W o o f -={(, I don't think that we will ever be completely off grid as the house is to large and we would be better off starting from scratch we a new build , however I love my home its not super old (over 100) but we are working on making it as efficient as possible.
Parent, I now have that list of books next time I drive into the city I will stop by the library and check them out. Thank you so much! like I did say I've not started anything on the wind mills I've got a dream but I need the facts and a solid plan I don't see any of these machines working on a large scale plan yet to start it may be just the lights in the garage then eventually the furnace running with it.
IRC, I have put in a wood burning fire place, however wood takes a long time to renew dead falls are good and they take us about 2 days to find and haul here, permits are required for everything that gets cut and collected. But not everyday is someone here all day long to keep the fire going. when its minus 40 (yes regularly minus 40 in January Feb things that are good in -20 just don't cut it here.) pipes will break so we need to be grid tied so we can keep it from freezing. We have a programmable thermostat that keeps the house at 15.9 during the day and 17.5 when we are at home. This was an excellent purchase as it cut 50 dollars off our bill last year no sense keeping the house comfortably heated if no one is home especially if we are gone for a week I know some people will say that to heat it up cost more to just have it go those two degrees but Hydro says that its not more expensive and its one of there suggestions on being hydro smart. I am working on all the conservation that I can some things are more expensive than others but we are picking away at them most of the things for the smaller wind mills are free, or nickel dime things. where having a high efficiency furnace installed is thousands. pick away bit by bit I can only get what I have the money for, we just finished the doors and we still have two more windows to buy they are the priority at the moment.
I'll look into the solar panel idea you may be correct and we do have loads of roof they are east west orientated which by thought actually makes alot of sense! thank you.and we do gets tons of sun summer and winter, do you have to store the power from those? or just direct feed it?
Randy, solar heater? as in a solar furnace? I'll Google it! another thing on my list wow I should have posted a long time ago you all have such great advice!
Norm, your right I've never learned how to can, I don't know anyone that does know how to and truth be told hey I can freeze my veggies all winter long if I just keep them in a coldbox out side, your right I don't need a freezer for them!during the summer they are fresh, the only months to worry about would be May and June before they are grown and they would not be keeping well in the heat. but I remember hearing about cold cellars do I just dig down under the house? we have a crawl space below the house not a basement as the water line is to high for basements here. Another great suggestion well at least for this year I'll just build a box with scrap wood and put them outside come the warmer months when its not cold enough to keep them frozen Ill put them in the freezer. I can save the freezers cost of running for about 7 months as once its -10 they can go out side. Wow this site its the best for suggestions!
Yes I'm working on the conserving, we are working on the appliances as per there use I had the kids unplug each item and watches the hydro for its drop in spin, we made a list and the ones we could afford we did right away the furnace is the big ticket item however we will apparently not be saving very much by upgrading it so its at the bottom of the list. My walls are all 9 inches thick they are all pink insulated we have 2 feet of insulation in the attic. have completely re caulked the windows and doors have been tested for leaks, we are still going to be upgrading 2 more windows but we still re caulked the old ones till we can buy the new ones.
The window box thing is something I've never heard of why and how does that work? Yes we will have to remain grid tied, we cant afford to have a pipe break!
electrondady1,
Its semi modern I would guess its ranch style single story nope no icicles,we have a couple of feet of insulation in the attic, walls are 9 inches thick all are insulated with pink , we were losing heat through windows and doors.
we put bales of straw along the foundation and over the septic tank and well every September.
never thought of a berm, would need some help with that.....how do you calculate how far awy to put it how high does it need to be?
Yes we have a mud room,
yes I'm wide open prairie, with tons of wind I don't remember ever having a day when there was a dead calm... one thing I have tons of is wind. Everyone comments about it when they visit it could be plus 30 but its cool because of the wind. I didn't realize that I could run it directly to the heater...., All I ever read is you need this type or that type of batteries to store the energy and then you need to invert it etc. you catch my drift. If I could feed it directly I would be a happy camper.
Daman, Im willing to look into any conservation methods I hear about some are feasible some are not, some things can be done right away some take time but yes if you have any ideas that you have found that work for you I'd be really happy to hear about them. I'll be visiting build it solar when I get my chores done for the day,
Thank you all for you ideas and suggestions wow I really should have posted a long time ago!