Ryan,
the home actually sold faster because it was off the grid. The views from this property were terrific. The extra expense probably was not worth it on a purely economic basis but the ability to be self-sufficient when you're mile out of town has some appeal to folks around here.
I had an applicant that could not get financing until he hooked up to the grid. It was such a pain. Now he sells his electric back.
We have friends who recently relocated to Montana, where they live happily "off the grid" so I found this quite interesting. Thanks for this morning's "you learn something new every day" lesson.
Laura, I didn't know that could be an issue. Were they working with a conventional loan or through a HUD/FHA program?
Susan, Montana is gorgeous place to live - I did a bunch of log cabin inspections there a couple of years ago - but it's on the "wrong" side of the jet stream. There is a huge temperature difference between us and them. Personally, I like out 'banana belt" temperatures.
Paul, that was definitely interesting. I don't now if I could live off the grid though. My wife wouldn't appreaciate it much. But, very cool inspection I imagine. Thanks for sharing.
I once did an appraisal of a home which had a garage filled with marine batteries. The guy would charge the batteries during the day with a generator and running his home at night off the batteries. I don't remember how long the battery charge lasted but it was more than one night.
Michael,
That sounds like a whole lot of work to stay off the grid. Any system I put in would have to be low maintenance - I'd rather have the house working for me than the other way around.
Reminds me of one I was on with another inspector a while ago. The house was vacant for quite sometime, the realtor had to jump start the generator with his car. :)
Anyway, the more significant item was the placement of the batteries and failure to provide any safety mechanism for a battery leak. The contents of a battery as well as the vapors are harmful. The buyer looked puzzled until I asked them if they really want to sleep and eat in a battery warehouse. When there is a leak, Where will the liquid go? Where will the vapor go?
Sounds like Paul has all the functionality testing covered.
Good point, Jim.
In this case, the vapor hood was a jury-rigged affair (when you overcharge the batteries to equlaize them, the off-gas).
It's amazing what people live with. What did your clients do?
The couple purchased the house, the lending company is requiring them to have grid service installed. Whether or not they use it is up to them. Another interesting item in this story is that we were hit by a big ice storm this season. This house is in the area where most people lost power for 2 weeks. They are happy they have their own system.
I hope they use the "we got a lot of money off the deal after the inspection report" for the safety issues in the home. Sometimes I wonder if the home inspection is used becuase they can't really afford the house at the offer price.
Now that is a really interesting house. Just curious - an idea whether the investment in the alternate energy sources is cost effective? Similarly, as appealing as it may be to some purchasers, I would love to know if the home was difficult to sell because it was off the electrical grid.