Do Amish Use Electricity?

The “Amish approach” to electricity is somewhat complicated. On the one hand, almost all Amish groups reject public grid power in their homes. But many Amish do get electric power from a variety of other sources.

The Amish do not reject electricity completely – and most do use it in various ways. It can be said that the Amish use electric power selectively.

Why do the Amish reject public power?

Amish attitudes to electricity use vary across different Amish groups. Like with other aspects of their lives, Amish practices may, in fact, change over time. But the vast majority of Amish reject using public power in their homes. There are several reasons for this.

1. A symbolic tie to “the world”

One reason is the long-held belief that tapping public power would bring them too close to the world. The Amish have traditionally frowned at the symbolic connection of power lines running to their homes (see below). But beyond symbolism, there is a more practical side to the coin as well.

2. Keeping out negative influences

Amish parents are careful about what they let into their homes, concerned over negative influences on their children. They want to keep out worldly influences and ideas which run counter to their Christian values.

On the surface, most Amish people do not see much to fear in using an electric iron, or a vacuum cleaner. But with electric sockets in the home, any variety of devices could be plugged in and used.

Eliminating public power from the home prevents the temptation of using television, radio, and the internet in the home – keeping out worldly content full of sex, violence, and secular ideas which Amish see as threats to their communities.

3. The value of work

The Amish typically perform home tasks like cleaning, canning, and cooking together. They see value in working together in terms of building both a work ethic and closeness of community.

Relying too muich on labor-saving devices, Amish feel, would deprive children of character-building opportunities to work. There would be less need to do jobs together. Amish believe this would have a negative effect on the closeness of family and community.

Historical background

In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the Amish had banned public power by 1920. Church leaders saw public power as a threat for several reasons. For one, public power was considered a worldly luxury.

Use of public electricity was also associated with a more liberal local group, the Peachey Amish, who had previously adopted it. Rejecting public power was a way of establishing their identity – in contrast to this liberalizing group.

Use of public power was also seen as a physical and symbolic connection to the non-Amish world. The decision to reject public power in the home, which has held strong for over a century, is a strong statement of Amish desire to remain separate (Riddle, Kraybill pp 198-202).

What do the Amish use electricity for?

Though Amish largely reject public power in the home, most Amish do not see problems with using electric power in limited ways. Taking a practical approach, Amish use electricity for a variety of purposes, including:

1. Lighting the home – Amish people use a variety of means including lamps powered by batteries and natural gas
2. Appliances such as washing machines – Amish women rely on some time-saving appliances
3. Powering equipment in a business – Amish produce electricity and other forms of power using diesel generators
4. Buggy lighting – Lighting at night is critical to buggy safety on the roads

How do the Amish generate power?

Amish generate power in various ways. First, lighting. You might suppose that Amish use old-fashioned means of lighting, like candles and oil lamps. In fact, most modern-day Amish have left these forms of lighting behind.

Propane and natural gas are common means of providing lighting, or for powering other appliances. While many Amish use more sophisticated gas fixtures to light their homes, others rely on battery powered lamps to generate light. Flame lighting (eg, oil lamps) is not commonly used outside of more conservative Amish homes.

A common piece of furniture in an Amish home is a rollable lamp, with a gas tank concealed in a square wooden cabinet on wheels. This allows the lamp to be wheeled to where it is most needed. In the evening, Amish typically gather together to read and spend family time in the living room, often with one or two lamps providing all the light that is needed for a large family.

One drawback in the summertime, however, is the high heat generated by such lighting. The church rules (Ordnung) of a given Amish congregation will dictate what type of lighting is acceptable.

Interestingly, when purchasing a non-Amish home, some Amish churches allow a “grace period” (typical from six months to a year) during which the Amish family may continue to use electric power. This is a practical concession due to the high cost of adapting a non-Amish home to Amish standards.

Other sources of power

The Amish often tap electricity provided by diesel generators to power certain appliances. A device called an inverter converts 12V current into the 110V current that many devices run on.

Amish people typically make use of various batteries for devices such as flashlights, and will recharge them using a diesel generator. Some Amish, though not all, also accept the use of solar panels to generate energy to charge batteries, power an electric fence for livestock, or heat water.

Donald Kraybill has called this form of electricity tapping into “God’s grid”. All of these forms of power serve a practical purpose, but are limited in scope, thus restricting the type of technology that can be used.

