My solution for a power efficient setup was to split it up: all the services I use but don’t need all the time, like jellyfin for example, I host on my nas. I only turn that on when I need it.
The stuff that’s running all the time, like home assistant, addblocker, etc, I run on a raspberry pi.
Might not work for everyone, but I’m happy with it.
I do exactly the same. I do not have a lot of data I feel a need to backup. I have a nightly job that zips and then encrypts my data, then rclones it to off site storage.
From what I read it slow growing and pretty manageable as far as cancer is manageable of course. Hope he’ll make a quick recovery, and start growing that magnificent beard back.