How to Live Without Electricity (with Pictures)

2024 Author: Jason Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-19 22:11

Whether you want to “disappear” or know that you will have to face a power outage in the future, you must know how to live without electricity. While it may sound unusual to live without all the electronic devices that play a major role in our lives, living without electricity is something that humans have been doing since the dawn of life. With determination, a positive personality, and a little bit of intelligence you too can live without electricity, whether it's just for a day or for the rest of your life.

Step

Method 1 of 2: Eliminating Yourself

Part One: Lights and Heating

Step 1. Buy alternative energy

If you plan to live without electricity, you will have to find other ways to power your home without the help of an electric company. Renewable energy sources are a good way to do this. Install solar panels to harness the power of the sun, build a wind turbine, or power your home via a hydropower system. You may also be able to install a generator so you can power your own electrical items.

• Build a generator bike. Generator bikes are a great way to exercise and power your electronics. You can order bicycle generator parts online, or you can order a ready-made bicycle generator.

  

• You can also use alternative fuels such as biodiesel, bimass, and ethanol.

  

Step 2. Plan your lighting system

There are several options for the best way to light your home. One of the best is the kerosene lantern. You can also use kerosene lamp wicks, candles, and battery-powered camping lanterns. It's also important to have a flashlight for if you need to wake up in the middle of the night but don't have a light to turn on.

• If you decide to buy a bicycle generator, you will be able to turn on the lights in your home.

  

Step 3. Prepare your home for winter

This means providing extra insulation to the walls of your home, especially in attics and around doors. Heat escapes through doors, around windows and through the top of the house. Create an insulation system that will ensure as little heat escapes as possible. Buy a door sweep to cover the bottom of the door.

• You should also use window insulating fixtures to block air escaping through your windows. You can purchase a ready-made window insulator kit, or make your own.

  

Step 4. Consider a heating center

If you don't have a fireplace or wood-burning stove, you may want to build one, especially if you live in a cold climate. To heat other rooms in the house, you can build vents in your fireplace that lead to other rooms in your house.

Part Two: Cooking

Step 1. Decide how you will cook

One of the best ways to cook without using any electricity is to install a wood stove. When the weather is too hot to cook on a wood stove, use a propane or butane camp stove (which works the same way as any other gas stove.)

• If you have a gas stove, you can still use it without electricity. You just need to light the burner with a match.

  

Step 2. Plant the garden

Instead of buying fruit and vegetables from the store, why not grow your own? With just a few seeds, you can turn your yard into a production cornucopia. Growing crops in your own yard also means you can control the exposure of your food contaminants.

• Plant crops that will produce fruit and vegetables in different seasons, so you will have delicious food all year round.

  

• If you're really serious about growing multiple crops, you need to learn crop rotation. To read more about bulk harvesting and crop rotation, click here.

  

• Plant herbs so you can have fresh and delicious herbs. Dry some herbs so you can use them all year round

  

Step 3. Take care of farm animals

If you have the space to do so, you should consider raising livestock. Cows, goats and sheep are good sources of milk, chickens provide eggs and meat, and pigs can help you with compost and also provide food for you. You can sell, trade or store your livestock products.

• Build a chicken coop for your chickens to live in. Your chicken coop should have room for your chickens to roam around, as well as some holes where they can lay their eggs.

  

Step 4. Learn how to preserve food

A big part of living without electricity is being able to preserve food, even if you don't have a fridge to store it. Almost anything can be canned – from fruit to vegetables, to meat and eggs, canning is a great way to preserve your fresh produce. If you plan to do a lot of canning, you should consider purchasing a pressure canner. Pressure canning can make the canning process more efficient.

• Acidify other foods you want to preserve. Pickled foods can be especially good in winter when less food is available.

  

• Dried fruit, vegetables and meat. Drying food is also a good way to store food without electricity.

  

Part Three: The Basics of Disappearance

Step 1. Create a compost pile

Compost is very useful, especially if you don't want to pay for municipal waste services. A compost heap will not only help you produce nutrient-rich fertilizer, it will also be easy to build.

Step 2. Make your own fertilizer

This is easy to do especially if you keep farm animals. Your garden will be very grateful if you feed it with your own organic fertilizer.

Step 3. Focus on products that you can make to sell or trade

Consider your skills – can you sew, cook, carve, build, etc.? Determine what equipment you will need to produce a large quantity of goods. Also consider what products you can make from what you already have. Do you raise sheep? Learn to sew or make cheese from your sheep's milk.

Step 4. Hand wash your clothes

While this may seem like a formidable task, it becomes easier with practice. Scrub your clothes on the washboard, rinse, then hang to dry.

