Air conditioner
My advice – do without - it simply uses too much power. If you live in a dry climate like we do, an evaporative cooler (swamp cooler) works great. I actually prefer it since it puts moisture back into the air. Evaporative coolers use significantly less power than central air, you will however still need to beef up your system a little if you want to run one a lot. You can also use your backup generator if you don't mind the gas bill. If you live in a hot and humid climate things can be a little more challenging. If you are building your own home then there are options;

- Earth berm home
- Straw bale construction
- Adobe
- Underground home (some of these are amazingly beautiful)
- Rammed earth construction
- Cord wood construction
Built properly and with enough forethought you can almost eliminate the need for heating and cooling with some of these.

Laundry
Our washer is a large capacity Maytag, our dryer is gas. Our house was not plumbed for a gas dryer so we brought in a gas line. It seems like most clothes dryers are electric but they are one of the biggest users of electricity in any home. If you want to live off grid and you use an electric dryer, this is one thing that you will want to change.
For the ultimate non electric dryer try this; you remember the “good” old days? How about a clothes line? There is no better dryer than the sun!

Microwave oven
If you are in the habit of cooking all of your meals in a microwave then you will need to increase the size of your system to accommodate this. If you generally use it to reheat something then it’s not a big issue. Typically a microwave is used for only a few seconds or minutes at a time.

Hair dryers and Curling Irons
These are two things that are probably a “non-negotiable” in the lives of the women of the house. Fortunately if they are used sparingly then they are much like a microwave. They are probably used for a fairly short period of time and then turned off – but turned off they must be! Remember; the more energy consuming gadgets that you use the bigger your system will need to be hence a bigger investment and bigger replacement costs.

Big Screen TV
Fortunately the days of LCD are mostly behind us (I think) which is good for all of us TV watchers. There are new LED TV’s which use a lot less power, but a word of caution – if you are one of those who likes to turn on 3 TV’s just for noise and leave them on all day, you may want to reevaluate things a little.

DVD Player
Not too big of a deal, they are kind of a must for anyone who watches movies at home. These are usually not power hogs but it is good practice to unplug all of your electronics when not in use to avoid “ghost loads”. I will cover that later. These will probably be obsolete before long, it seems that movies are becoming in large part, an internet thing. The days of going to movie rental store are just about a thing of the past.

Stereo
If you really like your super stereo and love to shake the neighbors’ windows; you will need to learn a new way to enjoy music! If you have an MP3 or cell phone you could try some of the new "Bluetooth" wireless speakers. Some of these go pretty loud and sound great!

Small Kitchen Appliances
These are things that we all have- some have more and some less and by now I think you understand some of the nuances of generating and using your own power. You should look at all of the small things you use and figure out how many minutes or hours a day you use each of these and come up with a fairly accurate Kilowatt hour usage per day.

As you evaluate all of the things that you use, you will probably start seeing things a little differently and as you design your system and see the cost of producing that power, you may find yourself thinking of ways to reduce the amount of electricity you need. That's a good thing! It will help you determine what is most important and will also help reduce the cost of your system.

Next: "Disaster! The Air-X"