott and Chino Valley, are had from their front porch.

The home, all 2,500 square feet sitting on seven acres, was planned with absolute attention to efficiency. Vernosky said the first thing he considered, that he feels all builders should consider, is orientation of the home.

“Our house is oriented so that we receive full sunlight in the winter and shade in the summer. This way we don’t have to use as much energy to heat or cool the home.”

Secondly, Vernosky made sure he had a substance under the home that would absorb the heat in the winter and cool in the summer – for him it was a concrete floor. He calls it a heat sink and that any dense material that is absorbent will work. He separates the floor under the home from the concrete outside of the house with an insulated barrier. This keeps the chilled outside concrete from transferring the cool into the house floor, which has already been warmed by the morning sun through the windows. Because the house is heated with gas fireplace inserts, every bit of conserved energy counts.
 

As for providing electricity for the rest of the house, Vernosky uses solar energy and wind power. One windmill and ten 120 watt solar panels usually does the trick. The power is converted and stored in six 24 volt batteries. If this gets used up to fast, there is always the backup generator, but for Vernosky, learning to budget power teaches one how to live with the energy created.

“Budgeted power teaches you how to evaluate your appliance’s efficiency before you buy them and helps you to remember to turn the lights off. When it came to buying appliances, it was tricky. Many salesmen don’t know how much energy their appliances use. I found myself asking for the boxes they came in so I could look it up myself. Sears has been really good about energy efficient appliances.”

Then there is water. Vernosky shares a well and tank with his two neighbors. One pump powered by solar energy pulls water from the well and stores it in a 6,000 gallon tank. As for landscaping water, rain captured from the roof gutters is caught and held in a 1,500 gallon tank set next to the house.

Vernosky admits that owning a home that is off-the-grid isn’t exactly cheap in the beginning. Yes, one saves energy, but the initial investment can be costly. The reward? Living exactly where you want to live, being surrounded by nature.
“Living out here, I see things differently and no year is ever the same as the last,” he said. “One year we had a bumper crop of Pinon pine nuts followed by Pinon Jays.

Other times we have had a lot of moths. This year the flowers were beautiful. It’s just so beautiful out here and so quiet. It takes me 35 minutes to get to work in Cottonwood and my wife, who works for a pharmaceutical company and travels a lot, only has to drive a few minutes to the Prescott airport. For all the work, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

 

Resources for Being Off The Grid

Arizona Solar Center – Numerous resources and articles on solar power, solar architecture, wind power, energy efficient products and more. www.azsolarcenter.com.

APS Solar Energy – Articles on how solar energy works, what photovoltaic are, and how to become a solar partner with APS. www.aps.com/my_community/solar/solar_1.html

Renewable Resource Data Center- Information on several types of renewable energy resources in the United States. Numerous links from this site to other helpful sites. www.rredc.nrel.gov/

Arizona Products and Services – Information on how to find construction companies, designers, products and more related to renewable energy. www.azsolarcenter.com/products.html