Ian Woofenden wrote in a message to Kyle Hearn:
 KH> That's in an apt. A house/mobile will be more. I'm very
 KH> interested in going off grid completely and staying that way
 KH> for a very long time.
IW> That's great, and I'm all for it. But don't fool yourself
IW> about the economics of it, what with the subsidized grid. If
IW> your property is on the grid, you won't make RE pay in
IW> dollars. Yet.
IW> And the first thing to do is to get efficient loads, which
IW> makes it even less economical to invest in RE generating
IW> sources. 
The economics are second to actually getting it done. I think one of the 
reasons self sufficiency interests me is that Walden Pond by Thoreau is one 
of my all time favorite pieces of literature...the theme of the piece was 
'simplicity, simplicity, simplicty' and only using what you need...etc. 
Perhaps I've gone a bit nuts with it though :-)
At any rate, I started using the fireplace only for heat and candles for 
light recently. I'm going to look into stocking the shelves with non 
perishable foods and see how well I do without using the fridge for a while.
FWIW, it is fairly economical so far. I've saved at least a thousand dollars 
in energy costs over the last year. When I figure out how much electricity I 
consume a month at the end of this month, I'll take the $1k I've saved in 
energy costs and buy some solar equipment for the apt athough I'm not in the 
best place to go solar.
Thanks for your help.
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