EEEK, I just realized, I missed our 5 year anniversary, living off grid! This time of the year is always busy busy busy for me and yesterday just flat out got away from me. So I'll write about it today,
So, 5 years ago, December 22, 2007, we arrived at our property at about 3:30 in the morning, it was blowing a gale, it was about 14 degrees F, we had been driving for about 12 hours and we were exhausted.
The reason it was so late, we had planned on getting an earlier start in the day, we were packed and ready to go, we were taking a final walkthru of the house to make sure we had everything we were going to take, when we heard a loud crash outside, PB said it sounded like a car wreck, I said it couldn't be a car wreck, I hadn't heard any tires squealing, I went out to see and sure enough, there were 2 vehicles right there, one was sitting at a funny angle in the street, the other, a truck was laying on its side in the ditch, I recognized the truck as belonging to PB's son, he was climbing out the passenger side window which was pointing straight up, he was going to see if the driver of the other car was OK. Fortunately everyone was OK, but because of that, we were delayed getting out by several hours.
Actually we had been delayed before that, we had meant to be on the road days and days before, but the weather would not cooperate, it got super cold and began raining and sleeting, we were afraid our canned foods might freeze on the trailer, so we put a space heater near the food (everything was boxed up and covered).
So after all the delays, we finally were able to get out on the road. PB was driving a truck with barely adequate brakes, hauling a trailer on which the brakes didn't work at all. I was driving PB's minivan, hauling the VW Bug, we drove slow and carefully, stopping many times to adjust the straps and tarps on the trailer. That is why it took 12 hours to get here instead of the normal 8.
Once we arrived on site, we hiked up to the cabin, it was not yet the sky castle, we had an invite by our neighbor to come to his house and sleep the night in relative comfort, but by the time we got here, we were so tired, neither one of us wanted to hike back down the hill to go to the neighbor's house, we were home and we wanted to sleep in our new home.
The rest of the night was kinda scary, the wind was really blowing hard, the cabin was not finished by any means, and it was rocking and rolling in the wind, we watched the ceiling bow up and down. We had no heat inside the cabin, the wood stove was still on the trailer. We put on our thick quilted coveralls to keep warm. PB was too wound up to sleep, between his son having the accident, the long drive and the blowing wind, he just couldn't lay down and sleep. As for me, I had no trouble, I decided that the cabin would stand or fall whether I was asleep or awake, I took our little chihuahua Pekoe, crawled into the tent that was inside the cabin, and went to sleep.
It's hard to imagine that was 5 years ago now, living off grid seems to normal to me, it's like we have always lived this way, my only regret is that we didn't do this sooner. Well, I need to do the church program for tomorrow, so I'll cut this short.
Thanks to all of my loyal readers and followers, I know I don't write often on this site, but my loyal readers are always here and comment when I do write something.
All written text from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute without written permission. You may post a portion of this (or any) message from this blog on another site as long as you include a link back to this site and the original message.
Wretha,
Thanks for visiting!
Showing posts with label wind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wind. Show all posts
Sunday, December 23, 2012
PDFThursday, December 31, 2009
Lot's O' Stuff
Hope everyone had a great Christmas, wishing everyone a safe and happy and prosperous New Year! Now with that done, here's an update on things. Last Monday, I did something I haven't done in a coon's age, (and just how long IS a coon's age I wonder...), anyhow I went to the big, big town, about 3 hours away, with a friend. My friend had a doctor's appointment about an elbow injury and didn't know if she would be able to drive home, so I went as a potential surrogate driver. Turns out that they didn't do anything on this trip, just x-ray'd her arm and told her she had bone spurs, her choice is to have surgery or live with it, she has to think about it and decide what she wants to do. Before we went to the doctor, we hit Pizza Hut, did the buffet, it's been so long since I've eaten pizza that I didn't make. Mind you, I make a pretty mean pizza, but getting to eat pizza from a restaurant is a major treat for me. I ate until I was absolutely stuffed.
