I have a few additions to my town cabin. I decided to go solar
I decided to go with one 300w panel to see how it works. I also bought a solar charge controller.
Another new addition is a wood shed using free railroad ties and pallets. Haven't put the top on yet, got lazy.
I will add one more new thing, I bought a 1993 Polaris 6x6. This really saved a lot of work for me which I will explain in my next post.
Well, this will be enough for today. So, hope you enjoy this post and wishing you all a very
HAPPY NEW YEAR
22 comments:
Hi John :) Happy New Year to you too! Lots of snow this year huh? Us too. And it's COLD...your solar panel, is that to charge your batteries or for daily electrical use? I'm always confused about wattage and how much a person needs etc...I think that was a great move on your part...and I'm glad to hear it works in overcast weather!
Hi Rain, thanks. Solar panels keep your batteries charged so that you don't need the generator as much. Go on youtube and type in solar use and you can learn a lot about it.
I respect and admire the lifestyle you live brother,love the pics. Happy New Year John.
Thank you Rumbarr, back at ya
So good to hear from you, John! Looks like you’ve been busy! It’s cold here, also, but very little snow...just flurries today. Is to be down to 2* tonight, which is very cold for NW Texas.
New Year’s blessings to you!
Hi Cotton, it's been very cold here until this past weekend. In the sub 0's. It's good to post again.
Hey John.....Am very interested in your solar power setup and will follow that with much interest! You have been a VERY busy man - especially like the woodshed. We heat with wood too and, over the years, have made adjustments to how we store our wood. Not to the "finalized" solution yet, since we are still tweeking our setup. Thanks for the post and pix of the beautiful snow....keep up the good work - I look forward to your next post!
Chris
Hi Chris, Happy New Year. I am waiting for a sunny day myself to see how well it works.
I can’t wait till Coley comes out to set up my system at the cabin. Love to see you posting. Glad to see you with a wood shed again. I know I hate trying to drag the tarp off the wood on the ground when it is heavy with snow. Your snow is double my Sutton house and almost double the cabin. Seth cleaned maybe 7-8 in if that. You must be in a pocket there. I know you are always about 10 degrees colder...
Happy New Year!!! Here’s hoping every thing you want to do this yr gets done.
Wash
Yup, cold everywhere this year. We got down to -30 F and lots of snow.
You ever think of heating with a propane wall furnace? A place that small wouldn't take too much to heat. I am thinking about it as I age a little more.
Really good to see you are posting again. Keeps me motivated.
Take care.
Hi Wash, Coley is a nice guy. I set my system up muself. The hard part was putting it on the roof. I am glad we finally got snow. HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and Seth.
Hey Evano, propane is very expensive up here. I have toyed with the idea of oil heat, so things wouldn't freeze in the Willow cabin and I could take off from there and not worry. I do love a wood fire though.
Good to hear from you. I've been needing an Alaska fix. The solar setup is nice. I've been thinking about doing a low-tech installation.
Hey Art, it feels good to blog again. I wish we would get some bright sunny days so I can see how it works.
G'day John, good to see a post, understand though.
Re temps, it's Wed night (3rdJan) in Aus as I type, on Sat next we expect the forecast 42C (107.6F) which is a warm one. We all hate that heat!!
Solar is very big in Aus, lots of houses have arrays of 10 ++ X 250W panels that contribute to the power grid and save the householder on power bills.
I have a 100W on the canopy of my 4X4, it runs a 19 gallon (73Litre) car refrigerator via an auxiliary 110W battery - also charge from veh. alternator when motor running/travelling.
Admit to wondering if you got into Solar over there, you will love the free power.
regards and all the best for 2018
Peter
hey John
congrats on the solar panel. You'll probably be putting your Honda Gennset on the market soon (lol) . The Big Su and Yentna river traILS are well marked now. Dave Luce does a great job on the marking. The kids and I went to the Cabin over the weekend. We started back yesterday morn while it was still dark out and raining.... Dave puts a piece of luminous tape on his trail markers and you can see them in the headlights a good 1/2 mile away. I was worried about the snow load on the cabin, but there has been freezing rain out that way earlier and that caused the snow to self dump. So we only had 3 or 4 inches of snow load right now. I can tell your having fun with that new 6x6.. Those polaris motors are almost bullet proof. Nice looking wood shed too!
I keep saying I'm going to build myself one, but been saying that for xx years...
Stay Warm
Old John
G'day mate, lol. 107 degrees? Yikes, way to hot. 10 or more panels as well as the other pieces is a large investment. I will enjoy my solar once we get some sun. It's pretty gray here. Happy 2018 to you.
Hey John, glad to hear you got out to the cabin. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll never sell the generator, you know how the days are here. It's not a whole lot of fun riding in the rain. Snow is fine as long as you can see, not so much with rain. I want to take the Polaris out to the cabin to use next Summer. I like the wood shed.
Hey John
a word of advice on the 6x6.. Unless you got it locked up in a bear proof shed.. spray the seat and tires with ammonia before you leave to go back to town... otherwise the bears will tear the seat up in bite sized chunks and poke holes in the tires... New Seats cost $350 and no don't ask me how I know...
Old John
Thanks John, that's good advice. Ok, I won't ask, lol.
Happy New Year John! You have been very busy! I am so jealous of your solar power. I have been wanting solar for years but cost has kept us from having it. Your woodshed is great keeping the wood all dry and you have it all packed in there so nice and tight. The Polaris is such a great investment and a great work horse. Now we need to talk about that snow I think you have some of mine and we want it back...LOL. Looks beautiful!
Carol
Hi Carol, the shed does wprk out well. Actually, the solar cost isn't that expensive, for me at least. $410 for the 300w panel and $165 for the charge controller. I really like my new snowmachine and the investment is a good one. Sorry, can't relinquish any snow at this time, lol
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