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Re: summer projects

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:41 pm
by grunt
one shot of most of the projects that have come together
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Re: summer projects

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:43 pm
by grunt
I cannot believe that we actually got the footings poured. Yea for my side!! :big afro: We should be needing around 350ish cinder blocks to get this done and a few other odds and ends. The dimensions are 16 X 8 X 8. I know it will seem too small before we know it.
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We also got the front porch done. We will have it covered next year.
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Some pics from the frutis of our labor :lol:
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Re: summer projects

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 7:05 am
by daddydip
grunt that homestead is looking good,and i'm taking notes and grabbing idea's :big afro:

Re: summer projects

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 11:03 pm
by grunt
We are going to use the side of the retaining wall to setup cold frames.
After the root cellar is done we will move to the wood shack and between those two projects we are going to install this
http://www.solaratticfan.com/

how to install can be found here
http://www.homepower.com/view/?file=HP1 ... _Patterson
We alreday can heat the winter months with just wood hopefully this will help us durring the other parts of the season. :big afro:

We need to start chasing down some renewable energy tax credits.
I also plan to have a renewable energy company come out and do a site assessment for wind and solar. We are hoping to build a system large enough to back up to our critical loads ie..well pump..etc.. This should help us size our LP gas generator.
Did I tell you they will be putting a LP tank up this month too.
Yep a lot is going on this month.
What else is new
:lol: :lol:

Re: summer projects

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:00 am
by daddydip
good site grunt, i believe they are the same folks that i bought two tube lights from for my second floor bathroom and the hall way. your surely moving in the right direction, in my opinion. :wink: :roll: :wink:

Re: summer projects

Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:17 pm
by grunt
And the root cellar begins.
Lately it has been high 90's and work has been enjyoing snaging some of my days off but if we can keep it from raining I hope to have most of it done the end of this month
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All 390 blocks worth
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need to get all the corners down first.. we will see.

more progress
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Re: summer projects

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:32 am
by grunt
Well, summer is over and all my summer projects are not :x I am still working on the root cellar and am shooting to have at least the roof on it before the first heavy. We did get the second soap stone wood burning stove installed in the living room.
You can see them pulling our fire place and putting in the new brick here
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and here is the stove

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Then if I already did not have enough things going on we ordered all the parts we needed for our solar energy system for the house. It was all delivered this week. :big afro:
All we need to do now is decide on what backup generator we want to go with. The system its self is about a 2.5kw system. It should make a pretty good dent in our energy bills and the backup batteries will help with my critical loads during a power outage and if they get ran down to far the backup generator will kick in and charge them back up.
We also have a separate collectors coming for the hot water system to help lower the amount of energy our hot water heater needs to heat our water.
Here are the pictures of our 8 back up batteries
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Here is a pic of all 15 panels they are about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
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This is the pic of the inverter this thing weighs about 160lbs that coil must be huge!! You can see some of the panel racking system on top of it.
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Here is the rest of the electronics. The battery charger controller, the disconnect, the generator switch the remote monitor display and etc..
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Now we just got to get a concrete pad poured since this will be a ground mounted system. Also the pad should be big enough so we can mount the backup generator.
I am realy shooting for a good chunk of tax credits this year :big afro:

Re: summer projects

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 11:06 pm
by grunt
Well got the solar done
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15-180watt panels 2.7kwh system
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Re: summer projects

Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 11:13 pm
by grunt
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The best day we have had so far is 19.7kwh for the day. It will get better once I get the right legs on the back of the rack. Right now they are too short. When the sun is out it the system meet or excedes the draw of the loads 70% of the time. I am already wraping up some credit back on the grid for this winter when we dont make so much power.

Also the root cellar just got the roof put on it and the doors should be on it by the end of the week. The best part about that is the block work is done all 315+ blocks :evil:

Re: summer projects

Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:44 am
by OliverFarmall
Wow !! I thought I was busy this Summer....and I was insanely busy... apparently you don't sleep. :lol: