Two weeks living with no energy (spoiler: is hard🙃)

Goodbye electricity, photo credit to ig: torcicollo

So, let’s start by saying that this headline is false, or rather, it is partially not true. I lived the last two weeks by minimizing electricity consumption and looking for alternative solutions. Since I was a child I have always traveled in a camper van, a huge house on two wheels equipped with a gas stove and solar panels on the top, so that it is self-sufficient in every situation. In my opinion, living without energy is an everyday occurrence, at least for 15 days a year. My challenge has been living without energy even at home, where I am used to all the comforts (which I didn’t even realize I had).

But let us start at the beginning.

Day 0: Preparation day

One of the biggest difficulties I encountered was realizing that I was using energy, even without realizing it so I start my journey by mapping the house, looking for all the energy-consuming spots, and, after about 2 hours, I perhaps managed to find them all. Conclusion: there are a lot of them.

Living Room

I didn’t have to give up anything, I don’t tend to watch television, I don’t use consoles (Playstation or otherwise), and the only energy waste present is WiFi which I couldn’t disconnect as it also serves other people inside the house. One unsuspected device that I have turned off instead is my “smart garden”, however, little energy it consumes, for these weeks I have to say goodbye to it.

Kitchen

The kitchen was the most critical part. I hate washing dishes and for me, the dishwasher is the best appliance ever invented. Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye and for these two weeks, I washed my dishes by hand (heating the water with the pot on the gas). I also try to have breakfast in the morning with juice, using my electric juicer, and two slices of toast, using the toaster. I said goodbye to them as well and put them back in the drawer, instead, I took out the old manual juicer and toasted the slices of bread in the pan. A refrigerator is an irreplaceable appliance, however, I have tried to consume as much fresh produce from my home garden as possible, especially avoiding the freezer (it sounds incredible but you can live without frozen products).

Bedroom

My bedroom follows the minimalist philosophy, there is nothing but a bed, a wardrobe, and a bedside table with a few books on it and a lamp. In the evenings I love to read before going to sleep, which could be a problem because during the day I was able to make use of the daylight hours but at night an abatjour is needed. I dusted off some candles I kept in a drawer, the light was not as powerful as the lamp but the atmosphere was more atmospheric.

Bathroom

I thought of using the 20l solar shower that is used at campsites to avoid heating the water with energy but the weather has not been particularly generous and I have had some difficulty heating the water through the sun. I gave up straighteners, hairdryers, especially the electric toothbrush, going back to my old toothbrush. For the time being, I have not yet washed the clothes, which have been piling up waiting to be washed (without using the washing machine), I was thinking of making a homemade washing machine but unfortunately, I did not have time so I will wash the clothes by hand.