How Good Could You Do Without Electric

**Holly** · 04-02-2011, 09:58 AM

Our power was off this morning for awhile.
I made toast on the wood stove ( but could do it in the oven of our gas stove)

I am thinking of trying to do an experiment for the next 3 months to see what ideas I can come up with.

I won't be turning off the electric but trying to do as much as possible as people did before we had it.

**pollypurebred39** · 04-02-2011, 10:50 AM

I wouldn't do very well at all.

It's prudent to think about these kinds of things. Please keep us updated on your experiment, I'd really like to hear how it goes.

**Debbie-cat** · 04-02-2011, 11:26 AM

If it was just DH and I, we would be fine. We have a generator that would run the furnace and the well for heat and water and we could use candles for light or my oil lamps. We have a gas stove that could be lit manually. However, since my DFIL lives with us and he is on an oxygen concentrator, we need the electricity if it was off for more than a day. We do have portable tanks that he could use but they wouldn't last long.

**GoodThyming** · 04-02-2011, 11:35 AM

I'm interested in following your experiment as well. I've been thinking about my own energy consumption lately and educating myself about the sources of electricity. I definitely want to reduce my consumption. I got all CFL bulbs and have started unplugging electronics when not in use.

**krbshappy71** · 04-02-2011, 11:45 AM

Without electric for your house or in the world? In the world I would be screwed, I have Rx and unless they came up with other means to make it, I'd really be screwed.

My immediate issue without electric for an indefinite time would be refrigeration, I'm curious as to what you come up with for that. I watched a series called Living with Ed that was pretty interesting, they ended up using neighbor's resources which I totally consider "cheating" ha!

The girls and I went for a month without lights to save on our electric bill. What a difference! But in the end I was concerned they weren't getting enough light to read by and was uncomfortable with the candles alone in their rooms. Once I'm an empty nest I might consider it again.

*added thought: the next few months might be easier to cut back on lights because we are coming into Spring with more lighting so there's an easy place to start*

**Holly** · 04-02-2011, 12:08 PM

Well for my house right now, but I was thinking about the what
if there was some big thing go wrong and our power was
cut off. Tornado, Blizzards etc.
People lived without it before Thomas Edison and everyone lived with kerosene lamps and candles.
May just have to build be a portable ice house.

**lparker** · 04-02-2011, 12:48 PM

Right now, refrigeration (and internet access) would be a problem. Would hate for the contents of my 2 freezers to thaw. If I could PLAN for an extended outage. I'd super-insulate a corner of my basement and freeze water in jugs or what ever in the winter and probably can our meat. I have gravity flow spring water and a non-electric propane stove.

For the internet access, I could borrow my son's air card and run my lap top off my truck battery with an inverter.

Lee

**WV_mom_of2** · 04-02-2011, 01:05 PM

I could do pretty well. I've done without it for 9 days one time in a major snowstorm. My house is equipped for woodstoves and I would buy two and put them in and use that for heat. We did that for several years before buying the outdoor stove. I have a gas grill I could cook on, a charcoal grill and an outdoor fire pit. If I had to I could buy ice and use our many coolers to refridgerate items and in winter I could just keep them in coolers on the front porch. I have oil lamps and alot of candles and I could just go to bed early if I needed to.

I washed clothes in a tub for a month when my washer went out and went without a dryer for more than a year so again, not a big problem there. I have town water but it runs on gravity flow so we'd have all the cold water we needed.

**Momto5RN** · 04-02-2011, 01:06 PM

i could cook on woodburning stove or on grill outside if weather was nice- would miss internet and TV but would read duirng day relax at night by candlelight .

hot water heater is GA so okay as long as it doesnt have an electrical issue with it like my gas stove/oven does ( most new ones have electronic ignitions to light them up-and without it they wont light to prevent gas leaks )

**monkeywrangler71** · 04-02-2011, 02:06 PM

I have an electric pump, so we couldn't go an extended time. Although I suppose if we're talking zombie apocalypse, I could just start collecting rainwater or go across the street with a bucket and get water from the lake.

Otherwise we're fine, we have a cold room and a wood stove; the range is propane and pre-dates electric ignitions.

**sunshine** · 04-02-2011, 02:12 PM

We are routinely without power it seems. . . live in the boonies with unreliable electric.

We have a solar oven and propane burners for cooking + grill if we can manage outside at all or open fire (yes I know how to cook on an open fire and we have the equipment to do so), we have kerosene heaters and solar heat grabbers for warmth, we can draw water from a couple wells with hand pumps, or drop a bucket down them. . . I can wash clothes in the tub with a plunger kept just for that purpose, and wring them in a janitor's mop bucket then line dry in the spare bedroom (we have retractable lines set up), we have oil lamps, candles, battery powered lamps - hand powered flashlights, radios, and cell chargers, we have one phone that is still the old kind that doesn't need electricity from the power company to work, we have a small gas generator for running the sump pumps and freezer.

Seems like we're out for 1-2 weeks at a time, at least 3 times a year -- and smaller outages multiple times a month.

**shoiji** · 04-02-2011, 08:34 PM

I can say for sure. Not good!!!!!! I need airconditioning in the spring and summer. I can't get overheated with my medical conditions.

I think it was the late 80's before I realized the joys of airconditioning in my own apartment. Third floor apartments do not cool off very well with fans!!!

**Rhiamon** · 04-02-2011, 10:41 PM

Not well here as well. I would have no heat, no way to cook, to fridge to keep things cool. I think If I lived in a house and had a woodstove better. If it was not in the world even worse as I would have no means to my medication.

**frugal_in_SA** · 04-03-2011, 01:25 AM

I think I would do better than many, but I still have gaps.

For cooking I have a small gas camping stove plus a Weber BBQ kettle and lots of fuel and sources of wood. I also have a camping oven that I use on the Weber and can cook just about anything in that. (In fact a damper is in there right now. Mmmmm)

For light I have candles and oil lamps and know how to make a slush lamp. I also have a few 8-10 hour lightsticks and torches operated by dynamos (you either squeeze the handle or shake the whole thing), plus a solar lantern.

Refrigeration - an optional extra I think since we lived without fridges for thousands of years until recently. I have a cool pantry, so most things would keep in there. I know how to pickle/bottle quite a few things as well. My freezer would thaw out so I'd have to eat that stuff first.

I have an air conditioner, but only use it when the temp is over 40 deg C (about 104 F), so I wouldn't miss that. You can keep cool by closing up the house, fill up a sink or bath with cold water and use a wet towel to cool down.

Heating is less of a problem here in South Australia, but I have a camping gas stove, warm clothes, and there's always the possibility of a fire outside or gathering around the Weber to keep warm and smell the delicious aromas of damper or stew cooking.

I also have a couple of water tanks and other water supplies, and I have a hand operated washing machine that works pretty well for small loads.

One phone doesn't need power, and I have a charger for the mobile that works via the car cigarette lighter.

The main problem would be work, because I work from home using the computer. I must think about getting a solar panel to drive that! I need another one to drive the solar water heater's small water pump that feeds water up to the solar panel on the roof.

In 1998 they had a power cut in Aukland New Zealand that went for several weeks, so it can definitely happen anywhere. Just recently cyclones and floods have cut the power for people up north for many days - I think some still have no power.

**Elinaeri** · 04-03-2011, 06:07 AM

I would do fairly well. I know DF would not be happy, because he doesn't like to read (haha).

My problem would be refrigeration, but I do know how to preserve things without it. I want a cellar and root cellar for that purpose, but we do not own the house so it's not an option.

Luckily we have both a fireplace AND a wood stove, so heating and cooking are covered. We have plenty of wood. I do know how to cook on a wood stove as well as in a fire.

I think we would be ok