For long months he hated this house. “Like everyone else, I used to come home and turn on the lights, turn the thermostatic valve, run hot water, etc.” All this, without worrying regarding the slightest lack, because this access to energy seems almost infinite to us. “In winter, the first thing I did when I got home, before I even got out of my car, was to check if my phone was picking up WiFi. If it was picking up, that meant that I still had power in the house. If it stayed on 4G, that meant I was dry.”
This new way of life requires a lot of reflection and adaptation. “People don’t realize all the difficulties I’ve faced. Because they only see the work done.” But Jean-François went through rather complicated times…
“I once went 91 days, in the middle of winter, without power… My batteries failed me at the worst time and there was a 90-day delay to replace them. I curdled. I just had a few candles to light me up as well as a flashlight that I recharged in my car. To shower, I had to get out of the house, break the ice on the surface of my rainwater tank. I then did it boil on the fire before pouring it into a watering can to wash myself in my bath. I stored my food in the cellar because there was a constant temperature of 4 degrees there. It was total resourcefulness!” 91 days in the dark and the cold. 91 days of sleeping snuggled up once morest the wood stove that allowed him to warm up and cook.
Anecdotes like this, he can tell dozens. “Yes, not everything can work the first time.” But gradually, he managed to afford all the necessary living comforts.