We're NOT READY for Winter! | Living in BULGARIA #8
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ต.ค. 2023
- #offgrid #winteroffgrid #bulgaria
This week has been our hardest yet since moving to Bulgaria. Winter is fast approaching and we are not ready.
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/offgridwiththeudens
Work With Us:
offgridwiththeudens@gmail.com
Music from Epidemic Sounds
Your son is amazing I could listen to him all day
Aw thank you so much - that's made his day ❤️ We are extremely proud of him.
Me too he's such a cutie ❤
Blown away once again by all your ingenuity! What a star your boy is! He’s learning so much isn’t he. 😊
Thank you 😊 He is like a sponge - loves anything practical 😊
Kudos to Alex and his presentation. He just make me smile. Lol loads of green grass and he’s down in the dirt with his trucks.
Really proud of him, he does any filming voluntarily and all his own words 😊 We will be sure to pass on your compliments to him - thank you for taking the time to comment.
Well done guys amazing family❤
Thank you 🙂❤️
Your son has a awesome personality.
Thank you. He loves getting involved 😁
Keep going!
Thank you, we appreciate it 😁
HAHA! He cracks me up, such a good lad! I hope you're paying him well!
🤣he got enough for his own pick axe 😁
I love your little boy . X he's wonderful
We think he's pretty great too 😊
Brilliant, thanks
👍
Alex is such a little DUDE!! Well done darling, a natural for the camera xxx
Hehe he is quite the performer 🫣
Your son should have his own channel. He's brilliant!! Just come across your Chanel and watched all your old videos up to date. Really enjoying seeing you progress. Well done, you're living my dream!!!
Aw thank you! For many years we were the same, watching others and learning through their experiences. As for Alex - he would LOVE his own channel 🤣 x
Love your vlog and love the bloopers 😂you have an amazing little helper he's so grown up. Good luck on your journey guys x
Thank you for the comment and the kind words. Yes Alex loves getting involved. 😁
Love seeing your son being involved with everything you do, even the barber.👍 Great idea for housing the boiler as well, looks the part and with the insulation should work perfectly. You guys look like you're enjoying the journey, so nice to see the progress and looking forward to the next update.👍❤
Thank you very much! We're very excited about what lies ahead 🙂
Another amazing video! I can't believe how quickly Autumn has arrived! Alex is a little star and that giggle from Ember! 😍LOVE seeing your progress and the bloopers are brilliant! 🤣xxxx
Thank you Sophia😁 he loves being on camera. We love the outtakes too, always a bit of fun and it's good not to take things too seriously 😂 thanks for the comment
Water is really cheap here. Not sure if a bore hole will ever pay for itself.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. There are a few reasons we would like a bore hole, the water supply not being very reliable in our area is certainly one of them. However, just like the solar, it's not about getting the cheapest utilities we can. It's about being off grid - a dream we've always wanted to achieve. 🙂
The climate of Bulgaria is getting drier and the country is facing the problems with fresh water, some regions more than others. It's not only my observation in last four years but it also was indicated in scientific papers I read for my thesis. And also old pipes system which tends to break all the time.
@@dddd-vf8zm the main phrase in your comment is 'if the government did their job', how sure are you they will finally start doing their job? There is no proper water management whatsoever and no one is ready for current climate change which HAS an impact on water situation in Bulgaria (climate changes are normal in nature but the latest one is anthropogenic, caused by people and is happening too fast for nature to adapt to it). Two years ago the dam which feeds Varna and Burgas region went almost dry by the end of August, luckily there were no tourists, and rain in autumn managed to fill it up again, last year drought spell lasted four months, including two autumn months and no snow whatsoever last three winters (last year snow situation in ski resorts was terrible), so how are the reservoirs supposed to fill up? If you talk to local older generation you will realise that the weather patterns were very different some 20-30 years ago.