After the doctor visit we went to Wally World, a super one, haven't been to one of those in a long time, I couldn't find anything! Oh I could see the signs everywhere for this and that, but I still walked around almost in a daze, all the people, all the cars (in the parking lot), it was almost too much for me to deal with, though I will say that for the most part I didn't run into any majorly misbehaving children. The adults were a different story, at least when I was in line, this goth-looking girl/woman was standing behind me, about 6 inches from me, I could see her out of my peripheral vision, she never actually touched me, but I could almost feel her breathing. Every step I took, she mirrored me. Eventually I started playing with her, I would move my cart a couple of inches and step up the tiniest step I could, she would step the same. Maybe she was trying to make me feel uncomfortable enough to find a different line, didn't work though, I finally stepped from between the baskets so that she would have to make some major moves to stand that close to me, problem solved.
While at the store, I decided to buy a comal, this is a flat, cast iron pan mainly used for cooking tortillas and doing things like pancakes, grilled cheese and such. This is something we eat several times a week, I have wanted a comal for a long time, so I took advantage of the situation and purchased one. This particular one is made by Lodge Logic, it's also pre-seasoned, this is important as seasoning a new cast iron pan takes a lot of time, effort, work and in my case, propane. Not to say it's not worth it in the end, but not something I relish doing, so the pre-seasoned pan is a major bonus for me. Of course it worked perfectly, I rinsed it with hot water, placed it on the burner and rubbed it with a light layer of Crisco, the first tortilla tried to stick, after that one, it worked like a charm. We ate tortillas, refried beans with a little cheese, hot sauce and sour cream, it was a good dinner.
I made my tortillas a little different this time, on occasion I add yeast, it makes a slightly puffier tortilla, depending on how long I allow it to rise. It also adds a yeasty flavor (which I really like), I just have to remember to proof the yeast before adding it to the flour, there isn't enough moisture in the dough for the yeast to really dissolve and develop if it's put in dry. This time I did it, but I didn't allow the dough to really rise very much, we were hungry and wanted to eat soon. The last two tortillas I rolled out, they had had more time to rise and develop some extra flavor, I made this thicker than all the rest, made it more like a flat bread than a tortilla, those were for me, LOL!
I also purchased more yarn, I have really gotten into this loom knitting thing, even though I have only made 2 hats to date, the hats turned out great and I want to make more. My MIL sent yarn for Christmas, she did a great job picking out the colors and yarns I like, but like any yarn addict, you can never have too much yarn, so I purchased more yarn, another set of knitting looms, Knifty Knitter Long Loom Set w/Hook &; Yarn Needle, 4/Pkg.
and a pattern book called More Knitting Wheel Fashions. The yarn that works best with the knitting loom is the thicker yarns, referred to as chunky, it's possible to use thinner yarns if you double or triple up on the yarn, (use 2 or 3 strands instead of 1).
My new favorite yarn is called bouclé yarn (pronounced boo-clay), it's a curly, fuzzy yarn, not necessarily thick, I use 2 strands instead of 1, that's what I used to make our hats. I'll post pictures of my hats and any other items I make soon. I am working on a new hat, just like the first 2 hats I made, this one will be for Bob, the only difference is the color, the first hats were made from a variegated bouclé in greens and other earth tones. This one is made from bouclé but in a charcoal gray color. Once I have that one completed, I'll make another for myself but with a little different look, yeah I know, pictures! I'm charging my camera as I write, it was dead or I would have pictures already.
It's been pretty cold, had wood fires every night, can't take the chance of breaking the water pump again. We have also had some big winds, as big (if not bigger) than how it was the first year we arrived here. It's been pounding everything, last night I had a hard time sleeping because of it, about the time I would be almost asleep, another gust would blast us, shake & rattle everything and wake me up. Once I heard something heavy fall over, it turned out to be a door that is propped up outside, I'm happy it wasn't part of the roof or worse, one of the solar panels.
