Pylonman
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2010 04:54pm
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I thought I would start this post to see what other people have accomplished with an off grid cottage or cabin, and try to stay on budget. It's not intended to be a moan and groan, but more of an learning opportunity.
I'll start off. My wife, 2 small children and I purchased a 492 sq. ft. Pan-Abode cabin high in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It's located on a small lake that provides drinking water for the residents in the Okanagan area. We always wanted a little place of our own and didn't mind the scenic 4 hour drive to get to it. But, since, this is a second home for us, we were not in the position o take out a second mortgage, so we had to stay on a budget. We also had this motto, anything we got for the cabin has to be used or on sale. It made it more fun when looking through the local New and Used Lumber Yards.
The previous owner had encountered some hard times and had invested basically nothing in it for about 5 years. There was about 4 trips to the dump and the entire kitchen had to be gutted. There was no running water or electricity. But, it did come with a bunch of tools, a floating dock, a beach, guest cabin, outhouse, the stove and lights, (which worked great) and a great neighbourhood. The next door neighbours were wonderful and really helpful in getting us up to speed.
In the listing it did say there was water system, which is pumped it out of the lake and into water barrels on the roof. After closer inspection, the water barrels were rusted propane tanks and all the lines were cut. It looks like the previous owner used plastic water bottles, which is quite wasteful. We picked up (2) 80 gal. water barrels of craigslist and I installed the system. The water system was a great opportunity to learn about plumbing, pumps, types of pipe and take all the "advice" with a grain of salt.
For electricity, we used portable power packs which had built in batteries and inverter. They came with the cabin. Handy for keeping the laptop and car DVD player running for the kids. But, since the previous owner left the packs over the cold winter, it really shortened the life span. At the end of the weekend, we took them home and charged them with a trickle charger. We did have two generators, a small 1800 watt and large contractor grade 6500 watt beast. I use them only if I really needed to.
Since, we knew our lengths of stay would increase, and so would our power demand, I decided to look into solar power. Since, I'm a do-it-yourselfer and funds were tight, I decided to build my own solar panels and save my budget for the batteries/cables. I built (4) 63 Watt solar panels from PV cells purchased off ebay. Wired the panels into pairs, to put out 12 Volts at 7 amps. (I really only get 5 amps at 1pm sun. But, for a cost of $120 a panel and my time, I shouldn't complain.) I picked up (4) 6 Volt golf cart style batteries from Canadian Tire and I wire them in series/parallel. It gave me enough juice to get through a long four day weekend. To help on the windy days, I picked up a small 175 watt wind turbine.
There is some much more to add, but we have learned craigslist is epic for deals. We found IKEA style counters, double glazed windows, 2 french doors, deep cycle batteries, chest style freezer, a free paddleboat and more.
As a family, we enjoy the cabin and all the challenges that goes along with it.
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larryh
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2010 05:56pm
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I have tried many things over the years and often then change to something else for various reasons. I had a cistern when I first moved here but it was 80 years old, made of brick and leaked ground water no matter how much patching we did. When city water came past me I opted to get it. Now I am stuck paying a 26.50 basic line charge an water is extra! I have an outhouse again and a dry sink so water is not something I am using lots of. In fact I am considering yet another cistern that is new. Since I had a wood cookstove with a hot water range boiler behind it at the time I wanted an "open" system fed by gravity like your mentioning. Mine was a galvanized water tank that Sears sold at the time. It held 45 gallons and I had a hand force pump that took 250 stokes to fill the tank if it was empty. I studied up on low head water systems and found that using large 1" pipes for all the main supply lines would give the best pressure. It actually ran the water boiler and hot water to the shower in the bath and kitchen sink. All of which no longer work due to sewer lines that have failed over the years. Frankly I like the simple pitcher and pail water system I now use. I have one outlet in the kitchen in which I tap water for household use. Once you get in the rhythm of doing dishes and washing, shaving without a faucet it actually is rather pleasing. Yes its a bit more work, but heck we sit around too much as it is. I also parted with the range that had the water fount in the firebox so I have to heat the water in kettles, but am looking to possibly make another set up that would only heat a smaller tank fitted behind the range on a stand and tapped directly to a bucket from the tank, no lines. An open top, none pressure tank with a drain six inches or so above the bottom to prevent draining of the loop to the range would have to be part of the system. There is a great little paper back book called "Homemade Hot Water Systems" that I found that has lots of tips for heating water from cook and heat stoves.
More on other topics latter,
Larry
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larryh
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2010 07:32pm
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Pylonman
Yes be very careful if you decide to hook up any thing having to do with a hot water loop or cast iron liner part that heats water. A mistake can result in blowing out the stove and often the rear of the house. Not to mention possible danger to people. It is tricky to find the right information as some are contradictory of what others say. The main thing is to have no way for a heated water coil to loose its water during a firing period. It can case a huge raise in steam pressure in the lines which cause an explosion if it gets high enough. At one time Lehman Hardware sold Range Boilers for this purpose an had a pamphlet that gave instructions for what to do and not to do.
As to the tank, mine was in the roofline of the attic so it was out of the weather. But a simple tank as your friend has is what I am considering to sit behind the range. You have to have it elevated with the cold running in to the lower opening and the hot coming back to the tank though the upper outlet. It will create its own flow to heat the tank.
I used to enjoy using, and did for over 20 years, kerosene lamps and a few gasoline coleman type mantle lamps for reading. But again as the price went up and the quality of oil was ruined by the EPA its now no fun to try and get oil lighting that you can depend on and with ease of use. The wicks turn rock hard on top after only a few uses and often the wick gets clogged very quickly. Resulting in smoke from lamps that I used for all those years without ever having one to smoke on its own, to the point where now you can't trust them at all.
I installed a 12V line using the very early Home Power design they called a "buss" that used a large cooper #6 (I think) wire to run the length of the attic with side lines of normal size wire to run the outlets I put in for that purpose. I still keep a battery charged as one lamp in the kitchen ceiling and the bath lamp over the sink, plus a stairway lamp all run on 12 volt. Then I have wall outlets in half the rooms that also take 12 volt items. I tired the wind generator thing way back and it was a waste of money for me as it was impossible for me to mount the thing way up in the air as they wanted and eventually it fell off the pole I had it on.. If I had purchased solar panels for the same money I probably still be using the power from them! I still want to do that, I just haven't ever got my self to get up the nerve to try and install them, I know for my simple system it probably would be fine.
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