Close Call

We are expecting our first winter storm later today. Accumulation up to ten inches is forecast for elevations above 2500 feet. We are right around 2500 feet so we may get rain or snow. But our road is already getting slick from the frost and snow flurries that come on most nights. So I had a lot to do today:

• Finish stacking and cover the two cords of wood that were delivered yesterday
• Stock up on gasoline for the generator and snow blower
• Get the brakes fixed beacause the brake light recently came on on the dashboard and hasn't extinguished.
• Get tire chains. Did I mention that the road has gotten pretty slick?

I got up early, so I could get a head start before going to work. I began by starting a fire in the woodstove so the house would be warm when the family woke up. Fortunately for me, my wife and child woke up earlier than I had planned. I had put a large log on the fire so I wouldn't have to tend the fire while stacking wood outside.

This normally works for me. But this time, the fire quickly became intense. The log started burning almost before it got through the door of the stove. Since the heat was quickly building I shoved it in and shut the door. The flue temperature kept rising. 400°, 450°, 500°. Usually it stops around there. 550°, 600°, I closed the draft all the way down. The temperature stopped rising for a few seconds, but then it started climbing again. I let my wife know I might need some help in a minute because the stove was hotter than I've ever seen it. 650°, 700°. I opened the door and closed it again to see what would happen. Fire came out the door and the smoke detector went off in the bedroom upstairs. I wondered if there was some sort of petroleum-based fuel in this log. I briefly considered using a chimney fire suppressant stick. But since I hadn't actually used one before and the fire was still more or less under control I decided lets just remove the log. It was a big log and not easily manageable using our fireplace tools. It's a good thing I had a shovel on the porch recently used to remove some ice. I grabbed it and together we carried the flaming log across the living room and threw it into a pile of snow and ice after briefly dropping it on the porch. The stove thermometer was now reading 800°--the highest temperature on the scale.

Our stove thermometer. Without this, we might have not known anything
was awry until it was too late.

The blaze has been extinguished

Whew! The house was full of smoke, but fortunately not itself smoking! But what happened? Would the temperature have come back down if I would have just waited longer, or would the chimney have caught fire? Would the stove have cracked from the heat? Who knows. One thing I learned is to not use logs that are too large to manage with your tools, even if it means feeding this stove more frequently. Also, don't burn logs with a lot of sap or pitch. One person I spoke with today suggested that might have been the cause of my problem as it's not common to experience what I did from an ordinary log.

This story may not seem so dramatic, but let me tell you, it sure got my adrenaline pumping. We don't have a fire hydrant outside to hook up to and put out the forest fire that would start if this situation would have gone out of control. By the time a tanker truck could get up the mountain, it would be a pretty big problem to deal with.

Our stove came with the house and had a few problems which were fixed before we started using it. Now it has another one, not the result of this episode. The draft control handle has separated from the draft control, so to control the draft, one must internally capture the draft control with the rod extending from the handle. This method works but is a bit of a hassle. If it were summer, I'd try to take the stove apart and fix it. But it gets cold in here pretty quickly when the temp outside is barely above freezing during the day.

We are thinking of replacing the stove. We could also replace the stone work around it which was an amateur job and looks it. The stone is nice, but the finish is awful, it doesn't extend far enough from the stove and we don't have additional matching stone. So while out getting ready for the storm, I visited a stove store in town. We have heard good things about Blaze King stoves. The dealer told me they are the Cadillac of stoves. They will burn for up to 15 hours which sure beats the three or so we get now. They also burn much less wood than our current stove. It's too bad they cost as much as they do. I'm almost convinced it's worth it, though. We are trying to figure out how to fit it into our budget after all the other home improvements we've paid for this year. We bought seven cords of wood to make it through this winter which we weren't intending to stay for. If we were to buy just five cords instead of seven every year, then this stove would pay for itself in seven years--less if we have to replace our stove anyway. Something to ponder. The other stove the dealer recommended was a Lopi stove. It can burn up to ten hours, but more typically about six hours. That's better than what we have now, but it's not all night.

Resources:
Blaze King stoves: http://www.blazeking.com/
Lopi stoves: http://www.lopistoves.com/

Chimfex fire suppressant: http://www.chimfex.com/

Garden Update for October 2011

Well, we have finally had our first frost. To save the tomatoes, I picked them green. We, and by we I mean primarily our darling toddler, have enjoyed the grape tomatoes we picked every other day. And we were able to let two of our larger heirloom tomatoes ripen on the vine. The green tomatoes we put in a large paper bag from the grocery store to ripen. Those that have ripened, just havent' tasted as good as the ones tht ripened on the vine, but at least they haven't gone completely to waste.

I'm happy to say that the kale we were able to harvest before the deer finished it off was quite good. And so was the cabbage. Apparently we have the right soil for them. The tomatoes did ok, but I expected better. I recently learned that the cool nights that we have here prevent the tomato plants from getting as big as you would see further south. Next year, I'd like to try building a hoop house. That should extend future growing seasons and keep plants warmer at night.

To prepare our garden for next year, I planted a cover crop of winter rye. I hear it's supposed to help add nutrients to the soil. I've never done this before, so we'll see next year how much it helps. I would love to be composting, but since we don't want to attract certain wildlife, we haven't been doing that. I hope to come up with a solution by next summer. If anyone has some experience composting without attracting nosey animals like bears, please let me know what works for you.