Speaking of solar panels, for the last couple of weeks, we have had more cloudy or mostly cloudy days than sunny ones, it's made things a bit spare around here electric wise, we have enough of a system that if the batteries are full, we can go a day or two without sun, after that we have to really have to be careful about how much power we use for things besides lights. Having 1.5 watt LED lights really make a difference though, we can run them with little concern about how much they are drawing. (Thanks K!, You know who you are!).
I know this is a long post so I'll cut it off here, hope everyone has a safe and prosperous New Year! Oh it just started snowing with sleet mixed in, after such a sunny start to the day, oh boy, this is going to be an interesting rest of the day and night!
All written text and audio podcasts from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission.
Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha, (included for the text reader),
Thanks for visiting!
After the doctor visit we went to Wally World, a super one, haven't been to one of those in a long time, I couldn't find anything! Oh I could see the signs everywhere for this and that, but I still walked around almost in a daze, all the people, all the cars (in the parking lot), it was almost too much for me to deal with, though I will say that for the most part I didn't run into any majorly misbehaving children. The adults were a different story, at least when I was in line, this goth-looking girl/woman was standing behind me, about 6 inches from me, I could see her out of my peripheral vision, she never actually touched me, but I could almost feel her breathing. Every step I took, she mirrored me. Eventually I started playing with her, I would move my cart a couple of inches and step up the tiniest step I could, she would step the same. Maybe she was trying to make me feel uncomfortable enough to find a different line, didn't work though, I finally stepped from between the baskets so that she would have to make some major moves to stand that close to me, problem solved.
While at the store, I decided to buy a comal, this is a flat, cast iron pan mainly used for cooking tortillas and doing things like pancakes, grilled cheese and such. This is something we eat several times a week, I have wanted a comal for a long time, so I took advantage of the situation and purchased one. This particular one is made by Lodge Logic, it's also pre-seasoned, this is important as seasoning a new cast iron pan takes a lot of time, effort, work and in my case, propane. Not to say it's not worth it in the end, but not something I relish doing, so the pre-seasoned pan is a major bonus for me. Of course it worked perfectly, I rinsed it with hot water, placed it on the burner and rubbed it with a light layer of Crisco, the first tortilla tried to stick, after that one, it worked like a charm. We ate tortillas, refried beans with a little cheese, hot sauce and sour cream, it was a good dinner.
I made my tortillas a little different this time, on occasion I add yeast, it makes a slightly puffier tortilla, depending on how long I allow it to rise. It also adds a yeasty flavor (which I really like), I just have to remember to proof the yeast before adding it to the flour, there isn't enough moisture in the dough for the yeast to really dissolve and develop if it's put in dry. This time I did it, but I didn't allow the dough to really rise very much, we were hungry and wanted to eat soon. The last two tortillas I rolled out, they had had more time to rise and develop some extra flavor, I made this thicker than all the rest, made it more like a flat bread than a tortilla, those were for me, LOL!
I also purchased more yarn, I have really gotten into this loom knitting thing, even though I have only made 2 hats to date, the hats turned out great and I want to make more. My MIL sent yarn for Christmas, she did a great job picking out the colors and yarns I like, but like any yarn addict, you can never have too much yarn, so I purchased more yarn, another set of knitting looms, Knifty Knitter Long Loom Set w/Hook &; Yarn Needle, 4/Pkg. and a pattern book called More Knitting Wheel Fashions. The yarn that works best with the knitting loom is the thicker yarns, referred to as chunky, it's possible to use thinner yarns if you double or triple up on the yarn, (use 2 or 3 strands instead of 1).
My new favorite yarn is called bouclé yarn (pronounced boo-clay), it's a curly, fuzzy yarn, not necessarily thick, I use 2 strands instead of 1, that's what I used to make our hats. I'll post pictures of my hats and any other items I make soon. I am working on a new hat, just like the first 2 hats I made, this one will be for Bob, the only difference is the color, the first hats were made from a variegated bouclé in greens and other earth tones. This one is made from bouclé but in a charcoal gray color. Once I have that one completed, I'll make another for myself but with a little different look, yeah I know, pictures! I'm charging my camera as I write, it was dead or I would have pictures already.It's been pretty cold, had wood fires every night, can't take the chance of breaking the water pump again. We have also had some big winds, as big (if not bigger) than how it was the first year we arrived here. It's been pounding everything, last night I had a hard time sleeping because of it, about the time I would be almost asleep, another gust would blast us, shake & rattle everything and wake me up. Once I heard something heavy fall over, it turned out to be a door that is propped up outside, I'm happy it wasn't part of the roof or worse, one of the solar panels.
