3 weeks off of grid service ..So here’s where it is…

[JRH]

A fellow sufferer here. I need projects to make my days go by. If the funds were available the scope and scale would grow exponentially.

Back when I was a working man I use to say that if I had the time I did not have the money.

Ya know, With that said about about the fun and size of projects being related to the affordability… can you imagine the fun it must be ,to be Elon , and roll up and look at his projects aimed at the sky in TX or FL or fly over a massive new Tesla plant ….or a new battery storage facility overseas .. or get to go play with a giant boring machine and grind somthing up …” hey Joey, watch this”

it’s gotta be a total blast… I missed the boat somehow…!

damn it ,,If I were only filthy rich…I would have many fun big projects going …and throw parties 4 days a week for everyone….

 

[rodrick]

Thank you for the compliment …if nothing bad ever happens I’m all about sustainability with renewable food sources…..My only problem with your homesteading scenario if bad times come is that whatever critters I acquired to raise , I would probably like them, then name them ,buy them a nice collar ….ride some of them to town with me now and then to let them see stuff …my wife would probably let them sit on the sofa and watch tv….nawwww that wouldn’t work.
plus I would never be able to hurt them….
I can’t shoot Edna the chicken and cook her…

It can be a little hard the first few slaughters I was in the tractor supply store the other day and they had a yardbird chicken plucker there and I told my wife I need one of those for up on the mountain and she ask what it did so I showed her a utube video less than a minute into the video she was in total meltdown crying shaking the works had everyone in the store looking at this 60 year old woman loosing it thinking she must of just had a family member die or something ya they still have that plucker for sale if anyone needs it

 

[Nobodybusiness]

It can be a little hard the first few slaughters I was in the tractor supply store the other day and they had a yardbird chicken plucker there and I told my wife I need one of those for up on the mountain and she ask what it did so I showed her a utube video less than a minute into the video she was in total meltdown crying shaking the works had everyone in the store looking at this 60 year old woman loosing it thinking she must of just had a family member die or something ya they still have that plucker for sale if anyone needs it

They really are a time saver when they work.

 

[Hedges]

to be Elon ,

damn it ,,If I were only filthy rich…I would have many fun big projects going …and throw parties 4 days a week for everyone….

Index cards to keep track of the mothers of your children ...

whatever critters I acquired to raise , I would probably like them, then name them ,buy them a nice collar ….ride some of them to town with me now and then to let them see stuff …my wife would probably let them sit on the sofa and watch tv….nawwww that wouldn’t work.
plus I would never be able to hurt them….
I can’t shoot Edna the chicken and cook her…

Us too.

When my wife was a child, her mother raised doves. Chicks hatched, and each day when she got home from school she played with them. One day, there was poultry dinner waiting.

I don't hunt, either. Maybe I'd take an invasive hybrid boar? But I haven't seen them on my mountain lot. I think I could do a catfish pond, let them pre-condition the kitchen scraps headed for compost and have meat too. We used to keep a couple bullheads we caught in Norden, named them Hiskers and Whiskers.

Chickens just for eggs, that would be OK. Done that as kids.

I'm a carnivore, but I let someone else do the dirty work to unseen animals.

They really are a time saver when they work.

I can imagine. We hand plucked one pheasant and one turkey that my dog Tweety brought us. Took hours. The pheasant was full of eggs of all sizes and way too tough. The turkey was young and tender.

 

[JRH]

Very nice!

Something that might get the water heater off propane...

Cut the wire, insert male and female plugs and insert a WiFi smart plug. You could have it programmed to only run at certain times where it's not likely for the microwave to be on at the same time, or whatever you like... If'n you de-stink yourself at the same time every day, have it turn on two hours earlier, and you should be good. If nothing else, you'll have immediate W/H on/off control on your phone.

If your refer can be replaced with a compressor model, do it... more usable fridge space and an anemic power draw... 0.8kWh/day vs. 4-5kWh/day assuming you have a ~7.6cu-ft unit. You'll likely draw 7-10# of propane per week on average. Save the propane for the furnace and stove.

I totally get and Thank you for the hints on propane reduction, BUT, my problem is for the second month now my usage of electricity and propane has been about 1/2 as much as normal as I’m using the solar stuff to supplement…
the power company doesn’t care…But
the propane deal I cut with the small company was I would get about a 40 % reduction off what most people here pay IF I used a certain amount…and put it in a corp acct …
I am now trying to use a bunch of propane to stay within the limits of my discount deal…it’s a sweet one…
I already bought it and it’s just sitting there…I. Am modifying my system everyday to upgrade stuff…add more panels , ventilation .etc…
I will try improve it and use enough propane to keep them happy…
At some point I will cut free of most electric other than the basic electric fee for being connected..and my streetlight,..
the propane people I need to make them happy ..if I loose my discount it would almost double my price….plus since I got the solar stuff running, I have between 3-4 years of back up propane for heating , cooking , hot water and gen set running if needed, sitting out side in my tank…
that’s worth protecting if the grid went south for whatever reason..

sometimes in life ya have to compromise a bit to keep making progress…

thanks for your thoughts…
J.

