05-31-2009, 03:16 PM
Keep in mind my numbers COULD be wrong. I'm no pro, I've just taken about 50 hours of classes. I also like to build in a LOT of safety. For example, 95% of installers would not use 2.9 hours of insolation. They'd use 3.5+
It is indeed a big wakeup call, for myself as well. I took off-grid PV installation classes at the Solar Living Institute in California and remember getting a little sick to my stomach when I realized how much my setup would be if I didn't change my lifestyle. As a society, we're so used to cheap electricity that we don't realize just what an insane amount of it we're using. Then you move to Hawaii where electricity is much more expensive than the mainland and a whole additional variable is added to the equation.
I can't tell you how to change your lifestyle or even what the right choices are for you. However, as someone who is building here in Hawaii and will be doing his own solar install, I can share the changes I'm making.
1. Every appliance we're buying while renting goes through VERY stringent checks. Dehydrator for my partner? 700 watts all day long? No way. Fridge? Either propane or better yet a chest freezer modified to turn off before the freezing point. Or better yet, no fridge at all. Our choice will be the modified chest freezer more than likely.
2. Computers? Laptops only.
3. Anything with a phantom load? Tossed out the window or put on a power strip and turned ALL THE WAY off.
4. A/C? Not happening.
5. Washer? Ok, but we only wash during the day. Dryer? Propane or clothesline or solar kiln.
6. Lots of lights? Nope. We'll be building in tons of natural lighting. In fact, our cabin won't have any electricity. We'll have a separate structure that the solar ties into where we have all the modern stuff.
7. TV? DVD Player? Nope. We can watch stuff we download on the laptops if need be. Or try this fancy thing called reading
Do you have to play little house on the prairie? Not at all. But make no mistake, it takes a big lifestyle change and creative thinking. The funny thing is, I'd wager good money that if you make the change, one day you'll look at your wife and say, "Wow, what the hell were we thinking all those years?"
It is indeed a big wakeup call, for myself as well. I took off-grid PV installation classes at the Solar Living Institute in California and remember getting a little sick to my stomach when I realized how much my setup would be if I didn't change my lifestyle. As a society, we're so used to cheap electricity that we don't realize just what an insane amount of it we're using. Then you move to Hawaii where electricity is much more expensive than the mainland and a whole additional variable is added to the equation.
I can't tell you how to change your lifestyle or even what the right choices are for you. However, as someone who is building here in Hawaii and will be doing his own solar install, I can share the changes I'm making.
1. Every appliance we're buying while renting goes through VERY stringent checks. Dehydrator for my partner? 700 watts all day long? No way. Fridge? Either propane or better yet a chest freezer modified to turn off before the freezing point. Or better yet, no fridge at all. Our choice will be the modified chest freezer more than likely.
2. Computers? Laptops only.
3. Anything with a phantom load? Tossed out the window or put on a power strip and turned ALL THE WAY off.
4. A/C? Not happening.
5. Washer? Ok, but we only wash during the day. Dryer? Propane or clothesline or solar kiln.
6. Lots of lights? Nope. We'll be building in tons of natural lighting. In fact, our cabin won't have any electricity. We'll have a separate structure that the solar ties into where we have all the modern stuff.
7. TV? DVD Player? Nope. We can watch stuff we download on the laptops if need be. Or try this fancy thing called reading
Do you have to play little house on the prairie? Not at all. But make no mistake, it takes a big lifestyle change and creative thinking. The funny thing is, I'd wager good money that if you make the change, one day you'll look at your wife and say, "Wow, what the hell were we thinking all those years?"