Buying forest land, implementing solar

[swbluto]

Geez, it's awesome having the kind of medical knowledge I do, and practical dietary knowledge to go with it.

Well, now you know how to avoid those near death experiences such as indigestion.

No doubt. Earlier that morning, I feeling was heart pain experiencing shortly after eating all the sugary chocolates I had (I thought maybe it was just heartburn from eating sugary candy so early), I knew something was afoot with all that candy. Cocoa is great, sugar not so much.

[Btw, I /now/ recognize the sarcasm... but... many heart attacks do feel like indigestion. Impaired bloodflow through the mesenteric artery (Supplies the digestive tract) is why.

Anyway, I just realized how 'smart' is it to live in a forest. I was getting gasoline from Walmart near the lake earlier this night and BRRRR, with the 30 mph winds coming off the lake with the 30 degree weather, god, freezing to the MAX! The lack of wind in the forest makes everything feel 'cool' in this weather, not polar freezing cold! lol

I knew that trees abates winds, and I always wished I was riding through the forest when I experienced high winds on my bike (And then I cursed at "development" under my breath. How development removes the "wind filters" (trees), inevitably significantly increasing energy loss in multiple forms.), but I so didn't appreciate the "wind chill" factor that goes with it that I do now! lol.

 

[swbluto]

swbluto wrote:
No doubt has something to do with the onset of this multiple-world-record-setting cold front. Brrr.... 33 degrees here... This was the weather I was trying to escape! lol

Don't complain, it's -6 right now and -16 later tonight. We hope to see 33 by Wednesday!!

Dan

I'm hoping to see 66 by Wednesday! I really miss just walking outside for many minutes thinking nothing of it, lol.

Looking at the weather maps, it appears the true tropical areas (That avoids the artic winds) are florida/atlanta/south-carolina and right around yuma, az. Despite its low longitude numbers and proximity to the gulf, I just found out that Houston doesn't avoid the arctic blasts like I was hoping! lol. :lol:

Anyway, I hope I don't have to remind anyone that I'm living in an RV with no thermostat. It makes a big difference! lol (The RV doesn't stay warm at night... It dropped to 40F this morning)

I sleep well, however; a thick walmart foam mattress pad and an electric blanket ensures it.

 

[Dauntless]

So apple cider vinegar helps me sleep. Not in the normal sense, the last few months I get this burning only when I'm trying to sleep. I never thought it was killing bacteria, I just think it counterbalances something.

It's above 40 right now, they're saying it might be 20 by morning.

 

[swbluto]

So apple cider vinegar helps me sleep. Not in the normal sense, the last few months I get this burning only when I'm trying to sleep. I never thought it was killing bacteria, I just think it counterbalances something.

It's above 40 right now, they're saying it might be 20 by morning.

Oh yeah, it kills bacteria oh right. Basic guideline is if it's natural and it's sour, it's a bacteria killer. Seems true of many bitter foods, too. And foods with a 'burn' (i.e., Garlic). [Now that I think of it, straight apple cider vinegar is sour AND it burns.]

Regular intake of vinegar cuts the incidence of fatal MI by 50% according to the research. No doubt because of its antibiotic properties.

 

[swbluto]

Ok, I'm /definitely/ getting a ceramic heater tonight from Walmart. Probably a tall lasko, whatever they have.

I was crunching the numbers and even though it seems silly to run an electric heater off a 16% efficient generator when burning fuel directly(propane) is 100% efficient, I started doing some energy calculations and found out that...

1 gallon of gas = 6000-7000 wh of electric energy.
1 pound of propane = 6600 wh

1 gallon of gas is $1.89 here, 1 pound of propane is $1.43. (And, if you do what I've done, it's actually $3/pound since I've been purchasing the coleman pound canisters with an intent to refill.). I buy gas anyway for the generator, and cold snaps here only seem to really affect the RV early in the morning and late at night,

(Also forgot to mention, I sealed up 80% of the holes In the wood that makes up the bench (Seems custom built, not quite sealed.). Now my legs don't feel like they're freezing, lol. I obviously need to seal up the rest of the RV to maximize heat conservation. I also need to seal off this "other room".)

Additional benefit of electric over propane: No CO! I was using my CO meter and found that the use of the propane heater increased the CO level by 15-25 ppm to somewhere around 25 ppm according to my kidde CO meter. The "Danger danger" threshold is 30ppm.

