Preparing to go off the electricity grid.

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The rising costs of electricity equals 50% of my salary every month.
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These old ceiling light fans are very costly to run and a plan had to be made.

Our monthly electrical bill has tripled and more price increases are on the way. Now as we are not the most well off people in the land, I had to find a way to decrease the usage costs and I took the simple way out.
A full conversion off the grid by the professionals will not only cost an arm and a leg, but the full body warts and all :)
Come and have a look at my plan. (Critics welcome)

The house was fitted with these old ceiling fan lights, that are real electrity guzzlers.

Looks better on the floor doesn't it?
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But now what to do with no light and the ugly wires on the ceiling?
Cut them off?
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I got us 6 of these LED low voltage lights, one for every room to replace the fan lights.
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A nice clean table top surface for my tools and project fanlight replacement started.
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Voila, light connected, fitted and a quick wipe.
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Looks so much better to me and this will cut our electricity costs drastically.
We also only use the light of a particular room that we are in at night and all of the other lights stay off.
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Now here is another electricity cost beater, as I installed a gas operated geyser to operate the bathroom and the kitchen.
The main electrical geyser was simply shut off and bypassed.
Said electrical geyser accounts for 30-40% of the monthly electrical bill and gas is much cheaper.
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My idea was to also save up to install Solar power for the lighting and the appliances, not the stove, as it is a gas stove that we bought.
But we are moving out, hopefully soon and the new owner will benefit from it.
It costs a bomb to get a contractor to install the Solar heating, but I would have done the installations of the panels, the piping and the Inverter batteries myself. So we would just have had to pay for the equipment and the copper tubing. I will leave this for the new owners to sort out now.
Such is life!

And That's All friends!

Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.

We hope that you have enjoyed the story and the pictures.

Thank you for supporting a post by @papilloncharity

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87 comments
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That's very interesting @papilloncharity, I always wondered how to save on this high electricity bill of ours. Those led lights look like they could do the trick, we have a gas stove, we are also very conservative with the lights at night. Thanks for the interesting post and sharing, have a great day.

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Thank you milady and this is exactly what I was hoping for.
I wrote the post in the hope that others can benefit from it and you guys will certainly save with LED lighting. Glad that you also have a gas stove as it's a money saver.

Blessings and !PIZZA

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You are quite the handyman, nice work. I can't believe how high your monthly bills are for electricity. Unreal.
So you are moving huh? Where to if you don't mind me asking? I hope it's a safer place with better energy delivery.
Best wishes and good luck with the move.

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Thank you Lady Robin and like your guy, life has also trained me to do many things hahaha.
Yes, the bills are steep and will continue to grow.
No idea yet where we would be moving to, but we have finally decided that we cannot live in a complex anymore, so the search is one for a free standing house.

Thay are as scarce as hens teeth here and the ones that are available are all way beyond our means in price. But we believe in miracles and we will see how it goes.

Thank you for the kind wishes.

!PIZZA

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Nothing like some skills, I some of those skills also, except unlike the hubby, I love duck tape. Haha, spit and glue also works for me.😁

Prayers coming your way, miracles do happen my friend.

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Hahahah, you are so funny and please promise me that you will never install a light fitting with duct tape or spit and glue. Not even gum please 🤣

Prayers are always good and thank you kindly Lady Robin.

!PIZZA

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OH, no gum?
You're spoiling all the fun. Party pooper.

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Those LED lights are effective for saving power for sure

Solar panels sure arent cheap and not worth investing in if your moving soon

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True JJ and they are real money savers.
My thoughts also about the Solar situation and nort my battle anymore.
I am only completing all of the small jobs around the house and that will be it.

We have an agent visiting tomorrow and will get his advice if I should retile the bathroom the same as I did at our old house up north. This bathroom was done in the 30s with those old small tiles and I have never liked it.

!BEER

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Good luck with working it all out my friend talking to an agent is a great idea that’s what we did

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Hi JJ, even better, as we were introduced to lawyer lady that knows the bying and selling houses inside out. She also does the transfers.
Here's the miracle!
She knows all of the agents here and she has offered to do all of the negotiations with the agents and the transfers for us for free. No commisions and no fees.
She likes the work that we do at Papillon and she comes highly recommended.

How's that for a heart of gold.

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That’s great and I am so glad she knows all the good you do and hence is doing it for free

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Yeah, she is a tough cookie, but once one goes beneath the hard legal exterior, a very good heart is revealed.

!BEER

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Good work Zac, and the LED lights will certainly save you a lot of money.

I have no idea about solar energy as you know, but I don't know if solar panels would pay off. It depends on the price of them, I think, and that you don't have extry costs if something breaks over the years, and it depends on the price of electricity in your country which is quite high if I remember right.

