Aug 2010 Preps

[Watchman]

What have you done to enhance your preparedness?

[Toepopper]

I was working a little each day to create terraces in my garden so I would be able to grow a bigger variety of veggies next year. The ground has gotten so dry that now I can't get a shovel into it without breaking the shovel or my back so this project is on hold untill it rains again in the fall. Other projects have been under the heading of routine maintenance, such as re-staining the board and bat cedar siding on my house, ripping off the old shingles and putting on a new roof, upgrading the house heat supply to a larger more efficient wood stove and placing the old stove in my shop which had no heat source. Repaired and cleaned the chimney and added another section of terra cotta flue pipe to the top of the chimney for better air draw. I wrapped the incoming water pipes in 2 layers of pipe insulation and added 2 new hose spigots on the house at the end of the wood deck for fire supression. Have cleared a flat spot about 50 feet in elavation above my house, to be used for a 3000 gallon water holding tank that will gravity feed down to my garden and further down the hill to the house. I am going to fill this tank using a solar powered SHURFLO water pump, pumping from my well and this system will be used as a backup system in case the power goes off. I am saving a little money each month to buy the water tank and they usually come down in price in the fall when the market for water storage tanks drops. Have been practicing pistol marksmanship once a month at the local range at a defensive pistol shoot and reloading the empty shell casings from this shooting.

[fern]

I did not even realize we were in August already. And anything I write after Toepopper will seem incredibly weak!! What a list Toepopper!! And I am still jealous!!

I drove to Cleveland and spent more on the gas than I paid for the purchases but I got one of the planet junior cultivators and a planet junior plow. That means I am the horse! I also bought another push lawn mower...you know the kind...where you are the engine?? They had a farrier box with all the tools for a couple of bucks too. Now I need the real horse since I have been hauling my saddles and other tack with me for years.

I have added another set of the 3 solar panels and light kit from Harbor Freight to our supplies. Not sure how many I would need to live off the grid but I am shooting for 18 or 6 sets total. I need to understand the inverter so I can buy the correct size. Toepopper?? My next purchase will be for the first of hopefully many batteries. Then I need to understand how to wire them together although I took a pick of the ones wired together on that show The Colony!

I also purchased a cast iron teapot and 2 more skillets from an estate sale. At that same sale, LG purchased a 1948 American flag with 48 stars on it. It is the material of old and in perfect condition and appears to have been lovingly kept. I also purchased two more quilts and have washed and packed them away in those vacuum packs. That sale had a ton of the pretty old dress gloves, doilies, hankies, embroidered items, crocheted items, etc of yesteryear. It was very hard not to spend money on that kind of thing but I truly did not see the place for them other than feeding my sense of the past.

[WillyPete]

Figuring for an inverter is actually quite easy fern.
They are all rated for wattage output and to figure what you need, total up the amount of watts all of your electrical appliances and devices would use and that is your starting point. You can also figure the capacity on a peak usage basis, how much you're likely to be using at any time instead of using everything at once.
For instance, if all of your gear wattage adds up to 3200 watts total, get a 4000 watt inverter. I oversize it to provide a cushion if something is left operating that is not needed when something else's load is added to the total.
Always figure about 20% more capacity, at least, than you need as a safety factor. That also depends on your wattage total, get the next largest capacity for your load. Also, the higher wattage inverters will require more battery capacity so, if you get a really high capacity inverter you're likely to need more big batteries and then more panels to get them charged quickly during the day and to keep them charged.

I went out today and added a little bit to my stores. I picked up a few pounds of dried beans in different varieties, some more rice packages to top off one of the rice containers, a couple bottles of spices; black pepper and paprika, some boxes of instant oatmeal and some freezer duty plastic zipper bags for storage. Got all that packed away and realize it time to purchase some more storage bins. Yay.

[Toepopper]

