Renewable Energy

[Marsden 1st MRB]

So I want to work to get my home off the main grid or at least to a point that we supplement our own electricity. Since October we have averaged over 200$ a month for electricity which is killing us, like to the point of barely being able to buy food even with food stamps. I don't live in the most ideal location for Solar or Wind so I know fully off grid will most likely not be possible. After all Portland Oregon is more famous for raining than beautiful sunny days or crazy high winds. I feel though that even a small bank of small wind turbines would be enough to at least drop our electric costs.

I am posting to see if any here in the unit have worked to have their home's renewable powered or if anyone has any idea's as to how to do so within city limit's without spending thousands up front. I have had the idea for a while to construct a bank of small turbines with copper coils and magnets within the central bearings (probably like a 15'x6' array with 12"-18" diameter turbines) to start with. So the issue I am running into is I don't know exactly how to get this generic wind farm to deliver power to either a battery array or directly to the house/meter. I believe I could construct the Turbine Array myself and mount it to my homes roof, I just don't know if from an Electrical Engineering standpoint if it would be functional/effective. Of course I would much rather be fully self sufficient but that most likely won't be possible within city limits and not being a property owner.

I have thought of going with Solar power but the panels themselves are crazy expensive and beyond me as to how to construct. So if anyone has idea's about how I could jimmy rig a solar array of sorts that would be awesome. Mind you this would have to be set up with minimal funds, like I said we are getting murdered money wise by the electric bill.

I am hoping to just kind of spitball about this until I can find a way to implement a plan of some sort, any tips on how to assemble a test bank or anything like that would be awesome! Oh and how to convert the generated electricity from Direct Current to Alternating Current, please Learnded peoples of the 1st, you are my only hope lol. I know this is a bit out of the range of the normal help the unit can offer, but brainstorming in a communal setting is great as it can turn an insane spark of an idea into reality. Love all y'all.

[Heresy 1st MRB]

I definitely applaud your desire to go green. These things have been on my mind over the last few years as well. Mostly for cost savings but including to reduce my footprint in the world. I know it is tempting to implement a system that allows for renewable power, but the reality is that the return on investment (ROI) of these are not as high as energy conservation measures. Dollar for Dollar the money you put in to make your home more efficient will earn your money back faster than most renewable systems. I'm not saying that you should not look to setup a renewable system in the future, but get the heavy hitters that are wasting energy now. Personally I seriously want to go solar one of these days and I live in Ohio.

The big one I would look at in terms of energy savings is your home air sealing and insulation. If you have drafts or areas that allow heat to escape easily then those are huge energy suckers and negate any renewable system even if you did put one in. The following is a good site that discusses the topics:

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/air-sealing-your-home

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/insulation

Also this one discusses the ROI of the various energy saving measures and shows the time and payback in an easy to read table:

http://www.greenandsave.com/master_roi_table.html

All this being said, depending on your financial standing I would first look at programs for energy assistance as well to see if the criteria is met:

http://www.oregon.gov/OHCS/Pages/SOS_Low_I...nce_Oregon.aspx

http://www.oregonheat.org/energy-assistance

I hope this helps...

[Marsden 1st MRB]

Thanks Heresy XD

The issue I run into is the fact that my home was built in 1917. Meaning my walls have drafts and my foundation has drafts, we have no central air/heat and only 4 baseboard heaters in the home. I would upgrade the baseboard heaters to more efficient models if they existed and don't want to pay for central heating systems as they are crazy pricey and we just don't have enough walls for it to make sense.

[Gearhart 1st MRB]

[Marsden 1st MRB]

rofl rofl rofl gearheart. While humorous not exactly helpful....

shall we simply ope nthis to to troll fest?

[Mullaney]

I live in an old farm house with REALLY old windows so I get the whole draft thing as well... Luckily, I live in an apartment on the second floor so I get the heat from downstairs and havent had to turn my heat on in two winters... all I do is hang those $5 throw blankets from Walmart in the windows - Im not one for decorating or buying heavy expensive curtains!

I really know nothing about what you are asking so I cant help you.

Ive always wondered if this would work to heat whatever room you were actively in or what not... just havent gotten around to try it. People say it works...

Every once in a while I think about how I would love to just buy a huge piece of land and figure out how to live on it without the world...

Edited March 1, 2014 by Mullaney 1st MRB

[Gearhart 1st MRB]

saran wrap ur windows to save on heating

[Heresy 1st MRB]

saran wrap ur windows to save on heating

Bubble wrap works great to cover windows since it helps stop drafts and it has some insulating properties because of the air pockets. Here is a good link:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conse.../bubblewrap.htm

[Marsden 1st MRB]

Thanks all. The tea-candle heater might work well for us as we have a bunch of oil incense burners so allways have hundreds of candles.

[Ultranator BAR]

Sounds fun, but be careful. The government doesn't like us not depending on them.

http://www.newser.com/story/182952/florida...g-off-grid.html

I just happened to be reading about this yesterday.

[Heresy 1st MRB]

Sounds fun, but be careful. The government doesn't like us not depending on them.

http://www.newser.com/story/182952/florida...g-off-grid.html

I just happened to be reading about this yesterday.

I agree, the government wants us to depend on them, just like most with power desire this.

She was not paying for the sewage service and still refuses to do so. If their sewage rate calculations are like mine, it is based off of how much water you use and therefore they are requiring the water hookup. This way they will know what to charge her for sewage which would be some base rate since she does not use the city water. Obviously the easy answer would be to charge her just a sewage fee but I'm sure the city did not account for this scenario. Maybe if she had approached them to pay some nominal rate for the sewage then they would have been more receptive. An example case might be for someone with well water wanting to use city sewage.

I don't agree that they should have cut her off from it like they did because general humanity would dictate to leave it on, and the fact that it will likely cause sanitary issues. I do agree however that she needs to pay for the service just like any other citizen. Being self sufficient, great. Acting like your owed a free service when others pay, not great.