tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43973010282486755672024-03-13T07:34:09.414-07:00Simple man, simple plan.Off Grid LivingFrugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-20530442956146861132014-04-26T22:11:00.000-07:002014-04-26T22:11:42.270-07:00Ceilings, Floors, and Counters. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2UB23160kg0/U1yG2EPUf4I/AAAAAAAABlY/uYQhR4mo6iA/s1600/loft+ceiling.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2UB23160kg0/U1yG2EPUf4I/AAAAAAAABlY/uYQhR4mo6iA/s1600/loft+ceiling.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
I've had my ceilings done for a little while now, just finally got around to putting some pictures up. I do still have the bathroom to do. Can't get it all done at once you know. Anyway, I have two coats of varathane on them. I just left natural, no stain. I like it.<br />
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I wasn't too sure what I was going to do on the last piece, but I ended up simply overlapping it, instead of cutting it to fit. It actually looks pretty good and if I didn't say anything, no one would have even known.<br />
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I layed my laminate flooring on the main floor. I like it too. I think I will continue down the steps to the basement with this same stuff.<br />
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I found a whole kitchen on Kijiji for sale (or I guess I should say my sister did). It was a 5 year old 18 cubic foot fridge, a stove, and all kinds of counters and cupboards etc. I didn't need the fridge or stove so I left it right on the pickup and put it right back on kijij and sold it withing a few days. Just so happend someones fridge blew up one morning and they urgently wanted mine, and the stove. She negotiated me down a bit over the phone and I delivered very quickly before any minds got changed. I was thinking about trying the fridge out in the house, but I am quite happy with the system I have going on here with the deep freeze and cooler. Totally works for me. So the counters and all that eneded up costing me $100.00 in the end. I'm pretty sure I will make it all work. I'm not real good at color coordinating things like a houses interior, but anything is going to be better than it was a while ago.<br />
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The ole creek has been running pretty good lately. Still a fair bit of snow kicking around though. Soon it will be canoe season again, and I am totally looking forward to that, however, I may need some canoeing partners. It seems all the people I know are more into power sports and all that. Allergic to some good wholesome exercise. I have even been getting an urge for possibly some kayaking. Never done it, but I sure have been researching it lately. Both these I could do all by my self, but it would be a lot more fun and safer to do it with other people. If anyone out there would be interested in doing a trip or something let me know, maybe we can work something out sometime. My schedule is actually quite flexible at times. I am quite happy touring lakes, or rivers as long as it ain't too wild(I'm more interested in the peaceful scenic part rather than wild white water crazy stuff). I have been searching online and do have a potential partner lined up for a 5 day river trip in the near future. It might happen, and it might not. If it does I will be sure to put some pictures up. <br />
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<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-27841377752636613302014-04-06T11:28:00.003-07:002014-04-06T11:30:50.105-07:00Energy Data In my previous post on ceilings I mentioned I would put on some
information about my power usage, and consumption etc. I spent a lot of
time trying to figure out how to get this info up here. What I have
isn't a whole lot but it may help. I do have written info about
generator usage and hours etc, but it is getting to be a lot of work
getting stuff from paper to blog. The following info I did have down on a
spreadsheet and even that was educational to get it on here. This is
what I will use to get an idea of GENERATOR USAGE. It is not a perfect
system, but it should help give some perspective. I kept track of how
much fuel I used and calculated it all at $1.40 per liter, which is a
bit of an over calculation so actual costs will be a bit less. Also, I
didn't keep track of every time I started the generator but instead
every time I emptied a gas jug into it.<br />
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INCOMING KILOWATT HRS from the PANELS. (1 KWH=1000 Watt/hrs). <br />
The
following chart is the daily readings off my Out Back solar charge
controller. This would then be the incoming Kilowatt Hours from my 6
Sharp 240 watt solar panels. From Jan 1 2012 to Oct 14 2012 there was
No Data, because I didn't<br />
have my solar panels in operation yet. Any other No Data areas was<br />
from neglect of keeping track. My Outback charge controller keeps a<br />
record for 128 days then it erases it as new data is being recorded. The<br />
following is my daily incoming Kilowatt Hours From Jan 1 2012 to<br />
April
5 2014. It was tricky trying to get this on here from the Excel
spreadsheet also, but it was a good learning experience. This last
winter we had a lot of snow, and not once did I get up on the roof and
clean it off. The previous winter we had a lot of snow also, but I did
clean it off quite often when it quit snowing and the sun came out.
February 14-28 2014 I was away, so once things charged up it seemed to
just hold at .70 area each day as the batteries were full. Just thought I
would point that one out. There was snow on the panels when I left, but
I can see from the incoming wattage that it melted off shortly after. I
turned the deep freeze off for this holiday. <br />
<br />
I do
have a record of my State of charge every morning for quite some time,
but then I kind of got lazy in the later days. It's all in books. I
didn't get that info on here yet. Maybe some day I will get a little
more organized and find a simple way to push a button and have it all
here, but just to give some perspective on the situation, I will say
that usually in the winter time with the deep freeze running and in the
house(which is going to change next winter), my SOC is usually in about
the 90% area. Sometimes 92% and sometimes 87%. So it drops usually
around 10% from the previous days full charge. My honda 2000 runs about
3.5 hours each day to charge it back up again. Sometimes I'll go a
couple days before charging, but not very often. Very seldom do I let my
battery bank drop below 80% SOC. My forced air furnace usually comes on
in the mornings but does not run much during the day in the colder
weather. I'm usually burning wood when it is colder than -10 celcius
outside. The previous winter(2012-2013) I can remember waking up in the
mornings to find the SOC at about 95%. I used to go 2 or 3 days before
starting the generator then. That was before the deep freeze.<br />
<br />
In other news, I did finally get my ceilings all up except the bathroom and one coat of
varnish so far. I'll update on that with pictures soon.<br />
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I know it's been a very long time since my last post and I do apologize if by any little chance someone has been waiting. I guess one could say I took a break. I can actually remember a fellow blogging friend, John (The Analog Man), requested a certain post about solar power usage and statistics etc. I hav'nt forgotten about you John, I will get something together sometime soon. I got kind of lazy in the building department there for awhile, but now, I am starting to get a little tired of looking at all the same ceiling joists in the kitchen and insulation up in the loft where I sleep at night. I think I need a change. I started the loft more than a month or two ago.<br />
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The above picture is what is done in the loft so far. It is the largest area of ceiling in the house. The total area of loft to do is 504 sq feet. I have 156 sq ft done and that leaves 348 to go. I'm just about 1/3 done the loft. lol. This stuff is pretty slow putting up, especially when doing it by yourself. The store ran out of this stuff after I started and I could'nt seem to find the same stuff in town anywhere. However I did finally find pretty close to the same in a different store now. Totally different packaging and brand etc, but it sure does look like the same product. I bought enough to do the main floor ceiling and I compared the loft with that. I think it will work. I'll have to go buy that store out too I guess.<br />
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Above pic shows the kitchen ceiling I just got done today. That is about 100 sq ft. And that leaves the living room (another 100 sq ft), and the bathroom (roughly 36 sq ft), and the rest is open to the loft.<br />
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In other news, I went on a little road trip recently from Feb 14-Feb 28.<br />
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The map above shows all the places we stayed over night. We were in Las Vegas for 3 nights and the rest were one nighters. The furthest north dot is Grande Prairie, Alberta, the starting point. Then we rolled clockwise until we got back to Grande Prairie again. I really liked that trip, and about the only thing that was wrong with it is that I'm not still down there. We've been in 8 US states and 2 Canadian provinces.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R9opzWV5uNY/UyPcEwG-gCI/AAAAAAAABeQ/kNjYJDPUds0/s1600/JoAnn+and+Car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R9opzWV5uNY/UyPcEwG-gCI/AAAAAAAABeQ/kNjYJDPUds0/s1600/JoAnn+and+Car.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
This is JoAnn my travelling partner and her car. The gas on this trip costed a little over $600, which I thought was pretty decent. Rooms were not too bad either, as we were splitting the costs. We would usually book rooms one day in advance finding some good deals on expedia.com or booking.com. <br />
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<br /> I'm looking at the Pacific ocean in the above pic. It is far away view from here, but it was my first look at any ocean and it was a pretty special moment for me. lol. We eventually did get closer looks and even walked some beaches. Watched some elephant seals, and even saw signs of whales. Anyway, I went from temps of 22c-28c. (71-86 F) here in the states. <br />
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To this again at home. The morning after I got home, it was -38c (-37f). What a difference. I am planning on spending some more winter time in the south in the future. Not sure if it will be next winter for sure or not, but sometime. <br />
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Before I left on our little journey I had to do some preparations as my house was going to be left all alone for 2 weeks in very cold and snowy weather. The first thing was to empty out the deep freeze that is in the house. And then simply shut the power off. Just a push of a button. The bar-b-que became the freezer for a day or two until I put them into moms deep freeze before we left. Never know if a chinook is going to blow in or not. When I got back from the vacation, I used the bar-b-que to keep my frozen goods frozen again as there was really no point in running the deep freeze until the weather got warmer, and it eventually did. I haven't started the generator since February 12 2014. That's over a month now. I'm pretty much on the free power plan now until about November again, except for maybe the odd bad weather spell. <br /><br />
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<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-6574549950362387252013-09-18T21:01:00.001-07:002013-09-18T21:01:32.624-07:00Double Deck Construction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It all started with the pilings. Four of them. (Top Photo). <br />
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Then the landscaping cloth. I also parged the part of the house that will be under the deck and did any other finishing touches that needed done. <br />
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Then I dumped a bucket full of tile rock on top of the cloth and raked it out. Just looks a lot nicer and hopefully a bunch of grass and other fire hazards may not accumulate under the deck this way.<br />
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The bottom deck. <br />
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The double deck so far. I had to get kind of technical building the deck so far. Still got lots to do. Gotta finish attaching what I have there so far, put the floor on the top deck, which will consist of 3/4 inch plywood. The top floor will act as a roof for the bottom deck. I have a real gradual slope to it. The front is probably about 3/4 of an inch lower than where it attaches at the house on that 10 foot spread. It isn't much, but at least water should run away from the house hopefully. By the time this whole double deck is done, it will have costed around $2000 or more. Just the lumber and supplies for the top part was around $900.00. Nails, screws, joist hangers, angle connectors and the pressure treated lumber. She all adds up. The bottom deck is constructed using 2x8 joists and top using 2x10 joists as there will be some snow load up there. Each deck is 10x16 feet.<br />
I still have to finish the siding, clean the chimney, complete the electrical and get it inspected. These are the things I'm hoping to get done before the snow flies. I know I have been pretty slack assed on the my house project lately. I hav'nt had the freedom to simply enjoy life like this for years, and I have been taking advantage of that. It seems that all I have done for the last 25 to 30 years was work, and I am just now starting to take time just for me. I think about my dad a lot lately. I just recently turned 49 years of age, my dad died of cancer when he was 51, and I'm like wow, he was just in the prime of his life. But that was kind of cut short for him and I sure hope something like that don't happen to me. Not for the next few years anyway. I'm going to try for at least another 49, and if I can't have that, at least I am going to take full advantage of the years I do have left. A part of that plan does consist of getting more done on the house as well as having a lot of fun. <br />
I'm still playing around in the markets, and the markets are paying off for me a little more all the time as I gain experience. I will be the first to admit that the markets are not making me wealthy, not yet, but they have been paying a little extra to add to the monthly rent income. Anyway, that's my life for this day. <br />
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<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-14851361752661223732013-09-09T21:20:00.000-07:002013-09-09T22:26:48.995-07:00Canoeing. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I finally broke down and purchased a canoe on Aug 16 2013. I do believe I have canoed every weekend since. It's something I've been talking and thinking about for quite some time now. It's nothing special, just a cheap old starter unit. A Coleman explorer 166. Sounds like an important canoe, but probably almost bottom of the line. Someday, when I finally learn what I really want, I will shovel out a little more money to the cause. I do like this one so far though. The first place my canoeing partner and I went with it was Swan Lake, Alberta, just to kind of get the feel of things a bit, and do a little fishing. There are actually a lot of Swan lakes, but this one is situated a little south west of Debolt, Aberta. We had a pretty good time, but it did take a little getting used to it. Seems pretty tippy. lol. But we stayed afloat. <br />
The next weekend, we loaded up and went for a drive out the other direction. Thought we'd try Spring Lake, but at the last minute, we decided to drive right by that one and try a creek that I knew about up past Spring lake about 10 Kilometers. We have tried a lake and wanted something different. The above photo is Boone Creek. Just a narrow little creek, but very peaceful and scenic. <br />
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All was going very well, until we came across our first beaver dam to portage. Then the second one, and the third. It wound up being 5 or 6 beaver dams in total, although most was just a matter of sliding the canoe over them. Two needed to actually be portaged a bit. The above picture shows the longest portage as we actually skipped a pretty good chunk of the creek before putting back in again. <br />