Speaking of solar panels, for the last couple of weeks, we have had more cloudy or mostly cloudy days than sunny ones, it's made things a bit spare around here electric wise, we have enough of a system that if the batteries are full, we can go a day or two without sun, after that we have to really have to be careful about how much power we use for things besides lights. Having 1.5 watt LED lights really make a difference though, we can run them with little concern about how much they are drawing. (Thanks K!, You know who you are!).
I know this is a long post so I'll cut it off here, hope everyone has a safe and prosperous New Year! Oh it just started snowing with sleet mixed in, after such a sunny start to the day, oh boy, this is going to be an interesting rest of the day and night!
All written text and audio podcasts from this blog are copyrighted and owned by Wretha unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved, You may download or copy for your own personal enjoyment, but please do not distribute (text or audio) without written permission.
Wretha,
properly pronounced wreetha, (included for the text reader),
Thanks for visiting!
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Labels:
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Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wildfire...
Well, this has been an interesting day and a not so fun night... we had (are still having) a big fire near our community. Earlier today, or technically yesterday now, I began to smell something burning, I went outside but didn't see anything. About an hour later, I smelled it even stronger, we went outside to see what was going on, this time we could see smoke, a big column of smoke rolling over the mountains to the south south west. We have been having smallish grass fires, burning a few acres to a couple of hundred acres, the local fire departments have been able to put them out in pretty short order. This time, it was/is a BIG fire, I understand that some 20,000 acres have been burned, and it appears that the fire is still going, as of 2:24 this morning. Most of the people who live out here chose to follow the volunteer evacuation, packed themselves up and left. We talked to a couple of our friends, one set decided to leave, the other set decided to send his wife and kids out but he stayed, he says he knows the area and knows how to get out if it gets too hairy. Anyhoo, we watched the smoke roll over the mountains all day, it got bad enough to make my eyes sting on more than one occasion today. The smoke column went up high enough to begin to block the sun, it made the evening turn orange/red. We decided to stay and ride it out, at least until we could see it would get too dangerous to stay, ie seeing fire coming over the mountain.
I called a few of the other people we know out here, couldn't get an answer from most of them, I did get a hold of the lady who owns the local store, she said she was leaving because she had her grandkids here for a visit, she got a hotel room in town (safe from the fire) and gave us an open invitation to stay with them if we decided to leave. She said she thought everything would be OK, but just didn't want to take the chance with the kiddos. I don't blame her.
All day we watched the smoke billowing over the mountains, earlier in the day, Bob and one of our friends went out to the main road outside the community and watched the fire, they couldn't see the flames, just where the smoke was coming from. He was one of the people who left this evening, with his family. The wind has been up all day, and the wind was blowing the smoke and presumably the fire right towards us. I was told by the store owner that the fire wasn't in our community yet, it would have to travel a bit further and jump the main highway, but there was a chance it could, our community volunteer fire department was waiting outside the community in case the fire did jump the road.