fern, you should hold off on buying your batteries until you are ready to install them so that they are all fresh and new . If you buy 2 this year and 2 next year and then hook all your components together in 3 years with additional batteries, your first bought batteries will be weaker than the newest bats and they will cause the newer batteries to work harder to keep the amps up and your battery bank will FAIL prematurely. Batteries are the heart of your off grid energy supply and I don't want you to learn this the hard way, and expensive way, like I did. What voltage are those solar panels you bought?
The battery connections and wiring hookup to the inverter will depend on the voltage of the system you choose. Mine was a 12 volt system using 6 volt L-16 type batteries that were wired both in parallel and in series, to jump the batteries up to 12 volts. So, I hooked two batteries up at a time, negative to negative and positive to positive (parallel) then hooked another cable from the positive terminal on one battery to the negative terminal on the second battery (series) to jump the voltage from 6 to 12 volts. Get it?? With a 12 volt system you need at least 2- 6 volt batteries so you can get 12 volts. Most modern systems use 24 volt and some even employ the use of 48 volt systems because they hold battery charge/power longer by using less amps. A 24 volt system uses half the amperage of a 12 volt system. A 24 volt system needs at least 4 - 6 volt batteries to attain 24 volts and a 48 volt system needs a minimum of 8 - 6 volt batteries to get 48 volts. The 48 volt system starts runnung into some big bucks. Some 48 volt systems use 2 - 24 volt inverters wired "piggyback" to boost the voltage up to 48 volts. Solar panel manufacturers produce 12 and 24 volt solar panels ( I don't know if they make 48 volt panels) and of course you would need to use a 24 volt inverter on a 24 volt system. My inverter was a Trace model 2012, 2000 watts-12 volts. I had 8 large 12 volt solar panels of varying manufacture wired in parallel into a Trace model C-40 voltage regulator, which was wired into the inverter which in turn controlled how much power went into the battery bank according to how low or full the battery bank was. When the batteries reached 14.8 volts the system would shut itself down and not allow any current into the battery bank to keep from frying the batteries. I had 8 batteries and this system worked fine. When doing laundry I did the washer and then the dryer, never running both at the same time. The inverter would turn itself off if I tried to run them both at the same time, too many amps.
The state of Oregon just last week canceled its solar power rebate program that paid for almost one third of the cost of the equipment and instalation of solar panels that would allow you to sell power back to the power company. The feds also chipped in reducing the cost even more. We were on the waiting list but now I guess its tuff luck. I can't complain because my power bill is only $38.

[fern]

I followed what you were saying but I am going to read it a few more times! I was hoping to buy batteries one at a time. Oh well. That means it is a big purchase all at once. Ouch.

[Toepopper]

Yes indeedee, it is a MAJOR chunk of change departing from your wallet. I had to replace my 8 L-16 batteries about 18 months ago and it cost me $1932. Ouch. Plus wrestling those big brutes into place and hooking everything back up took me 2 full days. If you make a mistake and crosswire something, you will fry the inverter when you hook up the cables from the battery bank to the inverter. My first Trace inverter I had one week, hooked up to some 12 volt deep cycle trolling motor batteries. But they would not last very long, a couple hours of lights and a small TV and they would run out of juice. So I bought 4 more and hooked them up at night in the dark and when I just touched the pos cable to the inverter it blew up, kapooffizzpopcrack, blew all the zeners out of the front of the inverter! I had hooked up 36 volts to a 12 volt inverter by mistake. Took the inverter back and they sent it to the factory to be repaired, $345. plus shipping. A very expensive mistake and it took 3 months to get it back. You could hear me cussing as far away as British Columbia.
The battery producers make some real nice battery models designed for powering a house that have a circulation system to keep the batteries topped off with distilled water so you never have the chore of unscrewing the tops and adding water yourself. They have very thick lead plates to hold a charge longer and release it slower but you will pay through the nose and these batteries are aimed at a market where money is of no concern. Well, to me money IS a concern and the old reliable L-16 batteries are still the most bang for the buck. Different companies use different components in manufacturing their batteries. Some use thicker plates and stronger plastic cases. Some L-16 batteries are rated at 350 amp hours apiece, the last set I purchased were rated at 365 amp hours and they were NAPA brand from the parts store. The Rolls battery corp rates their L-16 at 460 amp hours but these are very expensive at $333 apiece. You need at least 6 to run a houseso thats going to cost you $2000, 8 batteries will cost $2700. Solar power suppliers have battery sales all the time so if you pay attention and shop around you can save some money. I recently saw L-16s on sale for $220 per unit, the standard battery rated at 350 amp hours. Eight of those will cost you $1760. Better start saving a little each month to purchase batteries. These L-16s weigh in at 95 lbs per unit so you only want to have to move them once.

[fern]

So I need to save $2000 for battery purchase. Ok...easier said than done!! My Dad always bought his batteries from New Castle Battery (put outta business 18 months ago from the environmental regs) because they had the heaviest batteries of any. Dad said that the heavier the battery, the stronger the battery and the longer the life. What is the typical price of a solar panel if purchased one at a time?

[WillyPete]

Had a thought about batteries that may be helpful.
What about using batteries designed for heavy equipment? I had an electric scissor lift that I maintained for one of my former employers. It was a 24 volt system with 4 6 volt batteries. One of those batteries weighed a lot more than the big battery I had in my work truck, they were heavy monsters! Likely 80 or more pounds each.
Anyway, that lift was sporadically charged and the batteries were all OEM and maybe 10 years old or more. Despite this, those batteries would put in a full days work raising the lift to its full height of 40 feet over and over again and traveling all over the job site at its fastest speed of 3 miles per hour, never a hitch.
Right off I do not know exactly where to obtain batteries like this, I imagine any equipment rental company would be able to direct you to a distributor. I also do not know the costs of these batteries but I figure it's comparable to any other similar battery.