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It was a fair bit of work at times, but the end result was quite rewarding. We made it into Jackfish Lake. (There are more than one Jackfish lakes in Alberta, this one is north of Hythe, Alberta). I'm not sure, but I really think that canoe or airplane just might be the only way into the lake. One day I would like to get rigged for camping and spend a day or two on this lake and in this area. I almost forgot to mention that I did just about dump Jo-Anne and myself into the creek just before the mouth of the lake. We had just finished skidding the canoe over the last small beaver dam, and I was pushing off and jumping in. I guess I got a little over confident. The side of the canoe dipped pretty far in, and we took on a lot of water. I was actually quite amazed that we managed to recover it before going right over. lol. Jo-Anne had and instant new look and words that I have never seen or heard from her before. It was actually quite funny after the thought. </div>
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Ok, so now we are getting tired of lakes and creeks and we decide that it is time to check out our first river together. Apparently Jo-Anne has done a little river run once. We came up with the idea to try the Smoky River and do some camping on the weekend. So we got everything all ready to roll finally. We needed two vehicles for this one. We dropped the Dodge off at the riverstone golf course which is north east of TeePee Creek, Alberta. <a href="http://www.riverstonegolfcourse.com/">http://www.riverstonegolfcourse.com/</a> Then proceeded to the Hiway 43 crossing of the Smoky river, just East of Bezanson, with the canoe and camper. It was already getting dark by the time we pulled onto the shore of the Smoky to set up camp for the night. We didn't know how long it would take to complete our journey, so we wanted to get an early start. I didn't sleep a wink all night. lol. Had just a little too much on my mind. </div>
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The morning came, we made a lunch and breakfast and started getting the canoe all ready to roll. I was pretty excited. This was all new for me. The Smoky is pretty good sized river, and for the most part was moving along pretty good,and even better where it narrowed up. There were river boats we had to try to stay out of the way of etc, but it all did go well. It was a very nice trip. We loaded the canoe up at the golf course once we arrived and headed back to the camper at hiway 43. This run was about 34 kilometers according to my GPS trip odometer. At times the river would take us along at 4 km/hr and other times through some of the narrow areas we would be moving along 14-15 km/hr. In the photos the water looks pretty still, but usually when the rougher water does come along we are busy putting the cameras etc away in a safe spot just incase. We seem to have more important things to do other than taking pictures at times. lol. We did good for the first time. </div>
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We cooked supper on the fire that night. It don't take a real large fire to cook a steak, as long as the coals are nice and hot. </div>
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The next day a long time friend of mine brought his canoe out to join us on a run from the Simonette River Campground to the Hiway 43 Smoky bridge where we are camped. The Simonette river eventually runs into the Smoky. It was one of my favorite runs so far. The river is quite a lot smaller than the Smoky, but does have a few challenging and fun drops and minor rapids and shallow rocky bottoms in places. In the above pic, it is very calm as we let the canoes slowly drift toward havoc. lol. We survived, but if you look closely you can see interesting stuff coming up on us slowly. There were quite a few spots where we had to be on the ball. </div>
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A little later on, we decided to do a little fishing before coming into the Smoky. I caught one. I have never caught this kind of fish before, but later on we decided it must have been a mountain whitefish. I let it go. If it were a walleye of the keeper size, I would have cooked it up that night for supper. </div>
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Once we got back to the camper, and recovered the trucks at our put in on the Simonette, Jo-Anne had other things going on and had to leave. She took the Dodge home and left me with the camper and canoe. So Wade and I cooked some supper up and visited for awhile until he went home also. They deserted me. lol. Oh well. It's free camping, so I wasn't in a hurry to leave. I do still have a lot of hermit in me and can enjoy my time alone. </div>
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The next day I went over to Swan Lake over by Debolt again. This was the first place I ever tried the old canoe out. It was such a nice day. I took my time and eventually paddled around the whole lake. With lots of just sitting and relaxing going on. </div>
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I should say WE paddled around the lake. I guess I wasn't so alone after all. Traction really seems to like this kind of life. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYbfMFgSgfA/Ui6A4Ha3ofI/AAAAAAAABbM/41QJu8-Klx8/s1600/Canoeing+Pipestone+to+Magoos.+Sept+7+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYbfMFgSgfA/Ui6A4Ha3ofI/AAAAAAAABbM/41QJu8-Klx8/s1600/Canoeing+Pipestone+to+Magoos.+Sept+7+2013.jpg" /></a></div>
Anyway, so this last weekend Jo-Anne and I went on a new journey. I had my mom drop us off at Pipestone creek campground on the Wapiti River. <a href="http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/pipestone.html">http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/pipestone.html</a> , and we paddled to Magoos landing which is about 7 Kilometers down from the Hiway 40 bridge to the Weyhauser road crossing. I'm guessing this one was a total of 34 kms also, but I forgot to set the gps trip odometer to zero at first, so I don't know for sure, but that should be close. This river here seemed to be our biggest challenge yet. There was a lot of calm and then rough and windy, a lot of river boats to contend with. There was one point where we could have dumped it in the some fairly fast water, but we managed to keep it afloat. <br />
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We did manage to slow down and take time to rest and roast some wieners on this run. I love the canoeing, but may be due for a bit of a break and maybe work on the house a bit more. But maybe not too. I am having way too much fun lately.<br />
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The end of that journey. If we had kept on going down the Wapiti, we would need a pretty good day and the river would take us to the Smoky where we camped the previous weekend. The Wapiti runs into the Smoky a little bit before where the Simonette runs into the Smoky. For that matter, if I were to just keep on going on the Smoky, it would eventually run into the Peace River, which would run into the Slave river, then into the Mackenzie River through Great Slave Lake, right out into the Arctic Ocean. Of course there would be some major portages along the way, such as the Vermillion Chutes south of John Dor Prairie for one. I find rivers and streams to be very fascinating and do someday want to venture along on a multi day jouney of some type. Not sure if I really need to go to the Arctic ocean or not, but you just never know. <br />
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I have worked on the main deck of my house a little lately, and do plan to put up a new post on that one soon. Sorry I have been so quiet lately, just been enjoying life a lot lately. Even before the canoe came in to play, I have spent a lot of time camping at various different places. I do feel the need to start getting a little production on the house before winter, I hope. Awwwww what's the hurry though, it's quite liveable I think. Others seem to have a different opinion though. Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-40366509341100414552013-06-17T21:49:00.000-07:002013-06-17T21:52:59.113-07:00Just About Time For a New Deck. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The deck on the front of the house was built early last winter. Kind of a quick slap together job. Eventually this deck is going to end up on the other side of the house. <br />
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But for now, I'll just put it right here. <br />
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Then I'll take the steps that came off that deck and put them here. For now. Sure seems that I am going backwards, but sometimes one has to go backwards in order to move ahead. Depending on the weather, I may start digging some post holes tomorrow. If the weather is not nice, then I'll probably run into town and get me some supplies. I had pretty busy day today. Prepping from the deck, mowing grass, had to fix the overhead garage door, cleaning up a bunch of stuff. etc etc. </div>
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Today was a beautiful sunny day, all day long. The first nice day we had in a long time. The gloomy spell was a real good test for the power system. All system passed with flying colors. State of Charge was at 76% this morning, as it has been dropping a bit every day for quite some time. Time I came into the house for supper she was at 96%. Never did get up to 100%, but close. Any little bit of sunshine tomorrow should have me fully charged again. Power is totally free here in the summer time. Lovin it. </div>
Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-48421335967165237012013-06-12T22:35:00.000-07:002013-06-12T22:35:46.825-07:00Freezer, Rain, and a Dog Rant. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well hello strangers. I know, it's been awhile. I've sure been busy for an unemployed bum it seems, yet don't really see a heck of a lot getting accomplished. There are all kinds of things going on in my life. I got a little more siding on. Periodically the weather is nice enough that I can throw a few pieces up without wallering around in the mud. It's been raining a lot for the last few days or more. Not much in the way of sunshine, but I hav'nt had to fire up the generator yet. The batteries are running a small deep freeze and the furnace kicking in once in awhile and at this moment the State of Charge is at 81%. I think that is pretty good, considering the lack of sunshine lately. One of these days I expect to see the sun starting to shine and I'll be just counting those amps coming in. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Quite some time ago a purchased a smaller deep freeze. The picture above is showing my complete summertime refrigeration system. I freeze 4 liter water jugs in the freezer, and usually every morning, I swap a frozen 4 liter water jug out of the freezer and put it in the cooler. It's been working pretty good for me. The cooler keeps the drinks and eggs and bacon etc nice and cool and the freezer keeps more than enough frozen goodies for me so I don' have to be running to town all the time for meat etc. I keep a few jugs of water in the freezer, mainly just to take up some air space and to make sure I got a little extra if need be. I have not changed my cooking habits much in this rainy spell and the system is doing pretty good with all this running. I'm pretty proud of the whole power thing that I have going on. The winter will be a little different though. I think the freezer will go outside and only be powered when the weather warms up, and the water jugs will usually be frozen naturally just like last winter. I know the freezer would cause me a lot more charging time if I didn't do something like that in the winter. I usually shut the power right off in the winter when I leave the house, but the summer it's on all the time. The freezer is 3.6 cubic feet. <br />
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Getting a little bit of siding up. I had a little bit of help occasionally. Thanks Jo-Anne and thanks Mom. Pretty soon I want to start on the main deck and the balcony above that. Then I can concentrate on my loft door and the siding on this side. <br />
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I sure don't have much of a garden, but I do have onions. </div>
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The odd time if I ever get bored (and I usually don't), I like to come out to the wood pile and buck some wood up or do a little splitting or sometimes even a bit of both. It's a great way to get some exercise and time to just think about things. I'm getting a pretty good stash of fire wood built up for this coming winter. Soon I will be trying to find the odd bit of wood for the winter after that one too. </div>
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This is my rental unit I have in town. My renter is moving out at the end of June. She had a pretty good run in there, but it is now time for her to move on I guess. I am not a very experienced guy when it comes to this landlording stuff, but recently I have been getting a pretty good education on things. And I have a real funny feeling the the educating has only just begun. lol. What I have just discovered about myself is that I am simply just too nice of a guy sometimes. But I think when it comes to renting something like this out, one has to be a little more firm and less nice. I don't mean mean or anything, just gotta look after me more. So that's what Im going to do. This is a nice little income for a guy like me. For the most part, this trailer has been paying my monthly bills, and gas in my pickup, until taxes or insurance or something like that comes along, then I need to dip a little deeper to get things paid. I recently put an add on kijiji to find a renter for this. About two minutes after it was on, the emails started coming in. I do have a new renter lined up for July, hope it all goes good. My new renter had nothing to do with the add I placed, which was good, because I was being to nice with the add and did'tn price it nearly high enough anyway. It still isn't as far as I am concerned. One thing I noticed while searching for a new renter is that probably more than 90% of the potential tenants had dogs. Usually more than one dog, and a lot of time the dogs these potential renters had were pitbulls or bull mastiffs or something like that. I am not running any one down, but I tell ya, I sure can't understand why anyone would want to complicate their life like that. The price of renting, plus feeding a dog or two like that, and then actually trying to find a place to rent. What about the mess in a small town yard? Someone please tell me why. lol. What ever, different strokes for different folks. All I'm going to say, you are the last on my list of tenants. I guess if you were all I could find, then ya. Hopefully that helps you out sometime. I sure don't mean to offend anyone, just take it as friendly advice from a simple and frugal guy. I like dogs, I really do. In the first picture way up top you will see my registered bull mastiff, pit bull, Irish wolf hound, snt Bernard cross bred dog. I got nothing against the big dogs, I just think they should be outta town for your sake, mine , theirs and all the neighbors.That's just my opinion though. </div>
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I think I just did a rant. lol. </div>
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In other news, things are going good. Still playing around in the markets, but in all honesty, not getting real wealthy just yet. But it's coming. Not going broke either. It's one of those things that's going to take some time to get real good at, just like anything else I have ever had to learn to do. I have no desire or plan to go and find me a job yet either. Well hopefully the weather clears up and I can get started on the deck situation. I would really love to have my morning coffee way up on the balcony looking down on the world soon. </div>
Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-62634636271368947242013-04-10T23:00:00.000-07:002013-04-10T23:00:26.445-07:00Free Energy, Power to Burn. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Generator season is long past now. I haven't started that thing for a long time now. It gets it's use in the winter, but it is now spring. This is my first spring in the new house with the new power system. I am quickly finding that I do most certainly have power to burn. The other day I purchased a little 2 burner electric stove (hotplate). It seemed a waste to burn propane to fry my bacon and eggs in the morning. Or to fry anything anytime for that matter. I fried some chicken with it tonight. <br />