Most Amish do not use more archaic means of generating power, such as windmills or water wheels. Amish people will use wind power to pump water out of a well, however, and roof-mounted wind turbines have become popular in some communities. Most Amish in-home plumbing relies on air pressure.

Amish use electricity provided by a diesel generator to power equipment such as washing machines. The same power source may be used to run a vaporizer to help a sick child, for example. Some Amish may use limited mixers or blender type appliances in the kitchen, but generally larger labor-saving devices such as dishwashers or microwaves are not used.

Amish people value work for the social aspect of it, and also in teaching children a strong work ethic.  The Amish do appreciate some tools that help them get things done faster, but with too many unnecessary labor-saving devices, Amish feel that they would be depriving their children of the character-building aspects of manual labor.

How do Amish keep their food cold?

Amish cool food in a variety of ways, but most commonly through the use of gas-powered refrigerators. These may be specially made or adapted from standard refrigerators.

More conservative Amish may rely on an old-fashioned icebox. They may receive a delivery of ice, or in some cases, cut it from frozen ponds in winter. Amish also use coolers to preserve products they are selling from the heat, such as pies and cakes, and also to carry lunch, for example children going to school or day laborers to the jobsite.

Electricity is used in some Amish businesses

Some Amish do in fact use public electricity in their businesses. The owner of a market stand business may make use of the electrical capacity provided in the stand. The use of electricity in this case is allowed as the stand itself is not owned by the Amish person, only rented by him.

Other Amish may generate electricity for various devices as described above, by making use of a generator and inverter. In addition to electricity, many Amish make use of both hydraulic (oil) and pneumatic (air) forms of power, referred to as “Amish electricity” (see Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture, pp. 208-210). A diesel engine will be used to drive these devices.

Amish may operate air hammers or a variety of tools using these means of power.  Some Amish may have electric forms of lighting installed in shops, especially if working with flammable chemicals (ie, furniture finishing).  Generally, Amish allow a greater degree of technology in places of business than in the home or schoolhouse.

Some more conservative Amish, such as Swartzentruber Amish, will not permit these means of powering equipment, however. In such cases they may rely on a line shaft attached to a number of belts which drive various pieces of equipment in a shop.

Electricity while also be used to varying degrees on the farm, as in powering welders or electric fences to confine livestock. Gas engines are also used to power lawnmowers or weed whackers in some Amish church districts, though they would be off-limits in others.

Amish buggy lighting

Amish also need lighting while traveling by carriage.  While kerosene lantern lighting was used for a while in the early 20th century, some Amish in fact adopted electric lighting on buggies as early as the 1920s and into the 1930s, when its usage became widespread in Lancaster County (Riddle, Kraybill, p. 77-78).

Electric lighting is widespread today, with some buggies sporting fairly elaborate turn signals and even strobe flashing lights, all designed to get the attention of motorists and prevent accidents.

However, some of the more conservative Amish, such as the Nebraska Amish and Swartzentruber Amish groups, forgo electric lighting in favor of one or two kerosene lamps hung on the sides of the carriage.

Yet most Amish, being safety conscious, take advantage of electric lighting and attempt to make their buggies as visible as possible. They are powered by an onboard battery, that may be located in the buggy itself, or in a newer innovation, hung below the chassis in order to prevent battery acid spilling inside the carriage in the event of an accident.

An Amishman even developed an alternator to help keep the on-board buggy battery charged and prevent loss of lighting on roads at night.

Amish use electric power selectively

The Amish are not against use of electric power and acknowledge its usefulness. They seek to remain off the public grid in order to prevent worldly influences from entering the home, and as a symbolic means of remaining separate from the world.

At the same time, they see value in limited use of electric power, and thus generate it by various means, making use of diesel generators, batteries, inverters, and solar panels, among other technologies.

Amish use of electricity is another example of the measured Amish approach to technology, one that acknowledges practical needs while maintaining caution in adopting the innovations of the dominant society.

For more, see:

• Do Amish people use telephones?
• Do Amish use computers and the Internet?
• Do Amish use batteries?
• The Amish & Solar Power
• Amish Church Rules
• Amish Homes
• Amish & the Slow Moving Vehicle (SMV) triangle
• The Riddle of Amish Culture, Donald B. Kraybill
• Living Without Electricity, Stephen E. Scott and Kenneth Pellman

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