Off-Grid Luxury: Hot Tubs, Blended Drinks And Computers

WebEcoist:

Going off-grid doesn't have to mean giving up luxuries like hot tubs, blended drinks, flat-screen televisions or electric razors. In fact, as proven by these 15 awesome (and sometimes a little weird) off-grid gadgets, clothing, homes, skyscrapers and even entire islands powered by solar, wind, wood and human movement, living the unplugged life can be relaxing, fashionable and cutting edge.

While it may look suspiciously like a storybook witch's cauldron, the Dutch Tub is a portable hot tub that runs entirely on wood. Some may question the greenness of any hot tub, regardless of how it's heated, but off-gridders who are determined not to give up life's little luxuries will appreciate the ability to lounge and soak, without consuming fossil fuels.

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Comments

[RegularEinstein]

Looks like a giant soup bowl.

[KillTheMessenger]

There ain't no such thing as an off-grid-gadget. There are only people who get a kick out of pretending that any of these things would be possible without the existence of a grid. In reality they were all made with inputs from the grid and fossil fuel sources.

[TakeSake]

Off-grid isn't about being able to use it or make it without connecting to the "grid". It's about being able to use it or run it disconnected from the grid so that if the grid goes out, one can still use it. The hot tub is a very elegant implementation of this concept: no natural gas for heating water, and no electricity for a circulation pump. It perfectly illustrates the concept of an off-grid appliance.

[KillTheMessenger]

If you define off-grid in this way, you include buses, trucks and diesel-electric trains. And we all know how much less efficient they are than their on-grid counterparts. Off-grid is a sure-fire loser on all scales of reality that matter. I know that the survivalists feel great about these toys. But that's just it. Just because it feels great does not mean it makes environmental sense.