I've also taken a few classes offered by the gardener's association in our county. I've learned about growing berries and keeping an orchard. I look forward to planting rasberries and blueberries. Both grow well here and it turns out that now that I know what a rasberry plant looks like, I see wild rasberries all over our property. They just aren't producing many (if any) berries. I also want to plant some fruit trees next year. I'm thinking of two apple trees of different varieties, an apricot tree, a plum tree, two cherry trees, and maybe a hazelnut tree. To pull this off, I'll probably have to cut down a few trees so they can get their "full sun." Since our well doesn't produce quickly enough to irrigate, I would like to site the orchard so that it is near one of the seasonal springs on our property. That pretty much narrows it down to one site, relatively near the house. I hope the soil is workable in that area. We'll find out next spring. Stay tuned.

Garden Update for September 2011

The wildlife is still making their presence known. Last Friday morning we were awakened at about four o'clock in the morning by what sounded like a bunch of loud yapping dogs. We happen to know there is a pack of five wolves on our mountain so we knew what the sound was. I got up to look around the house to see if I could actually see them--they sounded so close. But after opening a window, I realized I was hearing echos off the nearby ridge. They were probably much less than a mile away, though.

Recently, we had our first near frost. Yes, in September. The forecast overnight temperature was 33°F. We hurriedly threw a cover over the tomatoes and hoped for the best. I picked the one heirloom tomato that was turning yellow so we could at least taste one should the rest freeze. A few days later, the tomato was a nice orange with red stripes--the way it's supposed to look when ready to eat. That was the fleshiest tomato I've ever had--delicious! We were going to try to save it's seeds, but we could only find three! We figured we'd wait until some of the other tomatoes ripened since this one was not the best of the bunch.

I was really annoyed when I checked on our garden this morning. There are usually four or five grape tomatoes ripe enough to pick on any given day. My one year old daughter has eaten about 95% of the tomatoes I've picked this year. Then I noticed something strange. Half of the heirloom tomatoes, including the ripest one that I've been waiting to pick was missing! Then I noticed that the cherry tomato plants had been knocked down to the ground. I went and told my wife the deer had eaten our tomatoes. When I came back out, I realized they had also eaten all of our kale! All of it! I'm glad I got at least one cutting of kale earlier in the month or I would be even more upset. As it is, I have half I mind to go find the deer that ate my kale and eat it!

I can no longer recommend the deer netting that comes with a 100% money-back gaurantee. I don't want more netting--I want my kale! It looks like we'll have to build a fence for next year. We have extremely rocky soil (with very large rocks), so I'm not looking forward to digging holes for the fence posts. But I'm determined to keep the deer out next year. Oh, and keep the bears out of the compost pile, too. And just for good measure, it must keep the moose out, too. A future post will have all the details on our garden fence. Look for it next year.

Our garden after the deer attack: Kale completely gone, and
several heirloom tomatoes eaten. Some sweet 100 tomato
plants were knocked over, too.

Exploring

Every now and then, I like to look around the property and see if I find anything interesting. Usually I find another car part, or a fresh pile of moose dung or such. There is a tree next to the drive that looks like it has been laying there for a few years. I thought it might be good for firewood. As I was looking for a way to support it while I cut it, I noticed something I hadn't seen before.

The entrance to a hidden room that I found on our property

Could this be what I think it is? Or is it something totally different? One of the things I would like to do when I get the chance is to build a root cellar. One of the few places I could do this relatively easily is in the side of the hill created when the earth was moved to put in the driveway. So in this general vicinity is where I would have tried to put in a root cellar. Maybe the hard work was already done for me! Or better yet, maybe it's a secret vault filled with treasure. I knew the chances were slim, but wouldn't that be nice?

Upon taking a peek inside, I saw some glass jars and jumped to the conclusion that my first impression was correct: this is probably a root cellar. After sticking my helmeted head inside and taking a look around, I found reason for disappointment. There were more paint cans than there were food jars. Perhaps this is a toxic waste dump of some sort. (It's probably not that bad.) Furthermore, the roof had collapsed. I figure that it probably collapsed when the tree I was about to cut up fell on it.

This is not exactly what I was hoping to find

In the near future, I plan to investigate further whether this cellar can be safely repaired and used. If the roof hadn't collapsed, it would be about three to four feet above the floor. The room was probably about six feet or so by about four feet or so. It's certainly not a large area, but it is a start. I can't wait to see what the possibilities are.

We have an unfinished pole barn on our property. A robin has been trying to build a nest at various inappropriate places on our house, and after being harassed by us, finally built a nest in the barn. As I was retrieving something from the barn, I heard a whole lot of tweeting going on. I looked up to see three mouths expecting food.

Some robins nesting in our barn

I can't imagine ever having this kind of fun in the city. With every new day at our country home, I am enjoying it more and more.

Garden Update for August 2011

Our garden is coming along nicely. Over the last few weeks, we've tilled another area (by hand) in preparation for next year. Since it is slightly inclined, I'm thinking about leveling it a bit. But I've seen plenty of fields that aren't perfectly flat, so I'll try planting it the way it is and see how it works out. I tried planting some quickly maturing tomato and eggplant seeds that are a few years old in the new garden area, as well as some pickling cucumber plants I picked up at a local farmers market. Unfortunately, a deer came, removed the netting, which was held down by rocks, and ate an entire cucumber plant the next night. So I went and got some tent stakes and haven't had any more problems...yet.

