Off-Grid Living in Windham, New Hampshire

I've been digging through Windham, New Hampshire's town documents to see how realistic off-grid living actually is here, and the short answer is: Windham is a fully zoned town, and it takes that seriously. This isn't a place where you can just buy a back lot and set up quietly.

Zoning and land use. Windham operates under its own Zoning Ordinance (updated annually), administered by the Community Development Department, the Planning Board, and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. One single-family dwelling per lot is the baseline rule, and anything outside standard construction needs to go through variance or special exception review with the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. The ordinance allows one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) per single-family home, capped at 950 square feet and two bedrooms. I could not find any official Windham source addressing tiny houses on wheels or RVs as year-round primary residences, so treat that as an open question to ask the Zoning Administrator directly rather than something you can assume is fine.

Building permits. The Building Safety Division, under Community Development, issues permits and inspects against the state-adopted New Hampshire Building Codes. Basically any real construction, including finishing an attic or basement, or adding electrical/plumbing, needs a permit.

Septic and composting toilets. Windham has its own sewage/waste disposal regulations layered on top of New Hampshire DES rules, enforced through the town's Health Officer (a role defined under state law, RSA Chapter 128) plus DES itself. Occupancy sign-off requires septic system approval. I did not find anything in Windham's own documents that addresses composting toilets as a septic substitute, so that's a "not confirmed, ask the Health Officer or DES" situation.

Greywater. No dedicated town ordinance or NH DES page speaks specifically to residential greywater reuse in Windham. This is genuinely unclear, not a hidden "no."

Rainwater harvesting. Since Windham enforces the state-adopted building and plumbing codes, and those codes permit indoor non-potable rainwater use, collecting rainwater looks fine here, with no extra town-specific restriction turning up in my research.

Wells. Windham's fee schedule references NH DES pre-approval and town plan review tied to wells, and commercial checklists mention well permit completion reports and water testing. Private wells are permitted, but they go through both town and state coordination.

Full utility disconnection. Here's the catch: Windham's occupancy process requires either an approved private well and septic, or municipal water/sewer, before final sign-off, including water testing and septic approval. So you can go off municipal utilities using private well and septic, but you can't skip water/wastewater infrastructure entirely and still get a legal occupancy permit. Electrical disconnection specifically isn't addressed as banned.

Bottom line: Windham is workable for a self-sufficient homestead built on private well and septic, but it is not a place for legal off-the-books living. Confirm the gray areas, ADUs, tiny homes, composting toilets, and greywater, directly with the town before you commit.