Comments on: Going Off The Grid Once A Week

By: Save Money on Heat and Electricity

Save Money on Heat and Electricity — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:12:09 +0000

[...] spend more time with family, and increase your productivity. Frugal Dad also wrote about ‘off the grid days‘ and the benefits they can bring.Reduce standby power – The last tip I’ll give [...]

By: marci357

marci357 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:26:51 +0000

A week is too long for the freezer and refrig to be down without running the generator….
And without a wood stove, it’s difficult to heat water for bathing.

As we are ALWAYS prepared here in the Pacific NW for a few days duration without power, as it happens so frequently, I don’t think I’ll need to experiment. I already know what it’s like and how to get by without elec. I just worry about the freezer after 1/2 a week or so… but have started canning more meats rather than freezing them, just in case.

By: Sarah Moore

Sarah Moore — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:41:30 +0000

We are doing an off the grid day in Milwaukee and others WI’ers are joining us. I have found what is nice about this is doing it when you know others are doing it too. We are also focusing on Saturdays. Some from Friday eve to sat eve, some all day Sat. The idea is that people can all power down or go off the grid to the level that they are ready, I think once you start you want to try more. we also started a POWER DOWN face book page if anyone wants to join and invite their friends too.
we have also been thinking about doing A WEEK with our community, planning projects doing PR etc. Has anyone ever heard of something like this?

By: Mary Q Contrarie

Mary Q Contrarie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:59:39 +0000

This is a nice idea. Many of your thoughts are really easy to do more than once a week. Air dry your clothes on a line or clothes drying rack year round. Always turn lights off when you are not in the room. Turn off the small appliances and the electronics at the surge protectors.

By: Nicki at Domestic Cents

Nicki at Domestic Cents — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:43:52 +0000

That post by FCN caught my eye and got me thinking too. Could I do that? Hmmmmm …

By: Money Beagle

Money Beagle — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:27:13 +0000

If it’s too hot in the south, we have agreeable four-seasons weather up in the midwest. We do run the AC from time to time but nowhere near the amount that I ran it when I did a six-month assignment in the Florida Panhandle.

By: DD

DD — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:02:55 +0000

I think this is a cool (or a hot) sounding experiment.
Is this your penance for going back to extended cable?

But seriously, you’d have all the above listed pros with none of the cons if you’d cut cable.

Best of luck, hope this goes well.

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:00:30 +0000

We force the kids outside on weekends– it saves energy. But flipping the switches isn’t for me– the clock resetting would be enough to send me over the edge!

By: Joanne

Joanne — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:35:55 +0000

The AC debate is interesting. Because of the extreme temps we are getting here in southern Australia, even old-timers who lived decades without air-con are having it installed. This summer just past, our town had its two hottest days on record. One was a full 2 degrees (Celsius) above the record which is an unprecedented rise. Normally temps top each other by partial degrees only.
So the climate is becoming more difficult to endure for many.
On the flip side, all of the extra air conditioners cooling more houses, not to mention bigger houses, have put an enormous strain on our energy supplies so throughout the summer we also had rolling power-outages. Power companies switched off supply to whole suburbs at a time for several hours. We didn’t know when it would be cut and had to be prepared.

By: marci

marci — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:02:19 +0000

As a 6th generation native Floridian – that’s 6 generations in SW Florida – we did FINE without A/C from 1840 to 1970. People really can live in SW FL without A/C. Really! No A/C in the schools and we all played outside! When we got A/C in the house, it was one room – and it was more to keep the no-see-ums out of the house than heat.

Actually, native Floridians usually say they would be happier if the A/C had not come to SW Florida – that way only the natives would be living there And we could have our paradise back to ourselves, without the A/C and tourists