i love how alex helps out alot, for his age he is a very smart kid, good that you give him the skills on a early age, will benefit him for sure in the future
Thank you for your kindness. We've always taken the time to listen to and answer his questions and encourage his curiosity of the world. It's quite an exciting age to be ☺️
@@OffGridWithTheUdens yeah glad to see how hes growing, he gonna be a smart man in the future with alot of skills wich is imporant in life
Use te frame on front of te caravan to put your panels, they make shade from the sun, protection from the rain and most important it is already built!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. It's a great suggestion if we were short on land, but we have quite a bit of space to play with and they are alot easier to maintain and clean on the ground 🙂
Много добро видео 😊
Благодаря ти много 😁
Love this! Our land comes with mains water, which is a bonus! Even though our goal is to be off grid, it doesn't make sense to turn down our dream piece of land purely because it has services on it, so we took it as a bonus. We will be installing a rain water collection system, very excited!
Absolutely! For us, the mains water here is unreliable and recent news reports found uranium in some water supplies. Our plans are always changing, but if we get the opportunity to have a bore hole we will jump at the chance 😊
You have lots of time before winter the last few years have been mild up till Christmas. We are near Tryavna and last year was cold in Feb down to -20 the year before was -27 for two weeks . We can be in mist for weeks on end so plan for extended time with no solar . Our water supply freezes at -25 the spring just freezes up we have 2000liter in a frost protected room that lasts us for 4 weeks . Have you considered a small wood burner in the caravan it will save you running the genny . Winters are the hardest time of year so prepare for it mentally .
Thanks for the tips. We don't have space in the caravan for a wood burner sadly. But I think we will be ok. I'm not expecting it to get as cold as that here. Thanks for the comment 😁👍
Dude I love how the little fella is so smart and learning all the great things your teaching him, his cheeky little characteristics, super bright lad, bless him and your family. 👌
Thank you so much. Yea he's a cracking little man 😄. He loves learning and working with us on all the various projects. I hope it will make him a strong and independent young man that understands what goes on in the world around him. Thanks so much for the comment 😁
Keep going guys love how you all just get on with it I'm sure you have a great future ahead I wish my partner was as handy as you and would definitely be joining you in bulgaria 🇧🇬
Thank you so much for your words of encouragement 😊
@OffGridWithTheUdens we came over in October but didn't have a great start to our journey to find a house didn't get to look at any housesas the ones we liked had sold and 10 min into our journey bus went into side of rental car then to top it all they took 2400 out of my partners account for damage even though we had full cover so as you can imagine left a bad taste of bulgaria now iv got to convince him to go again 🙈
Loving your progress, I have to say Alex stole the show here ❤ Had to laugh about the twigs we used to have a wood burning range and just knew that feeling 😂 Take care lovely's x
Haha I knew some people would relate 🤣. Thank you. He absolutely loves getting involved 😁 thanks for the comment
Really enjoying your vids, well edited and presented, are you in the Haskovo region btw? Greetings from an Englishman living in Sweden hoping to retire to BG!
Thank you very much! Sweden is a stunning country ❤️ Yes, we are in the Haskovo region. 😊
We are definitely not off grid (yet), we have renovated a place up near Balchik and have power from a local pole, water from a source same as yourself, a cesspit for waste. Hot water is a cheap mains water heater/tank in the loft, and as electric is soooo cheap here. But in the future we will have solar water heater for the pool and another for hot water in the house, and some solar + batteries for some off grid independence, heating via log burner and central heating radiators. I love what you are doing, we are certainly being the 2nd home ex-pats at the moment, but taking it all in for the future.
That sounds great 🙂 малко по малко!
Have you had the huge hailstones there, we saw some the size of golf balls once and I wonder how the solar panels will cope with them. Really great video - not boring at all.
Not yet - but we have heard lots of stories from those who decided to build glass greenhouses and then realised their mistake 🫣 Only time will tell I suppose!
👍👍
Thanks Derek 😊👍
If your presure from the boiler is not the best, renew the plastic pipes 😉.
You have to stick to the exact time, otherwise every second decrease the water flow by 5-10%.
