I am 150% ready and on the ball with going off the grid. Now. Today.
No, Dewey isn't quite 'there' just yet...but he isn't living here and I can make some changes a bit more easily that way, right??? Nothing overly intense at all, just some lifestyle changes...some rather big lifestyle changes.
Honestly, I guess I'm not at all 'ready' in a truly 'prepared' sense.
I have an electric stove. Can't cook without electricity unless I use the grill, and truthfully, grilling has never been my forte. I can certainly learn, though, when properly and sufficiently motivated..which I most definitely am right now!
Our hot water is electric. I have that huge mega monster grill, though. And I have a fire pit outside. I can manage hot water I'm sure.
My lighting is electric. We are using the lamps much more often now, for lighting needs, but from a practical stand-point, they aren't ideal. The light for reading just isn't very good for old eyes like mine...and probably not much better for younger ones, either. And the lamp oil costs and storage issues...it's simply not practical for permanent usage. Rise and bed with the chickens is probably a much better solution.
My heat, what little we use here really, is electric. Ugh...an electric heat pump, no less :o( I am going to skip the cookstove for now I think and simply get a small woodstove for heat. I don't have a space readily available for both the heat and the cookstove, so in light of what I'm about to tell you here next, a heat stove is a better option. And I can cook on top of it...just won't have an oven for baking.
We received our electric bill Tuesday. Please sit down. Please make it a chair that is sturdy and has good support to the armrests. It's for your own safety, really. Trust me.
For the billing cycle from Nov 18th - Dec 18th, our electric bill was $439.35. A average daily kw usage of, they say, 151.7 More than doubled from the previous cycle, as well as more than doubled from the same cycle a year ago.
Yes...I wrote that correctly. It's FOUR HUNDRED. Can you even imagine what that did to my heart opening the bill? Or what it did to the budget, as I most certainly had not figured in anything remotely close to that amount.
This is winter. In the South. I'm sorry if I offend any true heart Southerners here, but this is hardly what I consider much of a winter. Yes, that billing cycle had some really really cold days in it, and several wind-chills here on the homestead in the teens. And it's been rainy and windy quite a bit the past month and more.
But this isn't what I look at as being classified as 'winter' yet look at that bill. Granted, this is a mobile home. They are not even partially constructed like a brick or stick frame house is. The materials are altogether different, the insulation is different. They are hardly air-tight in construction at all. They are not known for allowing an abundance of natural light in, although with the amount of air flowing in and out, you'd find that rather odd. We simply are not a traditional home style and that certainly adds to the electric bill.
That and the increase that went into effect of 17%. We were expecting 20% or more, so I will concede that 17% is to be considered a blessing.
If I could do it...if I had the fortitude of spirit might be a better phrase...I would flip and lock that main breaker outside today. Cut the cord completely and be off the grid now.
I'm scared to death of summer coming, given this bill. I may be well beyond able to tolerate and thrive in the 'winter' down here, but come summer, you might as well lock me in the looney bin. I can not handle being hot at all. I can not tolerate heat and humidity that sucks the breath from you almost daily. I'm a wimp. Given the current bill, I could guess-timate my summer bills easily being in excess of $600 a month during say July and August especially.
Six hundred dollars a month is well beyond even the remote outskirts of INSANE. I can't budget that in at all. Even if I could, I wouldn't even consider budgeting that in for something like electric! Surely somewhere in my history, generations of pioneering women lived a good and rich life without any of these trappings of today.
I just have to do it. I just have to take that step and keep walking...or in this case, I really ought to be running. We are already 2 weeks into the next billing cycle! My biggest problem is I don't have anything set up for back-up.
Well, I suppose I have the electric cord as a back-up for now. While I have the ability to do otherwise, I need to start getting better acquainted with that grill out on the porch. What all can I really do on a grill folks? I know nothing about them at all, really. But I'd rather foot the bill for propane for the grill than this electric bill.
I'm canning up the rest of the meat. It won't happen overnight, but I will get it all finished and empty those freezers once and for all. We are doing ground meat today.
I'm getting back to once a week baking for our needs. It's easy to do -- just requires I think ahead and make some plans. When it's gone, it's gone. We will learn quick enough that it's better to spread out whatever treats we have than to go totally without.
Laundry is going to take a hit. We will start focusing on that hand-washing. I will do towels, the blankets and thick items, boys pants in the washing machine still as I don't have a suitable way to wring them out well enough to even hang dry. But they will only be done once a week. This having something to wash almost daily is ridiculous. I need to get back to a real schedule here. And it will be...has to be...carved in solid stone, no more written in pencil.
I'm going to look for a small wood heat stove instead of worrying about connecting the cookstove up right now. I'm not set up space-wise to have both operating, and I think the larger need is for some alternative heat right now. I'd rather put $600 into a heat stove than the electric bill.
Cut-back, cut-backs, cut-backs. We are going off the grid before this month passes by much more. Off the grid at least in terms of that electrical usage. I simply don't have a choice. I have most definitely not agreed to having my husband away from home, away from his family, working just to feed the electric company and their families. His being away from us was supposed to be for our better in the long-term. I just can't sit back and find excuses for not taking the steps I've been working toward any longer.