The secret to soft clothes is to rinse your clothes with a cup or two of vinegar before drying them. The vinegar will prevent your clothes from getting stiff as they dry

Method 2 of 2: Dealing with Power Outages

Part One: Preparing for Power Outages

Step 1. Make an emergency kit box

Apart from water and perishable food, there are some basic items that every home needs in an emergency kit. This kit includes: a flashlight, extra batteries, multipurpose tools (such as a Swiss Army knife), a manual can opener, 7 days of medication, cleaning supplies, extra cash, a portable radio, and an emergency blanket.

You should also make copies of personal documents. This includes important medical information, your passport, proof of address, and your birth certificate. You should also have a map of the area and a list of emergency contacts

Step 2. Make a first aid kit

When the power goes out, you never know what might happen (or who needs treatment). Because of this, it is recommended that you have a first aid kit in your home. For a list of equipment you should put in your first aid kit, click here.

Step 3. Store water somewhere in your house

Red Cross recommends storing at least one gallon of water per person per day. If possible, provide enough water for at least a week (so, if there are three of you, that means buying 21 gallons of water.)

• If you can't afford or store this much water or are afraid your drinking water is dangerous in an emergency, you can also purify the water in an emergency. Learn how to purify water here,

  

Step 4. Store perishable food

These foods should be pre-made or, better yet, need not be prepared at all. If you don't have access to a heat source, such as a grill or camp stove (described in Part Two) you should keep perishable foods that don't need to be cooked.

• Perishable foods that need to be cooked: Canned soup, macaroni and cheese.

  

• Perishable foods that don't need to be cooked: Canned beans, canned vegetables, packaged fruit, peanut butter, granola bars, crackers and chips, canned meats, packaged puddings, and unopened bottles of juice.

  

Step 5. Track your family members

If the power goes out or you're in an emergency, use the phone to call your family members before your phone goes off (because you can't charge it after the battery runs out).

Step 6. Have entertainment

Since you won't be able to use a television, computer, or other electronic device, you will need to find entertainment for yourself. However, you should keep in mind that you shouldn't drain your flashlight battery by shining a book at night. If you have a lantern or candle, light it at the table so everyone can gather to read, play, or chat.

Part Two: Lights and Heating

Step 1. Purchase some alternative light sources

This includes some flashlights, camp lanterns, and candles. Keep your flashlight where you can quickly find it in the dark. Candles are great because they last a long time without draining the battery. Lanterns are very useful when going through everyday life in the dark. Light up your kitchen with a lantern while cooking.

Step 2. Decide what you will do to warm up

If you have a fireplace, it's a good idea to stock up on wood. Cover unused rooms because the little heat you have will spread throughout the house. You can also purchase a kerosene heater. While this heater will warm the house, it must be placed near the vent, otherwise it can cause carbon monoxide build-up.

Step 3. Use your car to charge the necessary electronics

If you can get out of your car, you may want to charge absolutely necessary electronics (such as a cell phone for calling family members and a flashlight.)

Part Three: Cooking

Step 1. Make sure the perishable food in the refrigerator stays cold

The best way to do this is to buy a block of dry ice, wrap it in newspaper, and put it in the fridge. Find out where you can buy dry ice, so you know where to go in an emergency.

Open your fridge and freezer only when absolutely necessary. You can also cover your fridge and freezer with thick blankets to keep the temperature low. Make sure the refrigerator does not cover the vents of your refrigerator or freezer

Step 2. Cook perishable foods first

Before you use perishable foods that you have stored, it is a good idea to cook perishable foods in the refrigerator first. Do this only on the first day of a power outage, as most refrigerator foods should not be eaten after being at a temperature above 40 degrees F (4.4 degrees C) for more than two hours.

Exceptions to this rule are solid cheeses, processed cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables, butter/butter, and breads

Step 3. Cook on your gas stove

If you're lucky enough to have a gas stove that's turned off, you should be able to cook easily. You need to light the fire by hand, but other than that, you're fine. However, if you have an electric stove, alternative cooking methods are mentioned below.

Never use a gas stove or oven to heat your home. This appliance is not built to do that and will cause harmful carbon monoxide to build up in your home

Step 4. Use a propane and butane camp stove, or use your grill

If you have a camp stove and can't cook on your electric stove, now's the time to dust off those propane or butane cans. Grills and barbecues can also be used when the power goes out. Just make sure you don't use it indoors, otherwise it can cause carbon monoxide build-up, which can be very dangerous.

Step 5. Prepare to make a fire if necessary

If you have a fireplace, use one. If not, you may need to build a campfire in your backyard. If you live in an area with frequent blackouts and don't have a fireplace, you might want to dedicate the end of your backyard to a campfire area.

Step 6. Go out to eat if you can

If you can leave the house, you might as well go out to eat. Chances are, you'll go a little crazy if you're always in the house so go out to eat during the day.