French Press + Vacuum Thermos = Great Coffee!
It’s no secret that good hot coffee really helps with the moral and getting projects started or finished. Since we don’t generate enough electricity to run a regular coffee maker, we use a French Press and a old school vacuum thermos. Note: My spouse gave me the gears for not using clean coffee mug. It […]
Small Hanging Garden for Vegetables
Here’s an easy way to have a small garden that could hang off your deck or just outside a window. We use it to grow lettuce and tomatoes for salads. It’s our attempt to eat healthy and grow our own food. Feel free to make suggestions.
DIY Compost Tumbler from Junk
My folks came out from the east coast for a visit. Thought it would be a great opportunity to tap into their vast knowledge of off grid living. My father suggested we should build a compost tumbler for my spouse. It would be a great idea for making soil and put me in the “good books”. […]
compost, compost from junk, composter, DIY compost, make a compost
Buildings and Renovations, Equipment, Food, Other, Plumbing
Pump Water from a Lake to a Cottage (And make your spouse happy with running water!)
Had a few questions from viewers on how to get water. Went up this weekend and concentrated on filming footage of the water system. We occasionally pump water from a freshwater lake to the cabin. Maybe once during each 3 days stay. The cabin/cottage is on a remote mountain lake and doesn’t have access to […]
Temporary Roof Top Mount for VAWT Project
The Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Project project required a place to test the hub, motor and blades/scoops. Despite the lack of good wind at our home, (we are in a valley, surrounded by trees), it was easier to check. The plan was to create just a temporary mount on the roof top that would not […]
Part 2 of the Homemade Dump Load for a Wind Turbine
So, with fewer resistors, the layout had to be reconfigured and more copper wires were used to secure resistors in place. It was suggested by some viewers to lower the ohms by connecting in parallel (positive to positive) to lower the ohms from 100 to 25 ohms. Came up with three separate ideas for the […]
alternative energy, batteries, diversion controller, dump load, Morningstar TS-60 Charge Controller, wind power
The Bountiful Harvest of Motors and Parts for Projects
Last year, I made a New Years resolution to deconstruct appliances, old tools, radios or anything else not working or thrown away. The plan was to gather materials for future wind turbines, look at the engineering and types of materials used. It’s not an evil plan to destroy, but more of a positive learning opportunity. […]
Other, Power generation, Wind Turbine Projects
Generate Power from a Hockey Puck!
This video was part of the Garage Door Motor Conversion for Wind Turbine series. Decided to make a stator out of a hockey puck. The stator (in this case, a hockey puck) was drilled with eight, half inch holes. Then 3 sets or rare earth magnets would be inserted into the holes. The modified stator […]
cedar, cedar fence, earth, easter, Electricity, free power, Hockey (Sport), home made, magnets, make electrcity, make power, make projects, n42, power, power failure, rare, rare earth magnets, solar, spring, spring break, student project, thatcher
Other, Power generation, Solar Power Projects
Do-It-Yourself Solar Panels
This an updated video about a series of DIY solar panels made 3 years ago. It consists of a material list, still images and a few short videos. It’s more of a rough guide. In total, I have completed four DIY solar panels for an off grid system. The main reason was I couldn’t afford a new […]
DIY solar panels, make solar panels, solar energy, solar panels
Other, Relaxing, Solar Power Projects
Roof top solar panels and Wind Turbine Farms in Kihei, Maui
Just got back from a fantastic family vacation in Kihei, Maui. As soon as we left the airport in our rental car, we noticed many the homes had plenty of solar panels on the roofs. Like at least 15 panels. Must be grid-tie systems. Even the churches were getting in on it. One fairly big […]
family trip, Hawaii, Kihei, Maui, roof top solar, solar, solar panels, Solar Panels in Kihei, vacation
Heat and Cooling, Other, Woodworking
The Plan to Build a Wood Fired Cedar Hot Tub
For the past year, I been researching on how to build a wooden hot tub. If you haven’t seen one, it’s a six-foot round barrel about 4 feet high. Normally made from vertical laid Western Red Cedar planks that are fitted together. A heavy-duty banding is wrapped around the outside to keep the vertical planks […]
build a hot tub, cedar hot tub, Forest Lumber and Cooperage Ltd, freud, hot tub for off grid, outdoor cedar hot tub, router bits, snorkel stove, Windsor Plywood, wood fired hot tub, wooden hot tub