Outdoor Laundry Day

Awhile back, I showed you the outdoor laundry center we set up in the newly revamped carport. But I've realized that I never showed you how we use it. I had some nice weather recently and took some pictures. 

We have a two-tub system. The stand accommodates a wringer too.

Dan set up a tank to collect rainwater from
the carport roof, just for doing laundry.

I've switched from using a liquid detergent to soap nuts. I found
boxes of them for $5 each at a local Ollie's. I really like them.

I'm leisurely about doing laundry outside. I give it long soaks
and use my breathing plunger from time to time in between.

Wringing from the dirty wash water into the rinse water.

The clothesline is conveniently right behind the carport.

My clothesline will hold two tub loads. If I wash the cleanest stuff first, the water in the tubs can be reused for the dirtier load. I like that. When I'm done, I drain the water via a garden hose to nearby plants or trees.

Dan added a hose bib to each tub.

Clean, fresh, and folded.

Outdoor Laundry Day © March 2021

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Haybox (aka Thermal) Cooking

I'm always on the lookout for methods of alternative cooking, so I was quite intrigued when I learned about the haybox cooker. I was also surprised that this new-to-me idea is actually a very old method of cooking! Haybox cookers (also spelled hay box) are sometimes referred to as wonder boxes, fireless cookers, or thermal cookers. They cook food by using retained heat. In other words, the food is partially cooked first, then allowed to finish cooking in an insulated container.

Early haybox cookers were wooden boxes which used hay as insulation. People still use hay, but wool fleece is popular too. The box itself can be anything from wood to a thermal bag. They tend to be susceptible to moisture build-up, so probably the only thing that wouldn't last long would be cardboard. Dan made my haybox from an old travel cooler and leftover foam board from our pantry insulation project.

The cooler is from Dan's trucking days. Plugs into a cigarette
lighter and keeps food cool without needing to replace ice.

We had quite a few foam board scraps left from our pantry
upgrade. As you can see, he cut them to fit a particular pot.

Two more pieces of foam board cover the top of the pot.

The other day I tested it out by cooking rice. To get the cooking started, I used my rocket stove.

I bought this little camping stove years ago and can no longer find the website. So much more convenient than campfire cooking, although it constantly has to be fed to keep it going. That's why it pairs nicely with the haybox cooker!

My recipe for rice is one cup brown rice and one pint of bone broth.

After the rice was allowed to simmer for about ten minutes, I put the pot in the haybox.

I had no idea about timing the cooking. Some
sources say one hour, some say several hours.

Then I covered it up, closed the lid and waited. It's hard not to peek, but every time the cooker is opened heat is lost, so it's best not to open it if at all possible.

After about an hour and 20 minutes in the haybox, the rice looked to be pretty much done. It was, pretty much done, and was edible, but it could have gone a little longer. I'll do that next time. 

I see a lot of use for this kind of cooking, all seasons. I'm not always around to tend to a wood fire, so this is the perfect solution for one-pot meals. Summer too, when we often have clouds rolling in during the late afternoon. Those clouds mean my solar oven stops cooking. The haybox will be the perfect way to finish up whatever I've got going for dinner. 

If you're interested in more, there are tons of websites and videos on haybox cookers, all easy to find with a simple search. There's also a free cook book by Margaret J. Mitchell, entitled The Fireless Cook Book. It was originally published in 1913, but is now public domain and available for download at the Internet Archive. Amazon has an inexpensive paperback option, which I recently ordered, along with a more recent publication, Fireless Cookers Haybox Cookers & Retained Heat Cookers by George Eccleston. I ordered it too and will give you a review of both books soon.

Haybox (aka Thermal) Cooking © Nov. 2020

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Solar Energy Isn't Free Energy

One of the things I used to admire about folks who are off-grid is that they have no electric bill. Many of them say it themselves, they love the financial freedom of not having to pay for electricity. Still, we all know there are costs involved, and some people might be inclined to ask how long it will take for the system to pay for itself. A low-end off-grid system might cost roughly $35,000 not including shipping, installation, and interest if buying on credit. Neither does that include backup, i.e. a generator. The average American electric bill is said to be $104 per month. Do the math, and you'll likely agree that it takes more than a monetary advantage to go solar.

