[Seahawk]

A good friend of mine is "off grid" on a small ranch near Kennedy Meadows, California in the Sierras.

Their house is about 1000sf with a wrap around porch that adds a lot of usable outdoor space. They put in a small barn for the horses, hay storage and the like. The house is about as fireproof as you can make it (metal roof, concrete siding, etc.) and extremely well insulated. It looks like a typical mountain cabin.

He installed solar and wind that feed a bank of batteries that can run the house for days. He has a well with a storage tank above the house. Wood stove for heat that can easily be used as a cook top. Not sure on his septic set up.

I helped him install in ground diesel and propane tanks for his trucks and routine heating and cooking needs. Each are 500 gallons.

They have satellite internet and phone. For back-up communications they also have a dedicated sat phone for emergencies.

His wife lives there full time 8 - 9 months a year. They have a small ranch near Inyokern, California about an hour drive from Kennedy Meadows. She spends the heavy duty winter months there.

DA works at NAS China Lake and heads up the mountain every Friday and returns early Monday.

They absolutely love the remoteness and solitude of Kennedy Meadows. They bought the property a long time ago and spent a lot of time up there in a trailer before they built.

I pick his brain all the time since he lives the lifestyle 8 - 9 months out of the year.

Besides designing the house and required appliances to be as efficient as possible, he said the best tip he got was to over plan the battery requirement by twice what you think you'll need, set up the battery storage area to be as cool and accessible as possible: He basically dug out a root cellar under the house and the battery banks is down there, heated and cooled as required.

He is on year 10 with his set up and is very attentive to battery and conditioner maintenance.