Sunday, November 8, 2009

Solar Power, Country Life and Work




I got brave and posted a couple pictures of my messy living quarters. I have been so busy at work this last week and kinda got behind in the cleaning department. It happens to me like that all the time. But it is quite liveable, I think anyway. I know there are people out there that could'nt even imagine living like this, but I am pretty flexible. So far, things are going great. I still love my country way of life, even though I hav'nt spent a whole lot of time here lately. Last month when worked asked me what my plans where, I was pretty busy moving and all that, so I told them that I would really like to have no work until November. Well I guess they must have thought that what I meant was I wanted to be full bore in November, because that sure seems to be what happend so far. Ever since November 2 I have worked stupid hours. Get up early one morning to go to work, then work about an 8 hour shift, shut down for 8 hours then go back to work at about 10 at night and work all night. I've played around in the mud way out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. Had bad directions and ended up going a kilometer down a road that dead ended with no turn around with a 330 cat hoe on. Then just as I start to back out of there for a km a wild snow storm has to hit. Well I'm not whinning, it's just one example of what goes on in my world at times. I sure do wish they would see just what a guy does for them. I don't even really care if am even working or not really. But then when the week is over and the hours are all added up, including the overtime and all, then I'm kinda glad it all happend, but at the time, I'm sure that all the wolves and other wildlife out in the wilderness probably learned some fancy new words. I was'nt a very happy camper at times, being tired and all.
I got all my solar panels up before work called. I am glad for that. At night I run one or two lights through the inverter, my laptop, and whatever needs to be charged (cell phone, drill, camera, etc), I occasionally use the microwave to heat up some food or water and I use a toaster in the morning. So far I have not run my battery bank down to any less than 70%. Roughly about 12.4 volts. I usually don't even get it down that low. I have had an evening where I was on the computer for a few hours and still had 70% battery left. I have not had to start my generator this month yet. Every night that I came home, my batteries were completely charged except for one night. That day it rained practically all day and my batteries still did charge some, but not fully. I still had enough power for the night without the generator. My six panels so far are a bit of overkill for my power demands, although I do see some days in the future where the generator will probably need to be utilized.

I have been around town alot lately with work, so a shower was always available at the truck stops. As an experiment one night I had a sponge bath in the shack, just to see how well that works. I was actually impressed. I would much rather take a shower at a truck stop, but if I don't happen to be near one, then to get cleaned up in my little shack is totally do-able, which is really nice to know.


Sometimes the temperatures fluctuate inside the shack. The floor is a bit cooler and the top bunk is alot hotter. I like the top bunk, but I need to rig up a fan with some kind of reverse thermostat that will kick the fan in at a certain hottness to circulate some of that heat around. I just hav'nt had the time for things like that yet.
This is my basement at the moment. All these pictures were taken this morning. Now if I new, that I had a few days without work bugging me, I would maybe take a chance and try to get some basement walls up and a main floor. I would really like to have the basement built and backfilled before the major cold hits. Keeping in mind that I did'nt skirt the shack in yet and I hav'nt really checked into the weather forcast yet either. If I start cleaning this basement up so I can start to build, I would hope that rain and snow would stay away for a few days(weeks). It seems like a big chore to get things started and then have to cover them all up again at the end of the day.
I just checked out the solar charging system. As I sit here and use the computer, my batteries are showing 13.3 volts. When I got the computer they were at 12.5 volts. It all makes me want to waste some power somewhere. I guess I should have more batteries for days like these.
Usually when I use my laptop, it is using about 29 watts. Right now, and the sun is still kinda hidden behind tree tops and light cloud etc, my charge controller is showing 185 watts. At that rate 185 divide by 29 =6.38, that means that one hour of charging at 185 watts should give me 6.38 hours of computer use. One of my lights run about 13 watts and the light it emitts is equivilant to a 60 watt light bulb. I have plenty light. I have four 80 watt panels and two 75 watt panel. If things were right on, my panels should be capable of bringing in 470 watts, although I hav'nt seen that yet. Since writting this part I posted two new pics of the brains of the system(the top two photos). The sun is still far from its peak performance as it is still rising and not yet in the south.

Sorry about having to let you all witness my mess inside the shack. I kinda wanted to have it all nice a clean before posting the pics but maybe next time. It'll be like the before and after. I realize I have been a little sloppy on leaving comments on other blogs too. I have glanced at quite a few of my regular bloggers, but just did'tn have the time or energy to spend a whole lot of time on it. This morning I am more relaxing than doing things outside so far.

Things are going really well here at the shack. There are some days when I wonder why I am living like this right now, but when I think of the new income(rent income) and the lack of bills going out, it is like they are actually paying me to live like this. Thats what I like. Time will show the difference. My little house that I am in the process of building, is going to feel like a mansion when I finally get into it compared to the shack.


20 comments:

  1. Just keep your eye on the prize, my friend! Slowly but surly yo are getting there...and doing great , by the way!

    Don't worry about the "mess"...just looks lived in!

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  2. My eye has always been on the prize Jim. I don't know, but I think I already got the prize. But then, I can still see a bigger prize yet to come. Thanks for the boost Jim.

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  3. Your place looks fine Mark. You have everything you need. :)
    Glad the panels are working out well for you!

