For years I have lived off the grid, so everyone seems to recognize I somehow grew up this way.
But that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, I grew up with strict parents who were pretty conservative. And my siblings and I had a very nice home with good quality heating plus air along with various other conveniences. So clearly, my passion for the woods, and living surrounded by nature was an innate desire. And I actually started actively working towards living off the grid, I have to hand it to my parents because they were easily supportive. It’s difficult to recognize that that was 25 years ago… Even my folks have gotten used to the fact that I live pretty much just love everybody else does. The only major difference is I live way out in the wilderness plus have to produce my own electricity. But I can produce enough electricity with my solar array to even care about residential HVAC in my cottage. I built a fairly good sized cottage that I made all those years ago. Initially, all I had was a wood stove for heating. But with the evolution in tech for my solar array system, I was able to actually have a ductless heat pump installed. With the old wood burning stove, I don’t need the ductless heat pump all that much for any sort of heating. But that ductless heater sure does come in handy during the Summer months. There are at least more than two or 3 months during the Summer where the fan just wasn’t cutting the mustard. So having some air conditioning sure does help me get a good night’s sleep. When you are living plus working out in the wilderness, there’s a lot to do so you need a good night’s sleep.