Anyone live without electricity??? - Page 5

[Violet2]

Good luck to you momma!

I fail to see how CPS would be upset as the Amish live similar to what you are proposing. You have heat, just not electric heat, how is that a problem? I don't get pp making the assertion that it is. But since it seems to be a common concern, perhaps coach your children on avoiding this topic in public?

During the Great Depression I read of a family that lived without electricity for five years.

And I know a schoolteacher who is doing without gas heat as well b/c she can't afford it.She uses heaters and forgoes hot water (yikes!) and heats it on the stove. (She has electric, but no gas). You aren't alone.

I'm thinking to get rid of all our lights and use LED lanterns to try and save $$$ b/c our electric has gone up, up, UP lately. I've also wondered how I would do without electric as well.

I think pipes bursting is the biggest concern. Definitely try to insulate the pipes if you can.

ETA: I do hope you did the medical certificate thing. That sounded promising.
V

[lightheart]

I keep starting posts for this thread and then decide not to post what I write... Hopefully this post won't sound too strong worded that I sound like some nutcase coming off too harsh.

My husband and I lived without power for 12 years, I gave birth here without power or running hot water, once in the summer, once in the winter. Living w/o power can be done. We did have propane fridge and a propane stove/oven for cooking, 1 propane lamp, the rest of our lighting was either kerosene, gasoline or candels. We heated with wood. Our water is gravity flow, so it runs through the pipes all the time to keep the flow going so usually it does not freeze (it froze 2 days before the birth of our winter babe and we were lucky enough to have the extra $ to just go buy more pipe to run from the spring instead of trying to get a quarter mile of pipe thawed, any other time we would of just delt and carried the water in buckets for a week or two until the weather warmed or we were able to drag the pipe out of the woods and out into the open sun or tie it in the other heavy flowing creek that the running water would thaw. The kids were 4.5 and almost 3 when we finally decided to hook into the power grid.

Living w/o power is doable, living w/o running water is doable. I think I would choose water over electricity anyday though. I know of at least 3 families now that do not have running water in their houses, all by choice not because they are financially stricken. They have outhouses, they carry their water from springs, and no they don't have fancy set-ups of big tanks on trailers to get their water, they carry it by buckets.

I know living in the city or even on the outskirts of a small town is compltely different than country living. Here all you have to do is spend $5 and apply for a privy permit at the local health dept, some places I'm sure would truely scoff at having a port-a-john set up by a true rental company tht mintained it, even if it was only for a week or two because you were doing a house remodel and did not want the workers to use your bathroom in the house. Some plaes won't even allow clotheslines....

Cooking over an open pit fire, not even a grill is doable, if you can get away with it in the community you live in, you don't need a grill to cook on. You need a source for fuel though, wood, dried cow patties... it can be done.

There ar many places in the world today that do not have power, that do not have running water, that do not even have clean water. People can live without these things (although having clean water really does help)

I'm not saying it's an 'easy' way to live but you can live this way.

We are leaving the country life and moving to a 'real house' in a city, one that has a thermostat and hot water that comes from a tap, a dishwasher, a washer and dryer.... beleive me it's not easy living without... but the ease of things is not the main reason we are changing our lifestyle, it's a huge bonus for me though!

***************

Practical advise instead of me just rambling, some might appy for the OP, some might appy if you just want to cut back on your usage of things....

