How to Choose a Trailer to Live Off Grid

More and more people are choosing to live off-grid in pursuit of adventure, challenge, and freedom. With rising housing costs and people looking for more of an experiential lifestyle, this is the new dream life. In this article, we will look at how to choose a trailer to live off grid.

Living off the grid means that you are not connected to the amenities that modern society provides. Doing this in a trailer adds its complications, but also has benefits.

First, make sure you have a plan for your basic needs. This plan should include things like:

Maintaining your electricity requirements
Ensuring you have potable water
Heating your dwelling
Food storage and cooking needs
Keeping your tools, medkits, etc. in good working order
Disposal of solid and liquid waste

There are many benefits to living off-grid in a trailer. It can be a way to simplify life, but it requires work to have it outfitted properly.

Let’s look at how you would begin to decide on outfitting an off-grid trailer.

What Is An Off-Grid Trailer?

When most people think of a trailer, they think of fifth-wheel trailers that are fully decked out with attachments for hydro, water, and all of the modern facilities that we are accustomed to in our homes.

These travel trailers are meant for drive-in campsites or road trips but are not necessarily designed to go off-grid. However, they can be modified for such a purpose if you have a basic understanding of all the required systems.

An off-grid trailer is a shelter that can both be mobile and remain in one area for long periods while supporting the regeneration of basic resources that someone would need to survive.

These needs include water collection and purification, consistent heating and cooling capabilities, independent power generation, and waste disposal.

Once these needs can be met independently of any municipally provided services then it can be considered an off-grid trailer.

The nice thing is that all of the basic survival needs can be met in a renewable way through technology and techniques that have been used for decades.

If you’re going the DIY route with your off-grid survival trailer, you can design it your way based on the size of trailer that you go with.

Since this will be a semi-permanent structure with someone living in it full-time, ensuring that your dwelling remains watertight is at the top of the list since this is often an issue with old trailers and new trailers that are improperly built.

Off-Road Trailers Can Be Off-Grid Trailers

The current trailer market is flooded with all types of models that are designed to meet a budget and specific needs. It can be daunting when you consider the different classifications that exist to categorize them.

You’ll often see off-road camping trailers that have rugged tires and are extremely weather-resistant that can be taken out into the backcountry, they are often referred to as survival trailers.

They provide ways to generate most of your energy resources but can also adapt to plug into power.

Off-road camping trailers would be a good start for anyone looking to go off-grid because modifications for conversion would be easier to implement over the current systems provided in the trailer.

The Opus Camper is a good example of an off-road camper that could easily be converted into an off-grid home if you had the money to purchase it.

If you think about it anything can be turned into an off-grid trailer with the right systems and modifications made to it. However, the conversion experience is not for everyone but there are some innovative products available for a project like this.

There are many things to consider when how to choose a travel trailer that you can use to live in off the grid.

Considerations For Off-Grid Living In A Trailer

Are you looking for a trailer that is either already built? Or you are going to convert one into your off-grid home?

There are some very, very nice modern rigs available, with lots of creature comforts built in. However, you may experience sticker shock when you begin your search.

On the other hand, if you have the skills, you can build your own off-grid trailer with all of the customizations that you want. You can also save a significant amount of money this way.

Power Generation And Storage

The majority of the population needs some form of electricity generation so that they can power things such as lights and heating sources, like a diesel heater for example.

You’d also be wise to plan things like what kinds of batteries and wiring you’ll go with that will optimize the energy that you are producing against what you are using.

Solar

This is the most common way of generating electricity and it uses the unlimited energy-producing rays of the sun.

The solar panels can be fitted on the top of your trailer to maximize light exposure during the day. Most off-road trailers come with solar systems installed so this should be done already or easily installed after the fact.

Remember to park your trailer in a sunny location to take advantage of the solar panels. Otherwise, it’ll be a slow trickle of energy that will take longer to charge the batteries.

If you are using more power than the panels can recharge then you will run into issues. Always base your solar power decisions on the amount of electricity you will need off-grid.

Another option would be a solar generator. These are portability batteries that come with solar panels that can be moved based on the location of the sun.

