There’s probably a good chance that you’ve turned on your television, computer, or an appliance without giving much thought about the electric grid. But when there’s a power outage, it’s a different story. Suddenly, you’re asking yourself questions such as: What is the electric grid and who owns it? Who controls the grid and how is it controlled? What causes a grid blackout? What is the future of the grid? William L. Thompson, who retired from Dominion Virginia Power after thirty-eight years in the electric business, answers those questions and many more in this book for anyone curious about the electric grid and how it works. In plain, simple language, he reveals what goes on behind the scenes at grid control centers across the country. He also explains how electricity is generated through renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. He also examines the causes behind the largest blackout in United States history and how global warming and technological developments could permanently change Living on the Grid.

A how-to handbook to free yourself from the constraints of modern...

Worried that living off the grid means a life without comfort and convenience? Discover how to unplug without sacrificing the joys of the modern world. Wondering if an off the grid lifestyle is right for you? Scared that it'll be too challenging for you and your family to handle? Author and speaker Gary Collins literally wrote the book on how to transition to a life off the grid. After almost a decade of walking the walk, he's sharing his successes and failures alike so you can live the simple life without missing out on creature comforts. Living Off The Grid: What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility is a comprehensive shake-down of what this unique lifestyle looks like in practice. Told through Collins' much-loved conversational tone, you'll see complex subjects distilled into easy-to-apply lessons. Let the book calm your anxiety about taking this next step and find out how easy it can be to live a life of freedom. In Living Off The Grid, you'll discover: - Practical day-to-day tips to make off-grid living simple - Strategies for running a business or telecommuting while remaining mostly unplugged - Ways to remain socially and professionally connected in your new lifestyle - How to make the most of your newfound freedom and decreased cost of living - Mistakes, expensive errors, and bonehead blunders Collins made so you don't have to... and much, much more! Living Off The Grid: What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility is a detailed account of the ins-and-outs of a simplified off-grid existence. If you like practical instruction, time-saving tips, and hard-earned wisdom from a man who's "been there, done that," then you'll love Gary Collins’ invaluable guide. Buy Living Off The Grid to embark on an exciting new lifestyle today!

Off-grid: a place, building or person without mains water or power. Static or mobile - in a house or a hut, a boat or a camper van - to live off-grid is all about loosending the ties that bind us to teh fmailiar world of commuting, mortgages, no time and fast food, in order to rediscover our place in the natural world. Complete with camper van, Nick sets off around the UK to find off-grid heaven and meet people who are living the dream. Along the way he runs into backpackers and businessmen, radical hermits and right-wing survivalists - and plenty of ordinary working-parent families too. Sincere but irreverent, this is Nick's guide to avoiding pitfalls, to finding solutions (and some brilliant gadgets) as he strives to perfect the skills of this practical, freewheeling kind of self-sufficiency. 'Timely and highly readable' Sunday Telegraph ' Nick Rosen has caught the zeitgeist.' The Times

Off-grid isn’t a state of mind. It isn’t about someone being out of touch, about a place that is hard to get to, or about a weekend spent offline. Off-grid is the property of a building (generally a home but sometimes even a whole town) that is disconnected from the electricity and the natural gas grid. To live off-grid, therefore, means having to radically re-invent domestic life as we know it, and this is what this book is about: individuals and families who have chosen to live in that dramatically innovative, but also quite old, way of life. This ethnography explores the day-to-day lives of people in each of Canada’s provinces and territories living off the grid. Vannini and Taggart demonstrate how a variety of people, all with different environmental constraints, live away from contemporary civilization. The authors also raise important questions about our social future and whether off-grid living creates an environmentally and culturally sustainable lifestyle practice. These homes are experimental labs for our collective future, an intimate look into unusual contemporary domestic lives, and a call to the rest of us leading ordinary lives to examine what we take for granted. This book is ideal for courses on the environment and sustainability as well as introduction to sociology and introduction to cultural anthropology courses.

Bestselling Van Life author Foster Huntington shares his experiences - as well as others - living by his own rules in this aspirational book filled with awe-inspiring photographs of unique homes in unexpected places. After spending three years on the road living in a camper van, Foster Huntington continued his unconventional lifestyle by building a two-story treehouse. Foster, like many others, are finding freedom, tranquility, and adventure in living off the grid in unconventional homes. Perfect for fans of Van Life and Cabin Porn and those who yearn for a simpler existence, Off Grid Life showcases unique dwellings from all around the world. Organized into sections like tree houses, tiny houses, shipping containers, yurts, boathouses, barns, vans, and more, the 250 aspirational photographs feature enviable settings like stunning beaches, dramatic mountains and picturesque forests. Also included are images of fully designed interiors with kitchens and sleeping quarters as well as interviews with solo dwellers, couples, and families who are living lives off the beaten path.

The grid is everywhere, sending power to the light switch on the wall and water to the faucet in the kitchen. With energy prices soaring, the housing market in shambles, and unemployment looming, more and more Americans are choosing to free themselves from dependence on the grid.