You'd have to ask OP if he has more specific reasons. Lack of public transportation, is probably one of them.
The ejecta from the micronova every 12,068 years, has hit at regular intervals around the earth. It's a cyclical event, and for whatever reason, where the black sun's accrued material has walloped the surface, it's been at a measured difference from the last position. North America got hit last time. IDR if it was supposed to be China or somewhere out in the Pacific this time.
'Cooked'... he needs to have underground shelter. That will protect him from the initial wave that hits the earth, that destroys the modern grid and just about anything else electrical or electronic. Afterwards, having a house that tall out in the open, is an invitation to people who want to take your stuff. Assuming a stick structure like that is still there.
My guess, is some aspect of the services are waiting for the initial wave, to then offer an alternative. Nothing to say about it, because, A) idk what the level of readiness is, in places where there's just a bunch of poor public-transit riding astronauts. B) Why would they say anything now, anyway? Too much disruption and anticipation. Nobody* believes the idea; they've been brainwashed with gradualism. Better that way. Blind system followers got the jab; it will be just another weeding of the fields.
no idea...anywhere at 8k feet in nevada is going to brutal in the winter. dont give a frick if the average temp is 70 when the summer is that hot and you dont consider the wind chill
Watched a video on a dude who rigged up Washing machines as hydro generators. Spent a metric frickton on the wire to run it back to his homestead, which I never understood. If you have that kind of money, get something better than a jury rigged washing machine?
>If you have that kind of money, get something better than a jury rigged washing machine?
Converting a washing machine motor into a generator is very easy and provides pretty much the same power as an equivalent purpose built turbine that you aren't going to reliably find, while also being simple to repair and simple to replace.
You want your off-grid solutions to be simple.
You might want a large termal accumulator to keep you warm during winter and cool in summer, such as 100 tanks 1 m^3 each with water and anti freeze. Large thermal differences can be used to drive a Stirling engine.
>(I didn't want to make a new thread for this and this thread was the closest to a "homeowner general", sorry. Thread is on page 8 so I hope it's ok if I ask this here.)
Anybody know what pic related is called?
It's a stick with a sharp blade at the end and a plastic surface for snow to glide on.
The purpose is to clear snow off your roof without having to actually climb up on the roof.
I can find it for sale but very expensive shipping, don't know what it's officially called so don't know how to search properly for it.
Anybody have the name for it, and/or a product to recommend, and/or has made one of these yourself?
thanks for the tip, i assume heat cable is called heat tape. would be comfortable to have installed but seems a little luxurious step and i'm not a fan of how it looks.
Friend of mine has a farm with a river running next to it. For several decades he's had a hydroelectric turbine system for power production. His system is tied into the grid, so it doesn't compare directly to what OP wants.
But there are a few similarities that might be useful to know about.
His property is on a slope so the river water has some velocity.
Nonetheless, he has a big dam (about 10m wide, 5m deep, 25m long) that is fed by the river instead of placing the turbine directly into the river stream. This slows down flow and prevents damage from tree trunks and other large debris that comes down the river during floods.
The system has been upgraded and modernized several times at some expense. The current setup offers a freefall height of about 2-3m (6-10ish feet) iirc from the dam to the turbine which is in a separate, isolated building below the dam.
With all of the above in place, the typical output is about 6kW. Whenever there's a dry spell this obviously drops to zero. In the winter his intake sometimes freezes up (61 degrees north) and again production drops to zero.
There's a strainer at surface height in the dam where a pipe leads water down to the turbine. This strainer needs to be cleaned out pretty much every day, or it gets blocked by leaves, grass and other foreign objects. If it's not cleaned, water stops flowing and, you guessed it, production drops to zero.
... ... ...
Meanwhile, there's a guy near my workplace who covered one of his barn walls with solar panels angled slightly upwards. This is still at 61 degrees north. His typical output is also about 6kW, at significantly lower cost. Panels are crazy cheap now, and MPPT regulators aren't that expensive either. Maintenance is limited to spraying the panels with a hose once in a while to remove dust.
For off grid I'd do a bunch of PV panels tied into as many LiFePo batteries as I could afford. Then convert to 115/230VAC to minimize losses on long cable runs. Generator as backup.
You've mentioned temps in the 70F range. That's about 21 Celsius. So heating the house is probably not a big concern to you.
However, there are bound to be colder days/periods than the average of 70, and nights are usually colder than daytime no matter where you're located.
So: A wood stove is very useful even in your climate. I would install one of those that comes equipped for cooking, with provisions for heating at least 2 pans simultaneously.
