First off, you definitely do not a dumb one. And, if you are going it on your own  off-grid power - the smarter the system the better. If you can afford an always on when you want it system that keeps your present level of use the same - well good for you. And, in a world of declining energy - any energy you can develop on your own is power in the bank. As a matter of fact, many are of the opinion that power will be the new world's "gold standard".

Smart Systems can be built 3 ways - Dedicated, Central and Peripheral and they can be on-demand or timed. Either system can use batteries to store energy for on-demand use but the less batteries you have - the less the initial costs.

Dedicated System would look like this- The Attic Fan to cool the Attic comes on when the sun shines and that's all it does. This is the most efficient since - when the sun is out- its heating the attic. A step up from that is - When the sun heats the attic - it heats the Double Envelope of the House and stores the heat for winter use.

Other useful systems are the hot water system which re-circulates hot water from the unit and stores it for later use and the basic solar light system.

Central Systems have all the power "channeled through fuse boxes" to particular areas and usually run on a timer. An example is - you run the kitchen a particular time of the day and then you run a Media Room and then in the evening - lights. At night when the system is not being used anywhere else, batteries can be charged or you might choose to have a washer, dishwasher or other pump system run. Many people choose to run a freezer or refrigerator once a day at night.

Peripheral Systems keeps the fuse box you have now and puts everything electrical on timed outlets. If you don't have power enough to run the designated appliance, it doesn't wait until you do -so things only run when the power is sufficient.

400 watt Barn and a 400 watt House System

5 a.m. Chicken Lights On (Off at 5:59) 6 a.m. Charge watering Pump (off 6:29) 6:30 a.m. - Run Dairy Pump (Off 7:59)	6 a.m. Charge House Pump (off 6:29) 6:30 - coffee on! (Off 6:59)
8 a.m. Available for power tools (off 3:59)	7 a.m. - Work Center On (Off 4:59)
4 p.m. Charge a general battery bank	5 p.m. news and entertainment uses (Off 9:59)
7 p.m. Charge Power Tools (off 4:59 am)	10 p.m. Charge House Pump 11 p.m. - run dishwasher 1 a.m. - run clothes washer 2 a.m. - charge communications batteries (phones, ipod, laptop) 3 a.m. - run refrigerator 3:30 a.m. - run bread-maker if wanted - but not bake it!

 

In designing our use, I wanted to use several smaller power generator systems rather than depend on a single wind, solar or hydro to do it all. The main system during spring, summer and fall (until the creek freezes) is hydro power and its the backbone of the system. Hydro power on a small creek of at least a foot deep can put out between 400 watts to 6KW depending on water volume. See Water Bug for more details. The Water Bug Hydro Electric Power pays for itself in a fraction of the time as wind, solar or other alternative energy energies won't run 24/7.