They warned in the package about how it affects cardiovascular patients and, yes, I've definitely noticed an uptick in those events recently. I suspected it was the 'cold' that was causing it, but I'm now strongly suspecting the CO levels have something to do with it. CO is not exactly a gas that people, or any animal for that matter, naturally breaths in the wild.

I would've really liked to buy a dedicated vented propane RV furnace or some such, but the cost of the furnace didn't seem to be justified with how often I should really need heat here. It seems like "really cold days" only happen about 20 days out of the year, here. I personally don't think 55H/45L as a "really cold day", it's easily tolerable without a heater. I'm thinking more like 45H/30L or below. The extra expense in gasoline seems like a rather minor cost.

Anyway, I thought it was funny they market these propane converters as "Vent free"... but, IMO, what the hell? Yes sir, I find the breathing in of combustion byproducts so worth it! lol. I guess it's "easier to install", but holy crap, I'm not that freaking lazy for that to be a compelling side benefit. Cut out a hole and caulk it up, right? Anyway, it seems like 'vented furnaces' tend to be rarer, but I think that's just because they're more expensive than the vent-free crap ($500 vs $60). I personally think the Mr.Buddy Heater is only really usable in the outdoors, or if you make the indoors effectively like the outdoors - Open all the windows and doors during use, lol. (I opened all the windows, but the PPM still climbed to 25 regardless.)

AND... I'm going to see if I can retrieve my mail tomorrow from the local post office. They didn't send it to the regional distribution center, despite my delivery at 1 PM and they obviously didn't scan it in ("Oh, I'm going to have to scan all those in" he moaned... lol... HE OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T! lol). That just not going to fly for christmas shipments. Maybe it's OK with ordinary shipments, but definitely not ones with critical tight deadlines. I have $2000 running on this and I just can't afford to refund everyone because of the slothfulness at the nearby post office.

Anyway, it's a good thing I started sending things out today, so I could identify weaknesses early so I can correct them in a timely manner. Not quite why I was originally sending things out early (I just wanted to get things moving out of my RV. I also wanted to avoid overloading myself at the last minute, should that cause me to miss deadlines.)... but a good thing to identify early nonetheless.

I still need to find the location of the regional USPS processing center. Google doesn't seem to be helping. I'm hoping it's taped to the PO boxes in front of the post offices and I'll find it there, tonight. And, if I can't find it, I'll ask tomorrow when I'm getting my packages back. Usually they have later deadlines, which would be extremely useful for me right now.

AND... I never knew how much a laser printer used until today. It crashed my 2000w inverter like four times, and hooking it directly upto the generator caused the generator to go "Vrooom! put, put, put... VROOOM!..." over and over again, lol. It's clear the laser printer was asking a weebit much of it, lol. The printer actually worked (It printed out papers properly), so I assume there's nothing wrong with it and that's just its normal nature. Laser printers use tons of power.

And, I've also properly shielded my generator so that the neighbors down the street can't hear it. Especially the trigger-happy guy with the gun. So, hopefully I shouldn't get too many complaints/visits from them.

(And, actually... I can probably use it during earlier/later hours. Will probably be useful tomorrow.)

 

[nutnspecial]

While I'd use my homemade rocket heater and 2x mr buddies in my well winterized 31', it's also equipped with dual propane forced air furnaces. Electric would be the last thing I'd ever use w/o a large pv array, thus the forced air furnaces are only to keep temps above freezing.
(It's actually for sale btw, but I want 3500 w/o extras like the new dual fuel genny, stone hearth and heater, mr buddies, 40" tv, 200ah extra battery, 40gal extra water)

I think you should recheck the mr buddy - never heard of anyone getting sick from them, even in a minivan w/ at least a cracked window. :|

Btw what are you doing for personal waste? Humanure?

 

[marty]

Don't use unvented heater in a place where you are living.

Read the instructions.
http://www.mrheater.com/downloads/dl/file/id/221/big_buddy_heater_manual_usa_2016.pdf
PORTABLE PROPANE HEATER FOR
RECREATIONAL,
COMMERCIAL AND
EMERGENCY INDOOR USE

If you do use a unvented heater indoors OPEN A WINDOW!

