Building Ecotopia: Living without Electricity, Part 6

by Chuck Hall

When living without electricity, one of the most basic needs is home lighting. There are many options for home lighting that don’t rely on electricity from the grid. The oldest of these options are, of course, lamps and candles. While the amount of light emitted from the average candle hasn’t changed much over the centuries, there are propane lamps on the market now that give off far more light than their older kerosene counterparts. If the small amount of illumination available from kerosene lamps is an issue for you, you might want to step up to a propane lantern. A Coleman lantern generates about as much light as a 100-watt light bulb. I’ve used Coleman (www.coleman.com) lanterns for years, and have been satisfied with their quality and performance.
The final option for lighting a home without electricity is battery-powered lighting. This requires a little homework and a lot of planning. There are a wide variety of choices in battery-powered lighting. Some of these will work better than others, so it’s better to investigate the quality of the products you intend to buy before furnishing your entire home with them. In order to avoid going broke buying batteries, I would suggest purchasing rechargeable batteries. These may be recharged using a solar powered charger. Several companies offer solar powered battery chargers. A good place to start would be Battery Stuff’s line of products at: www.batterystuff.com/solar-chargers. The method I have used in the past is to buy two sets of batteries for each light; one to use and one to recharge. That way you’ll always have fresh batteries available. If you have children, you might want to buy some extras to hide around the house as well. For some reason, batteries seem to grow legs and walk off when kids are around!
A great resource for electricity-free living is Lehman’s Products for Simple and Self-Sufficient Living at: www.lehmans.com. This company caters primarily to Amish communities and carries a wide variety of products for people interested in a simpler lifestyle.
You don’t have to go totally without electricity to benefit from any of the ideas listed above. You can use as many of them as you think you will be comfortable with. The more you can do, the more you’ll save on your energy bill. Minimizing your energy consumption will also make it easier to install an off-the-grid power system. The less wattage you need, the less your alternative power system will cost.
So would it be possible to live your life totally without electricity? Two-thirds of the Earth’s population already does. With the technology available today, going electricity-free doesn’t have to be an ordeal. In fact, it can be quite rewarding. I think back on my little cabin in the woods and I remember the nights most of all. I’ve always had a bit of insomnia, but it wasn’t as much of a problem when I lived without electricity. There were no appliances humming through the night; in fact, there were no electronic noises at all. I fell asleep listening to the crickets and the wind in the trees. There was also no monthly electric bill to worry about. After about a month or so, I really didn’t miss the electricity much at all.
We live our lives according to what we’re accustomed to. We’re accustomed to the convenience of electric appliances, but what have we sacrificed for that convenience? How much freedom and independence have we traded away when we chain ourselves to the power company? Maybe it’s time to grow accustomed to something better.