Off Grid in Wintertime
'Tis the irony of the season
Living off the grid is more challenging in wintertime. I was thinking about people who live off grid in Hawaii or Mexico, perhaps they have a rainy season to contend with, but its not quite the gravity of winter. In winter, our reserves are tested. There is less sun for electricity, less water for washing and drinking, and less heat for composting or growing food. Naturally, we require more heat and electricity in the cold and dark of winter than we do in the summer when these resources are more readily available. That’s why animals hibernate, and trees draw their attention underground. Biomimicry might suggest that we do the same in winter. We can, metaphorically, do less, but physically, our bodies are not equipped for entering states of torpor. As a species, we have learned to harness fire and hence evolved with the ability to stay active throughout winter, returning to the cave to gather around the fire after hunting those non-hibernating animals
Last week, the fan on our pellet stove went out, confirming my desire to install a wood stove in the new addition, one without electrical or mechanical gadgets to break down or a need to buy our fuel (wood pellets are a great sustainable fuel source but you purchase them in bags at the store instead of going into the forest and chopping them down.) You may have heard me mention our new extension that we’ve been hand-building since spring, which will not only double the size of our house but triple our passive solar gain, making winter a little bit easier.
I consider how the United States is draining the electrical grid this time of year with their extravagant festive décor. I love Xmas lights. They bring me joy. But they could easily be converted to solar power
And of course, the mass consumerism of the holidays is taxing our energy resources as well at a time when we should be reducing and conserving our consumption. During this season of ecological scarcity, extra toys are being manufactured in Communist China for Christian Americans, and extra Amazon shipments are racing across the globe as well. More workers are hard at work building and delivering more unnecessary products instead of resting at home with their families. More natural resources are being dug up, fracked, mined, chopped down and chemically engineered.
Financial resources are also stretched at this time of year when people must spend more on electricity and heat to sustain their homes. We also spend more on food because we aren’t gardening in winter (though the new extension will have a greenhouse for growing year-round greens). Don’t get me wrong, I love giving gifts. Hannukah has been Americanized to entail giving 8 gifts for 8 nights and our family celebrates both, including solstice, in our inter-cultural household. My family tries to buy from local artisans as much as we can, but it’s not always possible.
Living off grid is not about deprivation but consciousness. I don’t want to be deprived of holiday fun, which represents bringing light into the darkness, but due to my proximity to my basic utilities, I am entirely aware of the irony of how much more resources are being pulled to make that happen this time of year. That light must come from somewhere. I see my batteries draining faster each night as the nights lengthen, and the holidays are in full force. I hope they will sustain today so I don’t need to run the generator. I light more candles and set the hygge on high to compensate.
One way I conserve energy is going to bed early. I love crawling into bed at 5:30 to warm the bed, for the bed to warm me, and to dawdle on whatever with most of the lights off. Sometimes I even shift into the two-part sleeping pattern of our ancestors.