Barn Renovation Begins | Off Grid Family in Bulgaria
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Cleaning out these old buildings has been a lot of hard work. It's amazing all of the things we have discovered though and the history that surrounds them. Every minute spent on our land we are learning something new.
We're Phil and Kayleigh, a husband and wife living in rural Bulgaria with our two children, Alex and Ember. It's always been our dream to live a more self-sustainable life off grid. So, we've sold all our belongings, escaped the rental rat race and bought a plot of land. Complete with a derelict house and 3 barns, we hope to create our new life mortgage free. We've faced lots of hurdles already, so hang on tight as we show you highs and lows of moving abroad and starting again.
Follow Us:
Instagram / offgridwiththeudens
Facebook / offgridwiththeudens
Kofi ko-fi.com/offg...
Work With Us:
offgridwiththeudens@gmail.com
Thanks everyone for your likes, comments and messages. We've been living over here for a while now and release a new video every other Sunday - so make sure you subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don't miss what we are up to! 😊
Good idea to start with the smaller building, I reckon - I think that’s what we’d do, then we could learn loads before starting on the larger one xox
Hey guys! Yea absolutely start small and learn from your mistakes 😁
Enjoyed it until the lecture at the end.
Hi Jack thanks for the comment. Yea sorry I didn't mean it to come across like a lecture, it's just something I'm pretty passionate about so I get a bee under my bonnet about it sometimes! 🙂
@@OffGridWithTheUdens The whole sustainability things is nothing but a scam. It's a shame so many people are getting really passionate about ending cheap heating and energy for the poor in favor of these "remedies" that will do nothing but enrich the same old banks and corporations. I hope you guys do well but also that you learn from the people around you who have managed for thousands of years but are now suffering under the policies of the EU and the UN.
Thanks for the comment Katherine. It's always interesting to hear other people's opinions.
Wow - great progress guys!
Looking good, looking forward to seeing it all come together. Absolutely awesome filming!
Thank you.
Bri
Thanks Bri I'm glad you enjoyed the video. 😁
Really cool project, we will be following! 👋 🇧🇬
Thanks for the comment and the follow! We enjoyed your first video too very chill. 🙂👍
Nice seeing the foreman resting up in the hammock!
Perfect plan guys....that was our plan at our place- until Hudson came along....so keep it in your trousers until it's finished! 🤣
For the most part, the snakes here are helpful on the land...just watch out for the ones with a diamond pattern on it's back- I'm sure the donkeys will scare them off though 🤘😉
Hey Lee! Yea we found that in the middle isle at Kaufland😂 we can barely get him out of it haha. Not going to lie mate that comment cracked me up😂. Yea I didn't get long enough to Id the slippery guy but he was a big fella about 3ft long looking up I think he was possibly a corn snake. I'm certainly not looking forward to my first meeting of a horn nosed viper 😬. Hope you're getting on ok on your own!
Good job clearing the barn! We agree, solar is the way to go. We hope to have an off-grid solar set up one day.
Thanks very much😁 yea I can't wait to get started on the solar stuff. 🙂
Wish I could give you a hand...Good luck you living my dream
Thanks... Maybe it's time for you to live your dream too? You only get one shot at life... Make it count 👍😊
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Nice one....i tell you what is it OK too just keep watching you guys for a while first though 🤣🤣👌..Best luck cheers nice message
Last trip out to our house in November we found a lodger had moved in. There was a snake in our cupboard under the sink... Wife was sick with fright. We also have two brick built kennels with a load of straw in from the previous owners. I’m scared to go poking around in them now 😳😂
Haha well I'm not going to lie Paul when I walked in the barn to be greeted with a 3ft snake I was a bit sick too! It disappeared pretty quick too which just creeped me out even more! 🤣. Do be careful though cause it's an ideal habitat for them!
Please don't burn the old hay. It's a wonderful organic fertilizer.
Hi thanks for the comment we only burnt the really dry stuff on the top the rest went on to the compost. Though we have literally tons more straw in our other big barn that is also going on the garden so don't worry too much 🙂
@@OffGridWithTheUdens awesome. 👍🏾
Awesome work. That'll keep you fit 😁👌
Thanks guys! I think it will be us that needs a trip to the spa next! 😂
Good work guys, much love.
Thanks Chaz, really appreciated 😁👍
Pleased to see you have your PPE this time.
Hi Catherine. I knew the PPE police would be along at some point haha 😁 yes don't worry we were all masked up.
I honestly can't wait to see how the house and the land itself is going to look like once you're done with all the renovation work.
I own an apartment in the northwest of Bulgaria and I'll be going there later in the year, it would be lovely to meet you and I would love to help you with some of the manual labor :)
Hi Danny thanks so much for your kind words. We can't wait either! Maybe give us a shout when you're over, there's plenty to do! Haha.
@@OffGridWithTheUdens have u stopped videos x
Hi Julie. Sorry, we somehow missed your reply. No, we haven't stopped. We've just had a new baby but we will be full steam ahead very very soon! Watch this space!
9:49 I would say it's something like 50% coal, 40% nuclear, 10% renewable. Hopefully it will change a lot by 2030. The country's plan is to reduce coal use a lot in the next years and eliminate it completely by 2038 I think.
