It is surprising how many everyday tasks we now use electricity to do. A good example that I never gave a thought to before we went off grid was making a slice of toast. Living with the amount of electricity that a couple of car batteries holds makes electric toasters out of the question. During cold weather the wood fire in our cook stove does the job in about the same amount of time an electric toaster would. The big difference is that when you put your bread on the stove, it is not advisable to walk away unless you like your toast very dark!
Making coffee is another example. An old fashion percolator does that job easily, on the cook stove in winter and often over a campfire in summer. We also have a bottle gas cook stove which is fine for the percolator but does not work that well for making toast. It is easy to understand why our ancestors abandoned many of the traditional methods of doing some of these sorts of tasks when electricity became commonly available. Convenience. It is so much easier to push down the lever on the toaster and go about your business compared to standing next to a hot cook stove and watching that your toast doesn't go up in smoke.If I put on a pot of coffee and run out side on some errand and forget about it, I end up drinking very strong coffee. Using electricity is really about saving time. All of the automated appliances save time for you to do other things. Not using all that electricity makes you stay with the task at hand. Most times, getting that slightly smokey slice of toast fresh off the fire and spreading some home made butter or jam on it is well worth the time spent standing still and watching for a bit.
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