How do you live off-grid? - BBC News

Beautiful we are also off grid

They are richer than any billionaire.

No-one can be 'off grid' and certainly in a UK context most people - unfortunately - are deluding themselves. I had Great Grandparents who were 'off grid' in the true sense. They lived on a remote Scottish island, but they abandoned that life a century ago, when the islanders were evacuated. Life was incredibly hard and unrelenting and final break point was the lack of medical care and opportunites. It cannot be off-grid if you still reply on the NHS health service, on state education and also if your life depends on the modern world to supply your internet and tech needs, your clothes, your social care (which you may well need when you are older) and other paraphernalia of modern life. Short of literally cutting yourself off on an island, you are still linked by an 'umbilical chord' to modern life. If we all tried to achieve this the world would pretty quickly revert back to a medieval lifestyle. Not least in a British context and 68 million people - we would only have less than 1 acre of land each. In England it would be barely half an acre each.

People need to cut back and stop wanting so much

Good for them, brilliant life

I love Pembrokeshire. It’s a fabulous part of the UK.

this used to be how everyone lived it’s crazy how lost we’ve become

Everybody used to live this way.

like bbc is going to tell you how 😂

if i lived in a third world country i could build my own clay staw stone and wood home mortgage free.

If this is so good for the Environment, Then why the hell is the government making this harder to do with new 2022 laws?

This is still very far from off grid
There is no off grid fyi

Governents will never have policies allowing people to live without their help, they will make it very difficult, they want to keep control your you.

I wish I could do this but I would not be allowed on disability beneficts

This should be all over the UK there is no reason why not. People want to live in many different ways and people should have access to the countryside not just for second home rich families. My channel has proved people want to live like this and its not hard to make £500 per month

Fantastic. I love how you’re living

I would love to do this!! But you need to buy the land right?

Really enjoyed watching this and seeing how this family manage their off grid life. So interesting to see how others do it 😊

Who cares if the government will be unhappy we have been living in a very deeply dangerous way of life and there are so many of us willing to do this off grid living they are totally unwilling to accept green generation of electricity by wind, solar or wave power that would be quite compatible and could be put into the National grid now.
The government many never get a say in it, planning is the biggest barrier to get over and since the Tories have been in they have under the cover of Covid 19 brought in swinging planning laws that will stop us even being able to try and stop these deeply damaging housing schemes I cannot for the life of me see how they are happy to build ginormous warehouses, poultry barns, and houses who's brickwork alone is a huge carbon footprint. It is crazy the government and the builders are killing the planet with thier lack of understanding and unwillingness to embrace green and planet friendly actions and until this government is either bought down or has to leave because they are voted out of office we are up the creek without a paddle. But are we?

years ago i would have thought of these people as crazed. Now I see them as smart. May they live long happy peaceful lives, away from this bastardization of life we experience

Forever Goodbye, No More again Be Friends.

I think the approach in Wales is good in some ways, especially if you want to live as far off grid as this family are doing, but it is also limiting. It only presents two ideas really, either you live like everyone else does pay your electricity and energy bills along with your mortgage/rent, pay council tax and have have your rubbish collected…..or you go totally off grid on agricultural land providing you can work than land enough to make £6000 a year. Where’s the inbetween?

Why can’t I build a small house that has minimal enough electricity needs that solar panels can provide enough power, but still has mains water connected BUT no sewage so I treat my own sewage whilst still having a regular job without having to seek my earning off the land I live on rather being forced to live in a Barrett Homes style house where no consideration whatsoever is taken for the environment or energy requirements save for the bare minimum required by local planning rules.

What does he say the hot tub is made of?

Im happy to adapt my way of life to one ad such, if the government allows it.
There are many restrictions and legislations in place which prevents or makes it complicated for people in the UK to live off the grid.

The major cities in the UK will not support this choice of living. The Midlands, Black country and Wales are probably the few realistic locations to achieve a off grid lifestyle.

Secondly, purchasing land in the UK is not viable for most people (unless you are a millionaire etc). So renting a football pitch sized green land with other off the grid enthusiasts is the most realistic option.

In addition, building permission is required. Possession of cows, horses and any other agricultural animals will require licenses and approval by the council.

But if you can find a community estate built on a section of a farm or greenery land, then thats properties which is most likely the best option in terms of saving costs for developing accommodation from the ground up.
Just need to seek permission of the land owner for making adjustments and slight infrastructural projects. Such as building own water pumping system. Setting up solar panels for natural electricity.
And getting permission for the use of outdoor fire facilities.

This is the life I want

Love the concept, my goal is somewhere between normal living and self sufficiency 👀 can’t be too ‘off the grid’

I would love to live simply with slightly more luxury off grid for my retirement. But I would prefer to do this some place warm, like Barbados.

Watch planet of the humans.

Get a caravan home best value ever

Well better than living in the commercial rat race

Great video thankyou!!!

Is there a quarter acre spare for a larger carpentry workshop build and
space to site a couple of poly tunnels. Estate agents been no use the
last three years. Thanks.

Best try all efforts To see if BBC" TV licence" is needed .. non live..

Living off grid is one thing, I want to live off taxes😂

I've never someone as white as them

I wonder if they'll be left alone when the covid passport arrives next year,stripping everyone of their freedom.

It's Wales not the bloody outback 😂

By not paying your fuck off tv license!

Do you actually own the land tho or can they be kicked off at anytime?

Short answer: savings

I would love to live like that lady in a mud hut in the Welsh country side my youngest is almost ready to leave home and it is my dream to live like these off grid ppl but and its a big but well not a big butt u know what I mean like the guy said planning it is a mare and a half but once yr up and running I reckon it would increase your happiness immeasurably I admire these ppl so much

Definitely a lifestyle to consider with the way the world keeps going

A quarter to one full acre needed..

I love the idea of all this BUT BUT ... as long as people contribute in some way, even volunteering, to the society that provides the MRI scanners , medical research and and and ...when the tallow candle flickers out....:)

I love you all.
I am an Iranian, English, Spanish and I love you. Love you, I respect what you have achieved.

Why are we letting in so many migrants?

im sorry but do you know that much of the global south lives like this... europe needs to rethink why it needs to think about the eco system. Yall have destroyed so much that such videos are a piece of heaven but c'mon.......

honestly that’s probably the dream

I think this is great, and would like to live similar to that some day (getting there), but I also think people need to be shown the more realistic side too and not just the good stuff. The daily routine would not be easy, and definately far from convenient/comfortable....all this for a measly £500/month. People say it'd be great to be without bills etc but they're extremely naive. Let's say you start heating your house with wood you chopped up and stored from your own forrest (convenient if you had a forest) - this may take the equivalent of an hours preparation etc each day for the sake of getting less than ideal heat in the home (peaks and lows of heat and constant supervision). So over the Winter that's 140 man-hours. If you were paid for this hard labour at just minimum wage (chopping, storing, building shelters, loading and lighting fire each day etc) you'd earn £1220! Compare that to natural gas which only costs £600-£700 per heating season for the average house - and all automatically and perfect temperature. In other words, to heat "for free" you'd be working for less than £4/hour on the so called "savings" of the gas bill. Bottom line, people in Britain are SPOILED and IGNORANT and they don't realise it. They then complain about the government or the council etc all the time when their own lives are comfortable enough, or they just need to work harder/appreciate what they already have.