I'm impressed with the kale plants. The plants that were eaten by an animal a while back have regrown and are almost ready for harvesting again. We should have plenty of kale in another month or so. Our cabbage is just about ready to harvest, too. The temperature is consistently in the 80s during the day now and in the low 50s at night. I've recently learned that cabbage plants like a steady soil temperature. I should have used mulch to help with that. When the temperature fluctuates so much, the cabbage growth bursts and the heads will split. Mine haven't split too much, but I see that some of the leaves have cracked. I'll keep that in mind for next year. The way the grass grows around here, it shouldn't be hard to make mulch, once we get a gas powered lawn mower instead of the reel mower we've been using.


Cabbage is almost ready and notice how pretty the kale is.
The largest kale plants are the ones that were completely
eaten before.

And finally our cherry tomatoes are producing nicely. I'm sure once we amend the soil properly we'll get an even higher yield. One or two of them have a tinge of yellow on them, so I'm getting excited! Super Sweet 100 is probably my favorite variety of grape tomato so far as taste goes. I'm very happy with what we're seeing for having put so little work into it. We've weeded three times now.



Super Sweet 100. My mouth waters just
thinking about them.



What in Tarnation?

About two weeks ago, my wife noticed a plant on our property that looked, well, suspicious. If it were just the one, that would be easy, dig it up, throw it away, and nobody would know any better. But maybe there were others. We started looking around our yard and found there were probably hundreds of these plants. We started to get worried. How do we discreetly rid ourselves of hundreds of these plants. And can we possibly find and destroy all of them? Burning might not be such a good idea. This is the plant I'm talking about:


I hope this plant isn't what it looks like

After a not so restful night we decided to study this plant further. Maybe it wasn't what we thought it was. Maybe it was a look-alike. Then we found several flowering plants. This should help us to positively identify the plant. The flower looked like this:

It turns out that it is illgal to not remove this plant if it is on your property in certain counties in Montana. Fortunately, we don't live in Montana, as getting this many plants under control quickly would be a real chore. I checked our state's list of weeds that homesteaders are required to control, and this plant was not on the list. However, it is an invasive and noxious weed brought to the northwestern United States from Europe about a century ago that is quite prevalent in the area. It is spread by seed which can number over 1000 per plant, which can be transported throughout the region in hay. The plant is called sulphur cinquefoil. It is a type of rose and has a woody root that should be removed along with the plant to prevent it from growing back.

We are so relieved that this plant isn't what we though it was. This stuff is growing along side the road going through our property, not just by the house. This situation also got us thinking about what we would do if we were to find an illegal plant, or worse, a whole field or forest full of them. I guess self-reporting might bring a lighter penalty than if your neighbor makes a report to the police. But if the police started visiting all the neighbors on our account, it might not make a good impression, considering we haven't met all of them yet. Becoming more independent is making me learn a lot more and think a lot more than I used to.

Garden Update #2 for July 2011

Well, it finally happened. Our kale was eaten while we were gone for the weekend. And what was left was eaten again a few days later. I suspect it was the rabbits that we see almost every day, as I didn't see any new hoofprints in the garden. I'm disappointed, but it's my own fault really, I should have covered it with netting. So I've planted some more. It only takes 60 days to mature and is cold hardy should winter come very early this year. I happen to like kale a lot, so I planted almost four times as much as I had before.


What's left of my first planting of kale.
Another two weeks or so and it would
have been ready to harvest.


There is a lovely wilted kale salad that we like to make, so there is no need to worry that there will be too much. There is also some green fruit on our cherry tomato plants, which will go quite nicely in our wilted kale salad.

While I was working in the garden, I spotted fruit on the wild strawberry plants that cover a large part of our yard like grass. I tasted some, and they are quite tart--not at all desirable for eating. But they smell very nice and might make a nice fragrance for some homemade soap. We haven't made any soap yet, but would like to some day when the renovation slows down. I've been told that if I want to grow strawberries to eat, I need to get rid of all these wild plants because they will cross with my good ones and ruin my crop. Hmmm... more work to do. These wild plants are everywhere here.

Wild strawberries from the yard. These berries are very
small. That dish is the size of a small cupcake.

Resources
James Russell's Wilted Kale Salad recipe: http://therawchef.blogs.com/russell_james/2006/11/wilted_kale_sal.html

Our Water System

Many people, especially city folk who aren't used to living with a well, are intrigued by our water system. This post is to help them understand what I'm talking about when I mention our water tank.

This system was put in place before we bought the house, and it works reasonably well, allthough I would like to make a few changes to increase reliability and availability.

We have a relatively shallow well--only 75 feet deep with the static level at about 20 ft. However, the well, on average, produces only about 4 gallons per minute (as observed during a flow test during a winter home inspection). That's an average of 4 gallons per minute, that is not a continuous flow. In reality, we can pump about 150 gallons out of the well at a much faster rate before it slows to almost nothing, then resumes again for a minute or two a few minutes later. If pumped continuously, the flow will start and stop every few minutes. This is not ideal for on-demand water use in the home. Furthermore, the well pump requires 120V AC and draws quite a bit of current, making it not feasible to run the well pump off of the house battery bank.

To solve this problem, a previous owner installed a 350 gallon storage tank inside the house. The tank is filled via underground pipes while the well pump is powered by the generator. I actually plug a cord into an outlet on the generator to fill the storage tank. This takes about 20 minutes and I only need to do it about every two or three days, and only sometimes more frequently.


Our indoor water storage tank, next to our efficient washing machine.