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  4. Thanks Jeanie. So far the panels are working out perfectly. I'm glad that I forced myself to get all those up when I did, it really paid off and saved me alot of messing around with the generator and all.

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  5. Hey Mark!! Geez, you shouldn't worry about tidying things up for pics! We certainly don't come here to judge you! We are the cheering section, remember!! I, for one, am very proud of you for just putting one foot in front of the other and getting 'er done! You are a rare breed, my friend!! Now, did I ever mention I have a single, frugal sister in Brooks?! Hmmmm? LOL

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  6. Don't worry about the mess, think of it as looking 'lived in'! lol

    It is great to read how you are making this dream come true bit by bit, it just keeps bringing me back.

    What you are doing is exactly what hubby and I plan to do, although we are somewhat behind you and still in the planning stage and it is great to see how someone else is doing this!

    Keep up the good work and keep posting! :)

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  7. Hi Mark;

    Clean enough to be healthy, dirty enough to be lived in is my motto. Just remember small places clean up fast.

    Great to hear how the panels are working. That info helps the rest of us that have not done it yet. Keep up the good work. I love it when a plan comes together.

    See Ya

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  8. Absolutely a cool post. Really enjoyed the pics. Trying to get things done will all the grief of work and weather is hard, I know I go through it all the time, but it all gets done in due time.

    I would call your house a organized mess, how about that.

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  9. Thanks Cath. You know, I'm not quite as worried about my mess as we may all think I am. lol. It's not all that bad actually, I can usually find somethings after looking long enough. Ya know, I don't ever recall hearing you talk about a frugal sister in Brooks. Thats interesting though and Brooks is not really all that far away, maybe 7 hours. Maybe you did, but I might have missed that one. Just between you and I, is she handy with a hammer? lol. But seriously, does she do the blogger thing?

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  10. Hey Edain, I'm glad that you follow my journey. So far, I find that it is alot simpler than I thought it would be and the hardest part is just getting started. The more I live like this, the more sense it seems to make. I used to let it bother me a bit what some other people thought about the way I wanted to live, but now I know I am not nuts, and I can actually have fun with it. I'm right and they are definately wrong. Good luck to you guys with your journey.

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  11. Hey Tony. Small places get messy really fast also. lol. About the panels, I did learn that there can be some bad charging days also. Today for instance. Last night and this morning I was an energy pig, then the sun never did come out all day today. But it was not a real big deal, an hour and 20 minutes with the genny got us back up and running strong. I could have easily made the night without it, but I just don't like to deep cycle the batteries too low, and I wanted to play on the computer a bit tonight. If I had no generator it definately would'nt have been a problem for me yet.

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  12. Thanks Coal. Organized mess? I can live with that. Pig pen? I can probably live with that one too. lol. Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

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  13. I have often wondered why I am willing to live in my very unfinished house and put up with the ongoing mess sometimes and inconvenience but then I get laid off from work and don't have to worry about making a house payment so...it's all okay!
    Sure understand the work deal and how hard it is sometimes. Few people realize what the blue collar man has to go through sometimes.

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  14. Hey ER, you live in your unfinished house because you are a smart girl. It just makes sense. Alot of times with my silly job, I never know when they're going to phone, and alot of times I just get started with things then they need me. I have had alot of wasted drives trying to get things done out here, so it just made sense to be out here all the time. So far I am liking it alot.

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  15. Hermit,
    I am so happy to know about your new living arrangements and solar usage. It is nice to know that you will be having an income from your mobile home rental! Ive got three solar panels that I need to set up as well but I probly will wait until I start staying there more often. At my ol property, I use to get alot of usage off of one battery for my laptop and one light. One light is all I have ever needed. I did buy some little lights that look like candles that use one AA battery to give a little ambiance. Ive also got some of these lights that use very little juice and put out some good light. I love them. http://www.mountainmods.com/dual-12-inch-white-cold-cathode-kit-p-104.html?osCsid=9v29ha55fam7vu1g4nifjg8pp3 There is a special way to connect to DC. If you order them i will show you how to do that. You're doing great kiddo!!! ~jen

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  16. Thanks Jen, I'm pretty happy about me living out here too. So far so good. I'm using a couple of 13 watt compact flourecent lights. They're about the same as 60 watt bulbs lightwise at a fraction of the energy use. I usually only have one on at a time depending which end of the shack I'm spending my time. Six batteries will run those for awhile though. I tried that link but it did'nt seem to take me anywhere, I'll check into it bit more later. Thanks Jen.

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  17. Wellllllllll, did you get that big snow load they promised???

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  18. I think alot of places around here did, but my place did'nt get hit real bad. It was snowing pretty good when I left for work this morning, but when I got home I could still see my tracks, so it must have quit right after I left. But where I hauled a backhoe to, had more than enough. It's still a mess though. I had my basement all cleaned up and snow free, then work calls the last few days, and now it snows again. What can one do Cath? I'm getting tired of shoveling snow.

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  19. ...tired of shoveling already...and the date is?????? lol
    Hey, we are having some awesome weather here right now...my Dad is at our cabin with a backhoe this week getting our driveway firmed up, knocking down trees, moving some pretty big rocks, and digging our basement! Woohoo!! LOL Looks like we'll get the basement in next year. I'm thinking we'll just put a "lid" on it in 2010. Frame it in 2011, etc. I don't know...see how far the money goes...you know?
    Have a great day Mark!

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