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Re: Give up electricity?

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:53 am
by Jackielou
DG some of the states you mention not wanting to have natural gas pipelines put in are states that get quite a bit of electrical power from hydro, or in fact buy power already from (in the case of New York) from Canada. We kind of have a trade off on power, if we need it in the east New York will sell us back what we need at the same price we sell it to them.

Where I live power for the most part is generated by coal (there has been talk of refitting the plant to use natural gas) and a good portion of our power is sold to the states that border our province.

There is a big difference between oil pipelines and natural gas pipelines, and since when I first read your post I thought of the former perhaps you should edit it so people realize which you mean.

Re: Give up electricity?

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 10:40 am
by Carol V
rinty wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 12:43 pm Yay to both Carol and Mona for your sensible posts. As you say, mould and midew aren't frugal.

Hats off to you, Carol for actually living " off grid". Doing everything on a propane stove must have been very hard work !
Using a propane stove isn't hard at all. No worse than natural gas or electric, unless you run out of propane! lol There were other things that made it hard to live that way sometimes, like doing all your laundry by hand. Especially in the winter when you've got six feet of snow and can't drive in and out for months, like Halloween to Easter. I also had a camp oven that worked great on the wood heater till I got my regular stove.

Re: Give up electricity?

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 4:36 pm
by colonialgirl
That is for sure - that is why most of those folks died before 45 - they worked themselves to death.

Re: Give up electricity?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 11:26 am
by 2dogs+someCats
floridacatlover wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2019 7:48 am What would you do for refrigeration? You wouldn’t have fans in hot weather. Would you do all laundry by hand or go to a laundromat? You’d have no reading lights on a cloudy, overcast day.

I admire almost all of your frugal lifestyle choices. But to me choosing to go without electricity sounds crazy.
I have been without refrigeration before for months when there was an electrical problem in my old trailer that I couldn't afford to fix. Admittedly this is easier to deal with in a New York winter - ice and snow in coolers was the solution at the time. There are propane gas refrigerators but I don't like that option.

I already don't have fans in hot weather. My house is such that it stays relatively cool all year (read: freezing in winter!). I will admit to purchasing a box fan this year - we had an awful heat wave and I got it for my dogs - set it in front of a big pan of ice and the dogs got the "cool breeze". I only used it a few hours a day for 3 days - they heat wave broke and the fan went out in the garage to use for the next heat wave.

I already don't use lights during the day - even if it's dark and raining - other than I enjoy lighting a few candles.

Crazy or not, I really feel that is a challenge I would undertake if not for how scary other heat sources are to me.

Re: Give up electricity?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 11:28 am
by 2dogs+someCats
clemencia2us wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 10:54 pm You shuold do it! Why are you afraid of fire? I know people that are afraid of gas stoves. I grew up with gas stoves and heaters. I have those now. Its not going to explode unless it builds up a lot.
Hi Clem,

I have been diagnosed with a mild sort of "ptsd" from the house fire we had way back in 2005. There is nothing like standing out in the freezing rain watching your laundry room and kitchen be destroyed by fire - and not knowing if they will be able to save the rest of your home. UGH. Even since then any fire of any kind is no friend of mine. Even when I light candles (at least I can finally do that again!), I watch them like a hawk and set them on sturdy surfaces, away from drafts, out of reach of "big dog", etc.

Re: Give up electricity?

Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2019 12:23 pm
by clemencia2us
2dogs+someCats wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 11:28 am Hi Clem,

I have been diagnosed with a mild sort of "ptsd" from the house fire we had way back in 2005. There is nothing like standing out in the freezing rain watching your laundry room and kitchen be destroyed by fire - and not knowing if they will be able to save the rest of your home. UGH. Even since then any fire of any kind is no friend of mine. Even when I light candles (at least I can finally do that again!), I watch them like a hawk and set them on sturdy surfaces, away from drafts, out of reach of "big dog", etc.
oh that's right. Now i remember. Sorry.

Maybe you can set it up outside away from the house?