living off the grid??

[roger]

as we speak im contructing a solar powered gravity boiler.
using evacuated tube solar collectors for trapping the suns energy (these panels dont produce electrity) http://www.wsetech.com/waterheaters.php
basically, its a old 1400 litre fuel tank that will have -25C glycol in it, another 1600 litre tank with inhibited water, two solar collectors 47"x 50" will heat the glycol and a small solar powered pump will circualte it whenever the sunshines and shutoff at night.. http://www.wsetech.com/solarcircpump.php and it will heat the 1600 litre tank through a homemade 1/2" copper tube type exchanger. another (solar) pump(s) will circulate heated water to its end user device.

putting it all inside a super insulated shed to creates a heat vault,
apparently appreciable gains can be made at -20C outside air temp.
eventually I will have two separate piping systems in the concrete slab and use the slab itself as heat exchanger
im also trying to use all recycled components (cause im cheep and it will pay back faster being a p/eng and a plumber doesnt hurt either).
in theory, it will work without outside electrity, thusly lowering my requirements on a solar electrical sytem, therefore saving money.
these guys in sask have the real angle on it...
http://www.wsetech.com/

[Tundra Monkey]

hey rog....thanx for the DVD's.....haven't watched them yet but its been a pretty interesting month to say the least (I killed a charging black bear at 4" in the willows....first time I've ever recovered a TSX ....the 257 is not teh preferred rifle in this scenario but it worked )


We've lived off grid for 5 years now. We are not hooked up to it at all as it is not an option so I don't know too much about the tie ins......other than a transfer switch which will likely pound the gutz out of your wallet.

We have:

Trace DR 2412 inverter
Morningstar 30 Charge controller
Honda 3000eu
1000ah batteries

(no solar hooked up yet.....I know )

We charge fpr 3 hours a day and are good for 24hrs....fuel cost $75/month...this will go down when I put up a solar array.

12v water system in the house (same as an RV).

Loads include microwave, TV, computer, lights and a power toilet.

Heat is with wood and propane back up.

Propane fridge/hot water/dryer

It's a "simple" life.......if you don't count the maintenance

Drop a line when ya get a chance

tm

[Donavonszoo]

Just for curiosities sake why do the windmills have to be big? I watched a program where a guy tied a couple small props on a shaft and bolted the shaft to an trucks alternator and that to an inverter and tied into his house. It put out big time providing the wind was blowing...it showed his meter running slowly back wards. Now I don't know every detail but any one with a general knowledge should be able to figure it out... its a interesting cheap alternative to big expensive windmills.
Donavon

[Tundra Monkey]

Unless they've changed the windmills in the last couple of years the high pitched whine would have me using it as target practice for my 12 guage!!!

tm

[roadkill]

Here's one version of those new-gen wind turbines. This isn't the one I was thinking of, though. I'll see if I can find the company if I get a moment a little later...

h ttp://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1112/

[Map Maker]

Originally Posted by roger

as we speak im contructing a solar powered gravity boiler.
these guys in sask have the real angle on it...
http://www.wsetech.com/

Pretty interesting stuff there Roger.

I really like that solar oven WSE has that boils water.

I also am trying to encorporate some of these things into my cabin but it will be fairly basic because of the small size.
One thing you might be interested in is using a PIC. Its a small chip that uses barely any electricity and you can program using basic commands.
You can hook up sensors which trip when a desired level is hit.

