We have certainly read enough stats, figures, calculations, etc., about "cost efficient, energy saving."
How about a straight forward day to day story of living without hydro?
A little background perhaps, to set the scene. We are a couple of 60-year-olds who emigrated to Canada from the UK in 1967. Living in the far north (Red Lake, Ontario), for seven years before settling in the "near north" (two hours north of Toronto), we raised three daughters, saw them well on their way in life, and decided to "down size" and move to the country. Living "off the grid" was never really a consideration, although my husband says now it was in the back of his mind for a very long time.
We purchased 50 acres of bush property along the shores of a narrow, small lake and picked a spot to build our "cabin in the woods." When we approached hydro, were informed it would cost in the region of $30,000 to bring electricity to that particular spot. (Bear in mind that includes the submarine to sink the cable! Yes, they were going to bring it across the lake from the nearest cottage!) Needless to say, it didn't take many seconds to consider an alternative power source.
As we were new to this way of thinking, we quickly sought out and found who we now affectionately refer to as Mr. Solar-Pete Ayles. There is nothing this man doesn't know, or cannot do, when it comes to solar power.
He sat down with me-for hours. He is one of the few professionals who have clued into the fact that the wife needs to be happy with this way of life or it ain't going to work! We talked endlessly about how much power I would need.
At this stage I couldn't even imagine how I could have a computer, washer, fridge, etc., etc., without hydro. I see that same look in the eyes of our visitors now.
He wanted to know "Do you want to make toast and perked coffee every day? How often do you vacuum? Iron?" After all this "chat" he came up with what he thought we would need to live a comfortable existence.
We started with 10 panels, a Trace inverter and a diesel genny for back up.
We built our house facing due south, open concept, with lots of windows on the south side. The passive solar effect from this position is phenomenal. We heat with wood (which we gather off the forest floor. Sometimes we cut down a tree but not too often.), in a wood stove in the basement. We had to put in a gas furnace for insurance purposes but it has only been on when we are away in the winter months.
We moved in, in April 1999. Life initially was not without its problems. On one occasion we had a house full of company and only one bathroom was functional, up on the second floor. A lady went to the bathroom, flushed and presto-all the lights went out! She was stuck up there and of course, we were not prepared. It took a while to locate a flashlight! The power outage was due to the fact that our well is 300 feet deep and every time the toilet flushed the pump came on. That was fine, provided I didn't have the coffee pot going too!
We have this problem solved now. We put in an extra 80 gallon water tank and three switches (one in each bathroom and one in the kitchen); each switch has a red light. When the light comes on it means the 80 gallon tank is empty, a flick of the switch and the tank is refilled again. We then use water from that tank until it empties again. This has saved considerable power as the water pump is our biggest power user.
We now have 20 PV panels, as David moved his medical practice into the basement in 2001. This meant a fair increase in our power usage, hence more panels,but everything else stayed the same.
We have the same remote read out panel in the kitchen as on the inverter, which I find incredibly useful. When I use any appliance, I can run to the panel and see just how much power it uses-makes it all very interesting. How many women know that a toaster uses 14 amps?
Pete made sure that the electrician he recommended put switches beside every socket that an appliance would be plugged into, so that they can all be switched completely off at the source. So, we do not have any LCD clocks blinking anywhere. I even learned that an "instant on" tv still uses power even when you think it is off! Ours is definitely off!
We also have two boxes that feed the power from the panels and the windmill into the inverter. Oh, did I forget to mention our diddly little windmill? It's a Rutland (smallest county in UK-that's how I remember). We really need a meter to see what kind of power it is giving us, so Pete is getting us one.
This setup provides us with enough power during the winter months for approximately four days of usage before the Genny automatically comes on for about 16 hours. That includes a busy doctor's office going three days a week. In the summer we can go 9-10 days without anything but the solar.
We do have propane for cooking, a furnace which we hardly use, and a clothes dryer which I never use. I found a wonderful umbrella clothes line set on ball bearings which I use all the time. We are relatively high up, but on a good windy day you could almost grab a towel and go for a ride, it spins so well!
We are very happy here. Our driveway is a kilometer long and we have an abundance of pets, two donkeys and an emu. These three are our watchdogs and ne'er a predator comes near. They watch over a pot bellied pig, angora goat, five sheep, a newborn lamb, numerous chickens/hens/ducks/geese, and a long lost peacock, who we are trying to catch to bring home. (He goes from neighbor to neighbor at the moment!)
Anyone reading this is very welcome to come and look at our setup. We will tell you all we know in a very short space of time.
