Nearly Off Grid

Today has been highly productive.
I turned on my propane for the first time since returning home. Up till now, I've been just enjoying shore power, that is, running my huge electric cord to public utilities. So after turning on the propane, just to keep things real, I unplugged and got to work.

As expected, every appliance was a tad slow to respond, as if waiting for the fuel lines to burp out whatever propane bubbles they formed while vegetating 5 months. At last, the back burner of the stove lit, then the front, then the oven. In spite of a bright sunny day, I turned on the furnace. Perfect ignition, just as I remembered it.
But, for some reason, the fridge kept stalling and I decided maybe it wasn't going to work. I couldn't test the water heater yet, because I'm not hooked up to water. Dry cabin, folks.

I kept flipping the switch. Within forty-five, the Check button popped on. I frowned. It was obvious the fridge wanted its 120 volt AC back. Just as I was about to put fix fridge on my repair list, I tried her again. Held my breath. You can't hear the thing ignite, but it must have taken hold.
I left the GAS mode on, just to give the fridge the right idea. Its still working, even as I write this post and the ice cubes are solid.

Perseverance pays off  when I least expect it,

Next, as long as we were testing off grid systems, I plugged in my 12 volt charger and proceeded to charge the phone at the back port.
While it was making great headways, I plugged my 12 volt /175 watt inverter into the front port. Charged the laptop, sewed on my sewing machine, a as a final test, fired up the flat screen t-v along with the DVD player. All good to go.

Wow! I checked other small appliances and decided not to press my luck. According to their tags, they required way more watts. Things like coffee makers and dust busters generate some heat, so that didn't surprise me.

Guess I'm ready now to order some solar panels.