One of the first things that you learn when you go off the grid is that anything that heats up when you plug it in takes A LOT of electricity! The longer the heating appliance has to stay on, the less likely you are to be able to use it. We had to give up the crock pot, waffle iron, toaster oven, iron, hair dryer, heating pad, and the dehydrator until we did some major upgrades to our power generator! The microwave takes a lot of power but only for a couple minutes at a time however, the big draw it (and the start of the washing machine spin cycle) creates makes a HUGE fluxuation in the system. We had quite some trouble with fluctuations in our power until after the upgrades which meant that any electronics (phone, laptop, nightlight/flashlights) that were plugged in or charged had to have a big surge suppressor (a UPS) so they wouldn't burn out. Some of the newer light bulbs are also susceptible.
Thankfully, we have been off grid before. It was short term (only about 6 months) but it gave us a real education, real quick-like. We lived in the rain forest of Maui, running a horse ranch, and the only 'power' there was phones. We lived on solar and our system wasn't ity bity but it wasn't big either. During the rainy season (a few months) we got well acquainted with our gas, backup generator too. You're right...just about anything that heats up will pull the most. We had a washer but no dryer . We hung them up to dry but it would literally take days bc of the nightly rains, until we found a place under our porch overhang to hang them. We lived w/ no tv ,no appliances in the kitchen, other than a rice cooker, gas fridge & stove. I never dared use a blow dryer- it'd just get damp going back outside anyhow. ha ha As it turned out, our computer pulled the most energy from the system. We could only use it for short periods of time and that is only if we had a lot stored up. It was amazing to discover what exactly we could live w/out- pretty much everything we pampered ourselves with, and took for granted, prior. ha ha There's tons and tons more to learn. Yah has blessed us with amazing people who have been in our lives or come into it recently, that can contribute to our education. Just hoping I can do the same for all of them in some form.
Bless the people who pay it forward then try to do the same for someone else. It's one of the best parts of being human.
When we first moved in the power was pretty iffy and I didn't want to risk my computer. I had serious internet withdrawals. I was so used to going right to the internet whenever I needed to know how to do things or to look up what a bird or plant was. It took forever for me to stop looking for my laptop everytime something popped into my head!
Bless the people who pay it forward then try to do the same for someone else. It's one of the best parts of being human.
Being in a damp area without a dryer is pretty icky. I don't want to imagine having to put on damp clothes just because they're the clean ones! Maui would be gorgeous though! When we first moved into Snowslide the power was pretty iffy and I didn't want to risk my computer. I had serious internet withdrawals. I was so used to going right to the internet whenever I needed to know how to do things or to look up what a bird or plant was. It took forever for me to stop looking for my laptop everytime something popped into my head!