Homeowner Digest

initialspeed7 asked:


I would like to know if I can use a generator or car batteries or any other energy to light my small earthbag home other than solar or wind energy. Solar and wind energy is to expensive are there any other low cost ways to power my home? It has to be off-grid meaning not connected to a utility company.
gggsbaby - what are you talking about?

Solar Power Generation

doricescottage asked:


I am a substitute teacher on a limited income and we want to convert to solar and wind power if possible. The home was built in the 1920’s. Please only serious answers!

Solar Power At Home

Old Gamer 56 asked:


Wow, I know this question may bring out some nutty responses. The scenario I am envisioning, however unlikely, is: nuclear holocaust, invasion, uncontrollable plague, or maybe we just run out of petroleum products before alternative energy is actually an alternative. Or there is a huge earth quake or something.
I don’t want to go crazy with this, build an underground bunker, put razor wire around the house, etc. I want to see if I can get some clear headed answers about this sort of thing. I don’t know, like how much water to store, what kind of food to store, are firearms for home protection something to be considered? Should we buy a few hundred gold coins to put under the bed? I’m thinking from the view point of a man with a wife and an 8 year old child. Maybe I am in Northern California.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

Home Solar

olfordtrucks asked:


I have always been interested in Green energy, especially on a scale for all homes. I am asking if anyone knowns where I could find a lot of info about how to completly run a small farm on green energy. (Wind Turbine, Solar, etc.)?

Solar

Hello asked:


I’m looking to adopt alternative sources of energy to power some of my home electricity needs and am looking for options, websites and building ideas about what others are already doing in this field.

Solar Power Stuff

Isabella asked:


1 The economy

2 Abortion & life issues

3 Ending the war in Iraq

4 Terrorism

5 Traditional marriage

6 The environment

7 Gas prices & alternative energy

The president will in all likelihood be appointing multiple supreme court justices. So in the long-term, the impact of the election on issues that are likely to come before the court are at least as important, and I would argue more important, than the issues that the president would seem to have more direct control over.

We must constantly remind ourselves of the words of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation on the vocation and mission of the laity, Christifideles Laici in which he says:

…the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination…. (# 38).

Energy Alternatives

Russ Hancock asked:


For decades we have been pumping all these hydrocarbons into our atmosphere and now we are on the brink of a global disaster.

Now most everyone understands that something must change, and pronto! As for myself, well, I don’t have a car and live on a (as I see it) bare bones budget; so what can I do as an individual? Moreover, what can we all do as individuals for one another? Firstly, I would suppose, it all begins with where

you live.

My house is basically a Cracker Box quasi-suburban model; one of those built after WW2;

maybe, the very latest in efficient living, then — but now? Hardly! So, what to do now? Certainly just changing over to more efficient light bulbs and lowering the thermostat are not enough.

Frankly, the costs of every staple commodity are such these days, that the only practical thing to do is to plan ahead, and that means making a small investment in the present. Ah, but the present denotes that one act in the immediate.

 

Thus, what could be more immediate and (well) efficient, than the web? After all it is worldwide (or so I’m told). Thus, taking into account that the energy crisis not only effects me and my cat (though, she’ll never tell), but the planet; putting one and the other together + what my ultimate objective was and is, I Googled ‘Efficient Energy’. Of course, I had to slog through a couple hundred ads and various fragmented posts before arriving at Efficient Planet.com.

 

To make a long story short: given, the inefficiency of my own (and cat’s) domicile, I thought

that looking into Solar Panelling might be the direction to go (I don’t have the backyard space

for a windmill or Nuclear Power Plant). Apparently, I was correct in my somewhat random choice of the Efficient Planet site. We have great exposure to the sun here (cat upon her window-sil, especially) and I am kind of D.I.Y. person, so the Efficient Planet e-book: ‘ConvertYour Home to Solar Power’ was really a welcome surprise. However, as opposed to all those other build-it-yourself ‘talk fast/ see you later infomercial TV spots, Efficient Planet’s ‘Convert Your Home to Solar Power’ is a seriously explicable guide to building and installing your own solar panels and power generators. It is systematic, and has great illustrations, and schematics, to boot!

 

Not to say, that it is all so easy to convert; there is some labor involved, and I can tell you

from experience: your cat will be of no assistance at all! That is unless your plan is to install a scratching post, rather than solar panelling on your roof.

Nonetheless, if you are stuck with ever increasing and decidedly unreasonable home energy costs, like I have been (I won’t count my cat in the mix — for now, anyway)), to that degree where you are just about to give up the place, then, by all means do check out the Efficient Planet line of e-book titles, not just ‘Convert Your Home to Solar Power’, but the others, as well.

Take a look at the newest, most comprehensive guide to off grid living at the Efficient Living website.



Solar Hot Water

wondering asked:


Information on wind generated electricty and geo thermal heating, farm location. This question is for home use.

Green Power

Trisha M asked:


Looking to make a balance between high electric bills and alternative energy options that can lead to potential savings.

Solar Hot Water

What They Dont Want You To Know asked:


why are the republicans saying drill and decrease more dependence on foreign oil(the mess they started). Statics show the affect of us drilling at home wont be felt until 2030!! but wouldn’t this increase even more globally scaled carbon emissions. ? why don’t they venture into alternative energy instead of drill baby drill?

Home Solar