A fellow asked me how I survive here without electricity and refigeration…..
Fridge:
Yah, no fridge. Actually I do have a broken gas fridge, but it is very broken… I got it working for a month once. I could buy another one but they are very expensive.
I just don’t seem to need a fridge. People here don’t refrigerate eggs, so I don’t either. Cheese seems to last a few days. Tortillas too.
Fridges in my experience tend to fill up with stuff you are not using right then. At least mine always did.
The more people here are eating from a single kitchen source, the less refrigeration is needed for leftovers. When there are more people living here… trips into town for group supplies could happen fairly often. I tend to believe it is healthiest to eat lots of simple raw foods. Fruits, veggies, nuts, berries… along with some other healthy stuff and that doesn’t need much refrigeration.
The closer you live to your food source (gardens, fruit trees, fish farming, chickens..) the less you need refrigeration. I do plan to build a root cellar for any building with a kitchen for storing squash and other crops. They work very well and can have a lot more space than a fridge. I am not even 1% of the way towards producing enough food for a group here…. check back in 10 years.
Electricity: No electric except when I run the generator for internet. I charge laptop and camera batteries at the same time. I do want to get enough solar panels to run the internet (low power need) and a few laptop computers while the sun is out, and for a couple hours after it goes down. That would eliminate generator use except as occasional backup perhaps.
I also would like to put solar on each house… but really it would just be enough to power some LED lighting at night, and charging for laptops and camera batteries. Being alone a lot, I like to read at night and like to have good lighting for that. This is a problem on long winter nights. Currently I use my headlamp and nearby candles. My candles are a petroleum product so I would prefer to switch to beeswax, especially if I start beekeeping. I don’t know how many folks can be kept supplied with candles per hive though.
For the headlamps.. rechargeable batteries tend to be expensive and wear out quickly. But living without electricity, I can say that LED headlamps are the best nighttime lighting. Leaves your hands free to do things. LEDs run off the larger battery and positioned right for reading might be the best option.
I could get electric run in at great expense…. and then it would get used more… so many possible electric devices. For this experiment, it is better for me to not have it, so I can learn to create a fulfilling lifestyle with low electric use.
Water: Water is trickier… though I am going to build enough cisterns to handle that.. I hope. The composting toilets and sauna should decrease water usage by about 80%. I could run water in from town at some expense… but I would rather learn to not use a lot. There is a needless water shortage in this area. I am going to town today to buy PVC piping to make gutters with. All buildings should capture the rainwater.
Wood for heating: Future buildings will have a passive solar design which will radically reduce the wood needed for heating. And future fireplaces will be airtight stoves.
With the right systems in place I should be able to live cheaper, with less time fixing systems and getting fuel for them. That leaves me more energy for the better things in life.
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