Hello Everyone!
I have no questions at this time, I just wanted to say thank you to the people that keep this board going, and for those who submit and share all their knowledge and experience for the rest of us to learn from. I'm glad I found you guys! And I expect to become a fixture on this site as my involvement in this hobby grows. I may not make a lot of posts, but I'll always be lurking in the background... };-)
My intentions in exploring alternative forms of energy are pretty basic:
- Saving some money. To this end, I went out this weekend and bought a whole armload of CFLs to replace some of our most often used incandescents. It's going to take a whole lot more before I'm done. I haven't been able to bring myself to throw away all the perfectly good incandescents, it seems a waste, so they're sitting on the shelf for now, any suggestions...?
- A degree of self-sufficiency. Ever since the the ice-storm 2 years ago that left us without electrical power for 5 days, I've been searching for and researching ways to survive the next outage with a minimum of fuss.
- Do what I can (within reason) to minimize my impact on good ol' Mother Earth.
- Have some fun tinkering around with gadgets.
That's it, in a nutshell. No big political or religious agenda, I just like to tinker.
As far as our dependence on "da MAN" we're in pretty good shape. We live in a typical suburban home in north central Ohio, USA. We have a natural gas furnace, hot water heater, and clothes dryer. I'm still kicking myself for not spending the extra cash and installing a gas stove when we replaced our old electric model a few years ago. Also, we have a 1st floor fireplace with a wood burning insert that we use to supplement the furnace when the temps drop below freezing. We have 3 acres of land, partially wooded, so I have an ample supply of firewood for the foreseeable future. It won't last forever, but that's ok, I need to make room for a windmill anyhow.
I'm going to start small with my solar system so I can learn all the hard lessons before I make a huge investment, hopefully. The first thing I bought was a Kill A Watt meter, and I've already ordered a 12 amp charge controller, and in a few weeks, I intend to purchase a single 120w solar panel. To start with, I'm just going to get one or two deep cycle batteries from the local Wal Mart. Until I can afford an inverter, I will just start experimenting with some 12v outdoor lighting. The charge controller I bought has a built-in timer for just that purpose.
Wish me luck!
Brian H