For some people it's a sense of environmental responsibility. For Dan and me, the motive is food preservation. Since we rely more on what we grow than on a grocery store, this is important. The cost of a year's worth of groceries more than offsets the system paying for itself. We've spent roughly $2450 on it, so compared to having to buy all of our groceries, our little system will "pay for itself" in about three or four months. Savings on the electric bill will be lagniappe.

Now that we are in the midst of the project, however, I see something I didn't consider during my feasibility study—eventual replacement costs.

Having recently purchased our batteries, this is forefront in my mind. Our solar panels should last 25 to 30 years, but flooded lead acid batteries average about five years; longer if we take good care of them—shorter if we make mistakes. The fact of the matter, is that we have to be ready when they need to be replaced. Our income is low enough that we must budget for everything, so I need to take this into account now.

What am I looking at for replacement cost? Our six batteries totaled $880, with $100 of that for the core charge since we didn't have old batteries to trade in. If the batteries last 5 years, and I want to have $780 available for replacements, then I need to save $13 per month. Because prices always go up instead of down, it would probably be wise to bump that up to $15. If we want to upgrade the battery bank—in terms of battery type, amp-hours, or both—then we need to set aside more.

We could have bought a different type of battery, one with a longer lifespan, but these come with a heftier price tag. As it was, we did the best we could, and I have no complaints about that. I would be curious if the cost per year for different battery types is comparable to $13 a month, but for now, that's a moot point.

Of course, I'm curious about how much lower our electricity bill will be once we get the freezer (and hopefully fridge) on solar. Will it be enough to offset the savings for replacement batteries? Time will tell! Either way, our ability to preserve our harvest without being dependent on the grid gives me great peace of mind. And that, is priceless.

Next - Figuring Out the Wiring

Solar Energy Isn't Free Energy © Dec 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Off-Grid Laundry

You may recall that our winter project last year was repairing the carport. While we were working on it, we discussed what to do with the space. Once upon a time we parked our jeep there, but eventually it became more useful for things other than a car. Expanding it to store firewood was one of the upgrades, and that left us with space to spare.

Our expanded carport.

When Dan installed a rain catchment tank,

Getting rainwater catchment installed.

we decided to set up an area for laundry. On the back side of the carport, it would be convenient to the clothesline.

Clothesline behind the carport.

Once upon a time, the bricks were our old fireplace.

We've gradually been accumulating everything we need.

My washboard and plunger are circa Y2K! My detergent is
Ecos, the only greywater safe detergent I can find locally.

We hope to use water mostly come from rain catchment.

Last Sunday we got our first rain since August. Only half an inch, but it's a start toward quenching the thirsty ground and refilling our rain tanks.

Because I didn't want to dump the tub water all in one place, Dan installed a hose bib in each tub.

This way I can empty the tubs via hose to where the water is needed most.

No, I haven't used it yet! But we've finally got it set up and I've found good information on doing laundry the old fashioned way. One resource is The Laundry Manual; or, Washing Made Easy, published in 1863 by "A Professed Launderer." It's now public domain and available for free download from the U.S. Archive. It discusses how to clean various fabrics, soap making, removing stains, starching, ironing, and polishing. It also has a section on bread making!

The other resource is a series of videos from Townsends, who are 18th century living historians. This series is definitely worth a watch:

• Historical Laundry Part 2
• Evolution of the Washing Machine
• Historical Laundry Part 4

The other thing we'd like to use the carport for is an outdoor kitchen. Nothing's finalized on that yet, but we're working on it. 

Off-Grid Laundry © October 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Solar Pantry Part 3: Alternatives

Continued from "Solar Pantry Part 2: Analysis."

Trying to solve my potential problem of losing refrigerated and frozen food during a prolonged power outage sent me scouring books and websites for affordable ideas. People preserved their food for millennia before they had electricity and refrigerators, but like other traditional knowledge and skills, the how-to has been forgotten, lost, or simply discarded in favor of high-tech alternatives. Unfortunately, not all of the technology we laud has been terribly smart: the processing and overuse of fossil fuels for example. The simpler the better, I say.