Hi Viktor thanks for the comment. Interesting. I couldn't find any figures on nuclear when I researched. I have seen a fair bit of solar and occasional wind though so id have thought 10% is probably about right. Cheers 🙂👍
well done guys
Thanks Darren! 😁👍
If you get rid of the mice, you should get rid of the snakes.
At the moment, we are leaving nature to do its' thing. 😊
Hi guys, I love following your progress, can't wait to see how you outfit the little barn for living. At the end of your video you hit on a massive point of interest for me. Do you know how people back-feed their solar power into the grid? I saw a couple of Joes house tours where the neighboring houses were likely doing that but he wasn't sure. Where I live, people back-feed their solar energy into the grid when there's abundant sun energy, and then pull from the grid when they need to if there's not enough sun, effectively making their electricity bill zero or even leaving them with a credit. Personally I think that arrangement is ideal since the price of solar panels has gotten very low while batteries are still very expensive. I would prefer that none of my power comes from coal or oil, but if I were putting a lot of solar power into the grid, I wouldn't feel that bad about pulling some back out later, would be like using the grid as a giant battery. Anyways, if you know how people do that and how the power company handles it I'd love to hear about it.
Hi mindle, thanks very much for your comment. Yes these systems are called 'grid tie' systems they use a specific type of inverter that converts your DC power from your panels into AC power for your house. It powers all your household electrics and automatically feeds into the grid If there is surplus power from your solar. Then if you switch on say an electric oven it will use every bit of solar it can and top the rest of the demand up with grid power. The larger the panel array the more you can run in your house or feed back into the grid. If you're in the UK, energy companies have a 'feed in tariff' which pays you X amount for your surplus energy put into the grid. Most homes you see in the UK with roof top solar run systems like this and they work very well. I hope this is fairly clear, and helps you in some way. 😁👍
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Yes, that helps tremendously! Thank you very much for the explanation. Last bit to bother you about, do you know if Bulgaria has a 'feed in tariff' system for home owners?
Hi mindle. That I'm not sure about to be honest. I would have thought so as a few places have gardens full of solar. But these might have been part of an EU grant or green scheme at some point. Sorry I can't shed anymore light on that for you.
Yet another excellent video! You people certainly work hard, Unfortunately my dear wife finds jobs for me to do in the house and in the garden too. Where do you folks get all of your energy?
Hi Simon thanks for such a lovely comment. We enjoy these sort of jobs and love getting stuck in! I always find these sort of things very rewarding as you get to see a big transformation very quickly. 😁
New subscriber here, just found your channel and are loving your videos. If you don't mind my asking, how much did it cost for your homestead? Is land very expensive there?
Hi thanks very much for the sub we really appreciate it and I hope you will enjoy following us. We talk through buying the land and the costs etc in this previous video czcams.com/video/3w-SXWZwXbk/video.html thanks for the comment 😁
All good but BURNING is illegal here in Bulgaria.
Back in March 2022 when this was filmed there were no issues. But thank you for raising the awareness of fires during this peak season 🔥
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Not only fires but air contamination and you might get a fine. Keep up the good work
Wouldn't it be safer to build from new
Lots of things to consider ☺️ keep watching and you'll find out our plan 😀
So you'll always be reliant on nature's gift of coal to keep you warm and lit in the winter. And you'll gladly use that energy for years until you complete your project House and can afford to buy an array of solar panels taking up beautiful natural green space that only work some of the time, are made with precious non renewable rare minerals from 3rd world countries, and will need to be in operation for decades before they pay back the carbon energy they consumed in their manufacture. And when 20 years later they need replacing, you could maybe use them to build a rickety hen house as opposed to throwing this industrially manufactured item into landfill for a thousand years till the next generation figures a way of storing them. Cool.
Hi Miles thanks for the detailed comment. In actual fact we're planning to run from solar right from day 1. It's amazing how few panels you need to power a simple off grid set-up. I'd also like to say that most panels last much longer than 20 years, that timeframe is given as a lifespan before they start to reduce in power output due to degradation, however they do still produce power. They also ALWAYS work in daylight, again whilst their power will be reduced without direct sunlight they do still produce power even on rainy and cloudy days. As for the minerals Im inclined to agree with you. However I know companies are working incredibly hard to set up recycling facilities for solar panels due to the obvious huge amount of them and the valuable materials they are made from. So whilst our panels maybe at the end of their useful life in 30-40 years time I'm very confident there will be recycling centres for them by then.
I'm afraid however, despite us having burnt coal for hundreds of years still nobody has managed to find a way to recycle it once it has been used. Cheers again for the comment 😁👍
@@OffGridWithTheUdens i wish you guys all the best. But you included a bit of preaching in your video that's not supported by facts. If everyone did what you advocate it just wouldn't work would it? So it's a lifestyle choice that you're making you're not on higher moral ground than those who use grid electricity. I think you're aware you don't have answers to my points. Anyway good luck with your endeavours i wish you all the best. I'm sure you didn't intend to sound sanctimonious
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Having watched and enjoyed your videos your last comment is actually wrong the by product or waste if you like is used to make blocks for building the dust that is seperated from the gases before going to the chimneys is added to cement to increase the strength of the product. The heavier dust is also used in concrete production .And then if they have a flue gas de sulpherization plant fitted the by product from this is used for making plasterboards.. Having worked for 20 years at a coal power station in England the smoke that people assume from the chimneys is actually steam.
@@paulglover3275 Thanks for taking the time to comment Paul - we will take a look into this. 😊