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This is my whole supper cooked using free electricity. The rice and vegetables were cooked in the microwave. <br />
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The battery bank was charged right up to 100% State of Charge before cooking supper. Actually it was at 100% quite a lot earlier in the day. Probably around noon, I'm not sure as I didn't pay much attention to it today. This is what the State of Charge read after all that high electrical power cooking session. I used a small fraction of my battery bank cooking supper. This was a little later in the evening, and the sun was still doing a bit of charging, but for the most part the charging day had ended. <br />
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Then I thought, what the heck, use some free energy to heat the dish water. I very easily could have turned the tap on, and had as much hot water as I wanted, but that would be burning propane. Why would I burn propane when my free power is right there and waiting to be used. It's not like I have to stand there and hold the kettle or anything like that. I just do something else till the water is hot. By the time this task was done, my battery state of charge was at 98%. So it does use some power, but it sure won't take long for the sun to put that and more back into the batteries tomorrow. Unless of course the sun don't shine tomorrow, and if not, it don't matter, I have enough power for a few days without any charging going on, depending of course, how I use it. <br />
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I have lots of options when it comes to cooking, and I always choose which ever one makes the most sense for the kind of day it is or the season etc. This time of year seems to be good using electrical powered goodies. Microwave, electric burners, toaster, I just may have to look into a crock pot or toaster oven or something like that possibly in the future. <br />
In the winter the green coleman campstove gets used a little more as the days are a lot shorter and a lot of times it is cloudy, snowy or just too much snow on the solar panels. Also, the furnace runs at times consuming power, depending on if the wood stove is lit or not. <br />
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I do usually try to use the woodstove as much as I can in the winter, and if it is in use anyway, I usually utilize it for most my supper cooking, whether by using the top of it or the inside of it. So anyway, I'm not bragging about my system, just merely putting this out there for your information. My battery bank is a bit of over kill for what I actually could have gotten away with, but I'm glad I have it just the way it is. I wasn't sure how much extra power I was going to end up with, but now I can see that it is lots. This helps me decide things like what type of fridge to get. Propane fridges are expensive and burn propane, d/c powered fridges are very expensive for what you get in my opinion. I think I will be leaning toward a normal ac powered fridge, but only on a smaller scale for now. This will be used in the summer time anyway, possibly in the winter too, but not real sure at this time. Could have a different plan for that season as the great outdoors act just like a deep freeze most of the time anyway. This winter I froze jugs of water outside that I would put in my cooler. This worked really good. When the winter days got too warm to freeze the water outside, I would simply set the whole cooler outside on the deck overnight. That worked good also. I kept all my frozen foods in the freezer in the RV and just left it shut off. However, when the weather had a warm spell, I would simply start the fridge and it would keep all the frozen goodies frozen. Life is so good at times. I know I could run an a/c fridge in my house year round, and I would just have a little more generator charging to do, but usually when I leave the house for long periods of time, (which don't seem to happen very often anymore), I like to shut my power right off. I guess if I plan on going somewhere, I would just plan on not having much left in the fridge, so I can do just that. So anyway,8 or 9 months of the year, power to burn, 3 or 4 months of the year is generator season. </div>
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A quick run down of my power system, is 12 L16 6 volt batteries, 6 Sharp 240 watt solar panels, magnum 24 volt inverter/charger, outback 60 mppt charge controller, and miscellaneous other parts and accessories. The generator I use is a Honda eu2000i. The Honda does get the job done, although a little bigger sure wouldn't hurt. This whole power system with the generator costed me roughly $12,000.00. The price I was quoted to get grid power put on my propery was $9000.00-$12,0000.00 if I remember right. That was 4 years or so ago. It is likely more than that now, but I am not sure. </div>
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It would be really neat if I could store the summer power to use in the winter. I can't do that, but I can sure use more power in the summer and less propane to help balance things out a bit. </div>
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April 10 2013. It was a pretty nice day today and if this keeps up, this snow will be gone in no time. I still haven't done much more building lately. I have been busy with other things and the days have been really flying by. </div>
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Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-38938652156696176512013-03-21T20:57:00.000-07:002013-03-21T20:57:16.656-07:00I Am Still Alive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been quite some time since my last post, so I guess I'll put something on here even though I still hav'nt done much in the house lately. I do plan to start picking away at things soon. There are several reason why I have chose not to be working on the house and they are as: #1 I am lazy. lol. Well ok, it's more like just burned out. All I've been doing for the last 3 or so years was work, and in my spare time, build on the house. And for 25 years before that, work, work, work. This is the first time in my life, that I could actually do what I want, and not feel guilty about it. Well actually for awhile there, I still did feel guilty about it. I always had guilt if I was having fun. Don't ask me why, cuz I don't know. I've done my time and I want to enjoy life without worrying about stupid things. So I decided to look after some priorities before finishing the house. Some may think that the house is priority, but no it's not. It is quite liveable at the moment. Education at the moment is priority. As I have mentioned previously, I have been doing some stock trading and investing. Progress has been kind of slow, but I am getting better all the time. There have been times that the more knowledge I have gained, the worse I seemed to do with the trading, but I can say that things are really starting to look more clear all the time. Trading stocks, however, is not an easy money making scheme and nor did I ever think that. But I can honestly say that it is alot harder to succeed at than I thought it would be. I have heard or read many times that most people who enter the markets usually do not succeed. I have also read things like there is a 90% failure rate amongst new traders. I totally plan to be one of the 10% who succeed. It is getting better all the time. I have spent alot of time in front of this computer learning and at times I have also thought, what a waste of time. But, the more time I spend studying and experiencing, the better it gets. When I started driving trucks, it took me years to become a good bush driver. Alot of people who drive trucks, myself included, seem to think they have it all figured out once they get about 4 or 5 years under their belt. What they fail to realize usually is that they are just starting to learn things. When I quit my job in July of 2012, I was still learning new things after 25-30 years of driving or more. So I guess, trading is kind of the same, it takes time, experience, dicipline, education and the burning desire to succeed. I am making a little money here and there, just not quite as much as I had expected to be at this stage of the game. I am not even a little bit concerend about it though. Life is going pretty darned good for me now. When I started planning to get out to the acerage here and start building my little house, the stock trading and investing was actually a part of the whole plan, I just chose not to mention it. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UzKYtOX1JUs/UUuvAEPXXOI/AAAAAAAABW4/OXZQw8f8asI/s1600/Jo-Anne+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UzKYtOX1JUs/UUuvAEPXXOI/AAAAAAAABW4/OXZQw8f8asI/s320/Jo-Anne+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have mentioned my friend Jo-Anne in previous posts, but at the time, she did'nt know I had a blog and I did'nt want to put her picture up without her permission. She was a big help when the solar panels went up, and of course she helped out alot with other things. Don't tell anyone, but I think she is trying to break me out of my frugalistic and hermit ways. lol. Just kidding, I think she has learned to accept my ways. I do spend time with Jo-Anne periodically, usually on the weekends. During the week, I still seem to remain a bit of a hermit. lol. I usually don't have a reason to leave my acerage all week long. I guess I plan it that way. </div>
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I took this picture today. It has been quite a snowy winter. All systems are running pretty good. The power, water, heating etc. It all has performed for me alot better than I have expected. At first my honda eu2000i generator was taking taking alot longer to charge things, and did'nt seem to work well with my system, but I eventually found out that it was because of a wiring boo boo in the 4 wire extension cord that plugs into the house. Once I figured that one out, the whole charging system was like day and night. It used to take me 6 hours to charge a days worth of furnace operation. Now I think I can charge 2 days worth in about 3 hours with that little generator. I really don't need one any bigger than that, although, it would'nt hurt to have one a little bigger. The honda is now having a rest though, as the days are getting longer. The last time I used it for the house was Feb 25 2013. It has snowed off and on recently, but the large battery bank can go a few days without a charge, especially if I keep the fire going instead of running the furnace. The last couple of days the solar panels have had me charged right up. When it snows in this warmer weather, it don't take long for the snow to slide off the panels. It snowed today for a bit, but then it cleared up and the sun began to shine. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--4_DlQyHuVw/UUuxqCBWLDI/AAAAAAAABYA/_KA3iD-LfNQ/s1600/Hauling+Water+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--4_DlQyHuVw/UUuxqCBWLDI/AAAAAAAABYA/_KA3iD-LfNQ/s320/Hauling+Water+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I haul my water in two tanks that I just leave on one of my trailers. I haul 1.35 cubic meters in one and 1.25 in the other. This is a total of a little under 600 gallons , I believe. I have been hauling one load per month so far. I do conserve my water, but I know, I could conserve even more if I really wanted too. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uolxGKG_nak/UUuwpM-aqLI/AAAAAAAABXw/pDnYoXPvSrY/s1600/Unloading+Water.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uolxGKG_nak/UUuwpM-aqLI/AAAAAAAABXw/pDnYoXPvSrY/s320/Unloading+Water.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unloading the water into the cistern. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x7z9Lccq5_Y/UUuvwiWmhJI/AAAAAAAABXQ/Xs19sgzBmFw/s1600/hot+water+primer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x7z9Lccq5_Y/UUuvwiWmhJI/AAAAAAAABXQ/Xs19sgzBmFw/s320/hot+water+primer.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I installed my pex type water lines to the tub and sink etc, I used 3/4 inch line all the way except for when lines branched off, then I used 1/2. But even though the water lines don't have a very long run, it does waste a fair bit of water while waiting for the hot to strart spewing out. The frugal in me, says to catch that water and use it in the toilet, so that is what I do. It is a whole toilet flush down the drain, if I don't catch that water. Sound like a pain in the arse, but it is all automatic to me now. I could,nt imagine wasteing perfectly good hauled water like that. I am also in the habit of not flushing the toilet each and every time it get used. That is also a minor little issue, although alot of people may think I am a nut case on that one, but I don't care, I think I would feel sorry for you if that is the case.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pqo8Nhq3acw/UUuvyGHn86I/AAAAAAAABXY/QxoGZZK2AO0/s1600/Dishes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pqo8Nhq3acw/UUuvyGHn86I/AAAAAAAABXY/QxoGZZK2AO0/s320/Dishes.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I do my dishes, I first collect a whole toilets flush worth of water, while it is getting to the hot stuff. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tg8VAdpvhw8/UUuu8bBhgkI/AAAAAAAABWw/T8_xL9iRoQw/s1600/Coleman+Stove.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tg8VAdpvhw8/UUuu8bBhgkI/AAAAAAAABWw/T8_xL9iRoQw/s320/Coleman+Stove.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I did not purchase a propane gas range yet, but I've been getting by without it just fine so far. Once in awhile, but not very often, I use this coleman camp stove for cooking. I do also use my microwave quite frequently. When I make coffee it is usally the instant stuff, and the water is nuked in the microwave. Sometimes though, I have put a coffee pot on the wood stove. I also use my propane bar-b-que on the deck on the nice days. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cxk-5iyanXg/UUuvah_482I/AAAAAAAABXI/XZ2bl0JExEA/s1600/Supper+Cooking.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cxk-5iyanXg/UUuvah_482I/AAAAAAAABXI/XZ2bl0JExEA/s320/Supper+Cooking.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Most of my cooking in the winter time is done right inside the woodstove though. Using the camp stove with those little green propane bottles is not a very frugal way to go. I could hook the camp stove directly to the gas source I guess, but I just don't see the need for it. I just minimize the usage of it. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ifE_837Sow/UUuvaVmf6oI/AAAAAAAABXE/2pz-LMFe4EE/s1600/Wood+Stove+meal..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ifE_837Sow/UUuvaVmf6oI/AAAAAAAABXE/2pz-LMFe4EE/s320/Wood+Stove+meal..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is an example of a full meal cooked in the wood stove. I have cooked just about anything in there such as chicken wings, hamburger patties, hot dog, beef sausage, baked potatoes, etc. All wrapped in tinfoil of course. It works really well for me, and I do it alot. I got this idea when I seen Margy at powell river books baking potatoes in hers. lol. </div>
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So anyway, like I say, did'nt accomplish a whole lot on the house lately, but I do hope to get a burst of ambition and start doing some things soon. I hav'nt missed going to work at all. Just loving the freedom. That's what it's all about with me, the freedom. </div>
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Oh by the way, I had a look one day at my website traffic/visiter counter thingy there, awhile ago, and I noticed that one day (I think in February) I had an unusually large amount of traffic to my website. Anyone know why that happend? I'm just curious. It's like I was maybe mentioned in an article or possibly on a radio program or something maybe. Well anyway, sorry it took so long for me to post something, I will try and be a little more frequent in the near future, but I'm just not the kind to post about my every day life all the time, even if it is'nt so boring. lol.</div>
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Also thanks for being patient and following my blog. I see some new followers coming in all the time and it sorta makes me think that I should be a little more conciderate and post something once in awhile. It will come sometime. Take care. </div>