So while Dan and I are discussing options and forming a plan, I've been collecting ideas. This is what I've got so far, pretty much organized from lower tech to higher. Obviously, not all of them are feasable for everyone, because they depend on regional resources and conditions.

Spring house - If one is lucky enough to have a wellspring on their property, this would be an excellent option. A spring house is a small structure built over the spring to take advantage of its cold water. The water flows through shallow troughs into which food containers (usually milk cans) are placed.

Graphic from Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings by Byron D. Halsted.
Water enters under the window and drains at the ends of the troughs.

I had friends who used an old chest freezer in a similar way. Spring water flowed through it via inlet and outlet pipes. The chilly spring water kept their milk quite cool.

Ice house - For those living with long hard freezes, this is an idea. Ice is harvested in large blocks from solidly frozen lakes.

Photo: Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/det.4a05655/)
There's an interesting ice harvesting photo story at A Continuous Lean.

Then it's packed in saw dust or straw in an ice house.

Indiana ice house. Photo from Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/in0268.photos.065885p/

Drawing of an ice house interior. Graphic from 
Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings by Byron D. Halsted.

The saw dust or straw acts as insulation and slows melting. Some farmers made their own forms to make their own ice blocks.

Cool chamber - A variation of the simple ice house.

Graphic from Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings by Byron D. Halsted.

The ice house is built into a hillside with a room underneath for storing milk, fruits, and vegetables.

Drips through pipe in ceiling and drains through pipe in floor.
From Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings by Byron D. Halsted.

Chamber Refrigerator - Similar to the cool chamber.

Graphic from Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings by Byron D. Halsted.

The chamber is built so that top, back, and both sides are surrounded by ice. The space under the ice is for ventilation.

Ice Box - No electricity required for those with a source for ice!

Israeli, I believe. Attribution: יעקב [CC BY-SA 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

The top compartment holds a large block of ice which cools the contents in the compartment below. Note the drip pan to catch melting water underneath. Ice tongs hang on the side.

Well shaft - For those who have an old-fashioned well!

LOC, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017782495/

A food box or bucket is lowered and tied off just above water level, where the contents stay cool.

Silos (trenches) - These aren't the grain silos we're familiar with. The French term means "underground excavation used to preserve foods."

Illustration from Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning
by The Gardeners & Farmers of Terre Vivante

This example measures 16" x 32" and is 20" deep. A lining of brick keeps rodents out. Vegetables are packed in layers of dried leaves. The wood cover is heavy and air tight. A well-drained location is important.

Root cellar - A more familiar form of food storage. It is basically a handmade cave built into a hillside or of mounded earth. In modern lingo we could call it geothermal cooling.

Root cellar in Itasca County, Minnesota. Photo: LOC
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/mn0482.photos.342773p/

Root cellars tend to get damp and musty, however, so good ventilation is very important.

Windcatcher - This isn't for food storage, but rather a middle eastern house cooling system.that seems to lend itself to food preservation, providing one has wind and a qanat (underground water transportation channel). The basement would the perfect place for a root cellar.

Click to enlarge. Attribution: Wind-Tower-and-Qanat-Cooling-1.jpg:
Williamborgderivative work: Monsih [Public domain]

It's an example of evaporative cooling. The principle is that water absorbs heat in order to evaporate, cooling dry air significantly and with much less energy than refrigeration. It's best suited to dry climates, because it apparently gets very musty in humid climates, where it's earned the name "swamp cooler" because of the odor it produces.

Zeer Pot - Another ancient middle eastern technology that takes advantage of evaporative cooling. Also known as a pot-in-pot "refrigerator." A small clay pot is placed into a larger clay pot and the space between is filled with sand. The sand is kept damp and evaporation keeps the contents of the smaller pot cooler than the ambient temperature.

My experimental zeer pot.

I tried this method when I was researching off-grid eggs, cheese, and meat storage for Prepper's Livestock Handbook. Unfortunately, my experiment was a fail because of our humidity. The higher the humidity the slower the evaporation. There's a techy explanation of all that over at the Rebuilding Civilization blog. If you have a dry climate this won't actually refrigerate, but it will act as a cooler to increase longevity of some foods.