I've also tested connections for a few days and it's only perfect when the time is exact. My Wife helped me for that😅
Thanks for the comment. Interesting to know about the time. I will do some tests as I do more plumbing. 👍
@@OffGridWithTheUdens We were also surprised by the results 😅 I tested a 25 DN Pipe with 11 sec. and it has only 40-50% flowrate. (recommended 7 sec at 25DN-5sec at 20DN)
Keep your bloopers coming, it's all part of the fun, and your journey.😂❤
🤣🫣 they make us laugh so much
Think Alex stole the show in this one!!! Definitely his fathers son!😊
Oh I don't know - He's definitely 50/50! 🙂
❤❤😊
❤️❤️
We live on the 4th floor of an apartment and we have two balconies where we tend our plants. The water we use is free from various fountains in town and we hump 7 litre water bottles upstairs. No lift !! Having said that, water here in BG is not expensive.
Enjoyed your show today, especially your son. He's ace.
Yes, there are lots of springs around for free water. We use the mains for washing and watering and buy bottled for cooking and drinking 💧Thank you for taking the time to comment - we will be sure to pass on your words to Alex in the morning 😊
@@OffGridWithTheUdens The whole of BG is off grid. There are public wells and public taps everywhere. If you are buying piped water to your land, it will be local spring water... the local municipality just drop a borehole, add a pumping station and pipe it to the local residents. If you have your own bore hole it will be the same water as what comes from your tap.
You think they would add chlorine and still sell it to you at these rock bottom prices?
Bulgaria has the largest amount of caves in Europe. The whole country sits on one big aquifer. So why build grid infrastructure between towns when nature can distribute water through the country?
And like i say, the whole country is off grid, even the electric is supplied via a "hub and spoke" model rather than "grid" infrastructure. Only down side.... more power cuts if the leg your hooked up to has a problem.
You live in Bulgaria.... we are all off grid.
@@janedoe6350 Hi 👋 Thanks for the information. We live approximately 200m from the spring that feeds our village. There's some beautiful spring water in the country. We want to provide for ourselves without relying on any utility companies. Many people live off grid for different reasons - we will be sure to share ours soon!
@@OffGridWithTheUdens I live in a village with only 40 people 10km fro the closest town and there are 7 wells between all 40 of us. One well is out in my street only 40 meters from my front door. The water is only 8 meters from the surface.... in easy reach of a bucket and short rope. It makes for a wonderful backup supply.
My water bill for the piped water to my property is about 12 lev per month (£6 GBP).... and i have no maintenance to worry about.
At my age.... i'm happy to pay the water company as it makes work for others and saves me my valuable time from messing with lift pumps and the like.
And.... I always have the well for backup....
Some say "time is money" that's why i'm happy to pay a company to bring the water... but in reality, time is not money..... i can always make more money.... i just cant make more time!
@@janedoe6350 I'm pleased it works well for you 🙂👍
12:05 till you propane sold out
We always have a back up bottle in supply and check our gas bottles weekly 👍🙂
Your more. Rave than me, temp here in southern part of Canada is-6, it’s on.y earlynov. Not sure how cold it’s going to get for you.🇨🇦
No we are not sure either, but we have heard from others that they expect it to be a harsh winter ❄️🥶 Thank you for watching from Canada! What a beautiful country to live in 🙂
You guys need to do a Cost Benefit Analysis. Bore holes must be an expensive investment. What would be the payback period compared to municipal water. As I understand it water is relatively cheap in BG.
Thanks for taking the time to comment! You're right, if it was purely to live the cheapest way possible we wouldn't be living this way. However, the reasons for a bore hole are far more than just cost value. We will try and do a video explaining our reasons for off grid living to give you an insight into our thoughts 😊👍
@@OffGridWithTheUdens We moved from an area where practically every house in the region has a well and the villages all pretty much have public springs. Now we live in a village in a region where hardly anyone seems to have a well. Having had the benefit of a well previously we decided to investigate having one dug here. The cost was 200 leva per metre with an expectation of having to drill to at least 80 metres. The guy quoting told us even then we might find in a few years the water might disappear from the well because the water table keeps dropping. We decided to install a 2000 litre tank to the mains supply to create a reserve in case of the water going off (which it does where we are quite regularly). Other than that we are investigating atmospheric water generators. 16,000 to dig for water that might eventually disappear just did not seem sensible.