As the sun went down, we could still see and smell the smoke, once it started getting dark, we saw a very ominous site, we could see a red orange glow coming from the other side of the mountains to the south, the fire was still going strong. I had been talking to my dad on my internet phone when suddenly, the phone went dead and at the same time, the radio went dead too... we still had power, but it took me a few minutes to realize the community was without power, we still had lights, and the computer was still working, but without power, the internet tower across the valley didn't work, therefore I had no internet and no phone. I tried my cell phone but was getting little to no signal, bummer.... I took my phone to my neighbor's house, I figured if the power was out, maybe the phones would still be working, I have a cheapy corded phone, doesn't need power to work, good for this situation. (Big hint, if you don't have one already, get a corded phone that doesn't rely on electricity to work, if the power goes out, your cordless phones will not work!) When I got to my neighbor's house, sure enough, no power, nothing was working, including his phone, a cordless phone, I unplugged his phone and plugged mine in, bingo! It worked! I called my dad back, he was worried about me, I had just been telling him about the big fire just over the mountain, and we get disconnected... yeah, he was worried. I talked to him for a bit, assured him that we wouldn't stay if things started looking worse. I took my phone and went back to my house, we sat out on the deck for a couple of hours watching the red glow fade and grow, occasionally we would see a really big puff of smoke get illuminated by the glow. But we never saw flames. We would occasionally see a car drive by, they must have wondered why we had lights when no one else did, I guess if they know who we are, they must know that we are on solar/battery power, I can (almost) guarantee that we were the only people still here with power, not that there were that many people still here.
I started packing up a few things to take just in case we had to bug out, my laptop for one, my corded phone, my cell phone, some important papers, a change of clothes for each of us and a couple of bottles of water. These things took up one small bag and my laptop bag, easy enough for us to carry, even if we ran out of road and had to hoof it.
Eventually the glow faded down and it appeared that the fire was coming under control, I also found out that the power came back on, the internet started working again. We still are not comfortable just going to bed while this is still potentially going on, you can still smell the smoke and there is still a slight glow over the mountain, the wind is still blowing and gusting pretty hard. A fire this big doesn't get put out this fast. I have to assume there is still some danger, so we decided to take turns staying up, I took the first "shift", I tend to stay up late anyhow, Bob went on to bed. I'll wake him up later on this morning, probably close to or just after day break.
The glow has nearly faded away, but I can still smell smoke, I don't trust going to bed, it's just to risky, out here we are essentially on our own, if the fire flares up again, we will have to get ourselves out, it's a bit scary, but that's the price to pay for living so independent. I do wish the wind would die down, I know that has been a big hindrance. I sit here in front of my computer, next to the window, every now and again, I lower the laptop screen and look out the window where the glow had been, it's still looking pretty good, I do hope they got the fire out, I also hope no one was hurt or worse, and I hope no one lost any more than a bit of grass.
Last night I thought scorpions were a problem, funny what a bit of perspective can do for you. :)
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I called a few of the other people we know out here, couldn't get an answer from most of them, I did get a hold of the lady who owns the local store, she said she was leaving because she had her grandkids here for a visit, she got a hotel room in town (safe from the fire) and gave us an open invitation to stay with them if we decided to leave. She said she thought everything would be OK, but just didn't want to take the chance with the kiddos. I don't blame her.
All day we watched the smoke billowing over the mountains, earlier in the day, Bob and one of our friends went out to the main road outside the community and watched the fire, they couldn't see the flames, just where the smoke was coming from. He was one of the people who left this evening, with his family. The wind has been up all day, and the wind was blowing the smoke and presumably the fire right towards us. I was told by the store owner that the fire wasn't in our community yet, it would have to travel a bit further and jump the main highway, but there was a chance it could, our community volunteer fire department was waiting outside the community in case the fire did jump the road.
As the sun went down, we could still see and smell the smoke, once it started getting dark, we saw a very ominous site, we could see a red orange glow coming from the other side of the mountains to the south, the fire was still going strong. I had been talking to my dad on my internet phone when suddenly, the phone went dead and at the same time, the radio went dead too... we still had power, but it took me a few minutes to realize the community was without power, we still had lights, and the computer was still working, but without power, the internet tower across the valley didn't work, therefore I had no internet and no phone. I tried my cell phone but was getting little to no signal, bummer.... I took my phone to my neighbor's house, I figured if the power was out, maybe the phones would still be working, I have a cheapy corded phone, doesn't need power to work, good for this situation. (Big hint, if you don't have one already, get a corded phone that doesn't rely on electricity to work, if the power goes out, your cordless phones will not work!) When I got to my neighbor's house, sure enough, no power, nothing was working, including his phone, a cordless phone, I unplugged his phone and plugged mine in, bingo! It worked! I called my dad back, he was worried about me, I had just been telling him about the big fire just over the mountain, and we get disconnected... yeah, he was worried. I talked to him for a bit, assured him that we wouldn't stay if things started looking worse. I took my phone and went back to my house, we sat out on the deck for a couple of hours watching the red glow fade and grow, occasionally we would see a really big puff of smoke get illuminated by the glow. But we never saw flames. We would occasionally see a car drive by, they must have wondered why we had lights when no one else did, I guess if they know who we are, they must know that we are on solar/battery power, I can (almost) guarantee that we were the only people still here with power, not that there were that many people still here.
