Esse Off the Grid Living

Esse Off the Grid Living

Off the Grid living is back in fashion. Having your home and life style set up so that you are not using any external energy means you are 100% in control of the outgoings in your home. It also means you can live just about anywhere!

There are so many ways of setting up your home and lifestyle to obtain total freedom but the most common is by consolidating all your energy sources into one – and harnessing this energy to use throughout your home

One of the oldest ways is of making energy is wood heating. Over the last ten years the wood heating industry focus has been on making fires burn cleaner and more efficiently. Technology, like triple burning systems and after burners, are now readily available to make fires burn -cleaner' to produce less carbon emission

Australian standards now state that for every 1Kg of wood you burn, your heater needs to product less than 4gms of carbon. But that's the maximum – there are heaters and wood stoves on the market that produce significantly less, down to 0.3gms in some cases.

So all wood heaters are not bad! The advantage of adding a -wet back' or -boiler' to your heater can give you free hot water making wood heating a much more viable and attractive option.

"Wood stoves and hydronic living is not for everyone" says Greg Parker-Hill from Pivot Stove & Heating. "It is a lifestyle choice. But if your house is your -castle' and you tend to live, socialise and entertain at home a wood stove ticking over 24/7 in the kitchen is the ultimate way of living"

The Esse range of stoves and heaters offer this option. Having a -wet back' or 'boiler' means the Esse cooker or wood heater has a built in hot water' jacket' built into the fire that uses the furnace to heat water.

The hot water can be used not only for your domestic needs ( showering, bathing, washing etc ) but if you create enough hot water you can also use it to heat up radiators or in-slab heating. This is commonly known as Hydronic Heating

So, by setting up an Esse cooker in the kitchen, or a wood heater in the lounge room with a large high powered -boiler or -wet back' you can have heating, cooking and hot water all from one appliance. Sounds pretty attractive!

By running hydronic radiators throughout your home or by being clever and putting the radiators in the main living areas you can use all the energy you have created from your cooker or fire.

But what about in summer when you don't want the heater on? Well, you can add solar hot water panels on your roof so that on the days your heater is not on, the solar hot water will still provide your domestic hot water needs. Problem solved!

The advantage of living off the grid is a huge cost saving. Especially if you have your own wood supply or easy access to wood. Your Esse wood stove or wood heater uses all the heat and energy you create. You don't waste a thing. It's the ultimate -greenie' product.

Esse. What more could you ask for?

Esse range cookers and stoves were first made in the late 1800's in the UK, however it is Australia's own Pivot store, that has been around in Geelong, Victoria for the same amount of time (currently being run by the fifth generation) that is the world's biggest seller and distributor of the product.

These beauties are the -Rolls Royce' of stoves and it's easy to see why. Their stylish facade is timeless and for many they are perceived as the stove that truly establishes the kitchen as the heart of the home. And they can do a lot more than just cook. They can heat the home and your hot water, and even enable people to live -off the grid' – a big call for a humble cooker.

All Esse cookers combine modern technology with classic Esse quality, yet fly the flag for technological and environmental developments. The Esse 990 (pictured above) is the -cleanest' wood burning stove on the market but other models offer options for gas or electricity if preferred. It has three or four large capacity ovens and each can maintain different temperatures for multiple use.

Available in a huge range of colours (up to 20 options), Esse range cookers require an understanding of your needs, how you wish to use them and where they will be installed so the service is quite bespoke.

Ranging in price from $8,800 for the wood burning variety up to $17,890 for the top of the range electrical/wood burning combination, Esse stoves are the first choice for anyone wanting to instil a welcome leisurely pace to life in these frantic times.

To find out if your home would be suitable for this lifestyle choice, simply email your house plans to www.pivotstove.com.au and they will assess your personal situation and let you know if it is a viable option.