Dark Days Of The Year

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katlupe

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Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
203
Location
NY
Living with an alternative energy system makes you know only too well what the dark time of the year is! In this past year, we have made amazing progress on our homestead and system. House remodeling and increasing our power has taken a lot of our time and money. Our goal is to use our power for everything, yes, including cooking. I have been cooking with an Instant Pot this summer and it was so great I can't begin to tell you how much so.

We had 24 lead acid batteries that last year started losing their ability to hold a charge. We had to run our generator every day, using gasoline like crazy. So my husband bought us two lithium ion phosphate batteries from Battle Born Batteries. They are US made and their company was the best to work with. They are VERY expensive though. So now my husband is building a DIY Tesla Powerwall. It isn't ready yet, but soon. Once we switched the batteries, which was around May, we have not turned our generator on even once. I will add a photo of it when I can. Right now I am loading photos of how it looks so far for a blog post I am working on.

These batteries have allowed us to add DC lights so we don't have to use our inverter. My goal is to get rid of the propane. I am doing as much cooking on the wood stoves as possible this fall and winter. If they are going, then that is where I am cooking. I have a solar oven, but I am not crazy about it. It cooks pretty good if the sun is out, but I have to fuss with it too much. At my age, I am now in the "easy mode" most of the time.
 
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Sounds like you are moving forward and getting everything figured out. Good for you! But the best part of your post for me was the 2-3 times I stopped and went over to DuckDuckGo to search for things like Instant Pot and DIY Tesla powerwall (fixed it!).
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Here is the photo of the DIY Tesla Powerwall my husband is building. In this photo he was still working on soldering but brought them upstairs so I could take a picture.

being_sodered-1024x799.jpg
 
Sorry it is so big but it comes from my blog.
 
Sounds like you are moving forward and getting everything figured out. Good for you! But the best part of your post for me was the 2-3 times I stopped and went over to DuckDuckGo to search for things like Instant Pot and DIY Tesla Ball.
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Did you find it? It is a powerwall, not a ball, but you made me check to see if I made a mistake in my post.
 
Did you find it? It is a powerwall, not a ball, but you made me check to see if I made a mistake in my post.

Yes, I did. Thanks. Sometimes I use voice to text and then who knows what ends up on the screen. ;) I must mumble a lot or something.
 
I have been cooking with an Instant Pot this summer and it was so great I can't begin to tell you how much so.

Everyone should have an Instant pot.
We use ours a lot.
I made spaghetti and meatballs with Italian sausage.
Everything in one pot.
Fast easy and good.
There are videos showing people cooking everything from pot roast to cheese cake in them.
 
I cannot use the Instant Pot now due to limited sun. When my husband finishes the battery he is building, I think I will be back to using it. With only 2 batteries for storage, even though these batteries are excellent, we need more storage. I loved using the Instant Pot too, but when I can't use it, I use a pressure cooker instead. Did that yesterday.
 
maybe you should add wind power too just for those days with no sun

We have a wind turbine too.

wind_power_today.jpg


Thank goodness for it. We get a bit of wind at night and it isn't a big turbine, but it operates in low wind and it is a help to us.
 
@katlupe have you ever considered iron edison batteries? Specifically nickel iron? (or heard of them?) I know they're a bit pricey but have much more storage capacity for the money according to the specs.

The ones we are using are the Lithium Ion LiFePO4 batteries from Battle Born. They are pricey too. Flawless! Since they are so expensive, we were only able to buy two. But as soon as we can we will be adding more. They will make the difference. We have more than enough solar now, just need the battery storage.
 
We have over the years added more tools and items that use electric getting rid of all the propane, gasoline or kerosene users as much as possible. This is the Snow Wolf which my husband uses for snow removal. It works with no fuel except man power and it is quicker than getting a snowblower started. He is usually done in less than an hour and we have paths as well as a big driveway.

snow_wolf.jpg
 
Well, in case any followers on this thread have not seen what I have posted on the other boards and threads, I am no longer living on this off the grid homestead. But I can still answer any questions you may have to the best of my knowledge.
 