I started packing up a few things to take just in case we had to bug out, my laptop for one, my corded phone, my cell phone, some important papers, a change of clothes for each of us and a couple of bottles of water. These things took up one small bag and my laptop bag, easy enough for us to carry, even if we ran out of road and had to hoof it.
Eventually the glow faded down and it appeared that the fire was coming under control, I also found out that the power came back on, the internet started working again. We still are not comfortable just going to bed while this is still potentially going on, you can still smell the smoke and there is still a slight glow over the mountain, the wind is still blowing and gusting pretty hard. A fire this big doesn't get put out this fast. I have to assume there is still some danger, so we decided to take turns staying up, I took the first "shift", I tend to stay up late anyhow, Bob went on to bed. I'll wake him up later on this morning, probably close to or just after day break.
The glow has nearly faded away, but I can still smell smoke, I don't trust going to bed, it's just to risky, out here we are essentially on our own, if the fire flares up again, we will have to get ourselves out, it's a bit scary, but that's the price to pay for living so independent. I do wish the wind would die down, I know that has been a big hindrance. I sit here in front of my computer, next to the window, every now and again, I lower the laptop screen and look out the window where the glow had been, it's still looking pretty good, I do hope they got the fire out, I also hope no one was hurt or worse, and I hope no one lost any more than a bit of grass.
Last night I thought scorpions were a problem, funny what a bit of perspective can do for you. :)
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9 Comments
Monday, May 12, 2008
Propane Fridge & Wind Power Experiment
I ran across this article today, I found it very interesting and informative, I hope you can get something out of it too.The article is about keeping your food cold when you don't have much power.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/hackleman56.html
We might be getting a propane refrigerator, I have been learning more about them, they sound like a really perfect way (for us) to keep our food cold, we have been using a small, cube fridge, it's pretty small, and doesn't use THAT much power, but it is our biggest power drain, if we can get a propane powered fridge, it would help us conserve the power we generate each day for use on other things, like surfing the internet! :) Ever since we got internet access, we use the laptop much more often, surfing the internet for hours each day, more at night, so we pretty much use up our batteries, the inverter starts complaining each time the fridge powers up, if we don't shut down the computer, the inverter will eventually continually beep and shut down. When that happens, nothing works until the next day when the sun comes up.
Our Newest Test Project
Bob has been experimenting with a smaller windmill style generator. We found out that you can use a cordless drill motor, it contains a permanent magnet motor, combine that with a fan and a tail, set up in a windy spot, and you get electricity.
Yes, that is a Ryobi drill mounted there, this is the test model, the wire isn't really hooked up to anything, though Bob just walked through with a 12 volt (?) led light, we are going to test it. We had had it hooked up to a volt meter, with a fairly light wind, the highest we have seen is 6 volts so far.
Bob got this put up yesterday, it's been windy for the last few days to a week, once he got this up, the wind just died... typical huh... anyhoo, there is light and variable wind today, so we will be putting our test model through it's paces.
Update, the led lights do light up, woo hoo!
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/hackleman56.html
We might be getting a propane refrigerator, I have been learning more about them, they sound like a really perfect way (for us) to keep our food cold, we have been using a small, cube fridge, it's pretty small, and doesn't use THAT much power, but it is our biggest power drain, if we can get a propane powered fridge, it would help us conserve the power we generate each day for use on other things, like surfing the internet! :) Ever since we got internet access, we use the laptop much more often, surfing the internet for hours each day, more at night, so we pretty much use up our batteries, the inverter starts complaining each time the fridge powers up, if we don't shut down the computer, the inverter will eventually continually beep and shut down. When that happens, nothing works until the next day when the sun comes up.
