Family of 7 Living Entirely Off Grid in Northern Canada

Could you live completely off grid? What about as an entire family?

Meet Jeff, Rose, and their family of five girls who are living entirely off grid on a 40-acre plot of land in Northern British Columbia, Canada.

It started with a freedom thirty-five plan.

For this off grid family of seven it wasn’t about getting rich. It was about needing less money.

It was about owning our old land and being debt free.

Today, they spend less time working and more time doing whatever they want.

Spending less than $25,000 they built their own off-grid home using cedar posts sunk into the ground like a pole barn, log rafters, plywood, foam insulation, and a living roof. They saved a lot of money by not having to utilize an excavator to dig out a foundation, or a well, or a septic system.

This is how we also saved fortune when we designed and built our cabin. Learn more about the cabin foundation we designed using concrete pads, cinder blocks, deck blocks and posts.

They have two solar power systems. One generates 12-Volt power for their lights, cell phones, and music player.

The second system is a 2.5 Kilowatt solar power system installed on their shop roof with a lithium ion battery bank that powers their full-sized fridge, a chest freezer, washing machine, as well as a mixer, blender and a toaster.

We shared the components of our solar system in our 63 Must have Off Grid Tools post.

They have a backup generator but only use it for about 40 hours per year during prolonged cloudy or snowy periods.

They also collect and use rainwater, as we do, and store it in a tank under their shop floor to keep it cool. To produce clean drinking water, they filter their rainwater in a passive water filter called a Burkey (check them out here: http://www.berkeyfilters.com).

The grey water from their kitchen sink and shower drains into a shallow grey water field out in the backyard.

They have two composting bucket toilets and they sprinkle sawdust into the buckets after each use to absorb excess moisture and prevent any odor.

For heat, they cut their own firewood for their Blaze King catalytic wood stove, and for their antique cook-stove in the kitchen that they use for cooking and baking.

Jeff and Rose have home-schooled their five girls. They spend a few hours each day and ensure each girl learns diverse life skills like growing their own food, caring for horses, raising bees, and more.

If you want to learn more about this inspiring family and follow their journey, check out their Gridlessness project — they have a BLOG and a YouTube channel.

There’s always something to do around here. We love to go down to the river to fish or to swim. We like to go for walks, either hunting or gathering or just exploring. We love it out here and we can’t go back. Gridlessness is too good!

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If you enjoyed this post we know you’ll LOVE this epic tale of a man who built his entire off grid home by hand and lived there alone and happy for decades!

Here’s the story of Richard Proenneke and the documentary Alone In The Wilderness.

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