Realistically, most of us are not ready to take the plunge of going off grid where power is concerned. We don’t know how to live without it, we use too much of it, and we don’t have any idea what is actually using how much electricity. If you are considering going off-grid temporarily or permanently by living off of natural resources or a power generator, here are a few tips for assessing your needs.
How Much Power Do You Use?
The average household uses a 900kW-hours or more per month. You can get a reading of how much power you use from your power bill, but it doesn’t give you a breakdown of what is actually using electricity. Lights, security systems, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, appliances, and electronics all use power, so it is important to make sure that you know what is consuming power, and how to limit your electricity use overall.
Reducing your energy use and being aware of consumption will allow you to realistically plan for alternative power sources, and will allow you to be more comfortable with smaller, more cost effective sources of energy when the time comes.
Where Can You Cut Back?
Knowing what in your household is using how much power can help you reduce your overall power use. There are a variety of calculators online that can help you assess your power usage based on each appliance. Small cooking appliances can relatively easily be eliminated, and more traditional cooking methods can be used. Even reducing small appliances such as microwaves, toaster ovens, and electric coffee makers, and only using large appliances like your stove and oven can have a huge impact on overall power consumption.
Washing dishes by hand is another great way to save on power because dishwashers can use up to 2400w, or more if there is a drying feature. Other things you can consider to lower your energy use without cutting out any appliances are replacing air filters in AC units/heaters, getting more efficient lighting, replacing refrigerator door seals, and using laptops instead of desktop computers.
Off-Grid Power Options
The best off-grid power solution will depend on your circumstances. Figuring out what you need if you’re going camping and want to know what kind of portable generator will power the TV in your trailer is simple, but if you are considering an emergency standby system or permanent primary system you will have a wide variety of options.
If you are preparing for emergencies like an outage due to a storm, a standby generator or small portable generator may still suffice, depending on what you’re looking for. At a minimum you should hope to power your air conditioner and/or heater, because this can be life-saving in harsh weather conditions.
If you are planning on completely living off the grid, you will need a more complex system which may include any combination of AC and/or DC solar systems, wind systems, hybrid systems, natural gas, diesel, or propane generators,, and backup batteries.
Solar and wind power systems are a great, green way to produce your own power, but there will always be times when there are neither wind nor sun. Even if you have a battery that continually charges, you may want to consider a standby generator as well, or even just a small portable generator to get you by until your main system is back up.
Knowing your power use is the first step towards finding alternative solutions. Reducing your use of electricity will make going off-grid much more feasible as well as cost-efficient.
Andi Singer is a blogger working with Power Systems Plus Inc, an Oregon based standby and commercial generator company.
2 comments
Our power bill went down significantly after installing a new furnace and new front door. But I’ve never really bothered to look at my electric bill to assess how much power we’re actually using. I’ll take a look at that for sure.
I added a 45 watt solar panel Kit from Harbor Freight in 2008 just to keep a small battery charged…I still use it & more panels—I have 14 LED lights in my house, lowering the bill yet the power co has raised rates, I use close to 20 KW a day without the AC or heat. solar has greatly improved my life—I have lights when many others don’t-( power off) from storms.
I also installed a back up 12-24 Volt DC “well pump”-for emergency water. cost a little over $200.oo. works off a Battery.
keeb.