No more medical issues please.
Carbon monoxide

 

[swbluto]

While I'd use my homemade rocket heater and 2x mr buddies in my well winterized 31', it's also equipped with dual propane forced air furnaces. Electric would be the last thing I'd ever use w/o a large pv array, thus the forced air furnaces are only to keep temps above freezing.
(It's actually for sale btw, but I want 3500 w/o extras like the new dual fuel genny, stone hearth and heater, mr buddies, 40" tv, 200ah extra battery, 40gal extra water)

I think you should recheck the mr buddy - never heard of anyone getting sick from them, even in a minivan w/ at least a cracked window. :|

Btw what are you doing for personal waste? Humanure?

Sounds like a cool RV. I'm personally looking for the smaller ones at this point because of the tight spaces I'm working with, narrow roads and all that. Anyway, I might get some pictures up today. And, I can confidently say that the train doesn't bother me anymore. I go to sleep sometime shortly after it blows its whistle between 10:40-11:30, and I sleep like a rock through the night. The train really isn't a deal killer like I thought it could be, even in an paper-thin walled RV, lol.

 

[swbluto]

Don't use unvented heater in a place where you are living.

Read the instructions.
http://www.mrheater.com/downloads/dl/file/id/221/big_buddy_heater_manual_usa_2016.pdf
PORTABLE PROPANE HEATER FOR
RECREATIONAL,
COMMERCIAL AND
EMERGENCY INDOOR USE

If you do use a unvented heater indoors OPEN A WINDOW!

No more medical issues please.
Carbon monoxide

When you buy from the store, it says "Indoor and Outdoor", but then you open the package, and the instructions like "Use indoors for emergencies only. Keep the inside well ventilated.". I thought opening three windows and a top vent would work and a leaky rear hatch would work, not with 28 PPM (Not by my standards), I think I need to keep the screen door open (One of the last things I want to do when it's 30 degrees outside, lol.).

Just considering the amount of heat loss (Energy cost) that goes with operating a Mr.Buddy correctly indoors, makes me think that despite electric being 25% more expensive per watthour, it'd probably be cheaper than a vent free propane system since I can keep the inside well insulated and closed off.

Oh, I forgot to mention. I'm running a 15 ft., CO levels climb up twice as much/quickly as a 30'. And the CO levels are definitely highest directly where the heat is (The exhaust IS the heat; CO is in the exhaust.), which is where my face often was, lol. I felt like I was about to pass out standing in front of that thing.

The only problem with yesterday's walmart visit was they ran out of heaters. I swear that Walmart never has anything in stock. While I could fault their inventory management skills (I don't think that's the case since, being a supercenter, it's likely centrally automated), methinks the people of Conroe just buy way too much from them, lol. (They're wealthy AND they don't snub walmart. Perfect recipe for product shortages.)

That seems true of Houston in general. You can see the wealth everywhere with the abundance of stores, but there seems to be a preponderance of Big Box stores in comparison to Seattle. Seattle has Big Box stores, too, but not really so much inside the city. They tend to have more upscale and more homesy stores carrying the inventory the Big Box stores carry, and you usually have to head something like 10 miles outside the city (Don't let distance fool you, that's like an hour on a good day, lol.) before you start seeing big box stores.

 

[nutnspecial]

I have 2x the little 4-9k btu ones. Very handy and very clean burning, with attachments for 20lb tanks, and piped right to the 100lb in the RV. Like with anything burning your breathing air, if you allow it to burn too much of the oxygen you'll end up with CO levels rising. The new ones have low O2 shutoffs and imo the instructions are pretty sufficient even for the biggest 'american idiots' lol. Be careful. . . the hot coffee you just bought could burn you . . . just because you bought 2 liters of gmo corn syrup soda doesn't mean you should drink it all, or at all, lol.

With any combustion based heating sources in small spaces, I have had good results by simply providing fresh air locally to the device - no need to cross vent the entire space. Turn off (in van etc) when sleeping in case you wake up dead lol.

Maybe think about making or buying a little rocket heater bluto. They run on sticks and are a very efficient, safe, and free source of radiant heat. Mine vents in single wall stove pipe with minimal clearance to combustibles. The little bit of exaust is cooler than an electric dryer's exaust, and the stove gets from 400-700f. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rocket+heater

 

[swbluto]

I have 2x the little 4-9k btu ones. Very handy and very clean burning, with attachments for 20lb tanks, and piped right to the 100lb in the RV. Like with anything burning your breathing air, if you allow it to burn too much of the oxygen you'll end up with CO levels rising. The new ones have low O2 shutoffs and imo the instructions are pretty sufficient even for the biggest 'american idiots' lol. Be careful. . . the hot coffee you just bought could burn you . . . just because you bought 2 liters of gmo corn syrup soda doesn't mean you should drink it all, or at all, lol.