Hi guys, I have spent the weekend bingeing on your videos but did you post during your pregnancy as I have gone from no baby to a 4 month old 😂 can you point me to the videos in between, thanks
Hi Susan! Thanks so much for following our journey. We had a very tough pregnancy and as you saw, Kayleigh had some rather unexpected major surgery on her hip. We didn't film during this time, but we are now back to releasing videos every two weeks - next Sunday is our next upload! 👍😊
I found the in between posts !! Thanks for your reply 👍
How much would the bore hole cost in Bulgaria please if you don’t mind me asking
It all depends how far they have to go down and the type of ground they are working with. We have yet to get a quote yet, but we will let you know as soon as we do 👍💧
Couple of questions. Can you tell us how much your solar set up cost in total and Do you have a charge controller in this set up because you haven't mentioned one. Where are you getting all your wood from ? is it cheaper in Bulgaria than the UK
Hi thanks for the comment! We are going to do a video on the costs involved with our solar setup soon as many have asked the same question. With regards to the wood, the wood is Bulgarian from a local wood yard. Wood prices are cheaper than England, however the quality can vary and it comes untreated. Prices are increasing though 👍
Tidy
👍❤️ can't wait to get our hands back to it that's for sure!
if you want to live in the Balkan,mate,get bulgarian sheperd dog,to live outside,to keep your family save,from predators,here is not UK,mandatory,healt and happynes :)
Hi Mitko - thanks for taking the time to comment. Health and happiness to you also!.
@@dddd-vf8zm Thanks for the advice 🙂
How long can you drive your uk car in bulgaria before you have to register it in bulgaira
Lots of conflicting information on this one. It depends on whether you are a resident or not. We're in the process of sorting out vehicles etc so we will be sure to let you know how we get on in the future 👍
16:57 grey house useable ?
Absolutely not. 🫣 We've got big plans for it but the barn is next! All will be revealed very soon..
Hi how did u get on with 90 day rule
It does not apply to us as we have residency here.
Silly question but what are the pipe sizes in Bulgaria? Cheers
Not a silly question at all but what pipes are you referring to?
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Thanks for getting back to me, domestic pipework, 15mm, 22mm and waste 32mm, 40mm and 110mm soil pipe. I'm a Plumber in UK and looking at retiring to Bulgaria.. I'm looking at what you've done, buying and renovating. I've a garage full of Pipe and fittings, was going to sell it all if not compatible with Bulgarian Plumbing. I've just started watching your videos and sorry to hear about your wife, hope she's on the road to full recovery and all the best to your family.
@@paulross8418 Generally no, it's not compatible with UK plumbing, but you can get 15mm flexible line which is meant for central heating only and these will take compression fittings but not push fit. The plumbing over here is VERY different, they use plastic welding plumbing which I'm not personally a fan of but what they use. Haven't found any copper anywhere. Thanks for watching the videos and taking time to comment - new video out tomorrow and should be weekly thereafter 👍☺️
@@OffGridWithTheUdens Cheers for that, hopefully see you in Bulgaria.👍
I don't understand 😕. R u living in a caravan? Do u have a house? Did u buy land only?
Check out our other videos 😊 but yes, at we are living in our caravan whilst we work on our land and new home.
60% is optimal angle to set solar panels for winter time. Best is to put solar panel with his face on south оr southeast with primarysouth exposure on sunlight. May be some of the walls of buildings will be suitable. In summer time has enough sunlite and is not suitable panels to be set on primary south direction, because they will became too hot.
Thanks for the comment. I believe the angle of the panels all depends on where in the world you are. But I have an app on my phone that uses GPS and the tilt sensor to help set them up to the optimal angle. Cheers 👍
That shows how selfish people are and how much they don't care of other or customer . Ego centric human sick
Sorry, we're not sure what you're referring to here?