Off grid studio

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wises001

New member
Currently just a thought experiment but do you guys think it would be possible to run a small studio totally off self supplied energy? (wind and solar, UK based).

My girlfriend and I are looking to move off grid in the next couple years, building our own house and I've been teasing the idea of having a small studio on the property. I'm currently just mixing in the box on a laptop which would be no problem to carry on doing but ultimately I would love to get a permanent space built where I can record full bands.

aside from the obvious of power, the main problem I can think is location. How far are small and local level bands generally willing to travel to record?
Interested to see where this could go so please let me know anything I might miss when planning this out.
 
It’s not travel it’s money. Bands never have any. They usually can’t afford rehearsal spaces. Your snags will be the ones you have not even thought of. Band of say four people plus you means in a studio, a lot of heat, so ventilation can be expensive and air con power hungry. Electricity for recording could be modest but for heating in winter tricky. Recording bands in remote locations could be rewarding but wealthy bands are rare so a pro studio wont be using a laptop but hardware surfaces bigger speakers bigger spaces and that means budgets that amateur bands may find difficult and of course pro bands often have their own studios. I could not live off recording bands.
 
wises001 said:
Currently just a thought experiment but do you guys think it would be possible to run a small studio totally off self supplied energy? (wind and solar, UK based).

My girlfriend and I are looking to move off grid in the next couple years, building our own house and I've been teasing the idea of having a small studio on the property. I'm currently just mixing in the box on a laptop which would be no problem to carry on doing but ultimately I would love to get a permanent space built where I can record full bands.

aside from the obvious of power, the main problem I can think is location. How far are small and local level bands generally willing to travel to record?
Interested to see where this could go so please let me know anything I might miss when planning this out.
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You will be too busy doing a million other things. After about one month of this idyllic living you will discover there are only 24 hours in each day. So by the second month if you havent killed each other and still got some money left, your ideas will start to change.
 
Thanks for the feedback and yeah, I know it sounds crazy. We're moving off grid with the idea of keeping that life sustainable as the main thing, the idea of a studio space is just me throwing dream ideas out (no matter how implausible). I wouldn't be looking at setting up anything with my current setup by any means, that was more just saying to myself that I can still have some fun if its not possible. This would ultimately be for my self indulgence and by no means a way to sustain income.
 
There is nothing wrong with the studio idea, that is great. But the rest of it is just basically impossible.

It's ok watching all the YouTubers telling their glorious fabulous stories of living the dream and isnt everything wonderful. But in reality it is nothing but hard work and endless hours of just surviving. You become a prisoner to the beast you have created. They only show you part of the whole story.

How do I know? Well a long time ago I had similar ideas and no YouTubers in those day. But a few books of which they are famous.

It is almost impossible to be self sufficient. You still need wads of cash.

But don't let me put you off. By all means get stuck in because you must follow your dreams.
 
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Thanks for the warnings but still saying to go ahead. Can honestly say there's no youtube or social media influence in this (Don't use it). Been moving further toward it for years so its happening bit by bit rather than in one go. I know its silly to aim to be fully self sufficient, I just want to provide what I possibly and realistically can for myself.
 
wises001 said:
Thanks for the warnings but still saying to go ahead. Can honestly say there's no youtube or social media influence in this (Don't use it). Been moving further toward it for years so its happening bit by bit rather than in one go. I know its silly to aim to be fully self sufficient, I just want to provide what I possibly and realistically can for myself.
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Do it. You can provide lots for yourself while others are glued to the tele. As long as one of you still works you will still have cash. But trying to make a living from small acreage is very hard work.

If you dont you will always wonder. Off grid with power generation is even more work. You need a great water supply to do this.
 
Is it actually possible to be off-grid in the UK? If you sink a well on your own land, you pay an abstraction licence. Rules on waste water are tough so you have to store it and empty it. It's possible to use solar and wind - but it's very expensive - and it usually also means all the things you like to have, you can't get because nobody supplies hippies and tree huggers.

I have a friend who won some awards - electricity consumption from the grid practically zero. Washing via rainfall collection, solar panels, composting, and growing their own food - wore her out, but they did it!
 
Government are doing everything they can to make it impossible but I'd still rather be trying until I also wear myself out haha. Moving off grid now still means plenty of bills to pay but I know there's a lot of them that can eventually go. The changes I've made so far have definitely made my life happier and no harder than working any other job to just buy stuff instead yet.
 
rob aylestone said:
Is it actually possible to be off-grid in the UK? If you sink a well on your own land, you pay an abstraction licence. Rules on waste water are tough so you have to store it and empty it. It's possible to use solar and wind - but it's very expensive - and it usually also means all the things you like to have, you can't get because nobody supplies hippies and tree huggers.

I have a friend who won some awards - electricity consumption from the grid practically zero. Washing via rainfall collection, solar panels, composting, and growing their own food - wore her out, but they did it!
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Before you buy land you need a 24/7 365 fast running plentiful stream water supply. This will provide power and water for crops/livestock. Wind is expensive and patchy.

You need good land that has good drainage.

You need good neighbours.

You need a population hub to sell produce.

You need facilities. Work stops when you have to travel 50 miles for a 6" nail to finish a job. So living in the highlands of Scotland may sound great but just try and think why nobody else lives there.

Farmers have been farming all their lives. You aint gonna find a better way no matter how clever you think you are or how dumb you think they are.

You will need medical assistance at some time. Having a broken leg and crawling for hours to get help can be not very nice.

Etc etc etc etc.
 
The ideas of living in the arsehole of nowhere have already been and gone long ago haha, been planning and preparing for years now so its changed quite drastically and much more realistic (i hope). still plenty more to change and prepare before any big steps Thanks for the check list though
 
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