With any combustion based heating sources in small spaces, I have had good results by simply providing fresh air locally to the device - no need to cross vent the entire space. Turn off (in van etc) when sleeping in case you wake up dead lol.

Maybe think about making or buying a little rocket heater bluto. They run on sticks and are a very efficient, safe, and free source of radiant heat. Mine vents in single wall stove pipe with minimal clearance to combustibles. The little bit of exaust is cooler than an electric dryer's exaust, and the stove gets from 400-700f. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rocket+heater

NICE! A little rocket heater looks pretty good for this RV. Seems like it would fit well for the small space. I'm mostly concerned about burning the RV down, so I assume there is a standard liner to isolate from the surrounding wooden floors/walls/ceiling/etc. that makes up my RV? I was originally thinking brick or something, but maybe there's a less weighty/cheaper solution for fire prevention.

Anyway, the exhaust should be easily contained with a standard solution - a flue/vent and glass door.

 

[nutnspecial]

Yeah, you can't beat 'free' heat. When passive solar and passive geothermal aren't sufficient or as usuable (rv), wood is #1 imo.
Simple cement board would work for the back if within 1' of the wall. You could also use it or some tiles as the hearth for sparks etc, though the bottom doesn't throw heat in comparison. Rocket heaters burn the small load quickly and cleanly, so risks of unattended fire runaway or creosote/chimney fires are highly reduced.

I'm not using mine this winter (unless the grid goes down lol). I'll fire it up and take some pics or vid to give you an idea of installation and operation. I'm guessing a search would yield others that have already done such in an rv though.

 

[Adverse Effects]

see now this is why i am having a hard time believing ANYTHING you say

you wont eat 90% of food that is safe to eat because it "could" kill you

you have every sickness known to man (in your own mind)

yet you will sit in a small box and light a CO and CO2 producing device even tho you know its "WILL" kill you if you have a small laps in judgment

 

[swbluto]

Heh heh, you make it sound like the person using the device in a small box is making the decision in a comfortable, warm environment like... uhhh... where you live, Australia. LOL! Often is not the case, lol. Anyway, I didn't start really using it until I got my Kidde CO meter for safety checking, and that meter told me the PPM was too high! Just /right/ below the CO alarm threshold... lol....

 

[Dauntless]

you have every sickness known to man (in your own mind)

yet you will sit in a small box and light a CO and CO2 producing device even tho you know its "WILL" kill you if you have a small laps in judgment

If you had every disease known to man, you'd never consider blowing yourself up?

And what happened to all this solar you were planning?

 

[swbluto]

you have every sickness known to man (in your own mind)

yet you will sit in a small box and light a CO and CO2 producing device even tho you know its "WILL" kill you if you have a small laps in judgment

If you had every disease known to man, you'd never consider blowing yourself up?

And what happened to all this solar you were planning?

It's coming, but I need to clear my backyard of the trees first, lol. I haven't even got to that part where I've cleared my driveway and parked my RV on it, and that's obviously the first priority. Parking in the middle of the street isn't going to be a cozy longterm solution, I get the feeling. (I haven't been working on it because I've been busy clearing out the high-volume of Christmas orders. After Christmas, I can pick and choose when I want to work on the property.)

 

[Dauntless]

Wow, so, line drawings of women are big stocking stuffers this year, eh?

 

[swbluto]

Wow, so, line drawings of women are big stocking stuffers this year, eh?

I don't draw /just/ women. I draw just about everyone, but I do have a certain preference for that gender, yes. For obvious reasons, I'm sure.

It's a popular christmas gift for sure. And...

Oh, let's be straightforward here. I did say "It was one part of the business", the other part is actually making a real product from it. Use your imaginations and figure it out.

 

[Dauntless]

Use your imaginations and figure it out.

Anything we come up with that way will be---IMAGINARY.

 

[mark5]

Use your imaginations and figure it out.

Ok, I imagine one application could be a custom stamp.

 

[Dauntless]

Oh darn, you've provided him with a suitable answer.