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Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-50778668582581011452012-11-27T21:11:00.001-08:002013-03-18T14:40:31.906-07:00Life Is GoodThis is just a little bit of an update. I know I hav'nt been on all that much, it's just because there has'nt really been a whole lot to report. However there are a few little additions. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iagh8yriDmI/ULWFubc5fwI/AAAAAAAABT8/hjRJNu8T5qI/s1600/Traction+on+Stairs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iagh8yriDmI/ULWFubc5fwI/AAAAAAAABT8/hjRJNu8T5qI/s320/Traction+on+Stairs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I think Traction really likes the mansion. But then so do I. I hav'nt been overly busy working on the house lately. A little here and there, but it just seems there are a lot of other things that need doing too. There is the stock market(6.5 hours per day, plus the before market open and after market close preparations), so that is kinda like a 5 day per week job with weekends off if I so choose . The pay is never gauranteed but it's been coming in a little bit at a time and getting better all the time with practice. The important thing is that I am enjoying myself doing it. Then there is also firewood making, all the usual chores, and then I threw in a new one that I did'nt even know was there, and it is called enjoying life. Seems now that I am in the house, I'm not really in a big panick to get everything done. I'm going to keep my eyes open for some good deals on cabinets, flooring, etc. I really don't mind living in an unfinished house, as that sorta gives me more of a real live cabiny feel to it. But I do plan to get things done gradually. I am just real happy to living in it. It's like a mansion to me. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6iZ6IVVHaro/ULWF2i4UaaI/AAAAAAAABUE/4cV7vno7gcs/s1600/Washer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6iZ6IVVHaro/ULWF2i4UaaI/AAAAAAAABUE/4cV7vno7gcs/s320/Washer.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I got a new washing machine. At first I was shopping around more for a cheaper top load type, but then I discovered that these front load machines are supposed to be alot more water and energy efficient. This particular one is one of the lowest rated kw/hr per year usage that I could find. Seems to work pretty good. I also have a dryer, and it uses zero fossil fuel energy.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jb9zeSsG7G0/ULWGEoHCSVI/AAAAAAAABUM/EvpVsUAJJGc/s1600/Dryer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jb9zeSsG7G0/ULWGEoHCSVI/AAAAAAAABUM/EvpVsUAJJGc/s320/Dryer.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And there she is. The dryer. Costed about $10.00. I was shopping around for a propane dryer, but I'm really in no hurry, if I ever do get one. Dryers use alot of energy just for convenience. So far this system has given me no problems.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-266AH86LJkU/ULWGQhJjtuI/AAAAAAAABUY/TTAWhzQoXPc/s1600/log+pile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-266AH86LJkU/ULWGQhJjtuI/AAAAAAAABUY/TTAWhzQoXPc/s320/log+pile.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
So far all the main things in the house have been working out pretty darned good. Heating, water system, power. The power is good, but we have had alot of cloudy or snowy days, so the solar charging has'nt been performing real well. There is the odd sunny day in between 3 or 4 not so sunny days, but this is to be expected. My larger battery bank allows me to go for 2 or 3 days of no sun charging, before I run the generator. I could go alot longer than that before my batteries would be in danger of low charge, it's just that my honda 2000 generator will have a hard time catching up. I like to recharge the batteries when the State of Charge drops down to about 90% area (that means that only 10% of the capacity has been used). And that is usually about 2 days of living, burning wood in the day and the furnace taking over later in the night. I recently went for about 3 days with little, if any sunshine, as a test, without burning wood one of those days. When the furnace was doing all the work, and the outside temps were at around minus 20 celcius outside. I brought the battery bank down to about 82% SOC. The next day with the honda 2000 running, and the sun shining, I was fully charged. I don't think my panels would have done it by themselves in one day of sunshine this time of year from 82%. So that should just give some kind of an idea how things are working.<br />
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One thing I've learned so far is that fire wood has a way of getting used up a little quicker than I thought it would. I have been burning it quite regularly. I hav'nt used much propane at all since I've moved into the house. I have been using some wood out of the wood shed, but I have mostly been bucking up my pile logs and using that as I go. It seems I can really notice my pile getting smaller all the time. lol. Just today I move all the logs around with the backhoe to make it alot nice getting at my wood without all the snow, but I hav'nt taken any pictures. I really thought at first that I had more than enough wood for this winter, but I don't think it is going to be. Live and learn I guess. Oh well, we'll figure something out.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EuXppMaqAKU/ULWGdJBT-SI/AAAAAAAABUg/hiIe-MDb6m4/s1600/bucking+and+splitting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EuXppMaqAKU/ULWGdJBT-SI/AAAAAAAABUg/hiIe-MDb6m4/s320/bucking+and+splitting.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Every once in a while, I go out buck some up and split it.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HVqhVq7s-kU/ULWGrCdwIWI/AAAAAAAABUo/sxSTBNjmqcw/s1600/hauling.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HVqhVq7s-kU/ULWGrCdwIWI/AAAAAAAABUo/sxSTBNjmqcw/s320/hauling.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Then haul it to the house. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rMBiVMjodo4/ULWG18Lpn1I/AAAAAAAABUw/bU_smhQii4Y/s1600/Step+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rMBiVMjodo4/ULWG18Lpn1I/AAAAAAAABUw/bU_smhQii4Y/s320/Step+2.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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And put it under the steps. On this particular day when I did this, from start to finish was about 2 hours of work. I always like to put these kinds of tasks into an hourly perspective to compare with working in the real world for wages. One thing I do know, is that I could have put in one mediocre day at work at my previous job, and that would have more than paid for one months heating fuel. lol. But this is alot more fun, I guess. I can see that keeping myself in firewood is going to be one of my biggest chores in life. I think of it as a fitness plan. I'm not totally sure where I am going to get all my firewood in the future, but I do have plans of making it into some kind of a recreational event in the summer time.<br />
Oh, and another thing, I don't think I have ever mentioned the little bit of siding that is on the house. My friend Jo-Ann and I did this little bit quite some time ago as we were getting warmed up to put the solar panels on the roof. Just thought I should mention that. Hate to take all the credit for things I don't do myself. And on that note, she also helped me one day with the deck attached to the house. This deck is just a quick temporary one for the winter. In the summer time, this deck will be getting moved to the back door, and a new full width double decker will be going onto the front of the house. <br />
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I just learned a real neat trick for baking my potatoes inside the wood stove and it works like a charm.<br />
I put them in there for awhile. Did'nt time them or anything, just once in awhile I gave them a turn and a little squeeze to see if there was any give. This worked pretty good for me. lol. The spuds were not real over sized, but I'm sure larger ones would have cooked just as well. Thanks Margy over at , <a href="http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com/">http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com/ </a><br />
for this idea. Margy has baked breads and other things in her wood stove. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-26872873344029574912012-11-02T22:49:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:41:05.886-07:00Wood Heat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cg7p0r3typs/UJSoJxKLw7I/AAAAAAAABSw/bgABhnjv6MI/s1600/Smokin+Chimney.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cg7p0r3typs/UJSoJxKLw7I/AAAAAAAABSw/bgABhnjv6MI/s320/Smokin+Chimney.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The chimney is smokin. This was immediately after starting the stove. Once the fire gets going good, there really is not much noticeable smoke at all.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WrPNCooetiQ/UJSoVE-4UoI/AAAAAAAABS4/9IHWrB6lq5Q/s1600/Stove+and+Pipe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WrPNCooetiQ/UJSoVE-4UoI/AAAAAAAABS4/9IHWrB6lq5Q/s320/Stove+and+Pipe.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The stove and pipe and all, right before lighting it. Thought it might be wise to get a before picture, you know, just in case there ended up being no after picture. If ya know what I mean.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Znqdopwwf8E/UJSofSUjM8I/AAAAAAAABTA/bb-f3xkXcug/s1600/First+Fire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Znqdopwwf8E/UJSofSUjM8I/AAAAAAAABTA/bb-f3xkXcug/s320/First+Fire.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Well it all seems to be working pretty good so far. My furnace has'nt kicked on all day, since this thing has been going. Seriously, bring on the cold, I can't wait. This wood stove came with a blower attached, but I really can't see me using it much. I purchased one of those eco fans, and it seems to work just fine.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bDTXrjK0yKw/UJSotnJDweI/AAAAAAAABTI/k7NkaU8k5N0/s1600/Supper+on+the+Woodstove.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bDTXrjK0yKw/UJSotnJDweI/AAAAAAAABTI/k7NkaU8k5N0/s320/Supper+on+the+Woodstove.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
One thing I have always wondered about, is if I could cook supper on one of these. Not sure if it is the smartest thing to do or not, but the answer is yes, I can cook supper on it. I did the broccoli in the microwave for 2 minutes though. Very nice supper. Fried potatoes, onions and garlic and a cheese burger with onions, dill pickles, cheddar cheese and ketchup, and the steamed broccoli. Life is good. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T692DHhcl4A/UJSo5wzawwI/AAAAAAAABTU/J6YACq6BmII/s1600/Ceiling+Fan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T692DHhcl4A/UJSo5wzawwI/AAAAAAAABTU/J6YACq6BmII/s320/Ceiling+Fan.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
My ceiling fan. The house is pretty cozy right now. A couple hours ago I put in a rather large piece of wood and turned the air down. It is still keeping the whole house pretty much maybe a tiny bit too hot. The temp outside is -2Celcius. This stove is going to be nice when that -40 stuff comes. But then, who knows, maybe it will give me trouble trying to get a good draft started up the chimney, being so long and outside the house. Today it started up pretty nice. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u5Ayf1RrafE/UJSpFys1STI/AAAAAAAABTc/TmCPs9BSMQM/s1600/Traction+Chillin+Out.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u5Ayf1RrafE/UJSpFys1STI/AAAAAAAABTc/TmCPs9BSMQM/s320/Traction+Chillin+Out.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Traction don't seem to mind the new heat system at all, so far.<br />
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<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-29956673068248998532012-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:41:42.446-07:00Winter Test, Loving the House. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kzBfnHfNHas/UJHbMe9WvgI/AAAAAAAABSE/KvMwpWhnPfU/s1600/winter+again.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kzBfnHfNHas/UJHbMe9WvgI/AAAAAAAABSE/KvMwpWhnPfU/s320/winter+again.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
It is obviously winter again at the mansion. Usually my winter pics have been from the shack looking at the house, but now it is different as I am living full time in the new house. (Which is not complete yet). I shut the shack heat down and life is tremendously good. The winter weather has been putting my heat system to the test, and so far things check real good. All I'm running for heat so far are the two propane heaters and the furnace. I have been waiting for a chunk of chimney for my woodstove to come in the mail, as I was too cheap to pay the large price for the only one I know of in town. It is now in town, I just have to go and get it. I saved myself $75.00 doing it this way. 75 is 75. The temperatures last night and a good part of today were at minus -28 Celcius or minus -19 on the farenheit scale. I went visiting last night, so I turned down the furnace and let the two propane space heaters take over until I got home. So far they don't seem to have a problem keeping up at these temps. While I am at home, I usually run the forced air furnace, and my power system and the furnace are getting along pretty good so far, although I do think I may add another 6 solar panels next summer, just to help out on the cloudy days, and also so a real live fridge can be brought into the system. When my furnace is on duty full time in these temps, the battery bank is usually brought down to around 92-90% State of Charge, which means that I am only using about 10% of my total battery capacity each day. In that figure is my furnace use, lights, water pump, septic pump, and occasional use of the microwave and the toaster once per day. So I have a lot of battery power, but it still takes alot of charging to bring that back up to full. For about a week or more, we have been having a lot of snow and cloudy skys, so the solar charging was kinda limited. My honda 2000 generator can usually bring me right up to a full charge again in 3.5 hours each day without any sunlight, but most days show a little bit of sun. When I did my calculations, I planned on a larger generator probably running about 1 hour per day. In yucky weather, I believe this to be true yet. If it is sunny all day, the panels would get the job done all through out the winter as is, but with the occasional cloudy periods, eventually a generator will have to be started to catch up. When the sun is shining, things don't start charging fully until about 12:30 pm. This could be rectified by cutting the tops off of three pine trees. (I have researched that, and apparently not real good for the trees). I will decide on this soon. lol. Then I start getting the afternoon shading at about 3:30 pm, so gradually the panels get shaded out again. This one could be easily improved on also. Or I could simply put up more panels, which I'll probably end up doing anyway. <br />
BUT! All the above calculations can rest. Once the wood stove is hooked up, I will more than likely be running it and the furnace will be on a rather large holiday, for the most part, if things go as planned. So, I guess I'll decide on things more once that baby is on duty. If the furnace were not running, I could go for quite some time without charging the batteries, even in real snowy conditions. That is my goal, is to almost eliminate the generator usage altogether. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iAC755KHUZY/UJHbZLT7Q0I/AAAAAAAABSM/aaH2KB_HLq4/s1600/Woodstove.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iAC755KHUZY/UJHbZLT7Q0I/AAAAAAAABSM/aaH2KB_HLq4/s320/Woodstove.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The wood stove, just waiting to be put to use. I had the piece I needed at one time, but it ended up going into the main chimney section outside.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--geoQz61w9Y/UJHau11cqdI/AAAAAAAABRs/gCDgumY4Dps/s1600/Makeshift+Kitchen+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--geoQz61w9Y/UJHau11cqdI/AAAAAAAABRs/gCDgumY4Dps/s320/Makeshift+Kitchen+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The above picture is my makeshift kitchen. I have done a few things once I moved in the house, such as finishing up on some wiring, installing the ceiling fan, fire alarms, installing some more heat registers, and other little miscellaneous things. A lot of researching lately also. Stove, washing machines, dryers etc.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SyZ1rdBALIA/UJHa4KsiW4I/AAAAAAAABR0/RUeuv67kbK8/s1600/My+Fridge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SyZ1rdBALIA/UJHa4KsiW4I/AAAAAAAABR0/RUeuv67kbK8/s400/My+Fridge.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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I guess I'll call this my fridge for now. When I was in the shack, I did'nt need a cooler as the floor of the shack was plenty cold to preserve foods. That plastic jug in there is my block of ice. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRUpeS4AHak/UJHbDQN2yoI/AAAAAAAABR8/w4sqK65O_eI/s1600/Ice+Factory.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRUpeS4AHak/UJHbDQN2yoI/AAAAAAAABR8/w4sqK65O_eI/s320/Ice+Factory.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