I hope your Sunday is going well, my friend 🌞

!BEER and !WINE - both make a nice dinner with !PIZZA :)
!invest_vote

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Good afternoon Hannes,

Nope, I am not going to touch the Solar installation, as that will be the new owner's duty. My part was done with the LED lights and the gas and I will not spend money that we do not have.
Besides, if we move into another place I might have to do the same there.

Our Sunday is wet again, but we have short sun spots between the clouds.
Hope that yours is dry and sunny my friend.

Cheers and thanks.

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Good afternoon Zac,

solar would have been expensive and a lot of work, but when you're moving out it would be wasted money.

It's dry here and it's sunny and it's warm and I'm inside in the office 😁 but I have enough time to edit a few photos and work on a post for tonight 😉

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Good evening Hannes,

Agreed with you about the Solar and I told JJ already about a new blessing that we have now. A lawyer lady that has tons of experience in house sales and transfers and she has offered her services to us for free, as she likes the work that we do at Papillon.

Ah, so you are doing your actual work at your formal work again my friend and Mother nature is smiling at you through the window 🤣
I bet your boss wouldn't smile if he catches you on Hive 🤣🤣🤣

So, you are busy with a new post after the "Autumn is near" one. Good going methinks 😉
Beware of my winking emoji, as it means that there is a tease in my remark somewhere 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Good morning Zac,

that sounds great and it reminds me to never give up the hope that there are good people around us.

At the moment I'm quite my own boss because the two ones above me are on holidays and when I'm on nightshift I'm in another office where I can't work as usual anyway 😎

I think I have found more than one teasing here, my friend, and the only thing I can say is that I'm not sure if I'll be able to work on a post at work because there's a lot of formal work at the office where I work 😁

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Hi Hannes, almost bed time for you 😉

There are indeed angels amongst the demons my friend.

Ah! While that cats are away I know of a mouse at play 🤣

Sacriledge Hannes,"a lot of formal work" you say. I think that you are really in trouble if you regard reples, Twittering and other such as fromal work. I know that you also regard sleeping at work as formal work, but I don't think that your request for a bonus for sleeping will work 🤣🤣🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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At that time I've already been in bed 😴 lol

Yep, but I don't even have the time to play and to be honest, my boss doesn't mind when I do private "work" 😎

Right, that's no formal work, that's important work and when I sleep at work (nightshift) it feels sooo good because I get paid for sleeping 🤣

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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And now you are most likely in bed again 😉

Great to hear that your boss is okay with it as that certainly makes your life on Hive a bit easier.
Oh yes, to sleep at work is also very important and no need for a bonus as you already get paid for it.
An ideal life at work 🤣

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, I was in bed even before 😴

Ha yes, he's okay, but I get a lot of additional work too 😫 and at the moment to only times when I have a little more time are when I'm in the other office for nightshift, but today I'll even have enough to do there.

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Funny how they can overload you with work Hannes and I don't know what they will do once you are gone.
That they can't think about it befuddles me, as to train someone properly one canoot do it in a short time.
Maybe they will give you a replacement to train in your last year and that will be way too short.

Cheers and thanks.

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Haha, it will be hard form them when I'm gone, but until I go there will be quite a few new vo-workers around and maybe I get the chance to teach not one, but a couple of them to do my work when I retire, because one will certainly no tbe enough 🤣🤣🤣

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Sifting is what we call it Hannes, as we had many volunteers, but one by one they started to fall away until only the best stayed.
Hard work is not well liked nowadays and we have learned this the hard way over the years, as now we do most of the work by ourselves.

So you can prepare yourself for not all trainees lasting for the training period.
But that is only for the best, as the real quality ones will stay.

Cheers and thanks.

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Well, it's different here and I can't choose whom I prefer. People can apply for my job when I am gone and not before. Maybe one from my department applies for it, one who knows my work and whom I could teach, but even then it's not sure that he gets it ... it's different, complicated and unfair.

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
!invest_vote

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Surely you must have a say in the replacements Hannes.
But like my father in law, he had no say and they had to shut most of his life's work down, because nobody understood it. For a lack of future planning.
Totally unfair to expect an untrained person to perform.
The whole situation sucks.

I think they call it burocracy and in my mind it is power mongering.

Cheers and thanks.

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When I'm gone they can begin to search for someone who wants to do my job, and as said, maybe one of my department will get it. But to be honest, I don't really care 🤣

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Oh yes, you will be done and freedom shall be yours.
But I still think that they have it all wrong to just let a person with all of your experience go without using it to train replacements.

Cheers and thanks.

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This will then not be my problem anymore, but there are five years left anyway 😀

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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5 years? Just the other day it was 7 years, so somebody must have stolen 2 years somewhere.
Let's invite him back so that he can steal more years 🤣

I told you that time will fly methinks 😉

Cheers and thanks.

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If everything goes as plan my retirement should happen in about 5 1/2 years but they might change the law or something else might come in between. Maybe my daughter is still studying and I need more money... who knows.
Yes, when in five years I'll look back I will say that the time has gone so fast.

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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At what age do you guys retire there 65?
And do you guys have an option to take early retirement?
I am thinking that maybe Hive moons or your NFTs take off as then you can get out of there.
We never know what can happen in the future.

Cheers and thanks.

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The law says 65, but after 42.5 years you can go, although will not get the full pension till you're 65. I could go now if I had the money to pay for my insurance (health and pension funds) till I'm 65. So, if the Hive moons I have no reason to work for others any longer :)))

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Ah! what can I say here my friend?
Either Hive moons, or your NFTs goes to the moon.

I think that you need more irons in the fire and have you considered trading on Hive?

We don't trade as I know nothing about it, so I just stick to my two posts per day to build the account.

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, either Hive or NFT ... or maybe both :)
I don't trade Zac, I have no idea how it works and I don't think I would have the time. Until my job will be a bit easier in a few weeks when a project hopefully will be finalized I will go on posting when I can and feel like it.

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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Let's hope for both my friend.

Same as you when it comes to trading, as I also have no idea how to go about it. I can only bargain and haggle very well as when I was a child I had to negotiate prices with the coal delivery guy. He had an old cart with bags of coal at the back and pulled by a donkey. A sly bugger and very stingy.

I hope that the project will be finalized soon as you are in need of some free time. It was hard on you these past weeks.

Cheers and thanks.

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Yep, negotiating on a market or so is one thing, but trading is something different.

The project has just become a few days longer because I didn't get a promised work place and computer in another office in town today and now I can't do anything till Monday 😫 I am very angry and hope that the responsible colleague doesn't come near me on Monday 😡

!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote

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You are totally right and that's why I don't touch trading 😉

Bad for you to get so angry my friend, as anger is not good medicine.
Maybe there's a logical explanation I hope for the colleagues sake.

Cheers and thanks.

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I know, but after doing all work and saying yes to everything during all the years it's time to say no before it's too late.

!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
!invest_vote

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Well, as in your previous reply, the time has come for the no answers from you, as you have done enough and deserve to be heard.
So spell you "NO" out loud and clear and see how good it feels 😉

Cheers and thanks.

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Being handy sure does save $$$$. There're many jobs that I will take on, sometimes learning as I go, but the one thing that I want nothing to do with is electricity.
I've been shocked a few times, nothing serious. My real fear is burning down the house.

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I was a very inquisitive youngster and never feared to ask if I was interested in something. In fact the old master tradesmen took pride in teaching me their skills.
Skills that are rare these days as everyone takes short cuts. The instant mind frame that results into many call backs and rejections.

The old motto was, "Do a thing properly or don't do it at all" and the motto today is "Money first and repairs later"

I think that you know electricity is connected in a standard, Life, Neutral and Earth system and that's the basics. Of course there are many tricks, but then again you like woodworking and wood doesn't shock 🤣
Unless a lightning bolt strikes a tree and you are standing under it 🤣

Best advice is to stay away from it, as you love your house 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Do it again seems to be the way things are done these days.
I think I remember my parents saying something about not standing under a tree when it's lightning. 😁

Thanks for the suds, always appreciated

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Yep, they call it "come backs" over here and the real skills have simply disapeared over time.

Always listen to your parents, as we have many cases here of people getting killed while standing under a tree during lightning storms.

In fact I have had a close call with a lighning bolt.
We were out camping near a large dam and I stood in a tent with my young son on my arm. We had a portable transitor radio om the ground in the tent and the reception was bad, so I stuck a steel fishing stand into the ground and tied the radio's metal antenna to it. The reception was great but it almost caused my instant death as a lightning bolt struck the radio.

I still cannot descibe the feeling and the blinding bright red bath of light that I was standing on.
Of course the radio simply exploded and there were screams all over the place.
But here's the strange thing, there was no mark on the tent canvas roof where the lightning entered it.
Those bolts are pure megawatt electriticity.

Thankfully here I am and I can still talk about it.

Have a !BEER my friend.

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That was a lesson that only needed to be taught once, scary stuff.

Thanks for the beer, with the family up last week I needed to restock the fridge. 😁

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Good day my friend!
Totally understand the high electricity bill issue, I wish I was as handy as you with these things!
Hope you are able to find a better place to settle.

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Thank you for the kind reply my dear friend.
I was lucky to be trained in the skills and the electrity costs here is frightening.

I am sure that we will find something as we live on hope as always.
Sorry that I have no tokens left, so I owe you.

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