The Electric-Lite Household

One method of reducing the electric load of an off-grid home is to replace electricity as a primary energy source. We have done this with our major appliances. The cook stove/oven, water heater, dryer, and the new refrigerator are all propane, and our source of heat is wood. Propane, while a useful off-grid fuel source, is expensive, a fossil fuel, and not quite in keeping with our goals (it’s a different kind of grid). Hence the upcoming bio-methane project to replace our propane and wood consumption. Based on the research of our friend Al “The Methane Man” Rutan, we will be constructing an insulated, all year - all climate, continuous feed reactor. Fed with food scraps from the local hospital cafeteria and manure slurry from a local farm, it’s a better kind of “grid”. Methane articles by Al Rutan can be found in the back issues of ESSN Magazine, Homepower Magazine, and the defunct "Alternative Sources of Energy magazine".