It would be nice to be off the grid, and you can start heading in that direction a step at a time.
One of the first things I learned when I went off the grid was to turn off the lights. When you leave a room, turn it off, even if you think you are coming right back. Many times I get distracted / sidetracked and forget I left it on. Now it's a habit. LED night lights are everywhere.
Remember, it all adds up.
During the worst parts of winter and summer, limit yourself to one small room if you can and set it up to be cooled or heated separate from your big system. Get one of those new window airs that are less than $200, and draw something like 600W, instead of the big house units that draw 3,500W. Let the other parts of the house heat up. Your electric bill will be 1/2 of what it is normally in summer. Use a space heater in winter.
Windows are a heat drain, both winter and summer. That's where all your heating / cooling money goes if your walls are properly insulated. There are new types of window "tint" that's easy to put on and will block 72% of the heat both ways but yet lets in the light. Look for it at your hardware store.
Get a whole house fan. In the evenings it can suck in cool air from outside, cooling the house and also cooling the attic. Very low wattage.
Put all those little black box power supplies and computer peripherals that aren't used every hour, on power strips, like your printer or scanner and turn them off. They add up, some of them will pull 12W just sitting there. Count how many you have, then times that by 8W (for a conservative estimate) and you will get the idea.
Use battery operated LCD clocks. They run for years, and buy batteries only on sale or at the dollar store.
Use CFL or LED lights everywhere you can.
If you live in a hot summertime area, turn off / down your water heater in summertime. Your garage gets hot during the summer and may provide enough heat for showers, try it.
Get a "Kill-a-watt" meter on sale and check what appliances draw for wattage and get rid of ones that are inefficient. Or watch your power meter, search online and learn how to time / read the rotations of the spinning disk to find out what appliances draw what.
Start buying solar panels or a wind generator and learn how all that works. Plan to expand a step at a time. Easier to start small and spend as you go. They have new grid tie inverters for cheap ($200 range) that will pump the solar / wind power into the grid so you don't have to mess with batteries.
Start doing any of the above, don't plan to do it all at once, it will never happen, but just a little bit at a time and step by step your power bill will go down and things will pay for themselves.
Post your ideas and links here!
Check e-bay for the grid tie inverters for around $200. You can stack them and buy them as needed.
Ideas on passive heating and cooling
http://www.azsolarcenter.org/tech-s...nsumer/passive-solar-design-manual-intro.html
Super deals on solar panels, close to $1 a watt!
http://sunelec.com/
One of the first things I learned when I went off the grid was to turn off the lights. When you leave a room, turn it off, even if you think you are coming right back. Many times I get distracted / sidetracked and forget I left it on. Now it's a habit. LED night lights are everywhere.
Remember, it all adds up.
During the worst parts of winter and summer, limit yourself to one small room if you can and set it up to be cooled or heated separate from your big system. Get one of those new window airs that are less than $200, and draw something like 600W, instead of the big house units that draw 3,500W. Let the other parts of the house heat up. Your electric bill will be 1/2 of what it is normally in summer. Use a space heater in winter.
Windows are a heat drain, both winter and summer. That's where all your heating / cooling money goes if your walls are properly insulated. There are new types of window "tint" that's easy to put on and will block 72% of the heat both ways but yet lets in the light. Look for it at your hardware store.
Get a whole house fan. In the evenings it can suck in cool air from outside, cooling the house and also cooling the attic. Very low wattage.
Put all those little black box power supplies and computer peripherals that aren't used every hour, on power strips, like your printer or scanner and turn them off. They add up, some of them will pull 12W just sitting there. Count how many you have, then times that by 8W (for a conservative estimate) and you will get the idea.
Use battery operated LCD clocks. They run for years, and buy batteries only on sale or at the dollar store.
Use CFL or LED lights everywhere you can.
If you live in a hot summertime area, turn off / down your water heater in summertime. Your garage gets hot during the summer and may provide enough heat for showers, try it.
Get a "Kill-a-watt" meter on sale and check what appliances draw for wattage and get rid of ones that are inefficient. Or watch your power meter, search online and learn how to time / read the rotations of the spinning disk to find out what appliances draw what.
Start buying solar panels or a wind generator and learn how all that works. Plan to expand a step at a time. Easier to start small and spend as you go. They have new grid tie inverters for cheap ($200 range) that will pump the solar / wind power into the grid so you don't have to mess with batteries.
Start doing any of the above, don't plan to do it all at once, it will never happen, but just a little bit at a time and step by step your power bill will go down and things will pay for themselves.
Post your ideas and links here!
Check e-bay for the grid tie inverters for around $200. You can stack them and buy them as needed.
Ideas on passive heating and cooling
http://www.azsolarcenter.org/tech-s...nsumer/passive-solar-design-manual-intro.html
Super deals on solar panels, close to $1 a watt!
http://sunelec.com/
