posted by katlupe on Mar 31
Since I have been living for ten years now in an off the grid home I have learned so much on how to conserve my power. In the fall and winter the time we call “dark days” of October, November and December it is essential to be very careful. Since we do not have what is called a “normal” house as of yet, many things that others take for granted I do not even own. So it is probably not that hard for me as it would be for someone else. Looking for energy efficient appliances should be the first thing you do when you are thinking about changing to your own system.
I am used to cooking on a wood cookstove, though I do have Premier Propane cooking range. What is so unique about mine is that it does not have any electrical parts. No timers, no lights, not even a oven light, no clock and most especially no “glow-bar”. Now what is a “glow-bar”? It is the reason so many people cannot use the oven in their gas cooking ranges when there is a power outage! It uses electricity, so even if your power is out, you can’t use the oven. This is an electric red-hot glow-bar pilot in the oven that consumes 400 watts all the time the oven is used! Instead, look for one of two types of pilot light ovens. An oven with regular gas flame pilot light is the simplest. Better is an oven pilot that lights by electric spark when the oven is started and goes off when the oven is finished. Propane or natural gas stoves with gas pilot lights need no power connection at all.
Ordinary AC refrigerators and freezers run on over 200 watts AC, and run many hours a day. Most have less than 2 inch insulation. Fortunately, special refrigerators and freezers are available which use less than 30% as much energy. Sunfrost refrigerator products have 4- to 6-inch insulation, and a quality compressor on top where it can’t put heat back into the box. The RF-12 model runs 50 watts for 12 hours a day, totaling 600 watt hours a day. Compare that to the standard models which use around 3000 watt hours each day. Just think how that would cut that electric bill down!
It goes without saying that another big saving for any household is to hang your laundry outside. I do that, and even in the snowy cold winter of New York state. It is no big deal to me, and I admit to liking the way my home looks with my laundry hanging on the line. You could use a gas dryer and that would give you some savings, but of course there is the price of the fuel, and it still does use some electricity, as well.
The Staber washing machine is also built with the off the grid family in mind. But what a savings for the family on the grid as well! It is a simply designed machine with under 200 watts running power, with only a larger surge at the start of the spin cycle. Which means that 165 watts per load is way less than any other regular washing machine uses. It’s a double plus, as it uses less than half as much water per load as other machines as well. Spins faster than others, saving more energy in faster drying on the clothes line or in your dryer. So if you do alot of wash each week, this is a good way to save on the electric bill every month. I have purchased a brand new energy star model made by Whirlpool under the name of Cabrio and it uses so little power that we don’t have to run the generator to operate it. It goes without saying that these energy efficient appliances are a little pricey. But worth every penny!
There are some appliances that consume your power twenty-four hours a day, even when you think they are turned off. Televisions, stereos, office equipment, garage door openers and many, many others. These appliances, really need to turned off when you are not using them. By turned off, I mean the plug pulled out, or on a outlet strip that is turned off. Remember little things count when you are trying to cut your usage back. Even if you never go off the grid but just dream about it, changing your appliances is a change that could really impact your usage and bills.
Copyright © 2009 Kathleen G. Lupole
Powered By KG Lupole LLC