To provide pressure in the house, a 12V DC pump pressurizes a small tank to 80PSI. When the pressure in that tank gets down to about 40PSI, the pump pressurizes the tank again to 80PSI. The pressure pump runs off of the house battery bank and provides adequate pressure for household water use at conventional water taps through out the house, including shower, toilets, sinks, washing machine, and outdoor spicket. Hot water is provided with a propane-burning instant (tankless) hot water heater which uses electricity only to light the propane and to power the thermostat. So far it has worked well.

Pressure pump and tank

I would like to make some improvements. The underground pipes are not deep enough to prevent freezing in the winter. This may be because there is a lot of granite in the ground in the vicinity of the house. But it's also because the water pipes enter the well above ground where there is definitely the potential for freezing. I'd like to have these pipes enter the well casing under ground. I'd then like to put a hand pump on top so that we can still get water if something should happen to the well pump.



The insulation on these pipes is no match for the cold
winters here. They need to be underground.



I'd like to replace the 120VAC well pump with a DC pump that can run on power produced by solar panels. That way when the generator breaks down again, we can still get water out of the well.

And finally, I'd like to add some sort of water-level detection mechanism that can turn the well pump on when the water level in the storage tank gets to a certain level and then off again when it's full.

Garden Update for July 2011

feOur tiny garden is coming along quite nicely, except for the peppers. I think they might need more water or something as they always look a little dry by the end of the day. The cabbage looks like it will be ready by the end of the month or so, and the kale is coming in quite nicely.  The tomatoes have flowered. I really haven't put in much effort into the garden at all. Just watering every day and fertilizing once a week.

I'm really happy that I haven't had to do any serious weeding yet. I know this will make some of my gardening friends jealous, but I'm pretty sure that whoever tended this plot before me must have done a good job of getting rid of weeds. I suspect that when I expand for next year, I may have more weeding to do.

The netting seems to be working. I have seen deer hoof-prints in the garden, and I see deer around the house frequently, but so far, nothing has been eaten in the garden. Maybe we are just growing foods that deer don't like? At any rate, I'm happy the deer are not being pests this year.

Here's a picture of our cabbage and kale:


Cabbage and kale are doing great!



Returning to the 21st Century By Installing a Washing Machine

Almost any washing machine can be used off-grid if you have a good generator. Some washers are more efficient than others, though, and if you want to run the washing machine off the solar panels, more efficient is definitely better.

There are a number of options for washing clothes off-grid, and I'll talk briefly about each of them:

• Fully manual: This includes beating against rocks in a creek (your downstream neighbors might not appreciate this, so not recommended), washing in a tub with a scrubber, the old plunger-and-five-gallon-bucket... You get the idea.
• Wringer washers: I hear these are pretty reliable and quite efficient with water, especially if you do multiple loads using the same water, starting with the least soiled clothes. These machines are typically obtained (well) used, but they are making a comeback and are being manufactured again. They are available with hand-powered or electric wringers.
• Conventional late 20th century washing machines: Most were not built with energy- or water-efficiency in mind. If you want a conventional washer, get a modern one.
• Staber washing machines: These come highly recommended by those living off-grid because they are efficient and easy to repair. However, after reading user comments on the web, it seems to me that they need more repairs (easy or inexpensive as they may be) than a washing machine should need. They also cost more than modern washing machines. If sustainability is important to you or you are so remote that it could take a long time to get a replacement part, seriously evaluate this option.
• Modern high-efficiency washers: Today's front-loading (and even some top-loading) washing machines are very water-efficient, and many are very energy-efficient, too. These modern washing machines do cost more than the least expensive models available, but the water- and energy-saving features pay for themselves in very short order when living off-grid.

We felt that the positive aspects of a Staber washer did not justify the expense for our situation. We opted for the most energy efficient front-loading washer available at Home Depot, which turned out to be an LG WM2140CW. This machine (or previous years' models) was rated highly by users and seems to be quite reliable. Should the washing machine fail we will resort to washing at a laundromat in town or we will use the five-gallon bucket and plunger. We also purchased the extended warranty because it covers power surges, and the store sales person assured us that any mishaps caused by running off a generator would be covered.

Our experience with the washer has been very good for the month that we've had it. Electricity usage is very low and I think I may be able to run it off of our soon-to-be-installed 460 watt solar array during the peak power period. Usually, motors don't work well with modified sine wave inverters like we have, but when started accidentally once without the generator running, it seemed to work just fine. It is possible to install a capacitor to smooth out the starting surge created by many motors. I haven't done this yet, but will investigate if it is needed after I get the solar panels installed. Water usage is also quite good, using about the same or less than would be used by a 10-minute shower. Another nice feature of this washer is its high-speed spin cycle which leaves most clothes pretty dry, reducing the amount of outdoor drying time required.

Water efficiency is also an important factor. Most people don't realize this, but more than one fourth of the energy produced in the United States is used to pump water. When you are off-grid, you need to consider the energy cost of the water you use. If you have a deep well and need to run a generator to pump water out of it, then filling a top-loading agitating washer a few times per load of laundry can cost quite a bit more in fuel than would using a front-loading washer which uses one fifth as much water as a top-loading machine. If you have more water than you know what to do with coming out of the spring uphill from your house, consider yourself blessed, you have some really cheap water. But for the rest of us, the cost of water is an important consideration.

Resources
Staber washing machines: http://www.staber.com/
LG washing machines: http://www.lg.com/us/laundry/index.jsp
Lehmans has lot's of off-grid appliances. Washers here: http://www.lehmans.com/store/Home_Goods___Laundry___Washing?Args=&view_all=&sort_by=

Becoming a Logger

I've never cut down a tree before, but since our primary source of heat is our woodstove, I need to learn how to produce fuel for it. I haven't actually bought a chainsaw yet, but I did inherit a small electric one, which if I use within 50 feet of the generator works ok for cutting up the tree into 16" to 18" sections.