Our Newest Test Project
Bob has been experimenting with a smaller windmill style generator. We found out that you can use a cordless drill motor, it contains a permanent magnet motor, combine that with a fan and a tail, set up in a windy spot, and you get electricity.
Yes, that is a Ryobi drill mounted there, this is the test model, the wire isn't really hooked up to anything, though Bob just walked through with a 12 volt (?) led light, we are going to test it. We had had it hooked up to a volt meter, with a fairly light wind, the highest we have seen is 6 volts so far.
Bob got this put up yesterday, it's been windy for the last few days to a week, once he got this up, the wind just died... typical huh... anyhoo, there is light and variable wind today, so we will be putting our test model through it's paces.
Update, the led lights do light up, woo hoo!
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17 Comments
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seth said... you might want to consider a chest type fridge, more efficient than stardard type. just food for thought.
Seth
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Wretha said... Thanks Seth, we have considered that, would probably have to make one though, the few that are available to buy tend to be expensive.
Wretha - seth said...
I did read of a fellow that took a standard chest freezer and turned it into a very efficient fridge by adding an external thermostat. www.treehugger.com/files/2005/07/man_retrofits_f.php thermostat
interesting reading
Seth - Wretha said...
Thanks, great minds think alike, I've seen that one already, good site though, food for thought! Keep 'em coming... :)
Wretha 
Tracy said...Hi Wretha; having used a couple of propane refrigerators, I can heartily recommend finding another way. In my experience, they just use too much propane. Granted, I was using old RV fridges (I tried 3 different ones) so YMMV.
The homebrewing supply houses (morebeer.com, for example) have a thermostatic controller for about $60 that can be used to control a chest freezer. I would add a small fan inside (to run only when the compressor cycles) to prevent stratification.
The money you would save by doing this, compared to the price of a fullsize Dometic or whatever, would buy at least a couple of 60 watt PV panels; which would probably cover the electricity usage of the fridge, and then some. - Wretha said...
Hi Tracy, I'll look into that, thanks! I realize that I forgot to mention that we will be getting the propane fridge nearly free, it's a used unit in a friend's unused trailer. I haven't seen it, I know nothing else about it, not even sure how free it will be, we may trade a carton of cigarettes or something like that. Hopefully I'll know more by the weekend.
Wretha - Tracy said...
I have some ideas for my propane fridges. One possibility is rejetting it to work on methane gas, with a digester to produce the gas. That would work well at my homestead in the Southeast, where you plant watermelons by throwing the seeds & running for your life.
For my Terlingua land, a better idea would be to use a Fresnel lens to concentrate solar power onto a copper heat sink (painted black) which is connected to the refrigerant boiler. - Wretha said...
Tracy, throw watermelon seeds and run for your life? That's funny!
Wretha 
The Scavenger said...Dragon sent me your way and I am glad he did. I love the cordless drill wind generator idea and would love to know more about how it is working for you. Always looking for ways to generate some power. Great Blog
- Wretha said...
Hi Scavenger, welcome to my ramblings... I'm glad you like it.
The drill wind generator is sort of on hold for a bit, just a little bit though, need to make more juice for the batteries, they are HUNGRY. :)
I'll post more about them as we work on them, stay tuned! I'm checking out your site too.
ps
thanks Dragon!
Wretha - Panhandle Tex said...
Not to rain on your parade but from the couple of propane refrigerators that I have had, they just don't work to well, cooler than room temperature, but not what I would call cold. Perhaps that is the best way to put it, they make things cool, not cold. Granted these were older "full size" fridges.
Panhandle Tex - Panhandle Tex said...
Opps, forgot to mention the idea of using an alternator for a wind generator. I have never tried it, but 25-30 years ago it was the hot idea.
