I have always considered myself a bit of a hippie. I recycle what I can, and re-purpose and re-use before buying new. In a Facebook group that I recently joined, I jokingly identified as “off-grid curious”.

When I purchased my vintage trailer, the intent was to fix it up and haul it north to a spot in the bush that I had leased to create an off-grid get-away, an eco-camp, if you like. The idea of doing more-living more fully connected to nature-with less is certainly appealing to me but the reality of my current situation is that I live in 3,000 square feet of incredibly inefficient space. I have more than I need . . . by far!

After visiting my brother and his wife’s off-grid acreage in BC over the summer, I began to think about small changes that I could make to my every day routine that might impact my power and natural gas consumption. Looking at reducing consumption through the lens of environmental stewardship is one thing; looking at it through the lens of reducing the cost to run this place is an added benefit-especially during the winter months in SK when the highest gas bill that I paid last year for one month was $574.

So I called my brother and this is the plan that we came up with . . . power use is power use and it is largely based on personal habits. If you have LED lights and are conscientious about usage, there isn’t really too much that you can change. Conducting a bit of a self-audit, I decided to defrost an upright freezer that didn’t have anything in it and will leave it unplugged for the time being. Going forward, I will play Spotify on my phone when I am working as opposed to having the TV and soundbar on all day (a cost savings of about $10/month); and I will plug chargers in when I charge my phone . . . and unplug them when not in use (and I will do the same with the power bars as anything with a light that stays on all the time is drawing power).

As for the natural gas, it turns out I may have a little more control over my monthly use. For starters, I hung a Mexican blanket over the door leading to the two-storey addition as this is the least energy efficient part of the house and a part of the house that I don’t use. Come 11:30 am, when it is time to stretch my legs (I work from home) and think about getting lunch, I will take the blanket down as the sun coming through the south-facing windows will have heated the space to the point where the impact on the thermostat in the hall will be minimal.

The bones of the house that I live in are old! What started as a storey and a half farm house was moved to this yard and placed on a cindercrete block basement and then, according to the home inspector, “built onto in every direction, including up!” To that end, I will close the doors of my bedroom (NW corner of the house) and the bedroom beside mine during the day as most of our winds are from the NW and these rooms tend to be cooler so drafts reach the thermostat located in the hall.

I beefed up the weatherstripping on two exterior doors and insulated the space between the floor joists and the foundation in the basement. I also put rigid pink insulation in the windows in the basement for the winter. Finally, I will use my wood-burning fireplace when I am home so that the natural gas wall furnace in the converted garage, which is only 80% efficient, runs less. This space is a large common area that is set-up as my living room. It is the place where I spend most of my time because that is the only room in the house in which my furbabies are allowed. To burn wood, I need to chop wood . . . so I bought an axe (cue Justin Timberlake’s song Man of the Woods and substitute “woman” in the lyrics).

Given that I have accomplished a number of items on my 55 in 55 list, I am adding one more . . . I hope that the changes that I have outlined above will save me about $55/week from November through to April.