How about "no electricity" days?

[JoeP]

Similar to this thread, we occasionally do No Electricity days. Short of unplugging the fridge, sump pump, and water heater, we abstain from all electrical conveniences for a full day. This really has two effects.

First, we save a little money by using less power for a single day.

Second, more importantly, we appreciate the lack of distractions that come from electrical devices such as TV and computer and mp3 players, and find ways to enjoy the simple peace of family.

It is also interesting to observe how much we depend upon electricity without even knowing it. Even going into a room fully illuminated by sunlight, I'll sometimes flip on the light switch and then realize my error and quickly shut it off. We've even lit our gas range with a match, heated water in a teapot, and slowly poured it over the coffee maker's filter basket to make coffee.

There are, of course, different levels of doing this. Some people switch off the main breaker and deal with that for 24 hours, and others simply avoid most usage.

Anyone else do this? If so, how frequently?

[Like2Plan]

The only time we have no electricity days are when we have a power outage. Thankfully this doesn't happen very often. Nope, I wouldn't go without power unless I had to.

[bjl584]

My electric bill last month was around $38. So, there isn't much benefit to me to doing something like that. If you want to use less power in your house, then do something like go to the park for the day. You will get to spend the day outside all while using less power at home.

[laurend1985]

I do this every time I leave the house. My husband hates it. Is this a new challenge, I'm in.

[JoeP]

My electric bill last month was around $38. So, there isn't much benefit to me to doing something like that. If you want to use less power in your house, then do something like go to the park for the day. You will get to spend the day outside all while using less power at home.

The money savings is secondary. The point is to experience living without a critical convenience, and enjoying the benefits of more alone/family/pets/whatever time you might not give yourself due to the distractions enabled by electricity.

It also gives us practice coping without power. When we see people in hurricane or tornado areas without power, it is easy to simply brush it off as an inconvenience. But when you pull the plug, you really start to see family dynamics change, and can identify ways to cope that you would have missed if you didn't do this exercise.

I do this every time I leave the house. My husband hates it. Is this a new challenge, I'm in.

No specific date, just something to try when you have the urge!

[bjl584]

The money savings is secondary. The point is to experience living without a critical convenience, and enjoying the benefits of more alone/family/pets/whatever time you might not give yourself due to the distractions enabled by electricity.

It also gives us practice coping without power. When we see people in hurricane or tornado areas without power, it is easy to simply brush it off as an inconvenience. But when you pull the plug, you really start to see family dynamics change, and can identify ways to cope that you would have missed if you didn't do this exercise.

You need to look into one of these:

Honda Generators: Portable Generator Power for Home, Work, and Play

[Like2Plan]

You could go camping.
DH and DS used to go camping all the time (I do not enjoy camping, so it was father and son time). Anyway, as a result they have all sorts of camping gear which we used for tailgating when DS went off to college. You can do a lot with a little bit of camping equipment and it gave me experience using it (since I don't camp.)
If we have a prolonged power outage, we have the camping gear as a backup.

[JoeP]

You need to look into one of these:

Honda Generators: Portable Generator Power for Home, Work, and Play

I have a big generator that hooks into a bypass switch unit. Maybe you are missing my point with the purpose of a no electricity day?

[bjl584]

I have a big generator that hooks into a bypass switch unit. Maybe you are missing my point with the purpose of a no electricity day?

I guess I just don't see the point. I understand the whole making sacrifice thing, but I've made preperations so that I don't have to sacrifice all that much should I lose electricity. I have a generator, plenty of oil lamps and flashlights, some stored food and water, and several firearms. I feel confident that I would be just fine if a disaster or some other event that would cause my utilities to go out for an extended period of time should occur. I don't really feel the need to practice by switching off my main breaker. And, there is no financial benefit in my case either.

[phantom]

I have a friend who goes without electricity every Saturday, which may or may not be related to the fact that he's an Orthodox Jew. He recently got back from a trip to Israel, and one of his favorite parts of the trip was the peacefulness of the Sabbath with no cars zipping around.