Panhandle Tex - Wretha said...
Panhandle Tex, I'll let everyone know how it goes with the propane fridge. We are still working on the wind systems, I'll post more about things as they happen.
Thanks for your input. :)
Wretha - Tracy said...
Couple more comments: First, my RV propane fridges would freeze the entire interior, even in 100 degree weather, if you cranked them up. They just used a lot of gas doing it.
Second, about automotive alternators: not a good idea unless you rebuild them into PMGs. In stock form, they are less than 50% efficient. Somebody tried to tell me that, but did I listen? Nooo, I had to find out the hard way, just like everything else. - Jeff Earnest said...
Hey Wretha,
Scavenger provided me the link to your Blog, I too am interested in the progress of the RYOBI wind generated power... I've a couple of cordless drills who's batteries have long since passed, and like the idea of supplementing my solar with 'anything else' alternative. In Florida, if it's not sunny, it's probably windy. Please let us know more about the drill mill as ya'll progress...
Jeff - Wretha said...
Hi Jeff, welcome to my ramblings... :) I'm not sure when we will actually do something with the Ryobi drill wind generator, it's been set aside for now so that we can finish the bedroom and deck addition to the cabin. We have guests coming next month and more the month after that, gotta get things done around here so our guests can have a good place to lay their heads. As soon as we pick up the windmill project again, I will be sure to write about it.
Thank you for your interest, BTW, I checked out your site, very cool, I wished you were closer by, I would definately be interested in trying some cheese & milk.
Wretha - Anonymous said...
Wretha,
Check out
http://fourmileisland.com/IceBox.htm
I don't think you can use it now with summer coming, but it's something you and your hubby can look into this fall/winter.
TheMajor'sLady
www.lornkanaga.livejournal.com
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Wretha, WOW! That sounds amazing and terrifying. I am glad you guys are OK, and I hope you don't have to evacuate. I love the tip on the corded phone AND on bringing it with you in case of evacuation.
Hopefully you're getting some rest and the fire is being controlled. I would be interested to see what is left when it's gone, and how it changes in the weeks and months after. I remember in school being fascinated at how nature recovers from stuff like that.
June 5, 2008 7:05 AM
Stay safe and keep us updated. When life gets back to normal for Bob & you.
June 5, 2008 7:40 AM
Thanks everyone, so far so good though we aren't out of the woods yet, I'll keep everyone posted.
Wretha
June 5, 2008 11:48 AM
{{{Wretha}}}
I knew about cordless phones, but I hadn't thought about bringing one with us if we had to bug out--good idea as not everyone has one! (heck, I won't get digital/cable telephone because of what happens when the power or cable goes out; I gotta have my land line--hehehe)
Glad you're safe. Keep us posted.
TheMajor'sLady
June 6, 2008 4:18 AM
We are doing better now, there are still fires burning, I heard today that they have the fires 65% contained, some 50,000 acres have been burned, no structures lost, no loss of life or injury, I really praise the men and women who have been fighting this fire. I can still smell smoke, but it is nothing like it was the first day.
Wretha
June 6, 2008 12:14 PM
I seem to remember that the old bag phones (pre-historic mobile numbers) make good emergency phones, even if left disconnected. Believe Texas has law which states if phone is used STRICTLY for 911 emergency types of calls, they will allow the call to be patched through.
Look this up, but I believe that this is still the case - I hope this helps.
June 6, 2008 12:40 PM
Bag phones, hmmm, I knew that any cell phone, active or not will work for 911. :)
Wretha
June 6, 2008 12:52 PM
Wretha, glad to know you and yours are safe and sound. I have a friend who lost a house to fire and I don't think he ever recovered from it. He still talks about things that he had before the fire. Keep your eyes on the hills and be ready if need be. Keep safe and you will be in my prayers.
Chris
June 6, 2008 11:23 PM
Thanks Scavenger, all seems to be ok now, I can still smell smoke, it's like we live next to a BBQ place. :)
Wretha
June 7, 2008 9:31 AM