Hector Vladimir Studios

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Electric Vehicle charging is getting expensive! Specifically, DC fast charging using paid networks like Electrify America, EVGo, Blink, Chargepoint, and others. Even dealerships are charging EV owners. Per my experience about $0.50 per kWh is the most common rate, but can vary from $0.25 to $0.60 per kWh. I found that in an EV with efficiency of about 5k...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Energy Hogs -Water heaters. Water heating is very convenient in many areas of the US. It brings comfort and pleasure to bathing and washing, especially in cold seasons. But, electric water heating is a high energy consumer and brings high cost to most people. If you want to live off the grid or reduce your electric energy consumption; getting rid of your...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Off the grid for time. Time is the most valuable commodity we own. Our time belongs to each of us. It cannot be stolen from us. Yet, we often misuse it, scuttle it, waste it, and don’t value or protect it. We often sell it to the lowest bidder and do unwanted work just to keep up with our comfortable lifestyles. We ignore loved ones, our health, and our...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Batteries for off grid applications. Lithium ion based batteries have greatly increased in popularity in the last 10 years due to its decrease in cost and increase in efficiency and safety. However, cheaper batteries still remain lead acid based. Marine, deep cycle, and absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries remain popular options for off gridders on a budge...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Energy hogs – heating and cooling. There are 5 known electrical energy hogs in the home. The air heater, the air cooler, air dehumidifiers, the water heater, and lighting. These can be covered with alternative energy such as PV solar, but they draw so much energy that this becomes very expensive and impractical. To combat this, you must downsize, be effi...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Other challenges for getting off the grid. There are social and psychological challenges to getting off the grid. It is not easy, it is expensive, and requires lots of dedication, work, knowledge, and appreciation for larger things like the environment, animal and plant life, and the future of the planet. These reasons will provide you with the extraordi...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Running your household power hogs are among the top challenges with living off the electrical grid. Those power hogs are your air heat, air cooler, water heater, refrigerator, and steady-on equipment. Unfortunately those are critical to have operating in most areas of the US, and they are difficult to run with batteries. But, plenty can be done to have t...

Efficiency and performance test for 2023 Nissan Ariya Engage electric vehicle. Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. This trial shows real world data from a 2883 km or 1791 mile trip. Driving conditions were normal highway and road conditions. Vehicle was loaded only with luggage and some supplies. This test gave me some surprising results. I routinely matched or overperformed on the rated E...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Legacy. Updated for 2024. Conventional fuel combustion engined generators can be a good option for certain off grid situations. Yes, they are loud, bulky, polluting, and can be expensive to run. But if they are employed for very limited time, and for some situations, they may be a smart complement to an off grid renewable system. Here, I discuss on ways...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio (Legacy) Show. There are other solar technologies that may enable you to get off the grid. The photovoltaic effect history is briefly discussed here. These other solar technologies include solar coolers, non-electric refrigerators, and electric non-moving-parts heaters and air coolers. These technologies are based on solar concentrators, thermocouple and therm...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Solar energy has been on the rise in the last 2 decades. Many countries and companies have embraced solar. Solar technologies are more accessible than ever. Solar technologies include photovoltaic and heat collectors, and light concentrators. Light collectors and concentrators can be built at home for various uses. Living Off the Grid in the City Radio S...

Living Off the Grid in the City Podcast. This text addresses the issue of mandatory water and sewage services. Water service refers to the supply of drinking water for human consumption and other applications in a given area, through different methods such as pipes and vehicles. These services are provided by both public companies (called water supply company) and private companies (called water c...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Yes! I believe it to be not only possible, but practical, advantageous, and necessary to live off the grid. It can save you money, give you freedom, and help the environment, your community and technologies. You need no more than a few hundred watts of energy to live generously, and using simple alternative energy methods and technologies can enable you...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. To more easily and conveniently get off the grid you should take a few smart steps. Consider your current energy use; change some energy use habits, and move high energy away from electric. These will enable you to switch to alternative energy sources and off the electrical grid. Hector Vladimir 2015-2024© https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyWqApEqG...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Retails store shopping is outdated and abhorrent. It is energy intensive and wasteful. Internet shopping is generally more affordable and creates demand in a wider region of the world. Demand for internet shopping can decrease cost, save energy, and improve world trade and relations. Hector Vladimir 2015-2024© http://www.youtube.com/@hbcsolarpvtech https...

Living Off the Grid in the City Podcast. Electricity companies have the obligation to grow in size and finances to satisfy their investors and obtain positive profitability. To achieve this, they must increase their size and sell more energy. However, in their quest for growth, power companies often become lazy and wasteful, passing increased operating costs onto their customers. In addition, they...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. The entertainment grid is wasteful, expensive, and one-sided. You have very little choice as to the programming you are served, and the content is ever-more extreme. Violence seems to reach for new heights every year. Sexual content seems to spread into more time slots and is becoming more extreme. The entertainment grid, as it has been fed to us; must g...

Living Off the Grid in the City Podcast. It is common for local electric companies to be monopolies and have influence over public utility commission members. This allows them to have almost absolute control over the electricity supply and affect the economy of a wide area. Although you don't have many options to change providers, the company can disconnect you if you don't pay. Additionally, non-...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Episode 6. Here in part 2, I continue discuss the clear disadvantages and harms of the current grid system. It is harmful due to the low priority given to customer service, and to the unchecked rate increases. Water service enjoys the same status, and it is a needed service that has turned for profit. Leaving the poor and destitute to suffer. Communicati...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Episode 6. Here, I discuss the clear disadvantages and harms of a monopoly. And, how most areas have monopoly electric utility service. It is harmful due to the low priority given to customer service, and to the unchecked rate increases. Water service enjoys the same status. Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show Hector Vladimir 2015-2024© http://www...

Most electric utility companies are set up as monopolies, privately-owned, for-profit corporations. All these are, I believe, harmful for customers of the electric companies. Monopolies are known harmful entities due to runaway greed, power, and inefficiency. For profit corporations are known not to be optimal for basic and needed services, especially for the majority, the poor and low-income clas...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Here I discuss a recent article that draws parallels on my ongoing arguments on electric company corruption and abuses. My goals being to save my hard earned money, for my purposes and not to maintain the high life of electric company employees; to save the environment and the planet; and to forward technology and efficiency worldwide. As a reminder, you...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Here I share my sour experiences with several electric companies, and how I became an advocate for renewable energies. My goals being to save my hard earned money, for my purposes and not to maintain the high life of electric company employees; to save the environment and the planet; and to forward technology and efficiency worldwide. As a reminder, your...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Here I share my sour experiences with several electric companies, and how I became an advocate for renewable energies. My goals being to save my hard earned money, for my purposes and not to maintain the high life of electric company employees; to save the environment and the planet; and to forward technology and efficiency worldwide. As a reminder, your...

Living Off the Grid in the City Radio Show. Here I share my sour experiences with several electric companies, and how I became an advocate for renewable energies. My goals being to save my hard earned money, for my purposes and not to maintain the high life of electric company employees; to save the environment and the planet; and to forward technology and efficiency worldwide. As a reminder, your...