Off-Grid Homes Save Electricity and Provide a Great Example for the Rest of Us
May 21, 2008 · Print This Article
We can all learn a lot from the people who have decided to go off-grid – completely or just partially – using renewable energy to power their homes. When most people think of being off-grid, they imagine living like the Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie: using candles at night, spending hours doing back-breaking manual labor to keep your home heated in the winter and having no televisions or computers.
The fact is, using alternative energy sources for at least some of your home’s power isn’t just within reach, it’s not going to force you to sacrifice all that much. Your quality of life won’t be adjusted beyond feeling better about your energy consumption.
Charmaine Watts of New Zealand is a great example of making off-grid work while still living a modern life of convenience.
From the New Zealand Herald:
Her family of two adults and three children are one of hundreds around the country generating their own electricity.
With power prices on the rise, the $20,000 the Watts spent installing solar panels, a small wind turbine, storage batteries and wiring is starting to look like a good investment.
“I don’t need to worry about power cuts,” said Ms Watts. “It’s just like a normal house. I flick the switch on my computer or my DVD player and away I go.”
Watts says solar panels lasting between 25 to 30 years cost $25,000 , making them a good option even for city dwellers.
“Anyone with a roof has the potential to make their own electricity.”
$20,000 is definitely a lot of money, but many homeowners spend that much or more just on a bathroom remodel. Why not live with a smaller, vintage bathroom and spend that cash on something that’ll reduce your dependence on electricity and lower your carbon footprint? Seriously, watch those HGTV remodel shows – they spend exorbitant amounts on something that doesn’t even look all that great when they’re done. That money could be put to much better use.
Living smaller and keeping older stuff longer isn’t really the American way, and that’s part of what got us into this mess in the first place. Instead of focusing our consumerist drive on crap we’re going to get sick of in a few years and toss in a landfill, we could focus it on turning this country around for the sake of the planet.
You can learn more about going off-grid at Off-Grid.net.
Link [New Zealand Herald] + [Off-Grid.net]
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I agree that curbing our hyper-consumerism tendencies and promoting high quality products that are built to last are important steps toward sustainability of our planet. But it won’t happen without major buy-in from consumers, manufacturers, governments and standards-setting bodies.