Living Without Electricity

Living Without Electricity – Stephen Scott

Most people today cannot imagine daily life without electricity, from lights and refrigerators to washing machines, computers and telephones. Yet in communities across North America, many Amish and other Old Order groups have chosen to live without connecting to the public power grid. In Living Without Electricity, Stephen Scott and Kenneth Pellman explore how and why these communities manage everyday life in this way.

The authors explain the religious and cultural reasons behind the choice, rooted in the Old Order commitment to simplicity, humility, separation from worldly influences and the preservation of close-knit family and community life. They note that rejecting the grid is not a rejection of all technology, and that different communities draw the line in different places, often after careful discussion about how a technology might affect their way of life.

The book then describes practical solutions in detail. Readers learn how homes are heated with wood and coal stoves, how lamps fueled by kerosene or pressurized gas provide light, how food is kept cold using ice, gas refrigerators or other methods, and how cooking, laundry, water pumping and sewing are done using gas engines, wind power, hydraulic and pneumatic systems or human and animal power. The authors also discuss farm work and businesses run without grid electricity.

Illustrated with photographs and drawings, the book is respectful, informative and full of fascinating detail.

Living Without Electricity will appeal to readers interested in the Amish and Old Order communities, simple living, self-sufficiency and the history of technology. Some practices described have changed since publication.