Our Dependancy on Electricity

We are house sitting way out in the middle of nowhere. We do have electricity and the Internet but no TV, Radio, or Telephone, it is really a great life just the dogs and nature. We are really fortunate that we have wood heat as if the electricity fail we will still be able to survive. In rural areas it is not uncommon for the electricity to be off for long periods of time.

Just a month and a half ago we were house sitting in Enderby Bc when the power went off for a little over four hours. That house also had a wood heater and we were able to keep comfortably warm. The neighbours on either side were not that lucky, they had no alternative way to heat their homes and both families were getting quite cold. It is the middle of winter here and the temperature does drop quite significantly.

The buzz words today in North America are getting off the grid. Everyone I talk to has a different idea as to what that means to them. Some people believe that they can produce all their own electrical power and not have to buy electricity fro their local power company. Though this is a great idea, it is not as easy or as simple as they might think. We have become so dependant on electricity today that most of us would have to change our whole life style.

I was in a store last summer picking up some food, there was a wild rain storm happening outside when suddenly the store went dark except for the emergency battery powered lights it was dark. The intercom also must have had a battery backup as a voice over the intercom told all the customers to leave their purchases and exit the door. The cash registers were dead so no sales could be transacted. As I left the store is saw a bank across the parking lot with its customers exiting the doors without the money that they had gone in to get. The whole town was brought to a grinding halt from the lack of electricity. Leaving town the service stations were closed as they had no way to pump their gas as well as no way to transact the sale as the sales till was inoperative.

How many people today have a cel phone? I know they run on a battery, but the batteries do discharge and some time when you need it it is dead. I know just plug it in but if the power is off you are without a phone.

I hope this has got a few people out there thinking of how important electricity is to every one of us in our daily lives. I want to give you all a challenge make a list of every time you use electricity for just one day. Every time you turn a light on, look at the electric wall clock, turn the stove on, the furnace turns on, etc, etc. I think you will be very surprised, I know I was more than a little shocked.

This is a start to a new series on electricity and how to start producing devices that will help to maintain your current life style even in the event of a long electrical outage.

If anyone wants to share some of their ideas with the group send me an email at alternative.energy.blog@gmail.com

Until next time keep on inventing.