The following are some of their answers, unaltered. I hope it inspires you to take the plunge and join in too! Remember, this coming weekend, starting 23.00 on Friday 19th – flick the switch.

Note – alcohol and fire do NOT mix – accidents will happen. If you are going to get drunk, don’t do this.

What did you enjoy most about the weekend?

The quiet, for both of us, i.e. no fridge, radiator noises, no TV.

Being made to think and value electricity and power rather than just use it because it’s there. We have left the lights off much more this week!

The quiet and knowledge that machines didn’t need to be attended to!

Early to bed and late to rise

All the candles and the secret scent of freedom that comes with no power.

Being released from relying upon clocks and reflexively going online when there are so many other things to do (I read an entire book on Sunday!)

No TV and the peace that came with it. We played pictionary and had fun. Seeing my initially reluctant teenager actively take part. I also quite liked the low lighting from the candles.

Time spent reconnecting with friends, over mulled wine and loud singing and poor guitar playing, oh and devising new ways of doing toast without finger burning. Loved settling in to the early evening with candles and space to think.

The liberation of not checking email!

Difficult to isolate just one thing … I loved the gentle light, I appreciated the daylight more, I loved the calm and quiet, spending quality time with the family without the distraction of the TV, and I really loved the special exciting feeling almost like being on holiday

What did you miss most or find most difficult?

Worrying about the freezer.

Sadly I had to turn the computer back on for work

Heat … I missed heat and hot water.

I really needed to get some work done – so ‘cheated’ by going to someone else’s house to use their power when my laptop battery ran out. So I missed power for my laptop and internet connection the most.

Sometimes balancing the ‘essence’ of the weekend with what needed to happen was difficult – for example we had a flour spill on the carpet during our cooky-making extravaganza, and really there was no choice but to get the dustbuster or else have flour ground into the carpet and strewn about the apartment.

Being able to grab the vacuum when we dropped something, the ability to flick on a light and the convenience that comes with electricity.

Most difficult was finding where I’d left the camera! Didn’t find it too difficult, all in all.

It took a few hours to get used to the lack of immediate light, but that was all really.

I think for me personally I found cooking the most difficult as we don’t have a fire and we were limited to a small camping stove, which was somewhat limiting.

I think the hardest thing was keeping a fire going for heat. I missed my cell more than anything I think.

What tips would you share with others trying this in the future?

Have light sources available for forgetful offspring who come home to a dark house.

Plan your weekend several weeks in advance!

To be honest none – let them find out for themselves.

It’s a good chance to catch up on sleep, or go out and be sociable! Invest in a gas stove!

Begin to make a family aware of activity months in advance – and have resources to run light and heat from non gris sources.

If you’re turning off the fridge/ freezer, don’t go food shopping for at least a week prior. Run out of something in that time? Too bad.

Don’t dismiss it because you can’t do 100% power off. You can still contribute. Something is better than nothing right?

Go for it … lanterns save the worry of naked flames and be sure to tie glow sticks to the dog.

Get a heat source! Our log burner made the whole thing an almost breeze, lots of heat, hot water and cooking facilities!

Organisation is the key, if you plan your meals and empty the fridge and freezer in the run up to the event, you won’t go far wrong.

What advice would you give someone considering doing something like this but unsure if they can actually do it?

Don’t be anxious, don’t take it too seriously, enjoy the experience of living by candlelight etc for a while, finding things to do without electrciity. It’s up to you how you do the weekend.

Go on, give it a go. if you fail like we did you can always flick the switch back on but you’ll appreciate having that switch back on much more than you did before!

Try it for a day, or 24 hours first.

You are in control. GO for it – if it all becomes too much just flip the switch.

Come on – challenge yourself! What really do you have to lose? The benefits far outweigh the discomforts over the course of one weekend.

Baby steps. Stat with something – anything – and build on it.

If you can’t do it all then do what you can. You’d be surprised.

48 hours can be a whole lot of fun. Be creative, get others involved, bring a candle parties are handy – after 48 hours you can say I did it and you will be sooo proud.

It’s two days! What’s to lose?

Go for it! Keep an open mind, be creative, don’t be defeatist and have fun!

We are asking participants to take a survey before and after the event so that we would like to understand a bit more about:

• why people are participating
• what they’re worried about and
• what they hope to get from the weekend

If you’ve signed up to turn off the electricity this weekend but haven’t yet taken it, please take the survey now (it’s quick) here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XJP2H5B

We’ve gotten some great replies already, and I’d like to share what people are writing.

Why are you doing it?

We asked people to choose the single biggest reason they’re doing this. 62% chose “for the environment”, 25% “for fun” and 12.5% as a “personal challenge”.

What are you worried about?

The funny thing is, people don’t seem to be worried.

We asked people to rate on a scale of “Not at all” to “Extremely” in terms of how they feel about the upcoming weekend, and 62.5% said “Not at all” for “Anxious”, with 25% “A little” and 12.5% “Somewhat”. No one put down either “A lot” or “Extremely” for anxious.

In fact, people felt “Extremely” “Free” (37.5%), “Excited” (62.5%), and “Proud” (50%).

To be honest, I expected a little more anxiety and a little less enthusiasm, but I’m so glad that there’s such a feeling of optimism and excitement.

It’s like we’re planning a big slumber party and can’t wait for the weekend.

What do you hope to get from the experience?

Here’s two of my favourite quotes so far:

An understanding of how we use electricity in this house and where we can easily cut our usage to offer economies both financially and ecologically. I hope that it will be an exciting adventure and may bring back some fond childhood memories. I am sure it will be a fun experience for all the family.

It will be a challenge to do without the convenience that electricity provides and the entertainment and means of communication that it powers. Living on my own this is pretty important to me, but I hope to be inspired to reduce energy usage from now on and to be more sociable.

What are you doing to prepare?

I’ve just gotten back from party at the grocery store, having seized the opportunity of a lift offered by my friend Victoria. I’ve got butteries (a Scottish pastry kind of like flat croissants), bread and cheddar for making toasted cheese sandwiches, and more chocolate and peanut butter to make a new batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls for all the guests we’re having stop by this weekend.

We’ve got at least 3 different families coming by to check out life without electricity, and from what I’m hearing from other participants, it’s become quite a social hub for many.

Here’s what some others are doing:

Made sure the alladin lamps have kerosene, brought up plenty of firewood, gased up the generator and launched a Power Off campaign at Frankston isd…Looking forward to painting, reading & snuggling by lamplight- it’s been awhile.

Running down on frozen food.
Getting candles in.
Dusting off some old board games.

I have been busy preparing meals from the stuff in our freezer that will be easy to reheat on our camping gas stove. Organising candles and oil lamps. Chatting to people about the challenge to get their ideas and thoughts. Planning games and activities to keep us amused.

We’re really pleased, proud and excited to have so many people doing this with such imagination and flair. Thank you to all of you for making this event a success before we’ve even done it!

December 11 - 13, 2009

Please will you all follow this link and complete the quick 10 question survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XJP2H5B

Thank you.

Please, will you also make notes of your experiences during the weekend, keep a diary, take photos and complete a final questionnaire afterwards?

Best wishes!

Malcolm