This is my ice making factory, just outside the back door of the house. I don't know why those last two pics are sideways, but they are.<br />
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So things are going good, but there is one little flaw I must mention. While charging my system with the honda 2000 generator, the larger loads don't seem to want to run. And even the smaller loads don't run right, such as lights running dim, or the bathroom fan barely turning. I'm not sure if it is something with my wiring that needs corrected or if it is the combination of honda generator and magnum inverter. I do think it has a lot to do with the 120/240 volt inverter system. It charges the batteries good, but it seems to only run half the voltage from the generator to each hot leg in the inverter. I'm thinking that to get the best use out of the system, a 120/240 volt generator should probably be utilized, unless of course it is simply some setting or wiring secret that I am missing out on. The larger diesel generator won't even start the system charging, (when using just a 120 volt source), but I hav'nt yet tried that with a 240 volt cable. Some day I will build a cable and try it on a warmer day. That generator is a bit of cheapy and might not work so well for me in the cold winter months. lol. <br />
One thing that I DO know, however, is that this tiny little house of mine has got a real mansion like feel to it, as I compare it to where I just came from awhile back. I'm loving it.<br />
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Oh ya, I also thought I should mention, it has been -28 celcius and so far the water system in the cistern has'nt froze up on me. I do have a thermometer down there that I meant to have a look at, but that did'nt happen today, but so far so good. The water still comes in when I hit the pump, so I guess that's a good sign so far.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
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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.<br />
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<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-1672496791143406112012-10-16T22:01:00.001-07:002013-03-18T14:42:21.358-07:00Have Power and I'm Moved In. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SZHEgfnreQ0/UH4ilbhoXaI/AAAAAAAABOs/wXeKUCY6HwI/s1600/making+panel+mounts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SZHEgfnreQ0/UH4ilbhoXaI/AAAAAAAABOs/wXeKUCY6HwI/s320/making+panel+mounts.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
In my last post I kind of left off whining a little about the price of little tiny chunks of steal solar panel mount brackets. So I decided to build my own. In the vice is a 4 foot piece of stainless steel that I had a local metal shop bend for me. It has a plastic coating on it in this picture if it looks so dull. First I drilled all the holes-2 on one side and one on the side to be attached to the panels. Then I cut it up into 24 2inch pieces. Enough for 6 panels. The total cost for the steal $30.00. That will mount all 6 panels. Probably cost me about $50-60.00 total with all the bolts and nuts etc. But that is for all the hardware. I saved over $100.00 doing this myself. It would have cost me $30+ for enough of these to do one panel if I bought them. Probably about 3 hours of my time went into it and about 4 drill bits and 3 cheap 4" cut off disks for the grinder. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OOKtsFmvzT8/UH4i069OWVI/AAAAAAAABO0/hdnMg5Pp9VA/s1600/finished+mounts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OOKtsFmvzT8/UH4i069OWVI/AAAAAAAABO0/hdnMg5Pp9VA/s320/finished+mounts.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The finished product in the above picture.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JebrRpGw1e0/UH4jENAlN3I/AAAAAAAABPA/7XlCMF2KCbU/s1600/Panels+Ready+to+go+up..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JebrRpGw1e0/UH4jENAlN3I/AAAAAAAABPA/7XlCMF2KCbU/s320/Panels+Ready+to+go+up..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
For the next bunch of stuff going on, I had some help from an old friend that I hav'nt seen in years. I used to associate with her alot in my younger days. In my rodeo days. She was a big help with things. Anyway, we assembled half the panels on a skid system. The two botton panels are hooked together in series for an open voltage of around 72 volts dc. The other skid will be the same, then the top two panels will be wired together the same. So there is 3 strings of 2 panels in my system.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tLkLcT2L2X8/UH4jRCIcnoI/AAAAAAAABPI/o2GQJTchmJ0/s1600/Panel+Ramp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tLkLcT2L2X8/UH4jRCIcnoI/AAAAAAAABPI/o2GQJTchmJ0/s320/Panel+Ramp.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We got the ladders set up as a ramp on the panel side of the house. I actually had to purchase another ladder for this stunt. It will come in handy for future stuff anyway, I am sure. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-phNgXM7wRoQ/UH4jxoF6GNI/AAAAAAAABPY/HTR9c4LisrI/s1600/Panels+Going+Up.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-phNgXM7wRoQ/UH4jxoF6GNI/AAAAAAAABPY/HTR9c4LisrI/s320/Panels+Going+Up.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Then we got the panels all set up and ready for the pull.<br />
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Up they go, I had to steal the winch line off my quad and run it through a snatch block on the panel mount(pulley). I pulled the panels up from the peak of the house as Jo-Anne was holding the panels there from the ground on the other side of the house with the rope that was tied on, every time I took another grab. It was actually pretty heavy, but we made it. Then I bolted the panel skid down at the top and the bottom. I did'nt even have to move my roof ladder to the panel side of the roof to do this. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aL7FWDNe1FU/UH4j5O7PBaI/AAAAAAAABPg/X1NxE8T1c6Q/s1600/6+Panels+Up.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aL7FWDNe1FU/UH4j5O7PBaI/AAAAAAAABPg/X1NxE8T1c6Q/s320/6+Panels+Up.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And there are all six panels up. They are Sharp 240 watt panels for a total of 1440 watts. It did take the two of us about 4 days in total to get the whole job done, but we did'nt over work ourselves too much. By the time we got one rigged up on the skid system, it was just a little too late to start putting them up, as who knows what could go wrong. The second time did actually go much better than the first lift. The first lift did take alot of doing and rigging up etc. <br />
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Here is where alot of my money went on this project. Roughly $4500.00 batteries with all the cables.<br />
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The specs. These are 12 6 volt L16 type batteries. These particular ones are 420 Amp hours @ 20 hour rate. According to the label. That's a lot of power storage. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WMhfDRAn_g/UH4lE2-WlTI/AAAAAAAABQY/pX6KExTxU_g/s1600/Batt+Bank.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WMhfDRAn_g/UH4lE2-WlTI/AAAAAAAABQY/pX6KExTxU_g/s320/Batt+Bank.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
It is a beautiful battery bank. Lots of power storage here. Just as I was hoping and thought I had planned, these babys keep up to my forced air furnace beatifully this time of the year. The evenings get down to around freezing, but the forced air furnace runs all night off and on of course. I have yet to bring my batteries down to less than 95% state of charge. I'll see in the morning though. They should be a little less tomorrow because today was gloomy all day and the panels wer'nt doing a whole lot, and it has been cold and dreary. I hav'nt been holding back on my power usage. Sort of putting it to the test a bit, just for my own knowledge. Normally, I will be conserving energy, but I need to see. I've been running a larger microwave frequently, pumping water, and the furnace has been running all day and will be all night tonight. <br />
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Here is the charge controller in action yesterday. It's first full day on the job. (Oct 15 2012).<br />
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Here is the Outback Flexmax 60 charge controller pulling 1300 watts from the six panels on the roof. That is a lot of power. I ended up bringing in 3.1 kw/hrs that first day and there was actually a lot of cloudy periods through out the day. I also need to top a few trees. 3 on each side of the house to be exact. Once that is done things should start charging a lot earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon. I'll see how the six panels work out for me this winter. If not really well, I will maybe put six more up there next summer. lol. I'm sure I can get by with what I have though, just have to keep the wood stove burning more and the furnace running less.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IS7c_hAqyY0/UH4kQ_vi5JI/AAAAAAAABP0/5q83tRZAMlc/s1600/Kitchen+Control+Center.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IS7c_hAqyY0/UH4kQ_vi5JI/AAAAAAAABP0/5q83tRZAMlc/s320/Kitchen+Control+Center.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This is the control center in the kitchen area. The remote for the inverter, thermostat, water pressure gauge, switches for the water pump, septic pump, heat recovery ventilator(future), outdoor plugs, on demand water heater, and one extra for probably something. This area will look much more pretty in the near future.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-12nUTBG2tiI/UH40sLSVd1I/AAAAAAAABRE/kICdjHCXcHw/s1600/Moved+In.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-12nUTBG2tiI/UH40sLSVd1I/AAAAAAAABRE/kICdjHCXcHw/s320/Moved+In.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I guess one could say that I am actually moved into the house now. I know I have a lot to do yet, before the house is complete, but winter is a coming, and I do not plan on heating the shack for much longer, let alone run the generator just to keep those batteries warm. I do periodically visit the shack to sometimes use the stove, and maybe wash the dishes, but I have gradually been moving things such as my clothes and other things over to the house all the time. I have been sleeping in the loft of my house for awhile now. Things are going good. Slowly but surely. Oh, and expensively.</div>
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I just checked the battery data. At this moment, my batteries are sitting at 94% State of Charge, which is 24.95 volts. (Oct 16 2012 @ 11:00pm). That is the lowest I've seen the system so far, but pretty understandable given the usage and lack of incoming charge today. I'll see what things are looking like in the morning after using the furnace all night. </div>
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UPDATE:OCT 17 2012 @ 7:45 am. </div>
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Voltage when I checked this morning was at 24.93 and the SOC was at 91%. </div>
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Guess I forgot to mention the inverter in this post. It is a Magnum MS4024PAE. (4000 watt and 24 volt system). </div>
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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.<br />
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<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-50940259920543578412012-09-25T22:44:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:44:03.268-07:00Woodstove Chimney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FBe1_MP71SQ/UGKIcZcwS8I/AAAAAAAABOE/pEuFucHbe-s/s1600/Chimney+on+Gable+end..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FBe1_MP71SQ/UGKIcZcwS8I/AAAAAAAABOE/pEuFucHbe-s/s320/Chimney+on+Gable+end..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Awhile back, Sept 17 to be exact, a long time good buddy of mine came out and gave me a hand with the chimney. Wade helped me one other time when I was strapping the rafters and getting ready to put the roof on. He helped me get the chimney just below the roof line as showing in the above picture. It was getting late and I was still waiting for a flashing to arrive so we did'nt go any further than this.<br />
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So, my flashing finally arrived to the building supply store that I ordered it from. When I picked it up, I truly expected to see something on it to say that it is certified for use with a chimney, but I could'nt find anything like that on there at all. t was a rubber boot type flashing that slides tight over the chimney and you just caulk it and screw it down. The reason I thought I wanted to go with this type, was because of the corrogated metal roof. So now the brain is in think mode again. I decided to phone Mr.Inspector to see if I should install it or not. Well he told me no. Said to use a metal one. lol. I had a metal staring at me a few times in one store, but now that I wanted it, it was gone. Finally found one the next day though and started working on it all that day. As for the rubber boot, I tried returning it today, but with no luck. I signed my life away when I bought it to say it cannot be returned because it was a special order. If I were running the store, I would have taken it back, and it probably would have paid off more for them in the long run to have just returned my money. I JUST Don't get it though. It says right in my woodstove permit that everything needs to be certified but they claim they sell these all the time. Actually they think they proved to me that it is in fact certified, but I still don't know how to tell if it is'nt even on the product. I sure wish everyone who is in the game would all sorta know what it is good and what is'nt. Anyway, not going to lose any sleep over all the stupid bullshit in the world. <br />
The rest of the chimney situation was up to me. Of course with a little help from mom this time.<br />
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And there she is. The completed chimney. Usually when one sees a chimney on a house they probably don't think alot about it. I know I never did, but it seems I take a look at mine quite often lately. Can't wait till there is some smoke rolling out the thing. It will be awhile. If I had the right stuff, I could have it going in a day, but I am in search of an 18" piece of pipe to come through the wall. Can't seem to find one in town. <br />
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I put up another small addition in the bathroom. The medicine cabinet mirror. <br />
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I finally discovered what it was in the woodpile that Traction is always going crazy over. Alvin the chipmunk.<br />
