No one ever mentions...?

[xcav8r369]

Of all the homesteading and off-grid and alternate power sites I've seen...

No one ever mentions what kinds of (biodegradable, non-toxic) soaps they use for washing stuff.

No one ever mentions what they use for critter control : mice, rats, squirrels, bugs in the house..mosquitos, black flies.....

No one ever mentions what they do for insecticides/pest control on crops & plants.

No one mentions what they do with waste products from vehicle maintenance, painting or general household garbage/trash.

And most vexing of all (to me) is that no one ever, EVER mentions how to put together a 12v (ONLY) solar system with no a/c and no inverter!

Can anyone here offer some answers? Thanks.

[DamonHD]

no one ever, EVER mentions how to put together a 12v (ONLY) solar system with no a/c and no inverter!

Umm, you need to read/search more.  Never?  I am one of many who have written up just such a system for example, here, and over at my own site.  I am reading by the 9W 12V warm-white LED powered from my 12V battery charged from my off-grid solar.  No AC (nor a/c) and no inverter in sight.

(I have a 30x larger grid-tie system which has inverters, etc, but is completely separate.)

http://www.earth.org.uk/solar-PV-pilot-summer-2007.html

Rgds

Damon

[spinningmagnets]

Dear xcav8r369 (may I call you "x"?)

You may have missed these, and there are others...

http://www.backwoodshome.com/

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

http://www.builditsolar.com

Is your "Google" broken?

[Airstream]

Wait until WooferHound sees...  tsk tsk (said with a smile)

[Bruce S]

(x);

 Those are very valid questions; however this forum is mainly for the spreading of knowledge of getting power of some sort and voltage level.

The questions you have would be a good list for possibly staring a conversation over in the diaries section. It's pretty open for a whole slew of stuff. With one glaring exception (OU). Everything else fair game, and I'm betting you'll get a fair amount of input.

Set one up and I'll certainly have some input about soap. Lye and WVO based soap.

Cheers & welcome ;-)

Bruce S

 

[ghurd]

What is "12V (ONLY)"?

That is as simple as it gets.

Charge the battery.

Use the power.

Nothing more to talk about.  It is so simple it is not worth mentioning.

Might look deeper at 12VDC vs 120VAC CFLs.

Quite a few talks about what is better, and why.

I do small solar.  Miro Solar by the standards set here.

Most solar I install is 12V only, except for items needing more than 12V.

And I mentioneted it a lot.

My solar users can not morally use a solar powered cordless drill, if the drill has an 18V battery?

An 18V drill battery charger needs an inverter, or a degree in electrickery.

Pests larger than 0.224" have a simple solution.  .22 is what we called it back before the term PC.

OB intends to tax .22 to the point of using chemicals.

Merigolds.

Recycle.

Use a bicycle.

Ever eat corn?  Might want to look into the moral implications of that one.

If you believe NOT painting your items is less toxic than:

mining new iron (timbering), processing, manufacturing, shipping, painting, packaging (peanuts/styrofoam/cardboard/colored ink/), re-shipping, re-re-shipping, retailing, etc,

then just buy new stuff.

Recycle again.

Charge a 12V battery and use 12V loads.

Remember what is involved in the entire 12V battery thing.  Lead processing facilities, huge weights transported long distances, acid, Mexico /Rio Grande and fish with 19 eyes?

Do you understand how a 12V solar panel charges a battery?

Do you understand how a 12V load uses the 12V battery power?

That is all there is to a 12V system.  Charge. Use. Simple.

If you do not understand it there is nothing anyone can do.

Where does your "poo" go?

Seems like it should be recycled into something (fertilizer?).

I expect it is sealed in a giant rubber bag lined land fill.

Who wants to eat food fertilized with your poo?

Landfills are expensive.  I have an idea most 'poo' is still sent down the river.

About 30 years ago I had solid proof.  Easy to obtain.  Nobody cares.  It gotta go somewhere.

Funny, but selling super-processed poo makes big bucks.

They still burry it at a high cost.

You make methane.  Everyone does.

What do you do with your surplus methane?  

Or is your methane something that happens and there is nothing that can be done about it?

G-

[GaryGary]

Hi,

For homesteading issues, I like:

www.HomesteadingToday.com

Gary

[wooferhound]

yeah he said that and my eyes perked up.

Here is my all 12 volt system . . .

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2009/1/7/222041/6802

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2009/3/18/232910/066

It is really easy, Charge but don't overcharge

then Use the power but don't over use it.

[stop4stuff]

My solar users can not morally use a solar powered cordless drill, if the drill has an 18V battery?

An 18V drill battery charger needs an inverter, or a degree in electrickery.

I run an 18v Dremmel type tool straight off a 120w '12v' PV panel, with no battery connected, the panel voltage is about right at 18-19v

[xcav8r369]

How cool!! Thank you very much for the info

[xcav8r369]

 You are very, very funny!! I like your humor.

Thank you for the hints and...

Uhm, as to the poo thing....I'm a CDL driver and can honestly tell you this:  in a lot of states, it is legal to use human poo as 'organic' fertilizer. (What do you think goes in tanker trucks and gets spray-blasted all over the Florida citrus trees??)

Whether liquid form in tankers or solid chunks hauled in dump trailers...either way it pays quite well to haul it out of the 'Water Treatment' plants. (Somewhere ballpark $40/ton...32 ton per load...$1,200 per load  =  someone's making a lot of money every time you flush or use a job site porta-potty)

We're told it is 'treated' and no longer a bio-hazard but it stinks to outer space and I have a friend with Hepatitis who would argue the non-toxic point.

Consider this: If the common cold can't be killed with soap and hot water... exactly how are all the cooties in the poo being 'treated' out?

How are all the prescription medications and toxins people flush down the toilet being 'treated' out of the poo?

So much for 'organic'........

Not only do I refuse to haul it but after seeing it blasted all over crops I wash all store-bought produce with SOAP and water.

As for the mining...I won't even get into the chemicals, poisons, how badly the earth is poisoned by it, the amount of permanent pollution and permanent damage done by it.  I've already given everyone nightmares about 'organic' foods.

P.S. My brother once successfully experimented using human generated methane as a blow torch to light a camp fire. As it turns out, he should just have used the tequila.

[xcav8r369]

My Google and Metafind and Dogpile work just fine.

After many, many attempts to find and ALL dc system... I finally asked here.

And finally got  the help I needed.

Thanks, everyone!!

[spinningmagnets]

Most of the "way off-grid" sites recommend building a simple composting toilet, Not to be gross to our more sensitive readers, but urine should be saved, diluted and mixed with irrigation water. (or so I've read)

When diluted, urine from mammals has ammonia that puts nitrogen back in the soil. livestock manure that has been left in a pile to "ripen" absorbes nitrogen from the air and becomes better fertilizer. Planting clover or peanuts puts nitrogen back in the soil too. Corn and wheat use up the nitrogen, and thats one of the reasons why crop rotation is good.

Water is precious here in the desert (SW Utah, much like Las Vegas) the sewage goes to a plant where a bio-cell oxygenates the sewage and controlled bacterial growth "eats" the sewage. The resulting black water is allowed to settle and some of it is skimmmed off and somewhat treated.

I believe they water the freeway plants, golf courses, and alfalfa (livestock feed) with it. The thick leftovers are allowed to evaporate dry, and this "black soil" is used by the county to mix with ground foliage from the park trimmings to make mulch that is used by the county parks and also sold very cheaply to the public.

There is more black-soil made than they use, so occasionally my dump truck (CDL) hauls it to a landfill.

[cyplesma]

just a quick note, any beans (aka legumes) will put nitrogen back into the soil.