 

[Adverse Effects]

or a tramp stamp

 

[Adverse Effects]

in the main city square not to far from where i live there is an old guy that dose charcoal drawings (takes about 30 min each) for $5AUD (1AUD = 72c US) and his stuff is awesome and at times even looks life like

what do you charge for your crap $1 and 30 sec to do each one

 

[fechter]

Back when I had land out in the wilderness, I considered building a wood burning stove that sat outside the trailer and use a heat exchanger to get the heat inside. Basically build an insulated metal shell around the wood stove and circulate air with a fan and through ducts to the trailer. Not as efficient has having the stove inside, but way less messy/smoky inside. Not to mention the stove is pretty big and no place to put inside anyway.

 

[swbluto]

Back when I had land out in the wilderness, I considered building a wood burning stove that sat outside the trailer and use a heat exchanger to get the heat inside. Basically build an insulated metal shell around the wood stove and circulate air with a fan and through ducts to the trailer. Not as efficient has having the stove inside, but way less messy/smoky inside. Not to mention the stove is pretty big and no place to put inside anyway.

That's a good idea. I'm not really concerned about energy efficiency when it comes to wood; I got plenty of it and there's only 20 'really cold' days here a year, at most! Just this morning, it was 60 degrees here making it a comfortable 66 in the RV. (It lags by about 5-10 degrees)

I know my real concern should be the summer temperatures, but I figure with the shade and plenty of air circulation from the outside air, it should be tolerable during the day. I think 76 degrees should be plenty tolerable at night; just about ideal with a light blanket, methinks.

Anyway, clearing out the rest of the christmas orders, and tending to 'the rest' tomorrow, and I should be free to start working on the property on Dec 24th. I already scheduled to pick up my generator from that one guy in SW Houston on the morning of Dec 24th, so I'm thinking Dec 24th will be a "Let's check out this town" day. (My perusals so far have been limited to Conroe/Magnolia/Tomball pretty much; North Houston.)

Also, yesterday, I noticed someone stepping by my RV at 9 at night. That spooked me, so I turned off the lights and sat in the darkness. While there's not a whole lot of vicious young males around my immediate area, there seems to be an abundance in the southern area. I'm /guessing/ that young guys prefer the southern end because there's less trees to deal with, and the younger guys here don't have the savings necessary to rent excavators for the time required of the more wooded northern properties and the such. You pretty much just need to clear out a tree or two down there, and you have more than enough space for whatever. The /big downside/ of the southern area is that there's more dirt road to deal with to get to those properties and it seems awfully close to the train. I don't know if the conductor sounds his horn at the intersection there, but if he does, that'd be an awful place to sleep at night.

And, yesterday, this guy threatened as if he was going to run his mustang into my van. I knew he wasn't, he's just trying to intimidate someone because he's angry, likely because he was sitting at the train intersection for many minutes seeing that he was at the front of the long procession of cars that the train track maintenance guy just waved through moments earlier my passing. But, on the otherhand, I thought "Thank god I don't live where those guys live!", lol.

But, anyway, back to that sound; I suspected it was a young male local who might've been angry at my generator use in previous days. Which seems kind of ridiculous because I can barely hear my generator when I stand halfway down the road (And there's no one who lives within the distance of 'halfway down the road'; they live, at closest, twice as far.), so I'm thinking one guy around here just likes shooting his gun on random days at random hours. There's probably a story behind it, but I don't care to know. But, considering the fact I didn't see a light and noting the sound of my own foot steps, it was likely an animal or some sort. I'm thinking I could use some outdoor lighting. And, when I get on my property, maybe a fence. I joked to myself I was going to have turn my land into a vietnam war battleground, complete with turret nests and foxholes, to keep myself protected from the locals, but maybe a simple fence and outdoor lighting will do.

Anyway, mexican coconuts are $1.50 at HEB, nice. Especially nice since they were $4 back in Spokane. They actually look like an affordable commodity down here. One coconut can easily provide for ones fat needs for 3-4 days. rice/corn for the carbs, and fish/eggs for the protein. I'm thinking cheese should be a treat, though it goes awfully good with the jug wine, at least the "Old Croc" brand (A pretty affordable Australian import based on pasture raised cows. That's one thing that pretty hard to find, pasture raised cow cheese. I think I've come to conclusion, if it comes from Wisconsin (Which 90% of it does, especially the 'european themed' types.), that cow has been fed soy/corn.