Can I go off-grid with my house?

The easiest way to take your home off grid is to call up a solar installation company and have them replace your utility power supply with a solar array. They will order a number of panels for you, cover your sunny roof, fill your garage or basement with batteries and you'll be ready to go, easy right?

instructables.com - Take Your Home Off Grid the Smart Way - Instructables

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The smart way involves a lot more work and planning but will save you a lot more money in the long run as you are changing your home to be more energy efficient rather than just powering your current home’s needs using more equipment. Firstly you need to look at your big energy users and how you can change or remove them in order to reduce your energy demands, we’ll go into these in a bit more detail below and in the following steps.

The Water Heater / Geyser

Water heaters are an essential part of any household so you need to look at ways to make them more efficient rather than removing them altogether. Most older houses will have a water heater in a column outside, in the roof, basement or garage. It is essentially an insulated tank with a large element in it which keeps a large amount of water permanently hot. We know that in order to keep something hot, we have to keep replacing the energy that is being lost into the environment. We also have to keep on heating the cold water that is added to replace any of the hot water we have used. In order to make this process as efficient as possible, there are three possible solutions. The first is to make the current setup more efficient, add a blanket around your heater/geyser which insulates it further and prevents heat from escaping which means less energy is used to keep the water hot. You can also reduce the thermostat temperature as the higher the temperature difference between the water in the heater and the ambient air, the higher the losses. Reduce the temperature to the point where you do not need to mix cold water with it in order to have a hot shower, this is usually the hottest you require water to be in your home. Lastly, you can add a timer. Timers are quite largely debated as you have to follow a strict routine in order to see any savings and to avoid having the occasional cold shower. Basically, you want the timer to only switch the heater on once a day, an hour later the heater should be turned off and everyone should shower. The water should then remain cold until the next day when the timer turns on again. If you can’t follow this type of routine then a timer is probably not going to have much effect on your electrical bill. The second option is to change your water heater or geyser to a solar one. This type of heater sits in a sunny spot on the roof and uses black vacuum tubes to harness the heat from the sun and use it to heat up your water and to keep it warm. These heaters often come with an element as well to boost the water temperature when there has not been enough sun throughout the day. These heaters however can only be used in warmer, sunny climates and are not suitable for snow or icy regions.

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The last option is to replace the water heater with an inline gas or electric model. Why should we store large amounts of hot water and pay to keep the water hot when we can just heat water up as we need it? These devices are fitted near the tap or shower and switch on automatically when water starts flowing to instantly heat up the water. If you are considering going off grid then an inline gas heater is probably your best solution.

Image: Electricity Meter By Kai Hendry used under CC BY 2.0

instructables.com - Take Your Home Off Grid the Smart Way - Instructables

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