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Yesterday(Sept 24) was a heavy thought and measure and more thinking type day. And I'm still pretty dumb. lol. Although I think I do have a bit more of a plan of how to get my solar panels onto the roof. Getting the houses own power system up and running is my main concern now for the next little while, although it will probably take awhile just trying to find a good deal on batteries and supplies. For awhile there, I have forgotten all about frugalness and it depresses me that I think I don't have the time to shop around a bit. I walked into the local solar store today to find some little angle iron type brackets to mount my solar panels. They are just little 2 inch long stainless steal double 90 degree angle thingys that you screw to the panel then screw the other end to the surface. Each panel needs four of them. I was told $30.00 for 4. So $30.00 to do one panel. I have six panels x 30=$180.00 for these little tiny peices of angle irons, oh ya, and screws. I think not. That little bit of greedyness just may have screwed them out of a big battery sale, not to mention cables and solar panel wire, offgrid stove, fridge, etc. I do realize that in business, you do need to make money, but just because you have the only solar store around don't mean you're going to rape me. I would love nothing more than to feed the local business, but if I can save a bunch by going for a little drive to the big city, then maybe I'll call it a holiday. We'll see though, maybe it's no cheaper there either. I'm going to build my own little angle iron do-dads though. As far as I am concerned, these little things should come with the panels to begin with. I have no problem paying 30 bucks for a specialized mounting system for each panel, but these are no more than 2" long pieces of stainless steel angle iron with holes drilled in them. lol. It's crazy. I would have felt like a stupid idiot as I walked out of that store had I purchased this hardware. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-74357634080590030592012-09-16T20:36:00.002-07:002013-03-18T14:44:26.533-07:00Finally Done With the Underground Water Tank<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I realize that I have been posting quite alot on this plastic water tank install. I find it to be quite fascinating. I don't know if anyone has ever done this before. I could very well be the only one on the planet. Probably not, but you never know. Top picture shows the plumbing I fitted together to join the two lines down below. The water line will be coming from the tank and hooking in onto the bottom tap. Then flowing through the one way check valve so the pump will more easily hold its prime. <br />
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There it is all connected and going down between the tank and cistern wall. I dropped it down and the bottom line is pretty close to ground level, so that's good.<br />
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Little things such as getting down in there to do my thing took some thinking. <br />
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Time for the water. And I went in and primed the pump up and everything seems to be working fine. <br />
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I put the insulated cover back on top the cistern and installed a permanent fill and breather pipe. It is 3 inch abs for the longer piece, but it is adapted up to a 4inch as it goes into the tank. <br />
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Thought I would test my dipper stick out. 650 imperial gallons, which is just about 3 cubic meters. That's 3 metric tonne of water. I'm good for a few days.<br />
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My full limit is going to be right around this area here. 1100 Imperial gallons, which is 1320 US gallons, or 5000 liters(5 cubic meters). This is well over a months worth of water for myself. The tank I put in the ground had such clear writing on it, but the one I did'nt use is pretty faded. I never noticed till now. Had I noticed this before, this one would have gone down. <br />
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And there it is. Ready for winter. I'm not going to put insulation on top the tank just yet. Instead I think I will monitor this thing with a thermometer as the days gradually get colder and see what happens.<br />
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Ok, let there be snow. Just kidding, I'm really not that eager for winter yet. This whole installation seemed to go pretty well. Hopefully things keep being good. <br />
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<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
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<br />
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<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-47792676696623063332012-09-14T20:31:00.001-07:002013-03-18T14:45:30.121-07:00Underground Water Tank Installation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was a pretty hard day for an old cripple like me. I got that tank prepped to go down in the ground. I plumbed a 90 elbow and the 1" water line on.<br />
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I also put a 90 elbow on the line inside the cistern, after cutting the line off pretty short. Then I put on a piece of 1"line here too. I plan to connect the two lines together and tuck them down along the side of the tank as low as possible. I'll have a rope tied on so I can access the connections if need be. I'm pretty sure that the lines won't freeze down there. I think, I hope. I was thinking about installing a short heat tape on each line just incase they did freeze off, but I did'nt have heat tape, and I don't think I'm going to get any either because it is too late now anyway. It aint going to freeze. That's 10 feet below grade on the bottom. I'm ready for some gravel now. <br />
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I built myself a real quick sump to put down there. Just so I can monitor if ground water is seeping in or not. I have a pump that was supposed to be able to slide down between the tank and wall and into this sump, but it turned out, that pump wont fit. My calculations said it should, but I have come to the conclusion that the culvert is a little bit oblong in that spot. If I put the sump in a different spot, it would have had lots of room as planned. I'll just have to keep my eyes open for a pump that will fit, incase it needs pumping. <br />
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I put in about 1.75 yards of gravel. It's pretty deep, so it should be able to take on a fair bit of water before my tank should decide to float away. <br />
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Then some pressure treated plywood for an nice flat bottom.<br />
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And then the tank.<br />
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Down she goes.<br />
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Carefully letting it down. It seems the fittings are still in tact. Guess I'll find out when I put some water in there.<br />
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Thats good for this day. Tomorrow I'll get it all hooked up and get the water happening again.<br />
I did'nt really have to put this tank in the ground. I just wanted to try this out. It'll save me spending a bunch of money on concrete and I think it will also be alot more sanitary this way. If it works, that's good, if not, I'll move to plan B. I bought these two tanks for a Texas mickey of vodka. This tank will easily hold more than 4.5 cubic meters of water. When I lived in town, my water consumption was usually 3-4 cubic meters of water according to my utility bill. So that is more than a months worth of water. I don't think I would want to utilize the whole volume of the cistern as I think the water would be sitting too long and could go stagnate. The top of the tank is 5 feet below grade. I think I'll put some plastic over the tank and lay some insulation right on top of it. I believe this should keep those two water lines from freezing even when the outside temps are minus -40 degrees Celcius or Farenheit. (They are both the same at that temp). <br />
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<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-61550260583716279762012-09-13T22:10:00.001-07:002013-03-18T14:46:13.959-07:00Getting the tank ready to go down. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, it was all about the water system, and probably tomorrow too. This is the tank that's going into the ground, I thought I would give one final cleaning. I think there is 2 leaves still in there that just did not want to come out. I'm afraid I might get stuck if I tried to crawl in there. It's pretty clean now, but was still showing a fair bit of sea weedy type algae or whatever in there when I started this morning. <br />
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I fixed the top of it a bit. It is not concave anymore, but who knows, when I start doing my thing in the cistern, it might end up being concave again. Hope not though. I had to build me a special tool to fix the tank. Just an 8 foot 2x4 with a 2 foot peice nailed on the end of it so I could put it in the tank and pry upwards. <br />
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Then I thought I better put some water in it and check for leaks. I only put in about 150 gallons, but it did'nt leak at the opening, even when I wriggle the valve around a bunch. The valve will be coming off, and the water line will be getting plumbed on here. <br />
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This was a pretty entertaining job, and alot of hard labor. The real soft and sloppy mud I thought should come out of the cistern. I started to pack it in pails. I would pack one up the ladder and then pull the other one up with a rope that I had tied to it. I'm pretty sure that I exceeded the weight limit of the ladder coming up. There was alot flexing going on anyway. <br />
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After packing about 8 pails of mud out of there, it was time for a different plan.<br />
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I hauled two hoe buckets of mud out. It still don't look the greatest thing for cleanliness down there, but I am now on more solid ground. Tomorrow, if the weather allows, I plan to put some tile rock down there and get it all nice and level. Then I'll put some pressured treated plywood on top the gravel for a nice flat surface. (Just happen to have a sheet and some scraps kicking around). A little plumbing, then down with the tank. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
<br />Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-79256485229915243562012-09-12T22:07:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:46:53.412-07:00New Water Plan, Furnace, etc. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K_jGTMEJq_o/UFFRMk6OuPI/AAAAAAAABIY/smOJqr07wV0/s1600/New+Tires.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K_jGTMEJq_o/UFFRMk6OuPI/AAAAAAAABIY/smOJqr07wV0/s320/New+Tires.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The money sure has been flying out of my pockets lately. Everytime I turn around it's more moola gone. Usually I find some good used tires to put on the old GMC. I have been searching, but the 16 inch used tires or take offs are getting harder to come by all the time, now that most the new pickups have seventeen inch rubber these days. I let my old tires go just a little too far. I had one that was separated, just looking to blow up one day, so I thought I'd just bite the bullet and get a new set. Sometimes I just gotta do what I gotta do. I don't have to worry too much about this truck for awhile now, but I just changed one today on the Dodge that blew up on me last night. They are getting pretty worn out too.<br />
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I finally got the furnace up and running yesterday. I am quite pleased with the power consumption of it. When I did my calculations to figure out if the furnace would be feasible for my solar powered house, I did my figuring using 600 watt consumption, which I thought should be the worse case scenerio. Looking at he watt meter that my furnace is plugged into while she is running with blower going and all, 359 watts. Excellent. That was instant happiness for me. It is better than I expected. As I watched the watts change as the furnace was going through it's cycle, the highes reading I observed was just over 500 watts just as the blower motor was starting up, then it quickly reduced to 359. My 1/2 hp water pump uses 900+ as it's running and I'm not sure what it is at startup yet. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CrhXayzDkno/UFFQdNqY9aI/AAAAAAAABIQ/F7nDJdqbyAI/s1600/Short+Chimney.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CrhXayzDkno/UFFQdNqY9aI/AAAAAAAABIQ/F7nDJdqbyAI/s320/Short+Chimney.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I got started on my wood stove chimney a few days ago, but kinda got sidetracked on different things since then. The weather has been a bit windy, and a little rainy at times and it just made more sense to do other things. I am waiting for a shipment before the chimney can be completed anyway. I do have 3 full sections of chimney pipe on there since this photo. I have it capped off to keep the rain and critters out. I should have had the inspector come out and inspect the chimney when it was like this, just to get a good facial expression picture for the blog. lol. I wish this was as tall as it needed to be, I'd be done by now.<br />
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I have a few piles of split wood all over the acerage. Every once in awhile I grab the axe and do some splitting. I purchased a 5 pound spitting axe about the time I quit my job. I was initially planning on buying a gas wood splitter, but I totally don't even want one. Not for now anyway, I'm going to see if I can keep up splitting by hand, or if the novelty will wear off. For now it is actually quite an entertaining thing to do. And good exercise for a man. When you think about it though, if you need to burn gas to split wood, you might as well just burn gas to heat with. I like splitting wood, but I found that with the 5 pounder, some of the big wood was quite a challenge. Could be technique I suppose. I have since bought myself an 8 pounder but hav'nt tried it out yet. I've been looking for a good deal on one for awhile and finally found one on sale.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aroI6RLLhjw/UFFN70CWrnI/AAAAAAAABH0/d7U23CxX8ik/s1600/All+the+tanks..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aroI6RLLhjw/UFFN70CWrnI/AAAAAAAABH0/d7U23CxX8ik/s320/All+the+tanks..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
For the time being, the water that supplies the house comes from the two smaller tanks on the little trailer. I have a hose coming from the tank that ties directly to the hose in the bottom of the cistern which then goes right into pump in the basement of the house. I've had these two larger tanks kicking around for about a year now. Each one of those bigger tanks would hold four times one of the smaller tanks. That is about 1200 gallons or more. I have been doing alot of thinking lately about the cistern. I was planning on dumping a concrete floor into the cistern, but now I think I'm going to experiment with something else instead. My new plan is to take one of those bigger plastic tanks, and.......<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5PpceFQtyZI/UFFMlcub1SI/AAAAAAAABHo/HjB3vuSVXdI/s1600/cistern.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5PpceFQtyZI/UFFMlcub1SI/AAAAAAAABHo/HjB3vuSVXdI/s320/cistern.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
.........put it down there. Even with a concrete floor, water could seep away, or ground water could seep in, which I guess would'nt be the end of the world, but I just think the whole water situation would be alot nicer and cleaner this way. The cistern is 8 foot diameter and the big blue tank is 7 foot 2 inch or something like that. If it works, that would be good. If it fails, I guess I will have to go with the original plan. I spent most of the day today just cleaning up the big tanks. One last contained slimy green slough water and the other had signs of oats. I loaded them both on the trailer and went to the car wash. It costed me 35 bucks to clean them up. I could'nt get them cleaned right out because the vavle is up 2 or 3 inches from the bottom. So I brought them home and pumped them clean while spraying with the garden hose and giving them a good rinse. They're looking pretty good now. Then it was back to town to the water station. I put 4500 liters into one to see if it actually holds water. That 4500 liters is by far more than I will normally use in a month. <br />
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So that's the plan for now. I'm not in a real panic to get things done, because it always seems to slow me down when I am. And also things don't get done right. It takes me a long time to do things, because I am constantly researching things. Trying to find good deals on batteries, solar panels etc. Things take me a long time to do because of the learning process of everything I do as well. One good example is chimney. I can go to one place and spend 3 times the money for the whole chimney system. But is it that much better? I don't know, but one thing I did find, is that this cheap stuff I did end up buying, is good for the same temperature etc as the expensive stuff. So I still don't know, but it took awhile deciding. You get a different answer from everyone you ask. <br />
