METHODS FOR REDUCING ENERGY USE

Sometimes we appear to have blinkers on. People  complain about the high cost of  petroleum  fuel and  gripe at any inconvenience  caused by  a shortage of  such fuel  yet  when you tell them about alternatives, even free  options, they  turn away and  don’t want to listen. This seems very strange until you realize   the real problem is such action would require change on their part. They would have to give up cherished and long held beliefs and maybe also a change in how they do things.

Right now the majority of people looking to go off grid are not affluent and comfortable in their existing lifestyle. The cost of moving away from dependence on grid supplied energy can be considerably higher than the utility bill they seek to get away from.

The mundane cost creeps up on you unnoticed. For example when you have a well, indoor plumbing and a built to code septic system there is energy use involved. First you have to pump the water up out of the well.   When you flush, gravity drains the toilet, but every so often the surge pump cycles and inundates the tile bed. All this water pumping requires electrical energy so there is a cost associated with something as mundane as flushing a toilet or washing your hands or taking a shower.  Especially a shower, because most people do not like to take cold water showers. 

Although some people have heard of energy budgets, few people have heard of or bother to time log energy usage.  In a typical home, there are two peaks associated with most families. These peaks occur in the morning during breakfasts and dinner time. Power utilities have long ago learned to anticipate such peak demands. They bring on-line extra generating capacity in anticipation of a surge in demand and the end user rarely notices any effect.  During  summer time  there is a large sustained demand for  electrical power for air conditioning   that  begins mid day and grows to a peak  that is concurrent  with  evening meal time preparation. This time also happens to coincide with family members arriving home from work washing up and preparing the daily meal. There may be an upsurge in laundry activity as dirty work clothes are washed in preparation for the next day.

Because grid tied users are accustomed to having nearly limitless power available they seldom give any thought to conservation or spreading out the energy use over a wider time frame.  

A great many homes use electric cooking and use appliances a decade or more in age. These appliances were not designed to conserve energy. Most people choose appliances for convenience not energy conservation.

For the off grid home peak demand may become a critical issue.  The energy budget may indicate average use is only 1.8 kilowatt but it may not indicate peak demand could spike at 6 or 7 kilowatts. A 2 kilowatt inverter looks to be able to supply the needs but in reality you need an inverter twice that size.

A common action is to eliminate electric stoves in an effort to eliminate that particular energy consumer but little thought is give to what makes for an energy efficient substitute. Most people assume going with a propane stove is a solution. But is it?

Another obvious choice is to use a wood cook stove.  There are two drawbacks to this approach. The cook stove tends to heat up the house to an uncomfortable extent during summer months. In the south it was common practice to have a ‘summer kitchen” to avoid heating up the whole house.  It’s a good idea but in northern cold climates it also involves a lot of extra work to shift from indoor cooking to outdoor cooking and back again. Except in very benign climates even the outdoor kitchens needs a roof and possibly shelter from rain storms.

The other draw back to this approach being a supply of suitable fuel for the wood stove. Cooking requires a hot, clean, and smokeless fire.  The cook needs a fairly complex stove to properly regulate the heat so the food is heated but not burnt to a crisp or contaminated with smoke and ashes. With wood stoves the conventional method of regulating the heat is to move the pot closer to or further away from the source of the wood fire heat.

A new development in simple  wood stoves involves gasification of the wood for a hotter flame and more complete combustion   One type is called top lit updraft (TLUD) and uses almost any sort of wood scrap including bark, grass twigs and  wood chips. It uses only a third as much fuel to produce the same cooking heat value. For heating stew pots, boiling water for tea and rice it is excellent. Heating a WOK for Asian style cooking is also quick and efficient, but cooking in an oven remains a challenge.  This highlights   the fact cultural background play an important part in energy use. These kinds of stoves are now extensively used in India for example.

Propane is easier to control but  ties you to a supply chain  stretching from well head  through a pipeline to a tank farm and delivery trucks on the road network  in order that the big propane tank outside your off grid home is ready to fuel your stove  and maybe  some other appliances.

Solar cookers are available, but do not work after dark and is not much use for making breakfast coffee early in the morning. As with wood stoves control of the heat can be problematic. Most cooks would not be happy with   how it works.

By now it should be obvious that electric cooking is still the best and most versatile method.  The challenge therefore is to find the most efficient electric cooking appliances.  It requires something which can be run from an inverter and a modest solar panel array.

Cultural factors must also be considered.  People who are accustomed to meals prepared mostly in ovens are not going to be happy with meals intended for WOK cooking.  Stews and gravies will not necessarily be acceptable to people accustomed to foods cooked on grills, skewers and on flat irons as is the case with Roti and chapatti breads.

A rice steamer simply does not work as well over an open fire and using a skewer.

French style cooking relies heavily on a multi burner stove for preparing the various sauces and baked dishes requiring multiple pans and pots not to mention oven space.

In actual fact, meals involving more fresh foods that are lightly cooked or even raw with vegetables lightly sautéed are healthier than something that is over cooked to the point of losing nutritive value. However this may involve a complete paradigm shift on the part of the people.

The subject of energy efficient cooking could fill a whole chapter if not a whole book. A long time favorite is the pressure cooker. This has been popular for canning and preserving for decades.

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