We have over the years added more tools and items that use electric getting rid of all the propane, gasoline or kerosene users as much as possible. This is the Snow Wolf which my husband uses for snow removal. It works with no fuel except man power and it is quicker than getting a snowblower started. He is usually done in less than an hour and we have paths as well as a big driveway.

snow_wolf.jpg

Kat I just reading short stories by ' Louis L'Amour ' last month by oil lamp aka kerosene lantern when storms took out power for a whole day and night.
 
Kat I just reading short stories by ' Louis L'Amour ' last month by oil lamp aka kerosene lantern when storms took out power for a whole day and night.
For most of the years that I lived there, in the evening I read aloud. First my kerosene lamps, as in the beginning we had 14 total and lit them every evening. Our house was very well lit! Later, I was reading using a flashlight, of all things! Yes, I read the Bible from cover to cover out loud, every single book written by Rich Dad Poor Dad and Donald Trump's books too........long before he talked of running for president. Then the Kindle came out............to say that changed my life is a BIG statement. My husband ordered it for me as a surprise gift and I was thrilled with it and in fact, still am. I started reading books out loud on that. I loved reading the historical books written by Indians or pioneers in the old days. Still love them!
 
For most of the years that I lived there, in the evening I read aloud. First my kerosene lamps, as in the beginning we had 14 total and lit them every evening. Our house was very well lit! Later, I was reading using a flashlight, of all things! Yes, I read the Bible from cover to cover out loud, every single book written by Rich Dad Poor Dad and Donald Trump's books too........long before he talked of running for president. Then the Kindle came out............to say that changed my life is a BIG statement. My husband ordered it for me as a surprise gift and I was thrilled with it and in fact, still am. I started reading books out loud on that. I loved reading the historical books written by Indians or pioneers in the old days. Still love them!


Rich Dad Poor Dad was that written by a oriental named Kywasaki 'spell'? I bought that book about 10 years or more ago, very interesting about money. Since my memory is leaving I could read it again.
 
Rich Dad Poor Dad was that written by a oriental named Kywasaki 'spell'? I bought that book about 10 years or more ago, very interesting about money. Since my memory is leaving I could read it again.
Yes, but he is actually Hawaiian. I even read his wife's books. I am not so much into making money now, but back then I was selling on eBay and even became a powerseller. So didn't do too bad.
 
@katlupe , have you ever read or heard of Lewis Grizzard, a southern humorist? To me and some others he is the funniest man who ever lived. Hubby didn't like him too much ,because I'd eat crackers in bed and read and laugh so hard it woke him up.

My friend in Jax would call me and we'd discuss what we were reading. She would say one word and I'd start to laugh and I'd say , ' cat ' or 'stitches' and we would we be laughing so hard we could hardly breath. She would calm down get back on phone and I'd say' stitches' and here we go again.
Not sure if he takes a certain kind of sense of humor or not but at least he is clean and talks of things we all have in common here in the south. When he passed at an early age I bought every book he ever wrote.
 
Yes, but he is actually Hawaiian. I even read his wife's books. I am not so much into making money now, but back then I was selling on eBay and even became a powerseller. So didn't do too bad.

Oh ok . Either way he was smart and knew how to write a book that was easy to understand.
 
@katlupe , have you ever read or heard of Lewis Grizzard, a southern humorist? To me and some others he is the funniest man who ever lived. Hubby didn't like him too much ,because I'd eat crackers in bed and read and laugh so hard it woke him up.

My friend in Jax would call me and we'd discuss what we were reading. She would say one word and I'd start to laugh and I'd say , ' cat ' or 'stitches' and we would we be laughing so hard we could hardly breath. She would calm down get back on phone and I'd say' stitches' and here we go again.
Not sure if he takes a certain kind of sense of humor or not but at least he is clean and talks of things we all have in common here in the south. When he passed at an early age I bought every book he ever wrote.

No, but I will have to look him up. I love southern books, recipes, anything southern.
 
and @Meerkat . Have you all read or listened to Sean of the South? Another excellent Southerner!
I just got one of his books for my Kindle! There are a ton of them!
 
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