I've never felt inclined to go without electricity, but I have given up video games for Lent a couple of times. I think it can be healthy to break out of familiar patterns from time to time and shift focus elsewhere.

[JoeP]

I guess I just don't see the point. I understand the whole making sacrifice thing, but I've made preperations so that I don't have to sacrifice all that much should I lose electricity. I have a generator, plenty of oil lamps and flashlights, some stored food and water, and several firearms. I feel confident that I would be just fine if a disaster or some other event that would cause my utilities to go out for an extended period of time should occur. I don't really feel the need to practice by switching off my main breaker. And, there is no financial benefit in my case either.

If you feel confident, or don't feel the need, then the exercise has no benefit to you, and you can simply ignore this post. I commend you for being prepared for a disaster by having a generator and supplies.

I experienced an appreciation of the silence and serenity associated without electricity, and invited others to share that experience. It really has very little to do with simulating how one would endure a disaster or power outage, or saving any money.

[MonkeyMama]

I think it's a good exercise, like I mentioned on the other similar post, to flex frugal muscles. Whether it has to do with frugality or not, it's an interesting exercise to step back from culturally ingrained habits and think about how much electricity that I am sure all of us waste.

I have been trying to be more mindful of using more natural sunlight during the day. Go to any U.S. home and all the inside lights are flipped on in the middle of the day. Most of that electricity usage isn't really necessary. This really has nothing to do with saving money, because this is not enough to change my electric bill more than a few pennies. But, it does make you more mindful of unnecessary waste. Maybe more to the point, the more you do these kind of exercises, the more it trickles into other areas of your life. The more you question things. The more your expenses go down while quality of life does not change. This is all good stuff.

[Like2Plan]

It also gives us practice coping without power. When we see people in hurricane or tornado areas without power, it is easy to simply brush it off as an inconvenience. But when you pull the plug, you really start to see family dynamics change, and can identify ways to cope that you would have missed if you didn't do this exercise.

Joe,
I guess I am keying off this part of your post.

And in your first post, you did say

Anyone else do this? If so, how frequently?

But, I wonder why someone would go to the trouble of having a backup generator and then voluntary pull the plug on power? I thought the whole point of having a generator is so you never have to go without.
It is such an irritation to me when we drop power. I don't mind short periods of time, but we've had some really bad storms that have taken the power out for extended periods of time--like when Hurricane Isabel came through and took the power out. The municipal water didn't have backup generators (no idea why not we live in a large metropolitan area) and so after 12 hours of the power being down there was no more running water (and that is why you fill your bathtub with water before a hurricane comes through!). Even though the power was out, there was no tranquility because a good number of neighbors had engine generators going. So, there was the noise from that (and smell from the exhaust). In the winter, we've had ice storms (no power = no heat). We had a derecho come through in June (thankfully, I wasn't home for it), but our power was out for more than 48 hours and we had to dump all our frozen stuff. The temps were in the 100's during that outage.

[disneysteve]

Perhaps folks would grasp OP's concept better if it were worded differently.

Our daughter's school always promotes a "Turn Off Technology" week each year. During that week, the families are encouraged to refrain from watching TV, playing video games and using the computer for any non-essential purposes. We're supposed to read, play games, talk, take a walk or bike ride, etc. It has nothing to do with saving money. It's about slowing down and reconnecting for a little bit of time.

[Like2Plan]

Perhaps folks would grasp OP's concept better if it were worded differently.

Our daughter's school always promotes a "Turn Off Technology" week each year. During that week, the families are encouraged to refrain from watching TV, playing video games and using the computer for any non-essential purposes. We're supposed to read, play games, talk, take a walk or bike ride, etc. It has nothing to do with saving money. It's about slowing down and reconnecting for a little bit of time.

Yes, that sounds like fun though I don't know if I would make it for an entire week (gotta check the savings advice board and see what's going on, you know ).