[Toepopper]

These might work if you had enough of them hooked together. The L-16 batteries were originally used in some type of equipment, possibly floor grinders for grinding terrazo floors. The batteries now on the market designed for powering a house are capable of 3200 cycles, draining them and then recharging them. It is bad mojo to completely drain your batteries as this will make them fail earlier than if you ran them down to 50% capacity and then recharged them. Modern voltage regulators/charge controllers are designed to shut the inverter off when a programmed low voltage is reached so this never happens. They will also shut down your solar panel array when the batteries reach a high voltage that you set/program into the charge controller to keep from overcharging batteries and boiling the sulfides out of them.
I have used 12 volt batteries from Cats, golf carts, deep cycle trolling motors, and regular car batteries. When you are young and energetic you can take the time to keep changing batteries but with todays modern off grid type systems this is no longer necessary. My first set of 6 L-16s lasted 20 years, the second set lasted 7 years, they were less expensive with smaller lead plates and light weight cases. In the long run you are better off purchasing good quality batteries to extend the replacement time.

[Toepopper]

I think we should move this conversation over to the solar power section in "Heating And Powering The Homestead" since it has gone past being a prep type topic.

[WillyPete]

Back on track now.

My favorite hardware store is in the process of shutting their doors forever. I'm not happy about this as I have been dealing with them for probably 20+ years. But, since they're closing I have been able to obtain supplies at a discounted price.
Most of what they are selling is marked down 20% and will be marked down more as they near the end of the closing process.
I have purchased some Coleman lanterns, 1 propane and 2 white gas and all of their containers of Coleman fuel and a couple of propane bottles. I picked up 5 big boxes of strike anywhere matches that I will place into vacuum bags for storage, several sets of various hand tools, a hickory handle for one of my axes that has been handle-less for too many years, some new Carhartt T-shirts since I need some new ones anyway and so much more that I've lost count. I'll have to go through the bags to remember the rest but, the store is still open for now and will be selling down to the walls. I've been trying to talk them into letting me buy some of the plastic shopping baskets they have but, no takers yet.
The other store, that I did not know even existed, has two new 100 lb. propane tanks that I would like to purchase but the cost is currently prohibitive. I'm taking a chance on them but I'm gonna wait a couple of weeks to see how far the price will be reduced. I had spoken with an employee and he told me they'll be marking prices down more each week until the end in October so, it's a chance but I can't buy them right now. LORD willin' and the crick don't rise, I may be able to get them. Then I have to see about getting them filled. Lots of places that still fill bulk propane tanks, no worries there yet.

[WillyPete]

Went back to my hardware store yesterday, they were having a special for regular customers. All flashlights, batteries, flashlight bulbs and any audio-video materials and equipment were on sale for 50% off regular price.
I picked up a couple new flashlights and a couple handfuls of batteries. I have such a flashlight addiction it isn't funny.
Anyway, I also picked up a few packages of Sterno fuel as an alternate cooking heat source, more tools of course and more shirts. Carhartts are the best IMO.
I decided to stop for awhile since my credit card is approaching critical mass and, I want to see how much more they reduce prices. I've got my eye on a chainsaw but, if the price ain't enough for me I ain't buying. Kind of a shame when I think about it but, the regular price is way out of my league and this is likely the only way I could afford one. I'll have to stick to my axes and saws for now.

[fern]

This morning, I purchased 3 more old tools I have been searching for. One of them is my precious old Bell grinder. I have missed them when they go on sale every time!! Today though, a family was cleaning out their grandfather's old barn and I got the grinder (in perfect shape), a hand held planter, and the grinder thing that takes the corn off the cob and all in excellent condition in fact they were still mounted on the wood bucket or table and had to be taken off. I am happy!!

[Toepopper]

Nice find. The early bird does get the best deal.

[WillyPete]

Got another letter from my hardware store advertising another big discount day. Today more items, that I don't need or want right now, are being sold at 50% off of regular price.
But, all hand and power tools plus all outdoor tools are being sold at 20% off of regular price. I bought a STIHL Farm Boss MS290 chainsaw with a 20" bar, some bar and chain oil and another Coleman propane lantern. Figured I'd better get the saw now before someone else gets them all before me.
Now, I wonder how many are wondering why I've bought propane lanterns. Simple really, I have a couple of the refill adapters to refill the 1 lb. propane bottles from a bulk tank and I have a couple dozen empty 1 lb. bottles. I can refill them from my 20 lb. bottles and keep the lanterns lit when needed for some time to come.
For the white gas lanterns, I'll get spare generators for the Coleman Dual Fuel lantern as backups for when I run out of the white gas and keep them lit until I completely run out of gasoline.
I'll be purchasing candle wax blocks, paraffin blocks and wicking for casting my own candles sometime in the future.
With all of the flashlights, lanterns, fuel and matches I've been accumulating, we won't be in the dark much at all for a long time.