How to Heat Your Off Grid Home

Start with the Bones

During these darkest days of the year in the northern hemisphere, it is impossible not to think about heat. The days are growing colder as we tilt away from the sun.

Heating our homes is a matter of survival. If you doubt it, recall February of 2011 when a huge storm caused rolling blackouts in West Texas that affected the pressure in gas pipelines and impeded delivery of natural gas to over 30,000 homes in Northern New Mexico. At the same time, thermometers plummeted to record cold temps of 36 degrees below zero in some mountain towns. There were long lines outside stores as people purchased electric heaters. For 6 days and 5 nights, a state of emergency was declared, schools and businesses shut down and shelters were set up for anyone in need. There was the unusual sight of National Guard vehicles and uniformed guardspeople patrolling the streets. Fortunately, nobody died.

My family was not affected in our mountain homestead because we heated with a wood stove and used propane for our cooking and hot water heater.

Personally, I don’t think people consider heating enough. Yet, it is so essential. Not just to survival but to saving energy, which is very much the goal when living an ecofriendly life.