Energy Independence: Part I

The Basics

We have all heard the litany… global warming, unsustainable consumption habits, the real human costs of petroleum dependency and the ever-rising cost of all forms of energy. When it’s difficult for regular middle class city and suburban dwellers to maintain their few hours of home down-time due to rising costs, the burden on rural homesteaders can easily be impossible to bear.

The smartest thing that anyone committed to sustainable and self-sufficient living should have already begun planning their off-grid strategies. Even though it may take years to accomplish the dream, the sooner you start moving in that direction the sooner you can hope to get there.

There are many things to consider before taking your homestead off-grid, and this series will take a look at some of those things as well as offer some resources so the homesteader can begin his or her own research. In this post we’ll examine the current and projected future costs of different on-site energy sources, energy storage vs. backwards metering, and best alternatives for your particular homestead.

One of the first things a homeowner needs to become aware of are the various federal and state incentive programs available to them if they choose to meet some or all of their own energy needs with ‘green’ sources. These incentives have been steadily increasing at the same time the per-watt price of the technology has been steadily falling. In some places the cost trade-off – where the cost to install is paid for by the incentives and further energy is basically free-for-upkeep – is down to 3-5 years. Which is a point when someone planning to live the whole rest of their lives on their homestead has no really good excuse not to go off-grid! The Database of State Incentives offers a clickable map with details for all 50 states and is updated as incentives are tweaked or changed.

Once you have a good idea of how much you can offset your costs with incentives and tax rebates, you’ll need to have a good idea of exactly how much electricity you use. Gather at least 6 months’ worth of electric bills – including the hottest and coldest months – and write down your actual kilowatt usage. If your bill includes a breakdown of peak usage include that in another column. Some utility companies don’t include that information on monthly bills, but will supply it if you ask them nicely. It is important for you to know your peak usage so you will be able to supply enough energy to cover that.

If your overall kilowatt usage over the months falls within a fairly small range of variation but your peak usage looks really high, you’ll need to figure out what is using the most energy of all your activities and appliances. There are significant ways to lower a homestead’s energy demands, both overall and peak, but that requires knowing what you use and a willingness to pare your usage wherever you can.

Decisions about heating system and appliances you’ll need to replace in order to consume less electricity will also have to consider whether the homesteader plans to store energy on-site in banks of batteries, or whether the homestead chooses to use the commercial grid to its own advantage as a supplier. Batteries are expensive to install and maintain, probably best for homesteads that are remote enough to have never been on the grid in the first place, and younger homesteaders who have a lot of time and energy to spend doing things the hard, old fashioned way. Battery technology is getting better all the time, but no cheaper. In a later installment in this series we’ll be getting into actual costs of on-site storage as well as the pluses and minuses of such a system.

My homestead is currently on the grid, and our electric company is required by regulatory law to provide us with a “backwards meter” if we ever install our own electrical generating capacity. If we want it, and since I do not want to hassle with the whole battery-bank expense, we do want it. The deal is that we purchase our energy from the utility the same way we always have for running our appliances, power tools, lights and such. At the same time, the electric company must purchase all the energy our system produces. If we’re producing more than we’re using, it goes back out on the grid for other people to use.

Now, the price we pay per kilowatt from the utility is more than the utility will pay us for the kilowatts we produce. Having looked into the cost and hassle of battery banks, I am fairly convinced the price difference is reasonable so that we can avoid on-site storage. We have been slowly but surely replacing appliances over the years with more energy efficient models, and are keeping ultra low-use and pedal powered models in mind as they develop for our next computers, radio/stereo, TV/video replacements. And of course we’re buying nothing but low-watt flourescent bulbs for lighting, even while keeping a stash of mantle-type oil lamps on hand.

We heat with wood, which is handy because we live in the woods. Fuel’s in no short supply, though it takes some work. We don’t have air conditioning because we don’t need it. Though we do have to run a dehumidifier in the basement all summer to keep things from mildewing. It’s a new, energy efficient model, but we could probably do without it entirely by insulating and covering the concrete floor. One of those building projects on the list (along with new siding, windows, roof, doors…). A homestead is a long-term project, so I don’t feel too guilty that we’ve spent 15 years planning and still haven’t accomplished our dreams!

Another big energy drain comes with the washer and dryer. Not to mention the energy used to pump the water 200 feet up the mountainside. I could hang the clothes out to dry, but although that makes them smell great, it’s a lot of work I’d rather not do and I get hives from stiff clothes irritating my skin. I’m thinking I’ll want to keep these appliances, though I’ll probably replace the dryer again with an even more efficient model one of these days. The refrigerator is a big ‘tron user too, but new ones are outrageously expensive. But I figure that as the models have become ever more energy efficient, it won’t be too long before we’ll be able to upgrade ours to a newer model recycled from someone who goes us one better on a new $2,000 double door monstrosity.

The sump pump in the cistern down at the spring is a 220 powerhouse, having to pump so far uphill. We’ve long planned to fabricate a creek-powered ram jet and bypass the house to pump another 50 feet to the top of the ridge behind the house, into a newer, larger cistern that will give us gravity feed pressure to the house. Yet another of those ’someday’ projects.

So start your homework by organizing your needs and understanding your usage, check out some of the links below to help. Stay tuned for the next installment!

Links:

The Economics of Going Off-Grid

Grid-Connected Solar or Wind Systems

Paring Down for Off-Grid Living

Solar Power at Half the Cost

Off-Grid – Life Unplugged

MSNBC: ‘off-grid’ community

Wholesale Solar

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