To save on electricity, heat up water for showering on the stove and use a cabin shower cabinet with its own separate 12V water pump. I have this in my own offgrid cabin, and it's great since you avoid the high electricity consumption typically associated with heating water.
In colder regions it's worth looking into having an energy well drilled down several hundred feet at least. The circulation pump for those wells uses very little power, while producing a very decent output that keeps the house warm. You're literally tapping into the earth's near endless supply of core heat.
Wastewater discharge:
If you can, install separate plumbing for the toilet(s). Wastewater from showers, sinks, dishwashing and laundry is mostly harmless (choose your detergents wisely) and can be collected for irrigation and other reuses with only minimal treatment steps (e.g. look into simple expanded clay aggregate treatment).
Toilet waste needs a more careful approach. With a water saving toilet, 10% of your household's wastewater (i.e. the toilet part) holds 90% of the pathogens. So keep it separate, and you'll have a much smaller volume of troublesome toilet waste to contend with. (FYI, the resulting "concentrate" toilet waste can be used in a biogas reactor or air dried and burned for heat - use carbon filter on vents to mitigate smell.)
Mixed plumbing means ALL the wastewater must be treated as toilet waste rendering it largely unsuitable for reuse (too filthy for onsite treatment, too diluted to be used for energy).
If the toilet does not use water the contents will after 4 years be sufficiently composted that it can be used for plants.
Urine can be separeted out and used separately, see the neighbouring general /pjg/ for excessive details.
Absolutely. There are a number of biological toilet options readily available in the market that have little to no water use at all.
However, the moment a women enters the equation waterless toilets usually get thrown out asap. So in a house for both genders (yeah there are only two at birth) it's probably a more long-term solution to install low-flushing toilets. Marine toilets come to mind. I have an electrical Jabsco in my boat which works well, just push the flush switch and voila...
cast iron stove
Live @8000 ft. elevation average temp 70 deg
See Cold Creek Nevada
Why 8000 feet for hydro and solar?
It's above 4,000 ft: the estimated height of the water that will inundate the land after the solar micronova.
>4,000 ft
Why twice the height?
so he'll be close enough to it do get cooked and I can move in to his cool off grid house
You'd have to ask OP if he has more specific reasons. Lack of public transportation, is probably one of them.
The ejecta from the micronova every 12,068 years, has hit at regular intervals around the earth. It's a cyclical event, and for whatever reason, where the black sun's accrued material has walloped the surface, it's been at a measured difference from the last position. North America got hit last time. IDR if it was supposed to be China or somewhere out in the Pacific this time.
'Cooked'... he needs to have underground shelter. That will protect him from the initial wave that hits the earth, that destroys the modern grid and just about anything else electrical or electronic. Afterwards, having a house that tall out in the open, is an invitation to people who want to take your stuff. Assuming a stick structure like that is still there.
My guess, is some aspect of the services are waiting for the initial wave, to then offer an alternative. Nothing to say about it, because, A) idk what the level of readiness is, in places where there's just a bunch of poor public-transit riding astronauts. B) Why would they say anything now, anyway? Too much disruption and anticipation. Nobody* believes the idea; they've been brainwashed with gradualism. Better that way. Blind system followers got the jab; it will be just another weeding of the fields.
* That number is growing.
Average temps in 70s
no idea...anywhere at 8k feet in nevada is going to brutal in the winter. dont give a frick if the average temp is 70 when the summer is that hot and you dont consider the wind chill
Why is the runoff from the house and drive going into the septic?
Not septic boy wonder
Post property characteristics and general location because geography and climate matter. If you don't even own property the discussion is useless.
Watched a video on a dude who rigged up Washing machines as hydro generators. Spent a metric frickton on the wire to run it back to his homestead, which I never understood. If you have that kind of money, get something better than a jury rigged washing machine?
>If you have that kind of money, get something better than a jury rigged washing machine?
Converting a washing machine motor into a generator is very easy and provides pretty much the same power as an equivalent purpose built turbine that you aren't going to reliably find, while also being simple to repair and simple to replace.
You want your off-grid solutions to be simple.
You might want a large termal accumulator to keep you warm during winter and cool in summer, such as 100 tanks 1 m^3 each with water and anti freeze. Large thermal differences can be used to drive a Stirling engine.
>(I didn't want to make a new thread for this and this thread was the closest to a "homeowner general", sorry. Thread is on page 8 so I hope it's ok if I ask this here.)
Anybody know what pic related is called?
It's a stick with a sharp blade at the end and a plastic surface for snow to glide on.
The purpose is to clear snow off your roof without having to actually climb up on the roof.
I can find it for sale but very expensive shipping, don't know what it's officially called so don't know how to search properly for it.
