Off-grid living demands balanced energy management

Most of us grew up with the idea that we have unlimited electricity, heating and gasoline.  Well that is unless you remember the 1970's energy crises where the west faced major shortages.  I remember these days.

When we start working at unplugging from this network, we are confronted with a stark reality:  learn how to manage energy or perish.  Homesteading or off-grid living requires that we be forever vigilant about the amount of energy that we can collect in a given year and how much we use.  The goal is to ensure that we never use more than we collect.  

Living off the land requires that we recognize that growing plants for food is a form of energy collection.  So too is solar heating and power.  Plants are solar energy collectors, not that much different than my solar panels and thermal mass house.  Animals are also capable of converting that solar energy into other forms that we can use as well.  

The only reason that we have been able to accomplish so much over the past 100+ years is because we started tapping into energy sources that causes a lot of pollution and environmental damage.  I'm not going to make any claim that it is non-renewable as there are some debate to that idea.  But I do know that it is very harmful for all life on this planet.  

Until such time as we can break the grip of the hidden hand and release all the hidden technology that threatened their empire over the years, we are going to be stuck with living within a finite amount of energy.  That energy envelope is what solar energy we can collect each year, whether that comes from the sun directly or indirectly.  Indirect solar energy comes in the forms of plants, animals, wind and moving water.  

Homesteaders and off-grid enthusiasts have found many ingenious ways of collecting, converting, utilizing, storing and conserving all that energy.   The ones that figure out how to live within the means upon which they can utilize the solar energy are the ones that thrive.  Those that come up short still depend on the grid to make up the short fall.  It is a learning curve and it takes time.  Better to do it now when we have the time than to scramble during a crises.  That is not the time to learn, but instead to take action and implement all that we learned.  

In case of emergency

My wife and I have plans in the event that the shit hits the fan.  We figured out how to live without gasoline, propane, electricity and even modern transportation.  To do this requires that we do as much passive solar collecting as possible.

Our Earthship will allow us to survive the winter with zero wood or other heat source other than the sun.  It will get down to +10C at night when it is -40C outside and a balmy +25C during the day.  We figure that is no different than the outside temperatures during a nice summer day.  The vast majority of the homes in Canada would freeze and be unlivable.  Not a good situation to have this far north.  

With no fuel we won't be able to run the chain saw, quad, generator or other motors and that is okay.  If our solar system survives an electromagnetic pulse, then our fridge is fine.  If not, then we keep it cold during the winter by swapping pails of water.  One pail outside to freeze, the other pail in the fridge to thaw, which keeps our food chilled.  We could go all winter without running the fridge.  I can also MacGyver other means of producing electricity if I have to do that.  

We have the vast majority of our food taken care of already.  Water will still be available as we can gravity feed water from our cisterns.  If push came to shove, we can also melt snow in the earthship.  For the amount of wood it would take to start a fire now and again, I could easily collect it by hand as I have hand tools to replace the functions of the power tools.

I know that we are ready to be completely unplugged when the time comes.  We have dedicated the last 11 years of our lives to learn the skills necessary to survive.  Even if we got displaced from our domain, we could still do it despite the harsh winters around here.  Having that knowledge and experience is what makes all the difference in our day-to-day activities and provides a sense of comfort and security.  

That is, in my opinion, the intimate relationship that we are required to build with Creator and Mother Earth.