Off-Grid Living. It’s easier than you think.

Many people want to be fully self-sufficient to live off the grid, however they believe it is impractical due to the infrastructure and financial consequences, but we are here to convince you that it is simpler than you thought if you put in the effort.

As for something worthwhile, reaching goals takes time and effort. Since we have more than 5 years experience, we have listed our top tips on how to go to make a smooth transition to going off-grid 

IT’S ABOUT LIVING AN OFF-GRID LIFESTYLE 

At Smartenergysolutions.co.zw, we agree that living a green lifestyle enhances rather than detracts from one’s daily life. In its early stages, the green movement’s product range was small, costly, and incomparable to what was offered in terms of quality and affordability. We remember because we were there. We observed the challenge of changing one’s mindset and lifestyle because it appeared to detract.

Nowadays, technology has advanced to the point that it outperforms what the average consumer is familiar with. With climate change becoming more visible, not just the ordinary user, but also major corporations, have been compelled to shift their attention on the conscious buyer.

Going entirely off-grid is the next step in this mentality and lifestyle transformation. How so? Well that’s easy.

BE PREPARED!

If you want to become self-sufficient, you must devise a strategy for doing so. It goes without saying that the less electricity you consume, the less expensive a suitable Solar Power System would be. Making the transition to a more energy-efficient lifestyle is a wonderful place to start.

LIGHT IT UP

Replace all of your indoor lights with LED equivalents, that’s right, all of them. LED lamps consume one-tenth the energy of standard lamps; for example, a chandelier with eight standard candle light bulbs would consume 1.6 units in 5 hours. If you replace them with LED lamps, you’ll save 0.16 units for the same time frame. LED lights pay for themselves in three months or less. Not just that, but they have the same appearance as a regular bulb and are becoming more inexpensive. Seriously, what do you have to lose?

Solar Lights should be used to replace all of the outside lighting. Unfortunately, solar lights have earned a bad name as a result of big corporations importing thousands of low-quality lights from China. Choose quality over quantity when investing in Solar Lights, and they will last. Since they operate on 12Vdc, solar lights are more cost efficient when purchased as a complete unit.

TAKE OUT THE THE POWER GUZZLERS

Replace all old devices and appliances with energy-efficient replacements to easily reduce the energy consumption. Unfortunately, efficiency was not a concern back then, and most old machinery is a massive power guzzler. This also applies to old washing machines and dishwashers. They use much too much water! Begin teaching yourself to be more aware of energy vampires as well.

A lot of appliances use electricity even when they are switched off. TVs and decoders are guilty of this in particular. Start practising switching these power guzzlers off at the plug.

BECOME A LITTLE COOLER

Replace your fridge with an A+++ fridge from Bosch. If this is the only appliance you replace then do it. You will see a significant savings in electricity within a few days. Be consumer conscious when shopping for a fridge. Many manufacturers don’t tell you the whole truth and rate the fridge in comparison to the rest of their range rather than a global standard. So while it may say A+, it is referring to how efficient it is compared to the other fridges and not according to the actual power rating. Ask the consultant for the actual power rating (not the daily or annual usage). If they can’t do this, it is probably not an A+ fridge.

Anything that generates heat uses a LOT of power. If you are aiming to eventually go off the grid, then replacing heat generators with gas-operated appliances is the way to go. Stoves and Ovens, Gas Geysers and Gas Heaters are the way to go. Always be safety-oriented when working with gas. We have a great monitor that can detect both gas and/ or water leaks. A great gadget to invest in if looking to go off-grid. If you would prefer to opt for a Solar Water Heating System, then we also have a product that can connect it to a gas geyser as a back-up
instead of an electrical element

BE WISE AND SOLARIZE

Now that you have reduced your energy usage, you can start looking at a suitable off-grid solar power system for your power requirements.

Investing in a system that can be expanded upon at a later date will be a high capital investment but you will save in the long term. Starting with a small system and then adding on a number of other small systems may be a small initial investment but it will cost more in the long term. The budget you have in mind will affect the outcome of this decision. So where you start will depend entirely on what sort of budget you are working with.