Couple saves hundreds of dollars a month with sustainable off-grid home
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A Canadian couple who built a $300,000 sustainable home on an abandoned race track says they save money by living off the grid.
James and Klaudia Bultje have spent the past two years building their dream home with four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms in Ridgetown, a small town in rural Ontario, after picking up the 27-acre property for $280,000.
Known as the ‘Constructafam’ on social media, they documented the step-by-step process on TikTok and YouTubewhere they continue to give tours of their off-grid home and answer questions about their green lifestyle.
In an interview with InsiderJames, 24, and Klaudia, 25, explained how they installed their own electricity, water, gas and sewage systems so that they had no other housing bills besides their mortgage.
James and Klaudia Bultje have spent the past two years building their dream home with four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms in Ridgetown, a small Ontario town.
Known as the ‘Constructafam’ on social media, they documented the process on TikTok and YouTube, where they continue to provide tours of their off-grid home.
They built their first one-bedroom, one-bathroom home together after getting married in 2018 and selling it just two years later in 2020.
From June to November of that year, they lived in a caravan while building their second home together.
James, a qualified carpenter and custom homebuilder, said one of the benefits is living off the grid and saving money on energy and water.
James, 24, and Klaudia, 25, built their first one-bedroom, one-bathroom home together after getting married in 2018 and selling it just two years later in 2020
Shortly after selling their first home, they moved into a trailer and scooped up their 27-acre property, including an abandoned race track.
They spent $280,000 on the land and another $20,000 to build their dream home
Their old home was powered by Hydro One, an Ontario electricity transmission and distribution company.
“We paid to have electricity brought to our house, but we hardly used any of it,” he recalls. “We had used $20 in power, but we would pay $80 to bring the power to our house. It made no sense. So with the new house we wanted to make it so that there was no cost involved.’
The sustainable property comes complete with a solar panel, an inverter to convert the solar energy into electricity, a septic system, a propane powered backup generator, a well and a water filtration system. They also keep a stock of six-volt batteries.
One of the highlights of the solar powered home is the stone fireplace in the living room
The house gets a lot of light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows
The master bathroom has a luxurious bath that overlooks the property
James built the base of the solar panel in the backyard, but he hired a professional to do the wiring in the basement, a process that took about two weeks.
Klaudia told Insider that the “biggest learning curve” was monitoring their power usage and knowing when to use it.
“When it’s sunny outside, we’ll do anything,” James explained. “If it was sunny outside, we’d turn the AC on cold and then turn it off when it got dark, because the air conditioner would only drain the batteries.”
The kitchen has a cooking island, white cabinets and a hidden walk-in closet
The couple keeps their washer and dryer stacked in their guest bathroom
James, a licensed carpenter and custom homebuilder, built almost everything himself
They can also hold their batteries for two days and in the event of a power outage they are often the only house left with electricity.
In winter they heat their house with firewood, which they chop themselves.
They explained in one of their videos that they have planted 1,200 new trees on the property to supplement what they have cut.
The beautiful home also has a large aft deck with glass railings
The sustainable building comes complete with a solar panel in the backyard
In the basement they installed an inverter to convert the solar energy into electricity
The house also has a septic system, propane powered backup generator, well, water filtration system and power supply from six volt batteries (shown)
In winter they heat their house with firewood, which they chop themselves
The couple spent approximately $20,000 building the off-grid home, and they believe their durable, cost-effective additions were well worth it.
“Now we just have a mortgage instead of a mortgage, water bills, utility bills or hydro bills,” Klaudia told Insider.
The Bumps went viral on TikTok last November when they shared a detailed tour of their home after a commentator accused them of lying about life off the grid.
“Everything can be seen, followed and controlled via our phones,” explains Klaudia in the clip, which has been viewed more than 3.5 million times.
The Bumps went viral on TikTok last November when they shared a detailed tour of their home after a commentator accused them of lying about life off the grid.
‘We are not network bound. We only produce and use the electricity’, explains Klaudia. Best part, no monthly house bills. Just minimal maintenance
In another series of videos, Klaudia explained how they make logs from their coffee grounds to burn in the fireplace in the winter.
Klaudia said a log will burn for about two hours, and that it “makes the house smell great”
“We are even working with an electric hot water tank,” she added. ‘We are not network bound. We only produce and use the electricity. The best part, no monthly house bills. Just minimal maintenance.’
A month later, they welcomed their first child, a boy named Nathaniel.
In another series of videos, Klaudia explained how they make logs from their coffee grounds to burn in the fireplace in the winter.
She shared the recipe with their 86,000 followers, explaining that their coffee consumption only allows them to create about one log per week.
Klaudia said that a log burns for about two hours and “makes the house smell wonderful,” especially if you use flavored coffee grounds.