Does anyone live in an almost OFF GRID cave ?

Hi.

I have absolutely no experience of idea of caves or properties that are NOT connected to the
usual village services of Endesa, Water and drainage ......and know no-one who lives like that .....

so anyone got some basic tips about buying and living in a cave house off grid essentially ?

Interested as I want to buy a lovely big wide cave in a stupendous position......private .....
own land surrounding and which has been owned by a Spanish Family as a weekend pad

It has either a Pozo Negro , or more likely at 200 metres distant.....just a hole in the ground !

It´s all wired and plumbed , but village water is a ´no go ´so at present the owner has a long
pipe ( Pozo ? ) running from his workshop....half a kilometre way ( he owns all the land with olives
and almond trees around ) ......and this fills a deposito on the cave roof .
( clearly if I proceeded I would have to ensure ownership of supply ? )

But though it is wired , there is no Generator or solar or turbine ......
so it´s candles and no fridge or internet at present .....impossible for me !

But behind the cave top ....on a ridge , maybe 100 metres or less distant there is a pylon ..
so maybe a connection to Endesa can be made ?

Does anyone know about these 3 elements .....waste .....piped water......and no leccie as of now.....
so poss Endesa or failing that a Genny and batteries I am guessing .......

and any idea of costs ( basic will do )

Many thanks , Andy

I can't help with the water question as we have mains water and have a septic tank for sewerage but we are off grid for power and have an excellent solar system which gives us all the power we need (and therefore no bills) before living here permanently we had batteries and a genny which is fine for a few weeks holiday but not when you live here. We have just gone through the winter without the need for any other form of power. We use gas for cooking and hot water although you can have solar hot water if you want to. We do have a back up genny but have never used it and it isn't even wired in. The key is to work out what your usage will be and buy a system to suit, be realistic about what you will use. We have 8 panels and 24 two volt heavy duty batteries and a three kilowatt inverter / charger.   We run a fridge freezer and a small chest freezer, A rated and all the usual appliances. You just need to be sensible about running items with a high wattage i.e iron, hairdryer.

Hi Lesley , thanks for the reply !

Spoke to a friend last night who has some land with animals ( can´t legally build ) and she has village water after digging 1200 metres of trench by a Bobcat digger simply to cut down on costs...so she mentioned it might be possible via same way if there is a property closer to the road connected .....so I will be reviewing and investigating and maybe getting the water company to give me a price ! .....Now fairly sure the septic is NOT legal ....it´s just a run off .....but at 200 mts from the house it´s not a problem with smell , and the Spanish have been doing it for decades illegally No surprises there then !

Yes, power is the prime concern ...I think they had a genny but no signs of it there now . I did look at the dreaded Comercial Moreno´s ( high on price and not on quality .my experience anyway ) and each decent size solar panel and batts etc seems to be a bit over € 500 ....so genny as back up , plus 8 panels and 24 batts ......sounds like around € 8000 to me ....is that a fair guess ?

I only ask as typically a Spanish seller who has money is in no hurry to discount a property , but with 2 hectares I don´t need , no light , no septic or village supply ......plus some things I would want to change at the property for full time living ....I am trying to calculate MY fair offer based on costs of these necessaries .

I never iron and don´t have ( no need ) a hairdryer ...maybe a kettle ?
F / F , w/ mach , internet and lights is about it

I guess you recoup the expense of the leccie set up over 5 years or so ?

Anyway , thanks again, Andy

Hi Andy
I have sent you a pm

Lesley wrote:Hi Andy
I have sent you a pm

Ok, thanks !