Comments on: Daily Tip: Use Off-the-Grid Energy Saving Principles While Living On the Grid

By: Living Off-Grid: Our Micro Hydro Alternative Energy System | Blue Living Ideas

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:00:54 +0000

[...] years ago, my alternative power system consisted of one solar panel, one golf cart battery, one DC light, and one DC car stereo. Today, I [...]

By: Uncle B

Uncle B — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:18:55 +0000

Since retiring my wife and I have replaced our Huge family sized refrigerator with a very much smaller one, and feel we could have used a smaller one all along, with a little planning. We have two smaller freezers, and try to keep only one runnung, except when harvesting our garden and we then need both. Smaller is better, so we closed of the upstairs three bedrooms for the winter and cut our fuel bill in half. Smaller TV sets take less power, so the next time you need a new one, check the power consumption. A very small difference in efficiency for a TV is multiplied by the hours it runs, so a smaller one can help. We never leave TV, lights or the computer on needlessly. We can a lot of food, from the garden and from the bargain counters and sales. Canned food costs nothing sitting on the shelf, where frozen food requires electricity to stay frozen, so canning is the way to go! We dry spices, potatoes(to make scallop) onion(greens) tomatoes, and parsley etc., and store them in sealer jars. Drying takes patience and some skills but is well worth the trouble in the long run since dried foods store very well and for a long time, electricity free! I drive a bicycle now, and admit my son does drive us around in his car sometimes but for the better part my wife and I manage to get along on our own, and bank a bit of cash to boot!

By: Kelly D.

Kelly D. — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:47:56 +0000

I am setting up an Environmental Stewardship conference in Portland OR for the end of July. I am interested in getting someone who is living off the grid to be represented on our Speaker Panel. Anyone live near Portland that could do this? The Speaker Panel event is on July 21. Shoot me an email if you are interested and we can chat more about this! Donou1kf@gmail.com

By: lauren

lauren — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:06:33 +0000

my husband and i have been living off the grid since 1976
we have an aero power wind generator solar and back up generators and a nice set up of battery storage and inverters
since we are in a coastal mountain range we have many storms and our neighbors (who we cannot see for the redwoods and doug firs) are often without power and we dont have a clue until we either run into them on our road or at the mailbox
we have every ocnvenience and are so happy we invested since we are now in our 60s and needed a break from the many chores and maintenance we have needed to do over these many years….
i am thrilled to hear of new generations that are getting serious about what we have done and also thrilled and energized by all the many products and services to help this beautiful world stay that way or improve our damage….i applaud the energy and dedication that is present on these blogs
hopefully you all will enjoy the deep satisfaction that we are.
take sweet care out there all of you and thank you for the blessings of youth and vigor on all your quests to honor your lives and those after you

By: LaMar

LaMar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:30:25 +0000

I am a long time off grid homesteader and I applaud anyone that adopts this lifestyle which is rewarding and challenging. I live in a solar cabin I designed and built for under $2000. I use solar power, a solar composting toilet of my own design, and a solar batch water heater.
Heres my cabin for ideas if interested:
LaMar
http://www.freewebs.com/simplesolarhomesteading

By: Unregistered User kira13

Unregistered User kira13 — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:34:10 +0000

I agree that turning off devices that draw phantom power is a good idea, but often, those devices need the phantom power to keep their settings. I know, for example, that most if not all of my entertainment center’s components would need their time reset at a minimum, and several need more settings than that. I don’t think most people with devices like that will go thru a full out-of-the-box setup every time they want to watch TV or a DVD. (Even more annoying, some of the settings that are lost with lost power are the ones that make my various components work with each other in the first place, and my setup is getting so complex that I have added a UPS in order to avoid losing them during a power outage.)

What if electronic device/appliance makers were to use some form of non-volatile memory for storage of settings, or at least provide the devices with long-lasting and preferably rechargeable batteries to provide just enough power to store the settings? Maybe we need to start telling device manufacturers that we want to be able to completely unplug our devices when we’re not actively using them, not just have them in an ultra-low-power “standby” mode. The less convenience lost by turning off devices, the more likely it is that people will do it.

By: Unregistered User ronanki

Unregistered User ronanki — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:35:52 +0000

I agree 1005 with the above suggestions, In some cities as Mumbai they have lower tariff for certain perod of the day to encorage use of heavy loads during non peak period.
awareness and use of energy efficent practices go a long way to reduce energy consumption