Off-Grid Living
Living Off-Grid in a French Derelict
Power from the sun, water from the ground or the sky, waste handled on the plot, heat from the forest around you. On a remote French wreck, going off-grid isn't the romantic option — it's often plain cheaper than paying to drag the mains in. Here's the whole picture, and the four systems that turn a derelict into a home you own outright, with no bill ever again.
This is written from doing it for real, on a modest budget, with my own hands — not from a kit-seller's brochure. Off-grid is really four separate jobs that add up to a self-sufficient home. Get each one right and the sums are extraordinary; get the order right and you can move in and live while you finish the rest.
The big idea most people have backwards: on a remote plot, off-grid is the frugal choice, not the expensive one. Before anything, get written quotes to connect the electricity (Enedis) and water to the exact plot. Out in the country those can run to five figures each — often more than it costs to power and water the place yourself, for good. You can't plan the build until you know those two numbers, and they're free to ask for.
The four off-grid systems
Each is a full guide of its own — power and water are the big ones; start there.
Solar, batteries, an inverter/charger, a generator for winter — and why wind rarely pays. The whole electrical system, sized for a French winter.
The power guide →💧 WaterAn existing well, rainwater, a borehole or the mains — with the honest cost of each over 5, 10 and 20 years. Plus making any source safe to drink.
The water guide →♻️ WasteThe SPANC rules every off-mains house faces, a compliant septic system, and the composting-toilet route done legally.
The waste guide →🔥 The One Warm RoomMake one room warm, dry, lit and legal, move in, and renovate the rest around you. The strategy that makes the whole thing affordable.
The warm-room guide →Why off-grid often wins on a remote plot
The mains can cost more than the alternative
A solar-and-battery system that runs a simple home for good can cost less than one remote Enedis connection. A well or rainwater setup can undercut twenty years of water bills — and a new mains connection. The further the plot is from the poles and pipes, the more off-grid wins. That's why "how far are the services" is a price question, not a lifestyle one.
Forest country hands you two systems for free
In the Morvan or the Limousin, the wood for your heat is on your doorstep, and the granite means many old houses already have a well or spring on the plot. Two of the four systems can be nearly sorted the day you buy — which is exactly why where you buy shapes how off-grid you can be.
Heat is never electric — keep it separate
The one rule that makes the electrical sums work: never try to heat with electricity off-grid. Heat comes from a wood burner; the solar and battery run lights, fridge, pump and charging. Muddle the two and you'll never build a big enough array.
The order to build it move in, then finish
You don't do all four systems, then move in — you'd never afford it. You build a beachhead and live in it while the rest goes on around you.
The one warm room
One room made watertight, dry, wood-heated and lit — enough to live on site. How to pick and build it →
Water
Bring the well into use or start catching rainwater, and sort drinking water.
Waste
A composting loo up front, a compliant septic when the budget allows — both signed off by SPANC.
What it all comes to
Rough, DIY, self-installed. A shape to reason with — the per-system pages have the detail.
- £3–6kA comfortable power system — array, LFP battery, inverter/charger and a generator for the dark weeks.
- £0.2–4kWater — from a few hundred quid to bring an existing well into use, up to a few thousand for rainwater or a borehole.
- £0.3–6kWaste — a composting loo and compliant greywater at the low end, a full septic system at the high.
- money savedEvery figure is what you spend instead of a connection and a lifetime of bills — and it buys value in a house you own outright.
Off-grid starts with a sound shell
None of this matters if the roof leaks or the ground is wrong. Run the place through the free desk routine, and know the connection costs, before you commit.
The Armchair Checklist →