Some Stuff

I hope everyone had a good Christmas holiday. I finally had a few days off from work myself for a change. It was good. I hav'nt done a darned thing on the house since the last blog, however I did find some new aquired items. I got my 1000 gallon propane tank and the next day it was filled to about 75% full. 80% is the maximum allowed, but it was a pretty cold day, and just incase I don't happen to use any of it by the time summer rolls around, I kinda thought we should maybe hold back a bit and allow for expansion on the hotter days. I kinda wanted to buy my own used tank and I will be kinda keeping my eyes open for a good deal some day. This one costs $180/year to rent, and $175 to bring it out. That price includes the haul away I understand. It costed $2142.66 to fill the tank to 75%, including taxes. That is 2967 liters of propane. Usually a fill from empty to 80% would 3200 liters.

This is my honda 2000 generator that I have been using ever since I moved out here. I actually purchased this baby brand new on ebay and it came from somewhere in North Carolina if I remember correctly. I managed to save myself a little over $300 on it by the time all the shipping and importation fees etc. were all said and done. They are expensive for the size, but they are quiet, and very reliable. It is the inverter type generator also. It hardly ever gets used in the summer, but this time of the year I start it up quite often as the sun is pretty low and not out for very many hours in the winter up here.

I managed to get my Drolet woodstove home. This sucker weighs about 375 lbs.

So used the backhoe to shove it into the house. I did'nt take it down stairs yet, just incase there may be some reason that it may not pass the inspection for some reason or another. Maybe it's too big or something, who knows. I don't think so, but it's just better to be safe than sorry I guess. I think I can get it downstairs myself easy enough, but bringing it back up could be a bit of a chore.

I went auction saleing again and purchased a new generator. I looked up powetek on the internet, but could'nt find it, although I think I figured out that this is actually quite a popular generator, just sold under alot of different names. $600.00. I see the same thing advertised quite aften ranging from $1200-over $2500. It is diesel and is supposed to be quite quiet when in action. It is not the fancy inverter style generator, but I'm going to try it out and see how it goes anyway. I was kinda planning on a Honda eu65000, but they cost over $5000.00 new. That just don't seem very frugal to me, unless I get a real good deal on one someday.

There she is out of the box. A little more power for when I am in the house to charge a much larger battery bank than I am using now.

I also bought some other goodies at the auction. The contents of these 3 boxes is propane hose and electrical cables. A big industrial camp company was selling out the Grande Praire, and Grimshaw divisions of their company. This trailer load costed me $55.00.

Inside one the boxes is these hoses. It is alot more than I will be needing, but better to have too much than not enough, I guess. I am planning on running some hose from the 1000 gallon tank to my shack temporarily. 200 feet of 1/2 inch above ground lpg hose would have costed me over $300 to buy new in town. I feel that I have done pretty well on this purchase although, I still hav'nt run any propane line yet. It will be alot more simpler and cheaper to run propane from the big tank. When I fill the 100 pound bottles it costs me .945/ liter compared to .6878/ liter from the big tank.

Anyway, country life is treating me real well still, even though I am still living in the shack. Don't think I could ever go back to town living. I don't know how busy things are going to be in the new year, but I am sure looking forward to spring so I can get right after my little project again. I may find time before spring to get some things done, but I really can't say for sure. Surely this has got to be my last winter in this shack though. I hope. Happy New Year.


Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.