Table of Contents
How to Choose a Clothes Washer for Your Off Grid Home
August 11, 2015
We just purchased a new MAYTAG MAXIMA X Front Loader 4.7 cubic foot unit that is rated to consume 108 kWhs of electricity per year assuming you do eight (8) loads of laundry a week (Canadian Energuide Rating) and use the “NORMAL” setting. Our own testing shows it consumes 140 watt hours per load at […]
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The Best Choices for Heating Your Solar Home | And The Worst!
March 17, 2015
The largest energy consumer of any home-built in the northern hemisphere is the heating system. Designing the correct heating system is critical in the success of the off grid home. Build it wrong and nothing else will matter. Almost all heating systems require some form of electricity to operate whether it for the fans (oil, […]
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The Best Off Grid Heating System
March 14, 2015
The greatest advance in home heating in the past few decades has to be the Open Direct System invented by Radiantec. The Open Direct System uses a highly efficient condensing tank-style water heater that provides both radiant space heating and domestic hot water all in one unit cutting electricity requirements for those of us living […]
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How to Choose a Dishwasher
July 14, 2013
You might be thinking…. Why is someone who lives off the grid (and an energy saving nut) talking about a dishwasher? The reality is that homesteaders and solar homesteaders don’t want to live like we are in the stone ages. Dishwashers, like clothes washers and refrigerators are a part of living in this modern age. […]
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Using an Electric Heater as a Dump Load
April 12, 2013
A common question I get asked is “Can I use a standard 120/240 AC heating element or hot water heater element as a DC dump load for my wind turbine/water turbine/solar system?” (Wondering what a dump load is? Click here) The answer is yes but don’t expect it to consume (dump) as much electricity as […]
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Choosing a Gas Range
March 19, 2013
Most people would expect purchasing a gas range is straightforward. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Please Note: Do not buy an “off the shelf” gas range for your kitchen if you live off of the grid or use a generator to run your home. They use an electric glow plug to light the oven. […]
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How To Eliminate Phantom Loads
March 19, 2013
Phantom loads are plaguing the world and are a huge problem for those of us living off the power grid. What is a phantom load? Everything possible must be done to eliminate phantom loads or at least reduce them. But how do we do that? The simplest way to eliminate a phantom load is to […]
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Make Your Water Filter Efficient
March 19, 2013
If you don’t have access to clean water in your off grid home, nothing else will matter. Some will be fortunate enough to have crystal clear and potable water directly from a spring or well but most of us will need some type of water filter or purification system. The problem is most of the […]
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How to Choose a Refrigerator
March 17, 2013
Your refrigerator could be the largest consumer of electricity in your off the grid home. Selecting the right one for you is less about aesthetics and more about size versus power usage. Less than two decades ago it made sense to purchase a propane refrigerator for two reasons: Solar electricity was prohibitively expensive AC power […]
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Circulating Pumps for the Off Grid Home
March 16, 2013
It is almost inevitable you will need at least one circulating pump for your off the grid homestead. Whether it is for radiant home heating, keeping fish alive in a aquaponic or aquaculture system or making a home-made air conditioning system, circulating pumps are very important. If you go to your local hardware store and […]
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How to Choose a Freezer
March 15, 2013
Adding a freezer to your off the grid home might be too much of a power hog but you might be surprised how efficient today’s freezers are. Selecting an efficient freezer is much like selecting the most efficient refrigerator. There are essentially two types of freezers available at your local appliance store: Chest freezer Upright […]
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What are Phantom Loads?
March 12, 2013
If you live off the grid you will need to reduce your power consumption as much as possible. Any unnecessary power consumption is known as a phantom load. Learn about phantom loads here.
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Make Your Refrigerator More Efficient
March 8, 2013
Whether you are in the process of purchasing a new fridge or already have a fridge there are ways to make it more efficient. First you need to figure out which type of refrigerator you have, coil on rear or condenser on bottom. We will add photos to show the difference as soon as possible. […]
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Ivan Labs El SID DC Circulating Pumps
March 4, 2013
The Ivan Labs El SID circulating pumps have been the best choice for solar hot water and radiant heat for the past few decades. For solar hot water they are used to pump water from the solar collector(s) to the heat exchanger and from the heat exchanger to the hot water tank/heater. In a radiant […]
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Using Your Wood Stove to Heat Water
March 1, 2013
One of the most overlooked functions of a wood stove is heating water. A few decades ago many wood stoves (especially cook stoves) used what was a called a hot water front in conjunction with a tank (range boiler) beside/behind the wood stove to produce endless hot water. The hot water front (which is nothing […]
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Choosing a Pump for Your Aquaponics System
February 5, 2013
Choosing the correct pump for your aquaponics systems is as important or more important than choosing the right fish, bed material, tank size and grow bed size. Without the right pump your fish will die, your plants will die and your fun will come to an end very quickly. Some folks simply head to the […]
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