Unplug any and all electrical things that you don't have to have. Think about closing off parts of the house maybe even turn off the breakers to those rooms so you are not tempted to turn a light on. Don't turn on lights unless you absoultly have to, open the drapes during the day to let the light in. Start heating water on the woodstove, if you have one, for baths and handwashing, dishwashing, keep a pan on it all the time so you have hot water to dip when you need it. If your paying for water, start saving and reusing your water, water that you wash your dishes in can be used to flush the toilet with, water you rinse your dishes with can be reheated to wash your dishes with. If you have little ones or even big ones and aren't too grossed out by it, take community baths, wash everyones faces and hair in the water then work your way down. You can take a pretty good wash off bath in a gallon of water, (if I'm washing my hair too, 2 gallons is nice.) Plates, dishes and cups don't wash them after every meal, if your afraid of stuff growing on them between meals and you have a fridge, stick them in there. It may sound 'barberic' but one of you can eat out of the pan that is cooked in, okay it only saves one plate to wash, but that is one plate less that takes water to clean. Start stirring your food while you are cooking with one of the forks or spoons you are eating with, saves that 1 untinsil from being washed. If you have anything that can be recharged in the car start charging it there instead of the house. Utilize free electricity where you can, if you are going to school and have a laptop, and they have open plugs there be sure to charge it in the library before you come home. Get rid of your portable phone that charges all the time, use one that does not need to be plugged in.

adding to say... Be careful if you get the meter for water, electricity, gas pulled from your house, I have heard some places could condem a house as being unlivable if it does not meet local code requirements.

[Usually Curious]

Originally Posted by lightheart

I keep starting posts for this thread and then decide not to post what I write... Hopefully this post won't sound too strong worded that I sound like some nutcase coming off too harsh.

My husband and I lived without power for 12 years, I gave birth here without power or running hot water, once in the summer, once in the winter. Living w/o power can be done. We did have propane fridge and a propane stove/oven for cooking, 1 propane lamp, the rest of our lighting was either kerosene, gasoline or candels. We heated with wood. Our water is gravity flow, so it runs through the pipes all the time to keep the flow going so usually it does not freeze (it froze 2 days before the birth of our winter babe and we were lucky enough to have the extra $ to just go buy more pipe to run from the spring instead of trying to get a quarter mile of pipe thawed, any other time we would of just delt and carried the water in buckets for a week or two until the weather warmed or we were able to drag the pipe out of the woods and out into the open sun or tie it in the other heavy flowing creek that the running water would thaw. The kids were 4.5 and almost 3 when we finally decided to hook into the power grid.

Living w/o power is doable, living w/o running water is doable. I think I would choose water over electricity anyday though. I know of at least 3 families now that do not have running water in their houses, all by choice not because they are financially stricken. They have outhouses, they carry their water from springs, and no they don't have fancy set-ups of big tanks on trailers to get their water, they carry it by buckets.

I know living in the city or even on the outskirts of a small town is compltely different than country living. Here all you have to do is spend $5 and apply for a privy permit at the local health dept, some places I'm sure would truely scoff at having a port-a-john set up by a true rental company tht mintained it, even if it was only for a week or two because you were doing a house remodel and did not want the workers to use your bathroom in the house. Some plaes won't even allow clotheslines....

Cooking over an open pit fire, not even a grill is doable, if you can get away with it in the community you live in, you don't need a grill to cook on. You need a source for fuel though, wood, dried cow patties... it can be done.

There ar many places in the world today that do not have power, that do not have running water, that do not even have clean water. People can live without these things (although having clean water really does help)

I'm not saying it's an 'easy' way to live but you can live this way.

We are leaving the country life and moving to a 'real house' in a city, one that has a thermostat and hot water that comes from a tap, a dishwasher, a washer and dryer.... beleive me it's not easy living without... but the ease of things is not the main reason we are changing our lifestyle, it's a huge bonus for me though!

***************

Practical advise instead of me just rambling, some might appy for the OP, some might appy if you just want to cut back on your usage of things....

