Off-Grid Living

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The Mini-Fortress Standard: Solar Powered Chicken Coop for Ontario Winters

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A solar powered chicken coop in a Rockwood January is not a hobby project. It is a necessity. In February of last year, a client called me after losing four hens over […]

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The Mobile Fortress Standard: Van Life Solar Setup Guide for RVs and Vans

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A van life solar setup guide that starts with residential mounting hardware is starting with the wrong assumption. I have seen this twice in the shop. A Sprinter comes in after a

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The Soft Start Solution: Running a 15,000 BTU AC on a 3000W Inverter

A soft start AC inverter solution is the difference between a 15,000 BTU air conditioner that trips your system every time the thermostat calls for cooling and one that starts so quietly you have to check the vents to confirm it is running. The Victron MultiPlus-II 3000VA is a 3,000 watt continuous inverter with a

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The Soft Start Secret: Protecting Off-Grid Inverters from Large Motors

Every time your well pump kicks on in a Rockwood cabin your inverter takes a punch. Not a metaphor a physical electromagnetic punch to the transformer windings. The compressor motor tries to start from a dead stop all that rotational inertia demands enormous current the Locked Rotor Amps event. Your Victron MultiPlus-II handles it this

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The Service Record: Why Every Off-Grid System Needs a Maintenance Log

I have serviced cars that reached 400,000 kilometres without a single major failure. Every one of them had a complete service history oil changes logged, torque checks recorded, brake jobs documented. I have also serviced cars that looked fine on the outside and were disasters inside because nobody kept records. An off-grid solar system is

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