Im looking at a rain water system to supply hot water. It would consist of a rain water collector into a solar collector. There would be a water temp sensor that when it hits 30C, it will start a pump to transfer the water to a storage basin. And when this basin cools to 15C, then dump to surface.
Heres the PIC that i am trying to learn.
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/295/Default.aspx

[dirtfarmer100]

I am a little late but some of u were asking about geothermal costs and setting up windmills, I built a new house 2 years ago and went with geothermal heating, costs for 2 3.3 tonne units and a 6 loop grid system with trenching was $21000. that gives me, forced air heat/airconditioning, floor heat in my garage and basement as well as preheat for an on demand hot water system. when figuring out cost savings, there are formulas that u have to convert all heat eg,gas or power to cost per million btu. On our farm, those costs were just over 9 cents for gas, and just over 27 cents for power but do to a 3.8 to 1 return on Geo, the power costs would run us just over 7 cents for geo heat. Our power at the time of doing my math was locked in in 5.9 cents KWH and gas was bout 5 Cent GJ but when u figure costs u take the entire bills transmision costs service costs etc and then divide by use then u get ur actual cost per. My power bill on our farm went up and our gas went down but that was understandable as the geo units run on electricity. My thoughts were that I could set up a windmill down the road or with tech improving solar costs my drop either way, I am saving mony with the geo right now and and have future options whereas if I set up a conventional gas system, the geo ortion would have been one more expense down the road to get off the grid.

[heidebill]

Also April 10,11 2010 I am hosting a Renewable Energy Exposition, in Onoway
So far I have, GEO Thermal, Photo Voltic, Solar Thermal, LED Lighing, and Growing
Will be a great Expo. Come and Have a Look

[rhuntley12]

Originally Posted by roadkill

Wow, I'm glad to see so many of you guys going this route. Mrs. Roadkill and I are still renting, but we have big plans for when we buy in a few years. We're in a great spot for geothermal heating, for instance. I've been looking into those helix-style wind turbines because they can operate on even a small breeze and don't need the same space as the fan-style. Oh, and they're safer for birds, too.

But get this: In Québec, you're not allowed to disconnect from the grid. At least, not in a major urban area. And unlike Ontario, if you make more power than you use here, you can't sell it to Hydro-québec. So, even if I'm using *nothing* from H-Q, I'm still paying their minimum monthly bill. How stupid is that? Man, sometimes I think we own the market on institutionalised corruption over here.

Old thread but I was just thinking about wind power this morning. Think if we build a barn next year will try to get it powered by wind as it gets really windy around us(SW of DeWinton)

Looking at our power bill crazy that we use $20 in power yet there is $80 for delivery and demand fee's.

[theycallmeNoah]

Originally Posted by heidebill

Also April 10,11 2010 I am hosting a Renewable Energy Exposition, in Onoway
So far I have, GEO Thermal, Photo Voltic, Solar Thermal, LED Lighing, and Growing
Will be a great Expo. Come and Have a Look

Would straw bale houses fit into this? Why not start at the beginning...your house and building materials?

[bowsandarrows]

Just stumbled by this forum.

Yes I have been off grid since summer 2004. We live near Grande Prairie.
No there is not a lot of changes to life style one needs. Just a having to learn to do some maintenance on batteries etc. otherwise it is quite seamless.\
No power bill, and no blackouts when the utility fails.

My system cost less than bringing in the power.

[roger]

Originally Posted by theycallmeNoah

Would straw bale houses fit into this? Why not start at the beginning...your house and building materials?

hi bows and arrows,
welcome to the forum and tx for responding, so in six years how much has it cost you month then? how many years was will it take to 'break even'

noah, i dont know that straw bale is better or worse...but the style of building really isnt important as much as the physical size and overall design.
16" thick walls make the windows really small.

[roger]

Originally Posted by wsmman

we are doing geothermal on our new house. i'm going with horizontal loops about 50 feet deep 150m long..

im not really sure that that method is geothermal?
i think that refered to as geostorage/ geocacheing method...i kinda understood geothermal as drilling into the earths core and salvaging heat.

[jpohlic]

Geothermal loops can be horizontal or vertical, depending on how much space you have. The horizontal (trenching) is generally cheaper than vertical (drilling). Horizontal is difficult to do on a small city lot. I've never heard of anyone doing horizontal loops at a depth of 50 feet. 5 feet more likely?!?!?

Windows in a straw bale wall can be any size you like. If you round off the corners of the opening you can minimize the loss of sight lines and light at the edges. However the curved window openings are more labour intensive than a square opening.

