Off Grid Consulting Preflight

Hi there!

I'm looking forward to working with you. Generally, there is some info I'll need in order to most effectively help you.

Your Average Daily Power Usage

Why Not Use My Power Bill?

First, you might be wondering if you could just use the number of kWh's on your power bill (divided by 30) to come up with your average daily power usage. You could, but I suggest you not do that. Here's why...

The vast majority of on-grid homes are not ready to go off-grid as they currently are. They will typically need some appliance updates in order to make the home more efficient, which makes the cost of the off-grid power system more reasonable.

The average American home uses 30 kWh per day. In our home, we use roughly 3 kWh per day. We've done that by being very strategic with our choice of appliances, not by doing without modern conveniences. We are simply careful to choose the best option when we need a particular appliance.

In addition, there are several common appliances that simply will not work with an off-grid power system (at least, if you are wanting to build a cost-effective system). Chances are that your home has at least one (if not more) of these:

  • HVAC (forced air heating & AC)
  • Electric water heater
  • Electric oven/range
  • Electric clothes dryer

Each of these consumes massive amounts of electricity, and it would be cost-prohibitive to build an off-grid solar system large enough to power them. But there's no need to do without heat, hot water, cooking, or dry clothes!

We have excellent and convenient alternatives for each of these that are energy efficient, so we don't need to use any of the above appliances. For instance:

  • HVAC (forced air heating & AC) - We highly recommend wood heat as a non-electric and reliable means of heating your home. But there are other great options that work as well, such as pellet stoves, many fuel-oil heaters, and some direct-vent propane heaters.
  • Electric water heater - Propane is the obvious alternative for heating water. But it's also possible to set up a solar water heating system (depending on your climate) and/or a water coil/range boiler system that uses your wood stove to heat water.
  • Electric oven/range - Once again, propane is the obvious convenient alternative. I actually like cooking with gas much better. Be aware that most gas ovens do have an electric glow bar that consumes several hundred watts of power when the oven is running. That's not a deal-breaker, but if you want to be even more efficient, Unique and Peerless Premiere make electronic ignition models that are great.
  • Electric clothes dryer - You guessed it...propane again for this one. Or if you prefer, you can air dry. Either route works.

Bottom line? Your on-grid home's power usage probably is not going to give you an accurate idea of what your power consumption will be when you are off the grid. And that's why I recommend calculating it item by item. This exercise is also a huge help in identifying where your power is going so you can more strategically make your home efficient.

Spreadsheet Calculator

I've created a spreadsheet to streamline the process of calculating your power usage. Below is a link to the spreadsheet (in Google Sheets) and instructions on how to use it.

Download Average Daily Power Use Calculator (you'll need a free Google account to use this and the link will prompt you to copy the sheet to your Google account where you can use it).

Please note that once you add your details to the sheet, you'll need to click the "Share" button in the top-right and give me access by adding "nick@susprep.com" with Editor access (leave the "notify" box checked so I'll automatically be given the link by Google).

How To Measure Appliance Power Usage

A power measuring device will be extremely useful in determining how much power your specific appliances use, so you can enter accurate info in the calculator. One of my favorites is the Kill-A-Watt P4400.

Here's a tutorial on how to use the P4400: