Favorite off-grid appliances and gadgets

[CJ]

I would love to hear some of the favorite appliances and gadgets that can be used off grid. For example, instead of a food processor, your alternative, etc.
Thanks!

[CoonXpress]

Hand cranked food processor.


White Quick Chopper
Exact model of the one that I've been using for 8 years.

[suitcase_sally]

My home made solar oven.

[ailsaek]

I love my Foley food mill. I also love my clothesline.

[Metcalf]

Good thread...

We have been looking into double wiring our new house with a DC system so that we can use DC appliances. You can find a lot of DC items like microwaves, tea pots, lights, LCD TVs, DVD players, etc. This way we can be off the grid, and while we will have a small inverter, we aren't forced to use it most of the time. I honestly thing that DC is a better answer for an off the grid home. A lot of items you use every day just convert the AC back to DC anyways....

[Liese]

My MIL gave me a hand cranked processor like that but a little taller. Great and I still use it 10 yrs on.

Metcalf, can I ask where you find DC items, are you in the US?

We did laundry in a 5 gal bucket (recycled compound one) and a toilet plunger. Wring out items like towels or jeans around a post and then twisting- really gets out a lot of water but not hard the the hands.

[Grandmotherbear]

Maid-Rite washboaRD AND lEHMAN'S PRESSURIZED CLOTHESWASHER. Sorry, cat sat on the keyboard.

[MariaAZ]

Even though we aren't off-grid and I have plenty of food processor-type devices, my favorite tools are my chef's knife, the honing wand and a cutting board. For me, it's more time-efficient for most chopping jobs than the break-down and cleaning of the food processors I have.

My mom used to have the original Veg-O-Matic, which has been discontinued in favor of the Vidalia onion chopper, this picture came from carolwrightgifts.com:


Mom bought me one of these and I must admit that it is pretty handy when I have a lot of chopping to do. It's GREAT for making salsas, as it does a pretty darned good job cubing firm tomatoes. However, that old Veg-O-Matic was a lot better; it sliced, it diced, it julienned... Unfortunately, plastic doesn't last forever, and neither did the several Veg-O-Matics Mom had over the years. After her last one broke several years ago and it was no longer possible to find them in decent condition, she sadly gave up on replacing the device that had been a fixture in our kitchen for a good 30+ years.

[CJ]

Great ideas, keep them coming! We will likely go with a propane fridge when we build, and oven. Washing machine, I'm not sure about yet. I don't want to use a washboard, I always have stacks of laundry, I guess I wash things too much.

We'll heat with wood, and I'll use a clothesline. I like the idea of DC powered lights, they work great in the RV, oil lamps as well for back up.

Is there a non electric coffepot that makes coffee similiar in taste to a drip? I've heard of the French presses but have never used one.

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by MariaAZ

My mom used to have the original Veg-O-Matic, which has been discontinued

Unfortunately, plastic doesn't last forever, and neither did the several Veg-O-Matics Mom had over the years. After her last one broke several years ago and it was no longer possible to find them in decent condition, she sadly gave up on replacing the device that had been a fixture in our kitchen for a good 30+ years.

I frequently find them in almost like new condition at garage sales and estate sale. Maybe it is because I live in a State Fair city and perhaps they were hawked at the annual fairs.

I, too, really like a Veg-O-Matic and also use a plastic 1960 ish slicer that works a pretty much like a mandolin. I think it was called Slice-O-Matic but I can't find a brand name on the unit I have. I do find that it needs lubricated so I usually give it a quick burst of PAM.

My old stand by for both grid and off grid gadgets is simply a chef's knife which I keep well sharpened.

Another off grid item I really like is a three burner, propane, Paulin brand, camping stove. Mine has been in use for 30 years or so.

I also now consider an inverter from 12V to 110 a must for lighting. When you hook it to a tractor or truck battery of good capacity it will give light for a very long time with a compact fluorescent light bulb. I have also powered my computer with one when I had a phone line at my farm. Also televisions for special shows when camping out at my farm.

[DavidUnderwood]

CJ, I have an automatic drip coffee maker
that works on a gas camp stove. I've thought
of ways to use with a charcoal or sterno burner.
Got it a Walley-World. Made by Coleman.

[Junkmanme]

My FAVORITE "off-grid" appliance is my "Sledge-O-Matic" !!!

http://www.sledge-o-matic.com/

Ha-Ha!
Bruce

[marvella]

Is there a non electric coffepot that makes coffee similiar in taste to a drip? I've heard of the French presses but have never used one.

http://www.espressozone.com/neapolitan-pots.html

i bought the neopolitan on the right. i absolutely LOVE it! it makes the best coffee (if you grind your own beans.) it's portable... i even take it camping with me. stainless so it cleans easy...

[moonwolf]

two that I can think of would be handy to use without electic power.

1.Vittorio 'Squeezo' strainer

2. Aeropress espresso coffee maker

[Deb862]

Before we got our solar system put together and operational, the two things I found I missed the most was refrigeration/freezer and indoor pressurized running water. When we finally got our system up and running I thought one of the best appliances we had was the little 12V pump that pumped water into the pressure tank and into the pipes. (We didn't really have a good way to do gravity-feed on our land). It would kick on whenever the pressure tank went below a certain pressure and worked beautifully on our solar system. Indoor pressurized running water! A gift I will never taken for granted again! We were going to go with a propane fridge also and a small very energy efficient electric freezer that would have also worked on our mid-sized solar system.

For laundry, on cloudy days when we had to run the generator to charge the batteries we also used our washer at the same time, but if we didn't/couldn't use the generator we used good ole Lehmans plunger type agitator and a big bucket. It worked well and gave us some good exercise, too!

[Wisconsin Ann]

If you really need your espresso, the little aluminum stovetop (grill top) espressos are fantastic. steam rises thru the grounds up into the top part. yummy.

as to my favorite offgrid....gotta have my tv you know. and my computer (laptop). We found some wheelchair and golfcart 12v gel batteries at a local resale place ($15.00 each). charge 'em up with solar or generator(or even with a bike), attach an inverter to it and voila! electricity for the laptop. We have a 12v rv tv, so that's easy to attach, too.

I also love my handcrank radio/flashlight.

[celticheart]

Originally Posted by ailsaek

I love my Foley food mill. I also love my clothesline.

I love my Foley food mill and my basement and outside clothesline. I hang towels and other heavy things in the basement in bad weather, they dry overnight. The light tuff I use the dryer for.

I am seeking everythign possible to go at least somewhat off grid in the next 18 months, including building a "tiny house".

This should certainly keep me busy for the winter.
I am also glad to know about powering up the laptop...
Carly

[tinknal]

I have a cast aluminum food grater with 3 interchangeable heads. It has a crank like a hand powered meat grinder. It will do a potato in about 10 seconds.

[CJ]

I've bookmarked all gadget links for coffee makers, food processors, etc, thanks!

I don't see too much problem eliminating most of the electrical appliances we use, other than my sewing machines and our laptops, most we can find alternatives for or do without.... no I won't consider using different sewing machines.

I think having most of the appliances propane takes the bulk of the load of the needed solar setup.

Seems like the biggest issue is going to be water, getting it out of the well into a holding tank.

[Deb862]

Yes, that was an issue for us, too, CJ. We ended up buying at 1100-gallon tank and filled it up whenever we had to run the generator or usually about once every 1-2 weeks depending on how water efficient we were. Our well was very deep so we were told we couldn't get a pump for it to run on our solar system until we drastically increased the size of our system. However, we were told if your well is 200 feet or less there are well pumps out there that will run on solar. If your well is less than 200 ft you might want to look into it.