Minimize electric use for heat and hot water using passive and active strategies: Passive solar heating and masonry fireplace coupled with superior insulation provide most of the heat needed without any electric use. Radiant infloor heat uses propane or solar hot water requiring only pumps, however at approximately 600 Kwh to run, these 2 pumps use more electricity than I anticipated, but there is plenty of power if heating used during day. Propane fireplace in master bedroom for heat where only the fan only uses electricity. Solar hot water system provides almost all domestic hot water and pump uses "free electricity." The well pump is relatively small (1/2 HP) but is AC.

Timing of electric use to maximize "free electricity": The photovoltaic system is robust and generates far more electricity than can be used and stored in the battery bank on a sunny or partly sunny day. This is the time to use the radiant infloor heat (house retains heat well overnight and no heat needed at night), use the washer/dryer/dishwasher, use power tools, run the vacuum, use HRV etc. The solar hot water system pump is only needed when the sun is shining. Minimize 24/7 electricity use to what is most important: Refrigerator, radon fan, router/modem/webcams/internet of things devices, raspberry pi server, second raspberry pi for monitoring outback data, radon monitors, smoke/carbon monoxide/propane detectors, inverter. The radiant infloor heat comes on automatically when the solar hot water tank reaches a user specified temperature. I also run the electric space heater to use up excess electricity during float since with an off-grid home, unused electricity is just thrown away.

Measure electric usage: I use Kill-A-Watt monitor to measure wattage of appliances, electronic equipment etc.

Appliance selection including energy star: Energy star dishwasher, washing machine, refrigerator. Refrigerator choices for an off the grid home include DC electric and propane refrigerator but the current generation of energy star refrigerators are so energy efficient and so inexpensive relative to the other options that the price differential more than makes up for the increased cost to a PV system. The hot water heaters, dryer, and stove use propane as a fuel source. The stove uses electricity for the electronic ignition only: it does not have a glow bar (large electricity user in essentially all other ovens in US) and does not even have an electric clock. I try to use the microwave only during the day and it has a phantom amp power strip to turn it off.

Energy efficient lighting: LED lighting is currently the most energy efficient. This house has no halogen or incandescent lighting. I have used a variety of LED lights including dimmer lights. A few CFL lights are still used. I have motion detectors/occupancy sensors (which don't have a wattage requirement and work with electronic ballasts) in the bathrooms, pantry, a closet, and laundry room.

Radon mitigation : Radon level was found to be very high with this extremely tight home (38.7). After sealing and caulking the floor and about a year of expermentation with multiple types of radon fans using various combinations of 3 pipes inserted under and around the slab, and HRV timing, a good result was obtained using the minimum of electricity. The current plan uses DC radon fans which have excellent performance with few watts. A 24V 38 watt DC fan pulls air from under the house from the garage. It currently uses AC power with a DC transformer. A 12V 27 watt DC fan hooked up to a left over solar panel from our construction RV (does not draw off the main house batteries) and another 24V 38 watt fan are attached to a drain pipe and pull air from the drain pipe running behind the house and the garage. There is also a pipe which allows for passive ventilation from under the kitchen in the back of the house. I have two continuous radon monitors, one of which sits on the kitchen desk and transmits radon values over the internet. The radon level now runs about 2 if fans are working.

Eliminate phantom amps: Many appliances, electronic equipment and other items use quite a bit of power when they are off. They should be really off by pulling the plug or turning off their power supply. The simplest solution is using a power strip or an outlet switch which is turned off after the item is no longer needed. Phantom amp switches are hard wired for the 2 garage door openers and the stove although the stove that I purchased does not need this because it has no electronic components.

Strategies to make use of electricity more difficult: Kitchen sink garbage disposal switch is under the sink. Trash compactor is in laundry room rather than kitchen so that it is compacted less often.

Computer/Electronics/Telephone: Energy star laptops and monitors. Use laptop in preference to desktop because it uses far less energy. Modem to Viasat satellite internet, wireless router and webcams use very little power. I had an Acer netbook on continously to run the Wattplot program for monitoring our Outback inverter and charge controllers. This died in October 2018 and the program was no longer supported. I replaced it with a linux based netbook and a python program that I wrote which captures the outback data from the outback mate via a serial connection and stores it in a MySQL database. When the netbook died, I substituted a Raspberry Pi 4 to capture the solar data. The TV and sound system are good relative to alternatives but still use power. The best solution is to have reasonable viewing habits. Stereo and video wiring is in walls so power for wireless equipment not needed. I now use voice over internet protocol for phone service which is wired to the phone jacks. I have some ordinary phones which draw power from the phone jack only.

Find solutions to problems using less or no energy: Climate is very harsh and septic tank froze. Common solution in this area is to use heater at about 1kwH. We put 4 inches of foam insulation and then 4 feet of dirt above septic tank. Advance planning with deeper septic tank would have been much better.