Popular ones can power anything up to 3,000 watts which is generally more than enough to power things like lights and fridges.

Wind Generation

Trailers can be equipped with mini wind generation units. They’re similar to the windmills you see when driving across parts of the country, but on a much smaller scale.

These use the breeze to move a fan which then generates electricity through a spinning rotor.

The downside to using this type of technology is that it does best in open areas where the wind is strong and prevalent.

If you’re using your off-grid tailor to drive around then this is ideal as highway speeds would help to produce more power.

Water Purification And Storage

Most trailers come with some kind of water storage onboard which can be accessible when needed. This is important because you will be handling a lot of the wastewater and freshwater tanks regularly to fill and dump.

Some trailers run ultraviolet light inside their containers to kill any parasites and viruses in the water while a filter takes out all the particulate matter.

Activated charcoal filters filter out both sediments and bacteria but also cleanse the water of chemicals and heavy metals.

This is particularly effective against getting rid of lead in your water source. A simple YouTube search can lead you to several methods to make your own activated charcoal filter.

Food Storage

Be sure to look for a trailer that has food storage included, or space to install some. You’re going to need it.

Refrigeration is important for things like meat and cheese. Cupboards or a drawer that can stay cool and dark will keep pantry goods from being exposed to the elements.

If you’re going to have a fridge/freezer, have one that works off 12-volt electrical which can be routed through your solar setup. Dometic makes some fridge-freezer combination units that are pretty energy efficient, such as the DOMETIC CFX3 55-Liter Portable Refrigerator and Freezer with ICE MAKER, Powered by AC/DC or Solar. Click this link to view this fridge on Amazon.

Heating And Cooling Throughout The Seasons

Heating can be a challenge, and living off the grid entails that you won’t always have access to fuels like diesel or propane to keep you warm.

The best way to heat your trailer would be with a wood stove. There are so many reasons to have one, but the main one is that wood is usually free and plentiful.

Try to keep doubles of all your equipment just in case something breaks down.

If you’re using a wood stove to heat your trailer then have a backup in case you need to repair the one you’re using.

With something as important as heating it’s best to play it safe so you’re not stuck without.

Tools And Repair

Repairs are inevitable in any situation, and they can be challenging in an off-grid situation. If something were to break down on your trailer out in the middle of nowhere you are the one that will have to make repairs.

Some good advice is to keep all of your systems simple so that when there are breakdowns it’ll be easy to isolate the problem and fix it quickly.

Having a workspace in your off-grid trailer is important to make any repairs or improvements. This could be something from a space that you use outside to a small workstation inside where you can work out of the elements.

Waste

We all have waste that needs to be taken care of properly. This can be in the form of gray water and black water.

Gray water is the runoff from things like dishes and showers that can generally be dumped outside of wherever you’re staying and not cause any adverse effects. This is generally easier to get rid of than black water.

Blackwater is essentially toilet water. Urine and poop can leach into water sources and introduce unhealthy parasites and viruses into drinking water. This form of waste should be kept separate from other water sources to avoid cross-contamination.

When looking for a trailer to use off-grid make sure that it keeps these things separate. Usually, you’ll find several holding tanks in a trailer that are designed to handle this situation for you.

There are other solutions to black water waste other than using a holding tank, which can get messy and complicated with maintenance. One thing I have found convenient is that there are certain gas stations to have waste dump areas for motorists. There may be a fee associated, so check with the clerk to find out if they charge.

Off-grid trailers can be equipped with composting toilets that use sawdust instead of water. This makes for easy cleanup and maintenance.

Should You Get One?

Each trailer has its pros and cons but a lot of them have achieved a healthy balance between features and functionality.

Implementing your systems into an off-grid trailer isn’t a huge modification since they are already designed to go off-grid.

The question is, do you want a luxury living experience or something more compact and stealthy? Compact and stealthy means you’ll probably be doing your cooking outside while a luxury off-grid trailer would have all of those things inside.

Summary

Should you get set up with a trailer to live off-grid? We have briefly covered some things to consider in this post. What are your thoughts on living off grid? We would love to hear from you, so please leave your comments below.

How to Choose a Trailer to Live Off Grid