Power usage

[Scythe13]

This might seem obvious, but it's something a lot of people don't bother taking the time to find out. With it coming to the end of the month, it'll be worth checking.

What's your monthly, and annual, power usage? Has it increased, decreased, or stayed the same?

Why does it matter?

Well, if you're looking at going off grid, a good starting point is to find out how much you'd actually need to produce. We have a very minimal power usage as we have high efficiency equipment and no TV's or HiFi's/Radio's in the house, as well as no DVD, no SkyTV, no Digibox, or PS3 (I actually do have one somewhere. I think my mate has it at his house though).

If you're breaking off grid, at the end of the month, take a meter reading, and note it down. Then just behave as normal. Then see where you are at the end of August. For a real challenge, try it at the start of December and check again at the end of December (december is usually the highest power usage of any month in the year).

Once you have your starting point, I.E. how much you need to produce, you can start working out how to power that need, e.g. solar, wind, waterwheel, etc.