Self sufficiency doesn’t all have to be about growing your own vegetables, keeping chickens in the garden or screwing a solar panel to your roof. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference.
Since switching energy providers to a green tariff, which came bundled with a free electricity usage monitor, I have become ever more aware of the amount of power I’m using, and am much better at switching off lights and banishing the standby button than I ever was before.
It soon became evident that by far the most power-hungry appliances at home are the kettle and the tumble drier. Switch on the kettle and you could increase 10-fold the amount of energy the house is using at any time to run the freezer, fridge, TV, alarm system, a few clocks and a couple of lights. Switch on the tumble drier and it’s not much different.
Unless you’re prepared to switch to a camping stove for making your tea, there’s little alternative to the kettle, but in the summer season one of the simplest, most effective self-sufficiency measures you can take is to string up a line across the garden and air your clothes the way nature intended. Banish the tumble drier and you’ll not only help save the environment; you’ll save money, too.
Plus, there’s something quite satisfying about watching your shirts blowing in the breeze.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve always turned off lights and don’t use standby, but one of my worst habits that I had to overcome was re-boiling the kettle.
As mentioned in the entry it eats up the electricity, and yet I’d find myself boiling the kettle, walking away and when I return I’d click it on again despite it having boiled less than a minute ago!
Got out of the habit and saved myself a bucket in the process.
And they smell much nicer too! Your website as ever great – keep up the good work!