 

[littleharbor2]

I totally get and Thank you for the hints on propane reduction, BUT, my problem is for the second month now my usage of electricity and propane has been about 1/2 as much as normal as I’m using the solar stuff to supplement…
the power company doesn’t care…But
the propane deal I cut with the small company was I would get about a 40 % reduction off what most people here pay IF I used a certain amount…and put it in a corp acct …
I am now trying to use a bunch of propane to stay within the limits of my discount deal…it’s a sweet one…
I already bought it and it’s just sitting there…I. Am modifying my system everyday to upgrade stuff…add more panels , ventilation .etc…
I will try improve it and use enough propane to keep them happy…
At some point I will cut free of most electric other than the basic electric fee for being connected..and my streetlight,..
the propane people I need to make them happy ..if I loose my discount it would almost double my price….plus since I got the solar stuff running, I have between 3-4 years of back up propane for heating , cooking , hot water and gen set running if needed, sitting out side in my tank…
that’s worth protecting if the grid went south for whatever reason..

sometimes in life ya have to compromise a bit to keep making progress…

thanks for your thoughts…
J.

You have a propane fueled generator?

 

[justgary]

I'll buy propane from you at your cost. We can rig up a 20 lb bottle filler.

 

[JRH]

You have a propane fueled generator?

3 of them…2200 3500 9750…why…?

 

[littleharbor2]

3 of them…2200 3500 9750…why…?

Figured you used it as backup for your generators

 

[JRH]

I'll buy propane from you at your cost. We can rig up a 20 lb bottle filler.

I get the same price for the big tank and for the 20 -30 lb tanks…
it’s about 7 bucks for a 20 lb refill

 

[JRH]

Figured you used it as backup for your generators

I don’t use gasoline at all except for one old gen set… all use propane only ..I had the big tank plumbed and a low pressure regulator installed to feed them correctly…… don’t have to change the 20 lb tanks thst way…actually I can plug the gen set to one of the aux BBQ quick connects and it feeds it just fine…

 

[Supervstech]

A small fly in your ointment is you haven't used the system in the winter...

Xlouds, and sun angle DRASTICALLY reduce solar power...
If you are small now, you will be non functional in winter...
Get more panels before you have to tick it in and sulk to the trailer...

 

[JRH]

I don’t use gasoline at all except for one old gen set… all use propane only ..I had the big tank plumed to feed them… don’t have to change the 20 lb tanks thst way…

Actually ,

A small fly in your ointment is you haven't used the system in the winter...

Xlouds, and sun angle DRASTICALLY reduce solar power...
If you are small now, you will be non functional in winter...
Get more panels before you have to tick it in and sulk to the trailer...

I have anticipated… and calculated panels tilt to 45 degrees and are trailer mounted to move around easily…. but nothing is ever perfect…been up here at 4000- 5000 + ft for since ’76 … I am aware of the NC mtns when they want to show their butt…

I have pretty good sun in winter…clear air …cold temps… panels this last spring were up to 25% higher than rating… and over rating most times this spring under load … Hickory and it’s pollution crap is the closest city at 50 miles away… … will triple the panels by next year… hopefully will be plenty for all I need for what I run in a RV…

your correct… one can can ever be sure of what’s coming…thst why I have all the propane gen sets, a big ass tank and a back up grid connection…
do you remember the blizzard of ‘93…? . Haaaa I was living at 5200 ft o top of beech mtn…4 ft of snow in one day..

 

[HarryN]

I guess in theory you could convert one of your cars to propane ?

 

[HRTKD]

Set up a distillery?

 

[JRH]

I guess in theory you could convert one of your cars to propane ?

Nope …. buying a tesla Y soon hopefully ….will use solar to charge…

 

[JRH]

Set up a distillery?

now that would save me some bucks…

 

[Supervstech]

Actually ,

I have anticipated… and calculated panels tilt to 45 degrees and are trailer mounted to move around easily…. but nothing is ever perfect…been up here at 4000- 5000 + ft for since ’76 … I am aware of the NC mtns when they want to show their butt…

I have pretty good sun in winter…clear air …cold temps… panels this last spring were up to 25% higher than rating… and over rating most times this spring under load … Hickory and it’s pollution crap is the closest city at 50 miles away… … will triple the panels by next year… hopefully will be plenty for all I need for what I run in a RV…

your correct… one can can ever be sure of what’s coming…thst why I have all the propane gen sets, a big ass tank and a back up grid connection…
do you remember the blizzard of ‘93…? . Haaaa I was living at 5200 ft o top of beech mtn…4 ft of snow in one day..

Ahhh. I didn’t realize we were neighbors! Holla when you wanna get some help or show off!

 

[JRH]

I'll buy propane from you at your cost. We can rig up a 20 lb bottle filler.

Ya know ,now that you say that, I bought a kit a few years back for doing that…seemed like a cool thing at that time….never have even tried it… I also got a few of the special little one lb tanks and that are rated for refill , with little bronze caps…and some gizmo to hook up the stuff …. all of it is stashed somewhere in a box… have no idea where…???….but it’s around ……I totally forgot about it…thx.

 

[JRH]

Ahhh. I didn’t realize we were neighbors! Holla when you wanna get some help or show off!

Getting help would more likely be the case… compared to some of the big systems you cats have running ,I have nothing show off other than a few cool guitars and other random items…im just a lowly hillbilly ……but thanks.