{"title":"Energy Systems Guides","description":"\u003cp\u003ePower, heat and cooking fuel for a small off-grid home, from a power station on the porch to a full solar battery bank, a wood stove that keeps you warm and a digester that turns scraps into gas. Each numbered guide takes one off-grid system and shows you how it works, sizes it with real numbers, prices three builds part by part and walks you through building and running it, with every fact sourced and checked. Listed in series order, followed by a few standalone field guides made the same way.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"systems-solar-power","title":"Off-grid solar: Panels, batteries and inverters · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eSolar is the hub of an off-grid home's power, and this guide starts small on purpose: a power station and two folding panels on the porch, then a 24 V battery board for a cabin, then a 48 V bank with room to grow. Each step keeps its value when you move up. It is plain about the two hard parts, sizing for winter sun and fusing the battery side so it can never start a fire, and clear about which jobs belong to a licensed electrician.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you size, buy, wire and run a small off-grid solar system for a tiny home or cabin, from a power station on the porch to a 48 V battery bank, and know which parts you should hand to an electrician.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 24 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 11 numbered figures drawn for this guide, including a fit map of every US county. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 12 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $949–$1,497\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $5,223–$6,565\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $8,142–$11,444\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 32 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Portable power stations; Wood stoves; Roof rainwater catchment. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361120891051,"sku":"AO26-SYS-01","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-01.jpg?v=1792839812"},{"product_id":"systems-wood-stoves","title":"Wood stoves: Safe, efficient heat for a small home · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA wood stove is a closed steel or cast-iron firebox that burns wood slowly and cleanly, warms the room by radiation and moving air, and sends its smoke up a chimney built for the job. Off the grid it is the cheapest way to heat: a solar system big enough to run electric heaters would be \"wildly expensive and impractical\" (The Acorn Off-Grid Home (2023), §25). The stove is the easy part. Safety lives in three places: the clearances around it, the chimney above it, and the dryness of the wood you feed it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you size, choose, install and run a certified wood stove that heats a small off-grid home safely, feed it dry wood, and know which jobs belong to the inspector and the chimney sweep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 20 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Install it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $1,580–$2,220\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $2,720–$3,580\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $6,180–$7,720\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 27 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Firewood; Off-grid solar; The micro cabin. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361170272427,"sku":"AO26-SYS-08","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-08.jpg?v=1792839818"},{"product_id":"systems-portable-power","title":"Portable power stations: 12-volt living and the solar generator · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA portable power station is a lithium battery, a solar charge controller, an inverter and a row of outlets in one box with a handle. Add folding solar panels and the industry calls it a \"solar generator\", although it burns nothing and makes no fumes. It is the easiest way into off-grid power: no wiring, no permit for plug-in use, and it moves with you from the tent to the van to the cabin. Its limits are real, though. It stores hours of power, not days of heat, and its built-in inverter quietly eats energy all day if you leave it on.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you pick, size and run a portable power station and folding panels for a weekend on your land, a van or a small cabin, live on 12 volts, ride out a blackout, and know when a bigger system or an electrician is the better answer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 20 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Set it up, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 7 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 9 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $436–$513\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $1,739–$2,787\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $4,824–$6,687\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 32 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Off-grid solar; Generators, propane and fuel; Tiny homes, RVs and skoolies; Composting toilets. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361621225643,"sku":"AO26-SYS-12","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-12.jpg?v=1792839822"},{"product_id":"systems-firewood","title":"Firewood: Cutting, seasoning and storing · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirewood is the fuel half of wood heat. The work is simple and old: get wood, cut it to length, split it, stack it in the sun and wind under a roof, and wait. What makes it good or bad is water. Freshly cut wood can carry its own weight in water, or more. Burn it like that and the heat goes into boiling water off, not into your house. This guide covers buying, cutting, seasoning and storing. How to burn it is in our Wood stoves guide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you buy a true cord or cut your own safely, split and stack it so it is dry by fall, prove it with a meter, and keep two winters of wood where it helps the house instead of threatening it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 12 pages in 7 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Cut, split and stack, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 5 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get 7 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 26 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Wood stoves; Finding off-grid land. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48361964077227,"sku":"AO26-SYS-22","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-22.jpg?v=1792813282"},{"product_id":"systems-generators-propane","title":"Generators, propane and fuel: Backup power and gas for an off-grid home · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlmost every off-grid home runs on two fuels besides sunlight and wood. A small generator charges the batteries in a cloudy week and runs the big tools. Propane cooks, heats water and keeps the house warm when you are away. Both are cheap, reliable and well understood. Both can also kill: a generator makes carbon monoxide you cannot see or smell, and propane is a heavier-than-air gas that pools in low places. This guide is about getting the benefit while keeping those two hazards outside the house.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you choose and size a generator for the dark weeks, set up propane for cooking, hot water and heat, store fuel safely, and keep carbon monoxide and gas leaks out of your home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 19 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Set it up, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThree builds, costed line by line\u003c\/strong\u003e (typical US prices, October 2026):\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBare-bones: $730–$970\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStandard: $3,540–$5,290\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComfortable: $7,790–$10,560\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 24 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Off-grid solar; Portable power stations; The micro cabin; Wood stoves; Wells and hand pumps; Water storage and off-grid plumbing; Canning and food preservation; Tiny homes, RVs and skoolies. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48362005069995,"sku":"AO26-SYS-20","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-20.jpg?v=1792814163"},{"product_id":"systems-biogas","title":"Backyard Biogas Digester: A DIY IBC-tote methane digester: gas to cook on, fertilizer for the garden · Alt Ordo Systems Guide","description":"\u003cp\u003eA biogas digester is a mechanical stomach. You feed it manure once and kitchen scraps every day, microbes digest them in a sealed tank with no oxygen, and the gas they give off is about 50–75% methane: the same fuel that comes out of a natural-gas line. What the microbes cannot turn into gas flows out the other side as a liquid fertilizer. This guide builds the open-source IBC tote design from standard plumbing parts, so you can fix every piece of it yourself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis guide helps you build a repairable biogas digester from a food-grade IBC tote, start it safely, feed it well, cook on the gas it makes and water the garden with what is left.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat's inside.\u003c\/strong\u003e 19 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Build it, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 13 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced and fact-checked.\u003c\/strong\u003e Facts and figures are cited to the 25 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePairs with\u003c\/strong\u003e other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: Composting; Black Soldier Fly Homestead Guide; Roof rainwater catchment; Solar hot water; Hoop greenhouses; Generators, propane and fuel; Composting toilets. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant PDF download.\u003c\/strong\u003e After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alt Ordo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48373639151787,"sku":"AO26-SYS-44","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/files\/AO26-SYS-44.jpg?v=1792843704"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0615\/4718\/4299\/collections\/AO26-SYS-COL-ENERGY.jpg?v=1792843063","url":"https:\/\/shop.altordo.com\/collections\/systems-guides-energy.oembed","provider":"Alt Ordo: Build Freedom","version":"1.0","type":"link"}