If you have any thoughts or ideas to share on helping us cut the cord, do let me know! I could use all the tips I can get.
I have found some great Aladdin lamps on ebay. They are much better than regular lamps. (Light like a 60 watt bulb). Also give off great warmth.
the only other idea is invest in a good wash tub. I use mine for laundry and can be used as a industrial sized child cleaner. More work but it really make you more aware of the amount of water you are using too.
I can't imagine paying that for electricity. We have cut ours down pretty good but we are still running about 60 a month. I have an electric stove I use on warm days and still run a washer, frig, and two freezers.
Maybe you can build an ice house for summer and move in there? With that heat down there I would be tempted. I barley handle Central Illinois! Good luck!
Is it possible that a neighbor is running an extension cord from your barn to his home?
Go out to your meter and stand in front of it. Watch it spin.
Then start shutting things off, one by one.
Our biggest energy users are: My dehumidifyer. My TV. My (2) 50 gal hot water heaters. My oven (and its a piece of snot).
When I shut all those things down, the dial spins at a snails pace.
What day do they read the meter? Take a photo that day, and then take a photo the next month. Make sure they are NOT making up numbers. My meter reader "was estimating" my bill.........she was too lazy to get out of her truck and walk up to the house in the cold winter. If there is an "E" on your bill.........that means they estimated it.
If your heat is the source of your high bills.......turn it WAY down, lots of blankets and extra socks.
Moving forward? Can you do a small solar energy source to put maybe just a few things on? Like hot water and lights? Start out small? CountrySide magazine has zillions of articles all the time about solar energy that is not crazy expensive to start ($300.00, which in light of your last bill is chump change :-( )
We live in a huge home, that is not well insulated, and the windows are shot.........and my bill averages about 225.00 and that kills me. We will look into wind power this year because it blows like the tundra 90% of the time!!
HTH
Laura
~~First in line of usage here is the heat pump. They are known for not being great on efficiency, and yet that's all anyone uses down here. Propane wall heaters are a big thing as well, but the propane costs are ridiculous at just over $3 a gallon, and that's typical almost all year, or I'd go to a gas stove.
Next in line of watt usage here I'd say is most likely our water heater. It is older and we are going to replace it next. Until then, I'm all for heating water on that grill :o)
Our electric meters are all digital now. They don't even come out to the house to read them...they don't even come to my road. It's all computer-fed direct to their system, and I can't even read it myself. It's all gobbledy-gook Greek to me looking at the blasted thing out there.
Electric companies down here aren't like I'm used to. They are more like electric co-ops, without the benefits to the individual. They send one bill out, with your disconnect notice on it. Come that day, they pull your plug, no excuses, no arrangements, no partial pays. It's set in stone. Right now, near as I can figure on our bill, they are saying we used in this cycle, 4552 kw. It;s about double from the same time last year, which I don't understand as we've been much more watchful this whole year.
Time to cut the cord, plain and simple.
Edited by HandsNHearts on Saturday, January 3, 2009 at 10:31
PS:
If you have cast iron you can cook on the grill like a regular stove!!
Or cover the grates with clean aluminum foil and cook that way!!
Not everything has to taste like 'summer bbq'!!
Laura
We live in a 4000 square foot home, and used 2100kw last month. Now, the heat is propane gas (which is 2.40 a gallon), but still...........that is INSANE.
I am with you.......if you are straight digital, where your home is hooked up to another location, controlled by other people......wack, off it goes.
What you have described is a horribly heartless company.
There's got to be some way some how to do some sort of solar heating, if for nothing but hot water......and at about the same cost as your insane electric bill!!
I am so sorry. What a mess.
And it's only been winter for 2 weeks.
wow.
Laura
~~Yep. And my bill didn't come until 2 weeks into this cycle, so I've got just 2 weeks now to try to make a difference in the next one. I told Dewey if the bill is $300 I can adjust, considering the rate increase, but over that, I'm cutting the cord...they can come take their pole out of the yard and pluck out that fancy meter socket while at it.
Deanna
Edited by HandsNHearts on Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 01:29
~Always Planning for Whatever May Come... Mrs Survival site
~Sewing and baking,of course
~canning and preserving selected harvests
~schooling and menu plans kept up
~write letters
~pasta made, dried and stored away
~preparing kidding & nursery stalls
~fencing pasture section for Malachi
~studying herbal medicines for us and livestock
~bush hogging & timber clean-up, on-going
~monthly quilt/crochet blocks to build up stock
~reading more on ADHD triggers
~learning about eating more natural and healthy The Sewing List Homestead Chore List A Month of Meals
We are a Christian family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of Training their Hearts!
I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth... III John 1:4
Train up the child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it... Proverbs 22:6
Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!... Deuteronomy 5:29
Our mission in life is not to go to some far-off foreign land, but to work at home and in our churches and home communities. Our goal should not be to leave behind riches and possessions, farms and homes for our children, but a priceless heritage they will cherish enough to work fervently to pass along to their children. It has been done for generations and with God's help it can still be done. In teaching our children, we are striving toward a deep understanding of who they are In Christ. I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country. I'm a person of great value because God made me. I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me able to do everything required of me. I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and rest so my body is ready to serve. I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and choose what's right even if it's not what I want.
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