Live Self Sufficient

Creating a self sufficient house serves two purposes. The first is that a self sufficient house will lower monthly bills and expenses and the second is that it helps the environment by conserving energy, lowering consumption of resources and making the most of what nature provides rather then what is manmade.

The first step on the journey to building a self sufficient house is lowering your consumption of energy. If your goal is to generate energy on your property through devices like solar or wind you need to take a hard look at how you are currently using the energy in your house and lower it greatly.

Here is a checklist of things you can do as the first step towards building a self sufficient house:

Replace all light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Fluorescent light bulbs use less energy and will lower your over use of energy.

Install zones in your house for your heat and air conditioning. This will allow you to control where you spend the most time in your house and only heat those areas. Why heat rooms you don’t use? All it does it waste energy. Conserve your use and it will lower your bills.

Turn off all unused electrical appliances and get in the habit of unplugging anything and everything possible. Some electrical items still pull power when plugged in for example a coffee maker or microwave. Only use the power you need.

The last step to getting your house ready to be a more self sufficient house is to take a look at all of your appliances and ensure that they are energy efficient. If not, consider replacing them. New appliances can pay for themselves in the energy they do not burn within a one year period.

If you have a goal to create a self sufficient house then start now by cutting your dependency on large amounts of energy and work to lower your consumption.

Part two on how to build a self sufficient house is continued here.

Related posts:

1. How to make a self sufficient house with heat sources – Part 2
2. When to solar power your house
3. How to live more self sufficiently in an apartment
4. How to use renewable energy in your home to live more self sufficient
5. Three things to consider when you live self sufficient

Tags: live self sufficiently, self sufficient house