GOING OFF-GRID | Appliance choices to make IN YOUR HOME

Before getting into the details of off-grid systems, let's look at what choices you can make BEFORE going off-grid. These choices can determine what systems you need, as well as help make life easier once you are more self-sufficient. From refrigerators and freezers to water pumps and freeze dryers, we're going to detail out the appliances and household needs like taking hot showers and washing your clothes. If you're even considering going off the grid, watch this video to get an idea of how to set yourself up for success!
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We are an American family living permanently in Ecuador, transforming a mostly-untouched 30 acres of jungle mountain into a working, self-sustainable, off-grid farm. There are a lot of trials, errors, successes, and lessons to be learned along the way. We hope to share it all with you, to tell our story, to inspire, and to hopefully help answer the questions you didn’t know to ask.
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[@joycehaines2055]

Would be interesting to see your screened house, and you're living in warmer climate. I'm in montana and need comfort. Love your point of view for your life. Keep smiling and be safe.

[@amyjohoppins1087]

28:55 my mother was convinced of this dishwasher stat you mention. She had a dishwasher put in and it jumped our electricity up and our water usage.
Depends on how you use your water.
"Hippies use the side door." I'm walking out.

[@geterdone]

Unsure about the humidity levels in your area? Have you tried using any solar food dehydrators? I’m thinking a setup with black plastic lines box, where the fruit is laid out in a screen without touching, topped with a screen to keep bugs away. It’s similar to the solar water heaters used in California, which consist of black pipes in a black box with glass on top. You could even place a mirror underneath to reflect sunlight more effectively.
In the Pacific Northwest, where I live, the humidity is usually around 40%. I can smoke salmon at 140°F in just two hours to achieve the right dryness and firmness. However, when I tried the same process in Mississippi a few years back, with humidity around 87%, it took a whopping 23 hours. I suppose that’s why the Indians in the Pacific Northwest and above latitudes with dried fish where I never heard of the Indians in the southern US doing that.
I remember as a kid in Mississippi during the summer with high humidity a funny incident. I laid some grapes on a piece of galvanized roofing tin at the rabbit pens and forgot about them while I played. When I returned hours later looking for my grapes, I was upset, thinking someone had stolen them, and left raisins instead! I was about eight years old at the time, and the only ones home were my mother and sister, so I knew it couldn’t have been them. Reflecting on it, it reminds me of the daydreams of the kid in "A Christmas Story," imagining robbers in the yard while shooting them with his BB gun. I guess my imagination really ran wild!
Who knows maybe lay some apple slices out on a piece of roofing tin while the sun is out and see what happens.

[@z1z2z3z4z1z2]

so install a 40kwh solar system.. check.

[@geterdone]

I suppose if you wanna get really creative here may be a video idea for you.
I’m assuming your refrigerator and or freezer probably has a fan that blows air across the condenser coils. If you could position it in such a way that you could put your fruit in a basket covered with screen suspended over screen, you may be able to use that warm airflow as a dehydrator and get two for one. Even if you didn’t want to reposition it you could maybe put you a dryer hose or cardboard duct or something that would kind of catch the air and diverted around the side of it towards a box of fruit you may still be able to get that free heated air benefitout of of it.