Originally Posted by roger

...i kinda understood geothermal as drilling into the earths core and salvaging heat.

How far down do you think the earths core is

[roger]

so true the mantle is out of reach, diamond mines and other deep mines have real heating issues.
Iceland has true geothermal heating (using volcanic activity) so for them geothermal is about 10 feet deep.we here use water pumps to circulate water and use heat pumps to salvage and store BTUs underground using soil rocks or water aqaufers.
geothermal is really not an cost effective option when your in a solar panelled system, at least in my math...
its really not a biggy just a difference of wording

[JET1]

i know of a quarter for sale that has 2 duster abandoned wells on it is there any way these could be used for geothermal heating or even better geothermal power as im sure they are around 2000m deep, before anyone jumps on me im sure there are many obsticals to overcome. one for sure knowing that there is little to no gas in the well. which brings me to another point if there is an abandoned well on a quarter of land that wasnt found viable to produce is there any chance it could be recompleated cheeply to supply a home

[Tundra Monkey]

Originally Posted by JET1

2000m deep

Hole eeeee cr@p

I paid 4G for our water well.....130ft

Those oil dudes got way too much cash!!!!!

tm

[Lakota]

I live off gird, 800w solar, 1200w wind turbine, hot water on demand,propane stove and dryer. I burn wood 95% of the time in winter the other 5% is a propane furnace. Cost of propane is about 800.00 per year. I also have 2 backup generators 3500w and a 7000w ( i run my welders on the 7000w).
All my lighting in the place is compact florescence. There is a life style change when doing the off grid living. I never leave a room and leave anything on. I can go 3 days without sun or wind, batteries will handle the needs of the house power. The 3500w generator can charge the batteries in heavy use or cloudy days. I would recommend it .

www.erhardselectric.com this guy is in Didsbury ab

[Lakota]

here is a more up to date site


http://www.boydsolar.com/

[S.A.S]

www.survivalblog.com

Tons of info.

[Map Maker]

Originally Posted by JET1

i know of a quarter for sale that has 2 duster abandoned wells on it is there any way these could be used for geothermal heating or even better geothermal power as im sure they are around 2000m deep, before anyone jumps on me im sure there are many obsticals to overcome. one for sure knowing that there is little to no gas in the well. which brings me to another point if there is an abandoned well on a quarter of land that wasnt found viable to produce is there any chance it could be recompleated cheeply to supply a home

I couldnt see why you couldnt use the holes. all your trying to do is get the pipes under the frost zone with as much sub-surface area as possible.

I heard the geothermal holes are about 22" diameter at the top and 16" at the bottom.

I would give a call to a geothermal company to see if they can use them.
they are just going to cement/bentonite them afterwards anyways with the pipes in them so that should seal up any gas.

Let us know the results, im curious if there would be any problems.

[Traps]

Jet1, I am not jumping on you but before you get too far into thinking about using abandoned wells there are some things to consider. I don't claim to be an expert but here's my best guess. Because they are originally oil/gas well there are regulations regarding them which differentiate them from water wells. They may still be the property of an oil/gas company. They may not be a duster, we cemented in wells that were good only to go back later after the land sale so keep the price low.

They are cemeted in so you would have to reenter at an price tag hardly worth it. You would have to perforate once drilled, pressure may be an issue so you'd have to put some sort of tree on it. When you get below surface casing you could very easily get into sal****er. The duster may not be a duster just a poor performer so there could be gas, oil, water, sal****er or any combination. I know your just speaking aloud but it is an interesting concept. I have seen some wells where the fluid coming to surface was really warm, to the point where you wouldn't want to stick your hand in it for long.

[3hands]

Heya - if anyones interested in trying out the O.G life, a tour, temporary or permanent, please view the website and contact me through the website or the FB page @

https://www.facebook.com/ThreeHandsLandShare/
http://threehands.weebly.com/



If you agree with the direction of my project, please like the FB page and share it around