Today I started by picking some trees that were in the way and needed to come down anyway and that were small enough that I couldn't cause any significant damage to anything (including myself) if something went wrong. As luck would have it, both trees were just out of reach of my 50-foot extension cord. So I used a hand saw. The standing dead tree was only about four inches in diameter and the living one was about six inches, so were easily manageable with a small handsaw. Both were birch trees about 30 feet tall or so.

After a minute or so of sawing the dead tree came down. Even with my little handsaw, I made two cuts--the first on the side I wanted the tree to fall and the second cut slightly higher from the back side. The live tree took a little longer because the moisture caused the saw blade to stick a little, and because my second cut was crooked. After the trees had fallen I dragged them over near the generator shed so I could use my electric chain saw to cut them up.

Using a chain saw didn't come naturally at first, but it wasn't hard to learn. I didn't naturally want to keep the bucking spike against the tree, but once I realized how doing that makes it so much easier to manipulate the saw and actually cut the wood, the bucking spike became my friend, and the work progressed much more quickly. I didn't get much firewood out of the dead tree because part of it was rotting. The live tree should give me almost one day's worth of heat on a not-too-cold day.

The trees are now stacked and drying out, getting ready for use next season. I've got a lot of work to do before next winter. Hmmm, I'm going to need a real saw.

Starting Our Garden

Memorial Day may mark the official start of summer for some, but for us it heralds the arrival of spring. Most people around here believe that the last frost has finally passed, and we sure hope so! Even for this area, it has been too cold much longer than usual. Night-time temperatures still dip into the upper 30s, though more often they are dipping only to the low- to mid-40s.

So this four-day weekend was a great time to start our garden, among many other tasks. Our garden is pretty small--only about six feet by ten feet--and took less than an hour to dig the old-fashioned way--with a garden spade. I chose this particular location mainly because it appeared to me that the area had been used for a garden before. I thought that maybe the soil had been amended before, might contain fewer weeds and such, and would be easier to dig. It was certainly easy to dig, and the soil appeared rich and dark. We'll have to wait and see about the weeds.

Our goal this year is simply to learn, so we didn't want a huge garden. It's been decades since I've worked in a garden. My wife has never gardened and isn't necessarily looking forward to it, but is looking forward to eating the produce.

We haven't quite decided what we will grow. We have decided that we will start with plants and not from seed, given the late start we are getting. We planted 4 "Sweet 100" grape tomato plants and one "Stripey" heirloom tomato plant which we will attempt to save seed from, if we can remember. We also planted an orange bell pepper plant and four cabbage plants. Next weekend we'll plant some seeds we had left from last year that we never got to use at our condo and see how they do: some kale, eggplant, and basil. If there is any room left, we may try a potato of some kind, and maybe a melon.

I think the really tricky part--even trickier than getting the plants to survive and produce--will be deterring the local wildlife from eating our food before we get to eat it.  We got some netting that is supposed to annoy deer.  I guess we'll see how effective that is.  I'll also look into planting some plants that deer, and other animals in the area don't like and see how well that works.

Our garden patch. I'll report later how effective the deer
netting is. Under the netting are tomatoes, pepper and
cabbage plants.

A New Roof

Our home inspector told us before we bought the house, that we should replace the roof as soon as we can. At the time of the inspection, there was no evidence of any leaks, so he thought we could probably get by with the existing roof for a year or two. Well, the roof didn't last but another seven months before I noticed several leaks. By the time we actually moved in, the sheet rock ceiling had begun to sag in one area and every time it rained, there were puddles in the same spots around the house.

The original roof was corrugated steel, and we wanted to replace it with a more modern-looking steel roof. The original roof was owner-installed, and looked it. We wanted to the new roof to look good and last long, so we asked for quotes from three vendors who were members of the Better Business Bureau and had good customer ratings. Two vendors responded with proposals, one bid was more than twice the bid of the other. The proposals didn't differ much with respect to the actual work done or materials used, so we went with the lower bid, but upgraded the roofing material used. The vendor proposed using a 29-gauge steel and we asked for a 26-gauge steel. The vendor offered Loc-Rib which features concealed fasteners and a very beautiful profile in our opinion, and we figured it might dent less when small branches fall from the trees overhanging the roof. We chose a dark brown color which goes well with our cedar siding.

Given that there were significant leaks in the existing roof, we knew there would be additional work. It turned out to be even worse than any of us, including the roofer, expected. Most of the sheathing over half of the house had to be replaced. Furthermore, the insulation had some mold, so we removed it while the roof and sheathing was off. One rafter was rotted completely through and was replaced, and the two neighboring rafters were reinforced. All this extra work doubled the amount of work to about four days instead of two, but the end product looks very nice! It feels good to not have to cover things up inside the house when there is rain in the forecast.

Now we need to remove the ceiling and the remaining insulation, remove any existing mold, and install new insulation and a new sheet rock ceiling.  I'll probably remove the existing ceiling myself as well as install new insulation. But I'll probably hire someone to install the sheet rock on the cathedral ceilings. I just don't like holding heavy objects over my head in precarious positions.

Before: Leaky and ugly

After: Dry and attractive

Energy Efficient Lighting

The typical incandescent bulb is a better source of heat than it is of light. In a few situations, a low-wattage heater is what is actually desired, but when you're off-grid and needing light, you don't want to be wasting electricity on something you don't want.  Fortunately, these days there are a plethora of lighting options, some of which were not a viable option just five years ago. Our off-grid house had 60W incandescent light bulbs in the four recessed lighting fixtures in the living room.  I'm guessing the previous owner didn't want to pay the higher price for dimmable compact florescent bulbs. Before purchasing dimmable replacement bulbs, I looked at my options.

Incandescent
Not really an option, in my opinion as I'm looking for something more energy efficient.

Halogen
Halogen bulbs use 20% to 30% less electricity for bulbs producing the same amount of light.  Like Incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs produce full spectrum light, and they are reasonably priced.

Compact Florescent
The standard in energy efficiency, compact florescent bulbs use about one fourth the electricity of incandescent bulbs producing the same amount of light.  While they tend to cost quite a bit more than incandescent bulbs, they last significantly longer and are generally more cost effective in the long run. Some positive aspects of compact florescent bulbs: long-lasting, low power consumption, available in various color temperatures from warm to daylight, and they are available in dimmable models (make sure the packaging mentions the bulb is dimmable, otherwise it is not).  Some negative aspects: compact florescent bulbs contain toxic and hazardous materials (mercury) and must be disposed of properly, many (i.e., most cheaper and/or older) bulbs do not produce full brightness immediately, and dimmable bulbs cost quite a bit more than regular compact florescent bulbs.

LED
LED bulbs strive to be even more efficient than compact florescent bulbs. In reality, I found that the more affordable models (they are much more expensive than compact florescent bulbs) consume about the same amount of electricity as compact florescent bulbs producing the same amount of light. LED bulbs don't contain any toxic or hazardous materials. Until fairly recently, LED lighting tended to be extremely white or too yellow and provided a very unattractive light color for most residential applications, in my opinion. LED lighting manufacturers seem to have figured this problem out, and fortunately many models are dimmable. Generally, LED light bulbs last at least as long as compact florescent bulbs. The major drawback remaining is their price. However, prices are slowly coming down and in a few more years will probably be not much more expensive than compact florescent bulbs.

So what did I get? Since I was looking for efficient bulbs that were dimmable, I went with LED lighting. Because compact florescent bulbs don't produce full brightness immediately, I don't want to have to adjust the brightness again once the bulbs achieve full brightness.  Halogen bulbs didn't give me the increase in efficiency that I was looking for.

How well do they work? They work pretty well with a few caveats. When running off batteries with a modified sine-wave inverter, there are a few problems. The dimming range is significantly reduced. The brightness can be varied only slightly around the bright end.  Dim a little more and the bulbs start blinking. I have a theory as to why this might be, but since I really don't know, I'll just leave it at that. If someone can explain why these bulbs are behaving this way, please make a comment below. I did notice that when the generator is running (which produces a much more conforming sine wave) the dimming works great and I can get the bulbs to go much dimmer before they turn off completely.

The actual bulbs I got were the least expensive LED bulbs I could find at Home Depot that were comparable to a 60 watt incandescent bulb. That particular bulb happened to be an Ecosmart model. It claimed a warm- to bright-white color temperature and that it was dimmable. There was also a model from Philips which cost $5 more per bulb.  I decided to save the $20.

More LED lighting options are becoming available all the time, so try them out!

Incandescent bulbs on the left, LED lights on the right. Notice
the more defined circle of light projected on the floor by the
LED lights. There is a definite cone of light coming from the
LED light vs. the incandescent  bulbs.

Resources
EcoSmart Bulbs from Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com
Philips Lighting: http://www.lighting.philips.com/us_en/consumer

Off-grid Cooking

You might not think there's much to think about when getting a stove or oven for an off-grid home.  You might think all you need to do is just buy a nice, reliable gas stove and be done with it. Well, not quite.  Did you know that most gas ovens these days come with an electric heating element that draws over 350 watts the entire time the oven is on? That can draw your batteries down faster than you expect.  If you do a lot of baking or broiling, this electric load should be seriously considered when sizing your alternative energy system, including the battery bank. Gas ovens that use a pilot light are still being manufactured, but with a pilot light gas is continuously being consumed (however minuscule amount that may be), and these stoves tend to be short on features. You could also use a wood cook stove, but do you really want to heat your whole house in the summer time?

Fortunately, there are a few ranges out there that have electronically lit pilots in the oven. The pilot light is lit only while the oven is working so no gas is consumed when the oven is turned off, and since the pilot is lit with a spark (similar to modern gas burners on the cook top), only minimal electricity is required to light the pilot.  Two makes of ranges that I discovered are Unique Gas Products and Premier Range.  The Unique stove runs off a 9-volt battery for ignition--very nice if you have a minimal electrical system. The premier models come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and option levels.  I like the window option for the oven, as well as the 5th burner option. Both makes of stoves also allow the burners and ovens to be lit manually, using a match or other lighter, if the need arises. We chose a Premier model because of its more modern appearance and the options available.

We were able to special order a Premier stove through our local Lowe's store.  It happened to be on sale and by buying installation we got out of paying sales tax and a delivery fee (our Lowe's store wasn't all that local).  The first stove arrived at the store all banged up so the store ordered another one that looked much better. Unfortunately, after the stove was installed, we discovered some problems.  The burners were nowhere near centered, and this stove also had some dents and scratches on it in visible places near the floor.


The burners were nowhere near center and couldn't be adjusted.



Maybe Premier stoves need a bit more protection during shipping.

I got nowhere trying to have the defects remedied using the manufacturer's warranty (at Lowes' suggestion). Repair centers said I shouldn't have to deal with such issues with a new stove and recommended I have the reseller replace it.  So I went back to Lowes and they agreed to replace the stove.  The third time seemed to be the charm.  This one looked and worked fine. The installer even completely assembled and adjusted the stove before bringing it out to make sure it didn't have the same problems as the previous one. While something as simple as a stove installation didn't go as smoothly as it should have, I'm glad everything worked out in the end and that Lowes came through and made everything right.

Update 14 March 2013
After using this range for about a year and a half, we have noticed a few things that we wish were better, but given our choices we'll just have to accept. We run off of propane which seems to produce a little less heat than natural gas. Sometimes when baking, times have to be adjusted a little to make sure it's done. Also, if I had to buy again, I think I'd get the sealed burners for easier cleaning.

Resources
Premier Range: http://www.premierrange.com
Unique Gas Products: http://www.uniquegas.com

Noises at Night

It's pretty quiet around here.  Even during the day, the most we hear is some chirping birds, a woodpecker, and occasionally the hum of a neighbor's generator in the distance. So when we heard something at our front door a little after midnight last night, I was a little apprehensive, and my wife was scared.

We know there is wildlife in the area.  When we came looking at the property before buying it, a moose got up and left as we parked. There is also plenty of evidence on our property that moose and dear abound. So after the noise at the door stopped, we peeked out the living room window to see what it was.  It was dark outside except for the light of a waxing crescent moon hidden by a few clouds. But that was enough light to see a bear wandering down the driveway.  A few seconds later, I saw her cub. I guess now that spring has finally arrived, the bears must be looking for food.  We don't have much here yet, but it looks like we need to be very careful about controlling smells.

We've been sleeping in the living room by the fire since the last week was very cold at night.  But since it was warmer this week, we decided to immediately move our beds back upstairs and away from any food stuffs.  These bears were definitely heavy enough to push their way through the front door if they wanted to. 

This must be the noise I heard at the
front door in the middle of the night.

Fortunately for us, while we lost two hours of sleep, the bears didn't bother us the rest of the night.  But it did bring a lot more questions to mind, which didn't help us get back to sleep any more quickly. What would we do if a bear did get inside the house? Can we compost our food waste without creating a bigger bear problem? How will we keep animals from eating or destroying the food in our garden?  Should we get a dog? Should we consider getting a firearm?

It sounds like there are many topics for future posts deriving from this episode.

Wireless Phone Service Where There Is None

Cell phone reception on our property is very weak.  Outside you may or may not be able to pick up a signal depending on where exactly you are, the weather, and the level of foliage on the trees. On a typical day, text messages can be sent and received with no expecation of them being transmitted immediately.  Email on my cell phone sometimes works, and there was one spot on the 2nd floor of the cabin where I could make a call if I used a headset and held the phone in a particular spot on a window. The battery rarely lasts over night, even without use. Some might say I should go without cellular service.  We can get land-line service at the cabin, but I plan on teleworking and would like Internet access that is better than dial-up and a reliable cellular connection would make 3G cellular data an option for Internet access. Fortunately, I was able to measure a signal level of -86 dBm for Verizon Wireless service at a point above the roof of our cabin. That equates to about 2 bars on your typical cell-phone signal meter which should be good enough to hold a conversation if I can extend that signal into the house.  Also, having a stronger signal would make the cell phone battery last longer.

I decided I wanted a dual-band repeater so that any carrier's phone could be used at the cabin, if a strong enough signal could be received.  Since carriers are continually expanding their networks, I don't want to have to buy another repeater should I decide to switch carriers later.

If you search the Internet for cellular signal boosters, you'll find advertisements for a whole slew of products, but only a few models are worth considering.  It seems that, in general, you get what you pay for. There are quite a few people who have complained in online forums that certain repeaters don't work at all. If you understand a few basic ideas, you can get a cellular repeater to work for you if there is an adequate signal outdoors (-90 dBm or better). While not rocket science, you can't just put up antennas wherever they look good or wherever it is convenient.

One problem to look out for is oscillation. Think of oscillation as being similar to the squeal of feedback that you get when you place a microphone too close to its speaker.  If the outdoor antenna receives the signal from the indoor antenna (if the two antennas are too close together), you can have oscillation.  The better repeaters detect this and step down the transmit power on the indoor antenna, but then your indoor coverage is reduced and the benefit of the repeater can all but disappear.  You may have increased signal strength only within a few feet of the indoor antenna in such a setup.  This is probably the reason for most of the complaints about poorly performing repeaters.

Another problem that you can run into is severe signal loss from the cable you are using.  If you have to separate your antennas by 50 feet or more (not uncommon) to get adequate signal, you need to make sure that the gain you get from the amplifier more than makes up for the cable loss.  If you're using common RG-58 TV antenna cable, then the cable loss will exceed most amplifier's capabilities after only a 30 foot cable run, or less. A good repeater manufacturer will offer low-loss cabling as an option or even require it.  It may cost more, but low-loss cable will provide you with a better experience.

Yet another reason for poor repeater performance is the use of the wrong type of antenna. If you have line of sight to a cell tower (i.e. no obstructions such as trees, buildings, or hills), then a Yagi antenna may provide enhanced performance.  Yagi antennas can be extremely directional and provide much more gain than other types of antennas.  This can be very helpful if you have an extremely weak signal.  If there is no line of sight, then an omni-directional antenna will probably work better. Omni-directional antennas can receive signals from any and all directions, so you can pick up reflections off of mountains and buildings that may be stronger than the shortest path signal coming from the cell tower.

The indoor antenna selection is equally important.  Dome antennas radiate the repeated signal in all directions, but don't cover more than one floor very well.  Panel antennas radiate in a wedge shaped pattern on one side of the antenna. The signal from a panel antenna spreads vertically, too, although vertical coverage is not as wide as the horizontal coverage.

In my case, I didn't have line of site to the tower, my house isn't big enough to separate antennas by 50 feet, and the house has two stories (with a steel roof). I chose an omni-directional antenna for the outdoor antenna and mounted it above the steel roof. I chose a panel antenna for the indoor antenna and mounted it at the height of the floor for the second story in an area with a cathedral ceiling so that I could cover both floors with one antenna and to make sure the signal stayed under the steel roof, limiting interference with the outdoor antenna.

I ordered the Wilson Electronics DB Pro kit because it offers 62 db of amplifier gain and uses RG-6 cabling which is present in many homes in satellite TV installations.  Using existing cable runs means you don't have to drill a hole through an exterior wall.  Users have many good things to say about Wilson Electronics' products online, so I felt comfortable with my decision. Unfortunately, the retailer I ordered from was sold out of the DB Pro kit I ordered.  They offered a substitute product from Cellphone-Mate.  The specs were very similar except that the Cellphone-Mate product used a much thicker cable.  The price was great, and I needed the repeater as quickly as possible, so I accepted the substitution.

So how did it all work out?  Well, here are some pictures of my temporary installation (only for testing purposes, as the kit comes with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee). Later I will mount the outdoor antenna much higher on the house, and mount the indoor antenna so that the cables aren't draped all over the window and floor.

The outdoor omni-directional antenna is
mounted above the steel roof so that it
can be placed closer than 50 feet from
the indoor antenna.

The indoor panel antenna is located high
enough to provide coverage to both floors
of the cabin.

I was impressed with the results. I now have four bars in many areas of the house where previously I couldn't get a signal at all. I expect further improvements when the outdoor antenna is raised another 16 feet or so. The Verizon USB data modem connection is performing at about 500 kbps, fast enough for me to do my work.  Voice calls sound great, so I'm very happy!

For those who might be interested, my RSSI readings inside the house went from -101 to -78 in the 850 MHz band (Verizon), and from -105 to -101 in the 1900 MHz band.


Resources
Cellphone-Mate: http://www.cellphone-mate.com/
Wilson Electronics: http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/
Wi-Ex: http://www.wi-ex.com/

Powerful Signal: http://www.powerfulsignal.com/

Powering Up the Cabin

This isn't the first time I've stayed at our cabin, so I had powered it up, at least partially before.  Usually, I fire up the generator to charge up the batteries so that they are topped off before I leave.  This time, though, it is getting powered up all the way.  Electric, gas, and water systems will all be put to use.

As expected, the electrical system worked as well as it always had.  The battery capacity was down a little, but that was expected since they were untended for over a year.  They did keep their charge pretty well though since my last visit six months ago.

When I tried to fill up the water tank, I ran into my first problem.  The instructions in the equipment room say to plug the well pump power cord into the generator and water will automatically flow into the storage tank.  Well, no water flowed.  I was able to get the water to come out of a faucet at the well, though, so I knew the pump was working.  After piddling for an hour or so, I broke down, went to Walmart and got two 90-foot garden hoses (which I'd need for the garden anyway) and used them to fill up the indoor water tank. I added a cap full of bleach to the tank while it was filling to kill most of what might have made it into the tank.

I flipped the switch to the pressurization pump and heard a lot of noise, but there was never any water pressure.  It turns out the pressurization pump was disconnected from the water pipes.  After attaching the pipes, I flipped the switch again, and this time I saw a puddle forming at the base of the toilet. I had another stroke of luck, and was able to remove the valve and reassemble it and get a working valve.  (One less trip down the mountain!) We can now flush toilets and wash our hands.

After working fine for a few days, I noticed one morning that the generator was leaking gasoline at the fuel valve. I'm not sure why this leak sprung all of a sudden, but my most plausible theory is that some ethanol in the fuel may have caused an o-ring in the valve to deteriorate.  Even as I was filling my 5-gallon jugs, I was thinking I should have pumped the first gallon or so into the car just in case the guy before me bought fuel with ethanol in it. This lack of a generator was a major deal only because it is currently our only source of power. Fortunately, our batteries can last us about two days if we conserve electricity.

It took most of a day to find all the parts I needed to make the repair, but in  the process I went to almost all of the parts stores in town.  If I ever need parts again, I think I'll know who has what.  This experience even had us going to the local solar power store to see about getting solar power.  We'll be putting in a solar system for sure, even if it is a small one.  I ended up spending half a day giving the generator a tune-up while I was taking it apart.

Before turning on the hot water heater, I took a look to make sure everything appeared to be normal.  The water heater, a tankless model, was out for repair during the home inspection, so I wanted to see if it was at least re-installed.  Well it was, but I noticed a gaping hole in the hot water pipe coming out of the heater.

There was a gaping hole in the hot water outlet pipe.

Turning on the gas was as easy as turning a knob.  Our refrigerator, stove (see this post), and hot water heater run off of propane.  The refrigerator needed some cleaning and routine maintenance, but nothing too difficult, especially after the other repairs I had been doing this last week.

It's time for a good night's sleep.