Gypsi
Almost Self-Reliant
And I am not fully self-sufficient, but I am making progress.
I was a single mom with a struggling small business in the post 9-11 economy when I bought an all-electric house in October 2001.
What I learned about solar was: It will not support energy-hog appliances. So instead of starting at the solar point, I switched my electricity plan to wind, added insulation in the attic. That was about year one on the insulation, and about year 5 on the wind plan. It had to be available first. I have central heat and air - when I threw some mothballs in the attic to chase out rats I discovered quickly that my ductwork leaked - as soon as the a/c kicked on my whole house reeked of mothballs. This would be 2005. So at 6 am the next morning I hit the attic and wrapped the ductwork. A small house in full sun in Texas has got to have a/c, so the central will go when A. It breaks and I go to window units. Or B. I have a better alternative.
2010 featured an almost recordbreaking string of 100 degree days. About a week in I observed that when I throw a white sheet over a bucket of fish, the fish stay cooler by 15 degrees. (I keep pond fish and was cleaning the pond)
So at the crack of dawn the next morning I took a gallon of Kilz 2 to the roof and painted it white. Only had enough to do the eastern and southern end. Fortunately no HOA. But the areas I painted stayed cooler than the rest of the house. I have, by the way, been hanging white plastic blinds on the OUTSIDE of my eastern and southern windows since year 1. Actually since my former house, sometime in the mid-90's. Doesn't help with heat, does help with cooling. But the roof paint still made a huge difference.
This stuff was pretty cool!
In September 2010 I started ripping out rotten window frames, got my helpers out here to help me put new wood and paint and caulk around my old windows. (couldn't afford new dual pane windows.) Finally got the whole house fairly well sealed up.
Winter 2010 was the coldest on record in many years, and my electric central heat totally failed to heat my house, but ran me up huge bills. Then we had rolling blackouts to boot. So 2011 was the year I swore to start getting off grid. My new year's resolution so to speak.
I bought 5 gallons of Kilz2 (cheaper than roof paint and ok on shingles) and painted almost all of the roof white in April
I refinished my antique wood stove in June and had it connected.
I gave away my range and dishwasher in May. The dishwasher I'm not replacing, except with a cabinet. (hadn't used it in 2 years)
The range was replaced with an induction cooktop I got on Amazon for $55. It is a Max Burton 6000. Takes steel or iron pans to work.
I plan to get a second one - to put in a drawer until I have a family dinner event that takes 2 burners. I love this thing. heats up faster than electric, cools down faster. For an oven I'll try to find an outdoor propane oven, I hadn't used it more than 6 times a year in years, and Texas is hot.
We had 70 days over 100 this year and I had the cheapest summer electric bills I have ever had.
My wood stove, fueled by my fenceline hackberries, seems to do an adequate job of heating the house.
I bought a 15 watt solar panel and converter, battery, etc., to keep my pond fish alive if the rolling blackouts hit this summer. (air pumps use 5 watts) And to learn to work with solar. More to come....
Gypsi
I was a single mom with a struggling small business in the post 9-11 economy when I bought an all-electric house in October 2001.
What I learned about solar was: It will not support energy-hog appliances. So instead of starting at the solar point, I switched my electricity plan to wind, added insulation in the attic. That was about year one on the insulation, and about year 5 on the wind plan. It had to be available first. I have central heat and air - when I threw some mothballs in the attic to chase out rats I discovered quickly that my ductwork leaked - as soon as the a/c kicked on my whole house reeked of mothballs. This would be 2005. So at 6 am the next morning I hit the attic and wrapped the ductwork. A small house in full sun in Texas has got to have a/c, so the central will go when A. It breaks and I go to window units. Or B. I have a better alternative.
2010 featured an almost recordbreaking string of 100 degree days. About a week in I observed that when I throw a white sheet over a bucket of fish, the fish stay cooler by 15 degrees. (I keep pond fish and was cleaning the pond)
So at the crack of dawn the next morning I took a gallon of Kilz 2 to the roof and painted it white. Only had enough to do the eastern and southern end. Fortunately no HOA. But the areas I painted stayed cooler than the rest of the house. I have, by the way, been hanging white plastic blinds on the OUTSIDE of my eastern and southern windows since year 1. Actually since my former house, sometime in the mid-90's. Doesn't help with heat, does help with cooling. But the roof paint still made a huge difference.
This stuff was pretty cool!
In September 2010 I started ripping out rotten window frames, got my helpers out here to help me put new wood and paint and caulk around my old windows. (couldn't afford new dual pane windows.) Finally got the whole house fairly well sealed up.
Winter 2010 was the coldest on record in many years, and my electric central heat totally failed to heat my house, but ran me up huge bills. Then we had rolling blackouts to boot. So 2011 was the year I swore to start getting off grid. My new year's resolution so to speak.
I bought 5 gallons of Kilz2 (cheaper than roof paint and ok on shingles) and painted almost all of the roof white in April
I refinished my antique wood stove in June and had it connected.
I gave away my range and dishwasher in May. The dishwasher I'm not replacing, except with a cabinet. (hadn't used it in 2 years)
The range was replaced with an induction cooktop I got on Amazon for $55. It is a Max Burton 6000. Takes steel or iron pans to work.
I plan to get a second one - to put in a drawer until I have a family dinner event that takes 2 burners. I love this thing. heats up faster than electric, cools down faster. For an oven I'll try to find an outdoor propane oven, I hadn't used it more than 6 times a year in years, and Texas is hot.
We had 70 days over 100 this year and I had the cheapest summer electric bills I have ever had.
My wood stove, fueled by my fenceline hackberries, seems to do an adequate job of heating the house.
I bought a 15 watt solar panel and converter, battery, etc., to keep my pond fish alive if the rolling blackouts hit this summer. (air pumps use 5 watts) And to learn to work with solar. More to come....
Gypsi