Unplug any and all electrical things that you don't have to have. Think about closing off parts of the house maybe even turn off the breakers to those rooms so you are not tempted to turn a light on. Don't turn on lights unless you absoultly have to, open the drapes during the day to let the light in. Start heating water on the woodstove, if you have one, for baths and handwashing, dishwashing, keep a pan on it all the time so you have hot water to dip when you need it. If your paying for water, start saving and reusing your water, water that you wash your dishes in can be used to flush the toilet with, water you rinse your dishes with can be reheated to wash your dishes with. If you have little ones or even big ones and aren't too grossed out by it, take community baths, wash everyones faces and hair in the water then work your way down. You can take a pretty good wash off bath in a gallon of water, (if I'm washing my hair too, 2 gallons is nice.) Plates, dishes and cups don't wash them after every meal, if your afraid of stuff growing on them between meals and you have a fridge, stick them in there. It may sound 'barberic' but one of you can eat out of the pan that is cooked in, okay it only saves one plate to wash, but that is one plate less that takes water to clean. Start stirring your food while you are cooking with one of the forks or spoons you are eating with, saves that 1 untinsil from being washed. If you have anything that can be recharged in the car start charging it there instead of the house. Utilize free electricity where you can, if you are going to school and have a laptop, and they have open plugs there be sure to charge it in the library before you come home. Get rid of your portable phone that charges all the time, use one that does not need to be plugged in.

adding to say... Be careful if you get the meter for water, electricity, gas pulled from your house, I have heard some places could condem a house as being unlivable if it does not meet local code requirements.

Fabulous post! That's what I said back on page two.

After the last hurricane we went without power for two weeks. It was easy because we had running water (even hot water because our water heater was gas!) and we had our camping gear - stove, lanterns, propane, etc. We sat outside during the day, but in the winter we would have sat by the windows for sunlight. It was kinda fun and you realize quickly how much electricity you waste!

[Jennifer Z]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

Um. In most states where it gets actually cold it is illegal to turn someone's heat off between November and April.

Secondly, heating your house without electricity is hard. Your furnace likely requires it. Using your fireplace is an option, but you've got to be very aware of carbon monoxide. Using anything else (ie. white gas or propane) in a small enclosed area can kill you.

Thirdly, this is the sort of thing that invites CPS scrutiny. Just something to be aware of -- I know you say you've checked everywhere and done everything, but you might want to double check, since you're walking into emergency endagerment territory.

Yes, we have had to do the thing with the electricity before. You have to call them before they shut it off (they won't turn it back on once it's off) but if you talk to them and make arrangements (here they generally take your current bill and split it into 12 payments and you pay it over the course of the year)

I know my dad's asthma is triggered both by cold weather and by fireplaces & woodburning stoves. He can't be in a house that has a fireplace going unless he is heavily medicated. I would be really concerned about your child with asthma being miserable, and for the additional expense of asthma meds you are going to need to live like that.

[lalaland42]

: Did you go without electricity for December? How did it go? I've always been more than a little tempted to go without electricity but I get cold really easily. :

I hope everything is well with the OP and the heat is on.

[phathui5]

I fail to see how CPS would be upset as the Amish live similar to what you are proposing.

There's a big difference. The Amish lifestyle has always been one that didn't involve electricity. Their houses are set up to not need it. Wood stoves for heat. Hot water bottles for the foor of the bed. Propane-powered refrigerators. Wood cook stove. Basment cellars to store food. Rigged up clotheslines to dry clothes. You get the picture.

[camprunner]

Originally Posted by phathui5

There's a big difference. The Amish lifestyle has always been one that didn't involve electricity. Their houses are set up to not need it. Wood stoves for heat. Hot water bottles for the foor of the bed. Propane-powered refrigerators. Wood cook stove. Basment cellars to store food. Rigged up clotheslines to dry clothes. You get the picture.

Doesn't sound all that different from what the OP was planning.

[Drummer's Wife]

sorry, but the amish lifestyle is a lot different than not being able to pay your electricity bill (which, dosen't matter anymore as it seems like the OP found a way to keep it on).

If anyone is skeptic as to whether or not CPS will intervene if you cannot provide: water, heat, electricity or food for your children, I suggest you ask a caseworker or google it. I'm pretty sure you'll find that it most definitely can be considered neglect. I'm not saying for one minute I think it's okay to remove a child because their parents have fell behind on the bills (again, I have BTDT) but it is definitely a huge concern and something that should be considered if it came down to having to go without one of the four things I mentioned above.