Comments on: More “as seen on TV”

By: Mr.Job

Mr.Job — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:53:52 +0000

Thank you very much, I was looking for this!

By: jona

jona — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:47:31 +0000

That was a nice read

By: Wretha

Wretha — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:34:32 +0000

MsBelinda, let’s see, I have my laptop and fridge
a myriad of accessories for my computer
several hard drives (only used one at a time, and then only when I want the info from it)
external speakers (for movie night and playing internet radio loud enough to hear)
wifi antenna (for internet access)
a small radio,
vacuum (not as often as I should),
one LED and about 5 CFL lights, (not all at the same time)
a water pump
occasionally a fan
occasionally power tools (drill, saw… as long as they are small enough to run off the inverter)
food processor
coffee grinder (I use this to grind spices)

Most of the time, I’d say 85-90% of the time, we are using our power on the laptop, lights and radio, we turn on the fridge maybe once or twice a month for a day or two, the water pump gets used each time we turn on the tap, maybe 6-12 times a day. I can’t think of anything else right now. Good question!

Wretha

By: MsBelinda

MsBelinda — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:03:01 +0000

You do indeed have some good neighbors. It is a plus to be able to have your meat and vegetables in their freezer.

Besides your computer what else do you power with your solar panels?

By: Wretha

Wretha — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:25:35 +0000

Erron,

Wow, I feel honored! I am very glad that you are getting some good out of what I write. :) I am happy to hear that you have acreage already, it’s a good investment for a lot of reasons. North huh, that’s tooooo cold for me, but as long as you are prepared for that life, you should do just fine.

I have a lot of irons in the fire right now, so I don’t know if I’ll be doing a Q&A session any time soon, so go ahead and email your questions and I’ll answer them as best I can.

I can’t wait to hear about what you are doing. :)

Wretha
wretha(at)gmail(dot)com

By: Erron

Erron — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:19:25 +0000

Hello again Wretha!,

I asked you about the instant hot water system and your answer was very helpful. The wifey and i now have our 10 acres secure and day by day want to be on it living off the grid more and more. I spent the better part of life making money to buy gadgets and electronics and now I want to be far away form it all. It’s a great feeling to look over our 10 acres and know that soon it will just be us and nature. We are up in Michigan and will be moving further north, so the time we have to get ready is cut short by winter and such. I do have some questions for you relating to your living situation (not related to this post) so I wasn’t sure if I should jsut email them or if youre ready for another Q and A session on the blog! I have now read every post and even Charlotte was excited about it and having me read your post out loud in the car on our way home from the north property. Thanks for sharing your very special life!

By: Wretha

Wretha — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:02:27 +0000

MsBelinda, we have a dorm sized (small!) electric refrigerator, we keep it unplugged most of the time, we only turn it on if we buy milk or some other perishable food. We have another, slightly larger, but still very small fridge but so far we have not used it, it’s not even inside the house. We also have a fridge that works off propane or electric, it’s in an old travel trailer that was given to us by a really good friend.Right now it’s still inside that trailer, we haven’t decided whether or not to bring it into our house or leave it in the trailer. We plan on making the trailer a guest house for when our family and friends come to visit.

Most of the time, we don’t use a refrigerator, we do use our neighbor’s freezer to store meats and frozen veggies, we try not to have too much in there, but it’s nice to have such a great neighbor.

Oh, we plug the fridge into an inverter, so it is powered by our solar system.

I hope you can find the Forever Bags, I think they work great, I’ve had a loaf of bread in a bag now for over a week and it’s still good.

Wretha

By: MsBelinda

MsBelinda — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:19:33 +0000

I have never used the two products you mentioned but if I ever see the forever bag I would now purchase it after reading your review. My mom eats a lot of fruit and vegetables but like yourself can not eat a whole apple, orange or banana.

I have not had much luck with bananas but with apples and oranges if I place them in a small glass jar with a lid and then refrigerate it they will last me at least two days.

I have had better luck with plastic yogurt containers lined with a paper towel. I have managed to make my jalapeno peppers last me more than a month and look as though I just bought them. Used the same type containers less the paper towel for salad which I then refrigerated and salad has lasted two days to three days without much spoilage.

I know you mentioned for an off grid life but you also mention that you have a refrigerator, solar powered or propane?