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Another thing that slows my building process down a bit, is the stock market. I treat that sorta like a job, even though I am most certainly not gauranteed an income with it. I am going to post about that one day soon. I am not worried that I won't be in my house before winter because I know that I will be. I could move into it right now if I really wanted to, but I will try and get some more done and out of the way first. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
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Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-86847398689347954832012-09-08T21:26:00.002-07:002013-03-18T14:47:42.028-07:00First Bath in 34 Months. Don't let the title scare you all away, I have had alot of showers in that time, just no baths because I did'nt have an operational bathtub till now. I have been pretty busy working on the house lately, but things hav'nt been always going the way it should. As usuall, things seem to take alot longer than I thought it should. I recently spent about 5 consecutive days working on my water system. The first day of that, I had in my mind one or two hours and things should be up and running. Well, 5 days later. lol. Seems everytime I really want to accomplish things, something backfires. Just trying to get photos up on this blog right now is frustrating me. I have tried a few times lately and gave up cuz it was getting too late. Is there something wrong with blogger, or is it just me. I used to be able to upload photos, not sure what happend now. <br />
Anyway, I've got my septic tank up and running. The outhouse is having a holiday, and hopefully it is a long one. Last night I had a long hot soak in the tub. Wowwww. Tonight too, dang near fell asleep in there tonight. The pressure system and the water heater is all working good. It took me awhile to figure the water problem out. Using my smaller solar system, my first pump would'nt work. Was'nt sure if I had enough power to run it or not. Then I tried the big generator on it and blew the breaker a few times. I was using a new pump, so it's hard to blame that, but it seemed like it. Long story short, I traded that pump in on a new one and still had problems. After all kinds of experiments and tests, I finally discovered I had a kinked off hose under the cistern. I just thought maybe I had air in the line and it was hard to get it out. Oh well, live and learn. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ydn-sjAYiQg/UEwA8lmuD8I/AAAAAAAABEk/-nRTI_0y8OE/s1600/Septic+Pump.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ydn-sjAYiQg/UEwA8lmuD8I/AAAAAAAABEk/-nRTI_0y8OE/s320/Septic+Pump.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Whoa, look at that, it's a picture of the sewer system. I just tried to upload some more pictures but it just don't want to cooperate with me. Anyone know whats going on. </div>
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Server returned invalid response). That's the response when I try to upload photos from my computer. I wanted to put on a few. Not that there is really all that much to show. Alot of what I have done is'nt real noticeable anyway. I changed my ridge cap, as the other one was a little to small and it did'nt have a snow filter on it. I noticed the other winter before the ceiling was insulated, that I had alot of snow blow up and into the ceiling area and land on the loft floor on the colder windier days. I did'nt think that would be very good over time. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dVCLBOXK74o/UEwIrjCeV5I/AAAAAAAABFA/18sk20-gSIo/s1600/Crushed+Pipe+Fix.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dVCLBOXK74o/UEwIrjCeV5I/AAAAAAAABFA/18sk20-gSIo/s320/Crushed+Pipe+Fix.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hey, another picture. This is the bottom of my water cistern which still is'nt in use yet, but soon will be. For the time being the house is hooked into this water line and to a tank on a trailer above ground. Right there where the line goes under the cistern is where it was kinked off. I know it had lots of room when I put it there a long time ago and I can remember thinking this thing could settle a bit, but it must have settled alot more than I thought it would. I had to cut the corragated metal with a grinder and bend the metal up. The hose seems fine, I think. The water is flowing freely through it now anyway. I'm going to do some more preperations here and then soon should be pouring some concrete down there for a cleaner water environment. </div>
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Well, I thought the photos were going to start working, but I guess not. I've got my wood stove down stairs in the basement now (a brother came over and gave me a hand with that), and am in the process of running the chimney. I need more supplies now. Silly me for assuming that a 12 inch peice of chimney pipe would actually be 12 inches. By code, the peice of chimney pipe is supposed to be at least 3 inches coming into the house before the stove pipe is attached. Mine is only 2 inches. I thought I had this all planned out, but when I measured that 12 inch chunk of chimney, it is only 11 inches. Geeeeee, I really wonder why they would'nt call it an 11 inch chunk of pipe. I mean, 11 is a number also, is'nt it? lol. 12 is 12, 11 is 11. 11 and 1/4 is 11 and 1/4. I don't know, that's just how my brain works anyway. Well I'm going to do what I can without that piece for now until I get to town if I can even find one there. I've also got a rubber boot flashing (because of the corragated tin roof) on order for the top of chimney. I would really like to get this chimney out of the way before moving the ladder for solar panel installation. Moving the ladder seems to be one of the biggest chores I have up on that roof. </div>
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I hav'nt even tried my forced air furnace yet. Both heaters are working, but I really think that furnace could be quite handy soon. I'll have to get a thermostat and give that baby a try soon. I don't know why, but the days are really flying by. Guess it could be because winter is on its way here in Canada.</div>
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Just a bit of an update for now. I'm going to try and figure out my picture problem now. That will probably keep me busy for a few days right there. lol. Any help on that one would be greatly appreciated. </div>
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Ok, I'm back. I opened a different browser. Using Firefox right now instead of internet explorer. Heres some more pictures in no specific order.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XaUrCOY_uAM/UEwfeRAs-pI/AAAAAAAABFc/lWHUu72fyzo/s1600/Bathroom+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XaUrCOY_uAM/UEwfeRAs-pI/AAAAAAAABFc/lWHUu72fyzo/s320/Bathroom+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The bathroom. It still needs some ceiling and finishing touches, but other than that, it is quite useable. </div>
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The second water pump. It is totally different than the first one. With the two big tanks and that one little one, I can fill the tub at least once and flush the toilet quite a lot of times before the the pump cycles on again. I think it's going to work out pretty nicely for a solar powered home.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pMwMYQP5WvE/UEwfxzKoirI/AAAAAAAABFk/3xa7ATh5agw/s1600/Chimney+Stuff.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pMwMYQP5WvE/UEwfxzKoirI/AAAAAAAABFk/3xa7ATh5agw/s320/Chimney+Stuff.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Just a bunch of chimney stuff scattered all over the place. </div>
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Up on the roof again, changing that crown, or ridge cap. This was a good day and a half job. Moving the ladder was the biggest issue. Oh, and going up and down it all the time too. This is another one of my boo boos that I did. When I strapped the rafters (the horizontal 2x4s that run across the rafters that the tin roof scews to) I put a 2x4 across the top(or close to it), then the next one at 2 feet. I did'nt really have much to properly screw my new ridge cap down to. I could'nt screw the flange down like it should have been, so I had to screw a little higher up on the ridge cap. I'm sure things will work fine (hopefully), but it sure looks amateurish from close up. I would know how to do things if I built another house though. </div>
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These are the vented foamies I installed under the new ridge cap that are supposed to help keep the snow and insects etc from getting in the attic, and yet let the attic breath. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cf7ukIc-8m8/UEwhQfjqjqI/AAAAAAAABGU/cy_WdsfDTt0/s1600/Crushed+Pipe+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cf7ukIc-8m8/UEwhQfjqjqI/AAAAAAAABGU/cy_WdsfDTt0/s320/Crushed+Pipe+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
There is that nasty pipe in the cistern before I fixed the problem.<br />
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These guys were pretty busy. I did'nt even notice this thing being built about 4 feet away from the garage entrance, until I got stung one day going into my own garage. That one wasp kinda ruined it for all the rest of them and I declared war. They are now all dead, except for maybe the odd one who was out that night.<br />
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Well it's nice to know that I can still put pictures on. I really wish I had more to show, but soon it will come. Oh ya, I even took one of me having my first bath in the house. lol. Did'nt think anyone really wanted to see that one though. lol. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
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Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-20290981185191806502012-08-11T23:14:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:48:28.838-07:00Retirement, Paint and Bathroom Finishing.<br />
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Retirement is good. I'm sorta getting used to the idea that my phone just aint gonna ring. I really like that feeling, but at times, I do miss the paid for scenic tours I used to go on too. I definately do not miss going to work at 8 pm and hauling stuff around the bushes all night though. <br />
I was actually planning on doing this retirement thing when my boss retired, but I decided that I can't wait that long. I was getting to the point to where I had instant anxiety every time the phone rang, and alot of anxiety wondering when it was going to ring. A weekend off just don't do it for me. Even ten days off don't do it, the days go by so quickly. So I think I need the rest of my life off. lol. I don't know if life is going to be that simple or not, but I hope so. Some day I might want to go back trucking. Maybe some highway hauling into the states or something, just to see some different scenery and all that, but maybe not too. Who knows, but if ever I need or want to go back driving, I'm thinking I probably always can. <br />
I am in the process of educating myself to become a fairly decent stock trader/investor. I have been obsessed with the markets since the big crash in 2008. I have been pretty active in the stock market for the last couple of years now, but I do have alot to learn about it yet . It's not the easiest thing I've ever done, that's for sure. I do plan on spending quite alot of time educating myself even more on the subject once I am in the house. I just can't get enough of it. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CPBlQPEeAS8/UCcqGRascdI/AAAAAAAABDY/S8Cy0SDJjHA/s1600/Stairs%252C+Kitchen+painted.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CPBlQPEeAS8/UCcqGRascdI/AAAAAAAABDY/S8Cy0SDJjHA/s320/Stairs%252C+Kitchen+painted.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Anyway, about the house building project. The interior is all drywalled, mudded, sanded and primed/sealed, and 2 coats of paint. I'm not sure if I'm real happy with the color or not. lol. Sometimes it looks good and other times of the day it looks not as good. I'm not a real color coordination kind of guy I guess. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7lWtd6PNVc4/UCcqmXVrjhI/AAAAAAAABDg/VvgJ-cJf1vQ/s1600/Myrtle+Painting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7lWtd6PNVc4/UCcqmXVrjhI/AAAAAAAABDg/VvgJ-cJf1vQ/s320/Myrtle+Painting.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Mom was a pretty big help when it came to painting the house. She would probably kill me if she knew she was on the interenet in her painters attire and hairdo not all purtied up and all that also. lol. Probably not, she actually picked up some paint in town two mornings in a row for me. I guess she did change into her painting duds once she got out here. (That reminds me, I did'nt pay her for the second batch of paint yet). The first day I was going around and double checking all the sanding and prepping and cleaning up as she was rolling the primer/sealant on. We just about got done the priming on that day but not quite. The next day I finished the priming as she started painting and by the end of the day we had the whole house painted. Then the third day, both of us starting the second coat, we had the whole house painted by around 4 pm maybe. It went pretty fast anyway. I even had time to assemble the bathroom vanity that I have been tripping over for alot of months. Maybe even more than a year, I can't remember. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SFhiAxav6J0/UCcp0Wk-RZI/AAAAAAAABDM/nsEaY0x9xS4/s1600/Bathroom+finishing..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SFhiAxav6J0/UCcp0Wk-RZI/AAAAAAAABDM/nsEaY0x9xS4/s320/Bathroom+finishing..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And there that vanity is. I need to get a top and a sink for it now. The flooring is a tile that sticks to together, but you don't stick it down to the sub floor, it is a floating floor. Each piece is 1 x 3 feet. It was nice to install. Can't even remeber what this stuff is called. Resillient tile flooring or something like that. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EH8lCMJkNgk/UCcpf80y4WI/AAAAAAAABDE/0EwbJkqN5Sc/s1600/Bathroom+duct..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EH8lCMJkNgk/UCcpf80y4WI/AAAAAAAABDE/0EwbJkqN5Sc/s320/Bathroom+duct..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This is just a picture of the heat duct construction for the register to be mounted on the base of the vanity, as shown in the previous photo. This way I'm not stepping on the register all day, and also, IF the toilet should run over, it should'nt run down the register hopefully. lol. <br />
I have been trying to get the bathroom done and out of the way, then life may become a little more conveniennt in alot of different ways at the hermits house. I still have some plumbing in the basement to do before it is all completely operational. Soon it will be time to pull out the wallet and spend some hard earned cash on power. Batteries and solar panels.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-19656456902507855302012-08-02T22:03:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:50:27.113-07:00I Am Free<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KuVrlIfOxNA/UBtSdl9gwgI/AAAAAAAABCg/eFdtYa2iqhU/s1600/Traction+the+Mechanic..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KuVrlIfOxNA/UBtSdl9gwgI/AAAAAAAABCg/eFdtYa2iqhU/s320/Traction+the+Mechanic..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This is just a quick post just as an update. I am unemployed as of Aug 1 2012. I quit my job. I think I'll call it retirement, for now anyway. I just like the way that sounds. I really needed to get out of there. I have never worked for a better company, but the nature of the job and the schedule was getting kinda old. I've been there for about 9.5 years. For 9.5 years I went to work everytime they phoned me except maybe 3 or 4 times. I can get called at 7:00 pm or 1:30 am any time for that matter. I don't think Traction missed a day the whole time either, but as you can see in the above photo, she is already trying here paw with a new career choice. Mechanic. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lXaZKys_XBk/UBtSrgYMSYI/AAAAAAAABCo/bhRvpx2vboY/s1600/Basement+Stairs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lXaZKys_XBk/UBtSrgYMSYI/AAAAAAAABCo/bhRvpx2vboY/s320/Basement+Stairs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I got most all the drywall mudding done and I am just finishing up on the sanding. There could be some more touch up mudding to do before I'm totally done though. The whole house went actually quite well until I got into the finicky areas like the closets and stairwell. The corners were a bit of a pain , but I just about got it. How can anyone do this for a living? lol. I know it aint for me. Anyway, gotta go for now. I'll be back soon. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.<br />
Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-33233199526008607452012-06-16T23:25:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:52:08.372-07:00Drywall Taping and a bunch of other things.Well I have been pretty busy here on the acerage for the last couple of weeks. My pictures are definately not in any particular order, but I have been fighting with photos for hours here now, and still don't even have them all up. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I2CBICQ-HpE/T91qGpOcrJI/AAAAAAAABCE/piRBNCX_p4Q/s1600/The+Pete.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I2CBICQ-HpE/T91qGpOcrJI/AAAAAAAABCE/piRBNCX_p4Q/s320/The+Pete.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I did do a little trucking. Not much but a few days since the last post. </div>
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The above photo is the new gasline going to the house. The gas line is 1/2" yellow jacket copper tubing. I purchased 50 feet from Neufeld and got them to put ends on it. The length worked out pretty good. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ramDMWQHrt8/T91ZdTzX2uI/AAAAAAAABAs/rjPIJgD7YQ4/s1600/Gas+Line%252C+other+end..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ramDMWQHrt8/T91ZdTzX2uI/AAAAAAAABAs/rjPIJgD7YQ4/s320/Gas+Line%252C+other+end..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I did'nt shop around real well for the copper tubing, but the stuff costed about 3.80 a foot. Copper is expensive. I never did get my gas inspection yet. I called the inspector, but he did'nt show yet. I did bury the gasline and got that out of the way. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f7jcPZ7UqrI/T91ZL7KgujI/AAAAAAAABAg/Jeks_0Aot2Y/s1600/Exhaust+Intake-Furnace.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f7jcPZ7UqrI/T91ZL7KgujI/AAAAAAAABAg/Jeks_0Aot2Y/s320/Exhaust+Intake-Furnace.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I managed to get my exhaust and combustion air intakes up on the furnace(The white pvc pipes). I added some hangers that are a little bit nicer looking than hay wire, since this picture. Pvc pipe for exhausting a furnace could be something that not all have seen before. Furnaces are so effecient now days, that they can exhaust through plastic pipes. I'm not a furnace expert, but most older furnaces have a b-vent type chimney and not pvc pipes that go out through a wall. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ry4Dar1CK1c/T91YmUKnKRI/AAAAAAAABAQ/TalrbFmqzqw/s1600/Batt+Box+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ry4Dar1CK1c/T91YmUKnKRI/AAAAAAAABAQ/TalrbFmqzqw/s320/Batt+Box+2.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Did a little more on the battery box until I ran out of supplies for it. The one inch pvc pipe is going to be the air intake from outside. It is routed down closer to the bottom of the box and will have a can of some kind under the pipe to catch any condensation if any. I'm thinking that the intake air should help the gasses to escape out the top. Who knows, maybe it will just make things more prone to ignition and explosion. I don't think so though. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fyKCi0LrvzQ/T91YRpcugXI/AAAAAAAABAI/h-kYSjOBvCs/s1600/Battery+Box+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fyKCi0LrvzQ/T91YRpcugXI/AAAAAAAABAI/h-kYSjOBvCs/s320/Battery+Box+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Permanently attaching the back rest of the battery box down. </div>
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Had some truck repairs to do. Changed the brakes, caliper and rotor on this one side. I hav'nt quite gotten to the other side yet. The old chevy is just about due for some new skins pretty soon also. It seems to be never ending. lol. Been using the dodge lately, but neither one turned a tire for just about a week now. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JdYAojg2oUs/T91pbHvGfdI/AAAAAAAABB8/gm5v2L4Z_74/s1600/Plumbing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JdYAojg2oUs/T91pbHvGfdI/AAAAAAAABB8/gm5v2L4Z_74/s320/Plumbing.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here I was permanently attaching some plumbing for the water system in the basement. It was pretty awkward without a vice. I got stirring around in some of my auction purchases over the years to see if I had a vice. lol. I found one right away, so I quickly rigged it up onto a wood pad. It worked good. I could'nt remember if I had bought one or not. I used to go to alot of auctions and buy anything I thought was a good deal. It pays off at times. I have been doing alot of smaller jobs along the way, some not even mentioned in this post. I usually work on one project until I run out of supplies, then write down what I need on my list, then move on to the next project and so on. I hate going to town for just a few little things, so I try to make sure I have a big list when I do go. Usually going to town consists of a full day. I really thought I would have been doing alot more drywall mudding by now, but I just tried my hand at it for the first time today(Saturday, June 16). </div>
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I think I'm going to concentrate on the bathroom for now. That way maybe I can practice and learn if I can do something different as I go through the different stages of the drywall mudding process to make things better. Also, I would like to have a bathroom soon. lol. The shower in the rv works, but it is pretty tight and awkward. I actually think I am going to work on just about finishing the bathroom completely, before even mudding other areas of the house. We'll see though. My plans do sometimes change without notice. I think the taping has been going ok by the way. Not real sure though. I know that I sure seem to get alot of mud all over everything else including myself. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kr2XpvpdQws/T91tFDpPdaI/AAAAAAAABCQ/N3np_55keA4/s1600/Traction+at+the+Woodpile.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kr2XpvpdQws/T91tFDpPdaI/AAAAAAAABCQ/N3np_55keA4/s320/Traction+at+the+Woodpile.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Traction has been pretty busy too. I don't know what's in the wood shed, but she seems to spend alot of time there. She does keep pretty busy mousing and chasing squirrels or what ever around. She's a dog of two names. Although her real name is Traction, it some how evolved into Hoolio somewhere along the line. I usually only use the name Traction when I take her to the vet, or on my blog, but I call her by the name Hoolio, (pronounced more like oolio). Both names are on her name tag. Just thought I would mention that. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
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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.<br />
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Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-11864645004195269832012-05-27T19:57:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:39:59.893-07:00Done Furnace Ducting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-312Qo0CkOpI/T8LipVAMQOI/AAAAAAAAA_k/ko6cGnN8H8U/s1600/Duct+%25233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-312Qo0CkOpI/T8LipVAMQOI/AAAAAAAAA_k/ko6cGnN8H8U/s320/Duct+%25233.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Just about. <br />
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Im getting tired of looking at furnace ducting myself. lol. This was number 3 chunk of heat ducting, and it was supposed to be the last, but after thinking and planning and more thinking, I deciced to buy another chunk. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFiR1IiU3uc/T8LjfKfiuqI/AAAAAAAAA_8/VgXtjOkJhnA/s1600/Smaller+Duct.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFiR1IiU3uc/T8LjfKfiuqI/AAAAAAAAA_8/VgXtjOkJhnA/s320/Smaller+Duct.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I had to cut some of it off. All this just for a bathroom register. But now it's done. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-luq2wkTZQR0/T8LjBH0PeGI/AAAAAAAAA_s/VFi9KCDFEsg/s1600/Me+In+Action.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-luq2wkTZQR0/T8LjBH0PeGI/AAAAAAAAA_s/VFi9KCDFEsg/s320/Me+In+Action.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I even got a little technical on the camera and got of shot of me pretending to do something. I don't know what it is, but trying to pose for a picture that you take yourself looks kinda dumb. lol. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pt5wZH_rIlY/T8LjOFPbrJI/AAAAAAAAA_0/a1JlU1Z2hPU/s1600/Me.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pt5wZH_rIlY/T8LjOFPbrJI/AAAAAAAAA_0/a1JlU1Z2hPU/s320/Me.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
See, that's what I'm talking about. <br />
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I had to build myself some kind of a connector for my air drop to hook into. I know my terms on all this stuff is'nt real professional and some of the workmanship might not be either, but I think it's all going to work for me. I really hope so anyway. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-khZN_A24ths/T8Lh4EWOLCI/AAAAAAAAA_M/8l-f9T9oM-c/s1600/Air+Drop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-khZN_A24ths/T8Lh4EWOLCI/AAAAAAAAA_M/8l-f9T9oM-c/s320/Air+Drop.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And the air drop boot connecting into the what ya call it that I built. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyGXkCmXGQw/T8LicodecYI/AAAAAAAAA_c/un8EpLEpGN8/s1600/Complete+Ducting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyGXkCmXGQw/T8LicodecYI/AAAAAAAAA_c/un8EpLEpGN8/s320/Complete+Ducting.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I'm really glad to see all the main ducting up. Now I do have a little more space for myself to get around. I am now working on the electrical, plumbing the condensation and gas line in, and running the air intake and exhaust pipes. I still also have the branch ducting to do also. I hope to get an inspection on my gaslines this week and get started on some drywall mudding. Another learning experience.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
</span></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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.Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-64863933364852247012012-05-24T20:25:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:53:39.992-07:00More Furnace Ducting.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qvxtu3sVnhQ/T772b2C3ynI/AAAAAAAAA-4/EhLpJqmgkBo/s1600/More+Ducting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qvxtu3sVnhQ/T772b2C3ynI/AAAAAAAAA-4/EhLpJqmgkBo/s320/More+Ducting.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The middle section that hooks into the furnace. There is a fair bit of prepping that goes on with each section before it can go up permenantly. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vChODVZF1ac/T7717p_lBqI/AAAAAAAAA-o/m0yerwmVix8/s1600/Ducting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vChODVZF1ac/T7717p_lBqI/AAAAAAAAA-o/m0yerwmVix8/s320/Ducting.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The west section. It don't look like much, but this stuff is pretty time consuming for an old boy like me. There are only 3 sections and the east one is still in progress. Had to do some more planning on where the registers are going to be exactly. I always have a good idea what I'm going to do, but it is never for sure until the time comes. Then I seem to see little problems with this or that and end up having to change my plans a bit. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GiJ4h2XTE48/T772LqubrxI/AAAAAAAAA-w/2xYY1x59rQg/s1600/Furnace.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GiJ4h2XTE48/T772LqubrxI/AAAAAAAAA-w/2xYY1x59rQg/s320/Furnace.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's all starting to look like some kind of a heat system.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Disclaimer--IMPORTANT<br />
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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.Frugal Canadian Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01177261116826690085noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4397301028248675567.post-81067902825342893172012-05-23T20:50:00.000-07:002013-03-18T14:37:48.946-07:00Furnace Installation Mostly.I'm still playing around with furnace stuff. I did'nt do alot with it over the weekend. Went into town on Saturday thinking I was going to pick some needed items up, but as usual, it just was'nt that simple. I had to wait until Tuesday to go into the furnace shop, as it was a long weekend here in Canada. So I played around with various other things instead of all furnace stuff. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-UjKXO0k3s/T72j0LnbLXI/AAAAAAAAA9g/lU-Uw176rwo/s1600/B-B-Q.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-UjKXO0k3s/T72j0LnbLXI/AAAAAAAAA9g/lU-Uw176rwo/s320/B-B-Q.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I had some company come over on Monday, and they brought some goodies to bar b que. All I had for a b b que was my ancient old piece of junk that was'nt working so well anymore. But I did have a brand new one not even assebled yet, stashed away in the garage. It's been there for a couple years now I think. We quickly put it together anyway. Nice. I've been meaning to get this baby together for some time now. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HfJtVfgXJQc/T72jYm2190I/AAAAAAAAA9Y/K6En_RnMiP8/s1600/BAtt+Box..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HfJtVfgXJQc/T72jYm2190I/AAAAAAAAA9Y/K6En_RnMiP8/s320/BAtt+Box..JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The battery box all painted and almost ready for action. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGL_iekLbnM/T72khflO4mI/AAAAAAAAA9w/rIB0zSLDo1A/s1600/Plenum+butcher.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGL_iekLbnM/T72khflO4mI/AAAAAAAAA9w/rIB0zSLDo1A/s320/Plenum+butcher.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The plenum for the furnace needs a little modifications in order to fit under the stairs. This was quite a job. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBpLRFlUWn4/T72p4KeNLxI/AAAAAAAAA-M/H49M0hCagnw/s1600/Plenum+again.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBpLRFlUWn4/T72p4KeNLxI/AAAAAAAAA-M/H49M0hCagnw/s320/Plenum+again.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Still modifying the plenum. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IiRCMDaUEO0/T72qQiTTgxI/AAAAAAAAA-U/xbYtEVBR5EI/s1600/Plenum+Modified.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IiRCMDaUEO0/T72qQiTTgxI/AAAAAAAAA-U/xbYtEVBR5EI/s320/Plenum+Modified.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The finished product. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ilrNJElGDE/T72qhg0QnrI/AAAAAAAAA-c/79vhPQU-wwo/s1600/Plenum+under+stairs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6ilrNJElGDE/T72qhg0QnrI/AAAAAAAAA-c/79vhPQU-wwo/s320/Plenum+under+stairs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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There it is sitting on the furnace under the stairs. Nice fit. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wQ0y2eG1hGk/T72itVy7mwI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/zxrw9392EjE/s1600/90+to+plenum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wQ0y2eG1hGk/T72itVy7mwI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/zxrw9392EjE/s320/90+to+plenum.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now I gotta cut a hole in the front of the plenum and join this 90 degree elbow up with the plenum. There is another piece that goes in between the two. I'm not real fond of this furnace installation stuff and can't wait until I am workingon a new stage of the house project. The almighty drywall mudding is still patiently waiting for me. </div>
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It's been raining pretty steady here all day yesterday and today. The river is flowing pretty wild again.</div>
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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.<br />
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