Self-sufficiency made easy

by Nik on July 15, 2008

in At home

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.

Washing on the line

Related posts:

  1. Bye Bye Standby: review
  2. Energy consumption monitors
  3. Eco answers
  4. Can you save money while charging your phone?
  5. Home wind turbines and self-sufficiency



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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Jem July 21, 2008 at 10:45 am

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.

2 The Organic Viking July 28, 2008 at 9:02 am

And they smell much nicer too! Your website as ever great – keep up the good work!

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