I’ve been off-grid (off-grid light - power and shower at the neighbours) for 4 months now with a tiny solar system and no running water - now with mains power I notice how much energy I just spend casually - lights left on, stuff on standby, more ambitious projects because machines are available, mindless entertainment running in background. Currently reluctantly thinking about buying a fridge, because my cupboard will get too warm in some weeks. Or build an evaporation fridge.
It were a rough few months, especially during the winter storms. On the other hand, enjoying (really enjoying) the limited amount of 30 mins of music at night and getting water from the source listening to the songbirds have been great improvements of my life quality and I hope to carry on with being slow and use resources with awareness.
So yes, not just the fridge, but so many gadgets are just wasteful because we consider our wall plug electric energy an unlimited resource, which it is not.
You are way way beyond my initial shower thought. I was offgrid for four years, but only 7-9 months a year (the warmer) and I was living in a very sunny climate where solar would provide me with electricity for the most important things. It was beautiful. But I must admit I am glad to be “home” again, since I have family now.
I’ve been off-grid (off-grid light - power and shower at the neighbours) for 4 months now with a tiny solar system and no running water - now with mains power I notice how much energy I just spend casually - lights left on, stuff on standby, more ambitious projects because machines are available, mindless entertainment running in background. Currently reluctantly thinking about buying a fridge, because my cupboard will get too warm in some weeks. Or build an evaporation fridge. It were a rough few months, especially during the winter storms. On the other hand, enjoying (really enjoying) the limited amount of 30 mins of music at night and getting water from the source listening to the songbirds have been great improvements of my life quality and I hope to carry on with being slow and use resources with awareness. So yes, not just the fridge, but so many gadgets are just wasteful because we consider our wall plug electric energy an unlimited resource, which it is not.
You are way way beyond my initial shower thought. I was offgrid for four years, but only 7-9 months a year (the warmer) and I was living in a very sunny climate where solar would provide me with electricity for the most important things. It was beautiful. But I must admit I am glad to be “home” again, since I have family now.