Anybody have the name for it, and/or a product to recommend, and/or has made one of these yourself?
bump for this... i've shoveled the roof for now but i would love to be able to use that remover-thing next year if anybody know something
Heat tape. I've seen 60ft cords at TSC in their clearance for $30. Comes with the clips and instructions.
thanks for the tip, i assume heat cable is called heat tape. would be comfortable to have installed but seems a little luxurious step and i'm not a fan of how it looks.
just look up "snow removal roof" on Amazon or whatever
damn, i'm so anti-amazon that it didn't even cross my mind. looking at the results maybe there is no name for that specific type of snow removal tool.
Thanks for trying to help btw!
>hydro
You are gonna build your own dam?
The design of that house has literally zero thermal efficiency, whoever designed that is dumber than a downs kid
Friend of mine has a farm with a river running next to it. For several decades he's had a hydroelectric turbine system for power production. His system is tied into the grid, so it doesn't compare directly to what OP wants.
But there are a few similarities that might be useful to know about.
His property is on a slope so the river water has some velocity.
Nonetheless, he has a big dam (about 10m wide, 5m deep, 25m long) that is fed by the river instead of placing the turbine directly into the river stream. This slows down flow and prevents damage from tree trunks and other large debris that comes down the river during floods.
The system has been upgraded and modernized several times at some expense. The current setup offers a freefall height of about 2-3m (6-10ish feet) iirc from the dam to the turbine which is in a separate, isolated building below the dam.
With all of the above in place, the typical output is about 6kW. Whenever there's a dry spell this obviously drops to zero. In the winter his intake sometimes freezes up (61 degrees north) and again production drops to zero.
There's a strainer at surface height in the dam where a pipe leads water down to the turbine. This strainer needs to be cleaned out pretty much every day, or it gets blocked by leaves, grass and other foreign objects. If it's not cleaned, water stops flowing and, you guessed it, production drops to zero.
... ... ...
Meanwhile, there's a guy near my workplace who covered one of his barn walls with solar panels angled slightly upwards. This is still at 61 degrees north. His typical output is also about 6kW, at significantly lower cost. Panels are crazy cheap now, and MPPT regulators aren't that expensive either. Maintenance is limited to spraying the panels with a hose once in a while to remove dust.
For off grid I'd do a bunch of PV panels tied into as many LiFePo batteries as I could afford. Then convert to 115/230VAC to minimize losses on long cable runs. Generator as backup.
Cont.
You've mentioned temps in the 70F range. That's about 21 Celsius. So heating the house is probably not a big concern to you.
However, there are bound to be colder days/periods than the average of 70, and nights are usually colder than daytime no matter where you're located.
So: A wood stove is very useful even in your climate. I would install one of those that comes equipped for cooking, with provisions for heating at least 2 pans simultaneously.
To save on electricity, heat up water for showering on the stove and use a cabin shower cabinet with its own separate 12V water pump. I have this in my own offgrid cabin, and it's great since you avoid the high electricity consumption typically associated with heating water.
In colder regions it's worth looking into having an energy well drilled down several hundred feet at least. The circulation pump for those wells uses very little power, while producing a very decent output that keeps the house warm. You're literally tapping into the earth's near endless supply of core heat.
Wastewater discharge:
If you can, install separate plumbing for the toilet(s). Wastewater from showers, sinks, dishwashing and laundry is mostly harmless (choose your detergents wisely) and can be collected for irrigation and other reuses with only minimal treatment steps (e.g. look into simple expanded clay aggregate treatment).
Toilet waste needs a more careful approach. With a water saving toilet, 10% of your household's wastewater (i.e. the toilet part) holds 90% of the pathogens. So keep it separate, and you'll have a much smaller volume of troublesome toilet waste to contend with. (FYI, the resulting "concentrate" toilet waste can be used in a biogas reactor or air dried and burned for heat - use carbon filter on vents to mitigate smell.)
Mixed plumbing means ALL the wastewater must be treated as toilet waste rendering it largely unsuitable for reuse (too filthy for onsite treatment, too diluted to be used for energy).
If the toilet does not use water the contents will after 4 years be sufficiently composted that it can be used for plants.
Urine can be separeted out and used separately, see the neighbouring general /pjg/ for excessive details.
Absolutely. There are a number of biological toilet options readily available in the market that have little to no water use at all.
However, the moment a women enters the equation waterless toilets usually get thrown out asap. So in a house for both genders (yeah there are only two at birth) it's probably a more long-term solution to install low-flushing toilets. Marine toilets come to mind. I have an electrical Jabsco in my boat which works well, just push the flush switch and voila...