Cold shaft (a.k.a. cool cupboard or California cupboard). Heat rises and this is what the cool cupboard takes advantage of. The shaft is open at top and bottom to allow a cooling air flow. Wire shelves inside the shaft hold food items.

Illustration from How To Live Without
Electricity and Like It by Anita Evangelista

Screens at top and bottom keep rodents out. These work best if they are built on interior rather than exterior walls. You can see a modern one in use at the Lewisham House and Farm blog.

DC (Direct Current) Refrigerators and Freezers

SunDanzer fridge or freezer.

These 12- or 24-volt appliances can be powered by solar, wind, fuel cells (hydrogen), or batteries; sources that deliver DC (direct current) electricity, as opposed to the alternating current (AC) we receive from the grid. They're pricey, however, ranging from $700 for a dorm-size 1.8-cubic-foot fridge or freezer, to $1600 for a 13-cubic-foot freezer or a 15-cubic-foot fridge. Solar panels or wind turbine and batteries not included.

Thermal mass refrigerator - From Earthship Volume 3 by Michael Reynolds.

Attribution: KVDP [CC BY-SA 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

It's designed around a DC refrigerator (above) run on solar panels. For the diagram key see the summary at Wikimedia Commons.

Solar ice maker - About ten years ago four engineering students at San Jose State University made a solar ice maker for about $100.

Solar ice maker. Photo © San Jose State University

It was an example of absorption chilling, not a new technology, but their project seemed to create a renewed interest in the process. Absorptive chillers use heat (like the sun) instead of a compressor. A refrigerant (like ammonia) is heated, cooled, and circulated to produce temperatures cold enough to make ice. Combine a solar ice maker with an ice box, and that would be a wonderful non-electric way to have refrigeration. I'm still looking for DIY plans. [UPDATE: How-to at Knowledgeable Ideas, although it's too big for an ordinary small family.]

The absorption refrigeration cycle was discovered in the mid-1800s by Ferdinand Carre. He invented and marketed the IcyBall around 1858 as a cooling device in homes.

IcaBall refrigerator. Graphic from the Crosley IcyBall Manual.

The device was sold during the 1920s and 30s, but apparently was discontinued when a number of them exploded. I suspect this was because it required the owner apply heat to activate it. Getting distracted for even a few moments could chance disaster! There's an interesting webpage on it's history here.

Solar Refrigerator - Was invented in the mid-1930s by Otto H. Mohr. It also uses absorption cooling technology, and was said to only need two hours of sunlight per day.

Source: Modern Mechanix Aug. 1935 issue. Click to enlarge.

Mr. Mohr received a patent for his design in 1940, but it doesn't seem to have ever made it into production.

Wood burning refrigerator -  Another example of absorption chilling.

Click to enlarge. Image from Mother
Earth News. Click here for full article.

Developed by Dale Degler (in the 1970s I think), he calls it an intermittent absorption refrigerator. It only needs a 20-minute fire every 24 hours! I'm not sure he ever actually made one, however.

There are other ideas out there, like propane and LP refrigerators and freezers, but I stuck with ideas that use renewable energy sources. I don't mind buying the materials to make and set up the system, but the idea is to not rely on buying the energy or fuel to run them.

Obviously not all of these ideas are applicable to Dan and me, but they do show how it's possible to preserve food without electricity. And they have kept me from being too discouraged after my solar pantry feasibility study.

Next → Solar Pantry Part 4: The Plan

Solar Pantry Part 3: Alternatives © Aug. 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Solar Pantry Part 1: Feasibility

One of our goals for 2019 is solar back-up for the refrigerator and freezer in my pantry. If we ever lost power for more than several days, I'd have to scramble to save what I could and lose the rest. In summer, a lengthy power outage would likely be due to hurricane damage or an intense lightning storm. In winter it would be from an ice storm. So far, we haven't lost power for long enough to worry about food stored in these appliances, but these scenarios are very real possibilities.

I got the idea for a solar pantry from a book I reviewed awhile back, Prepper's Total Grid Failure Handbook. (An excellent book; you can read my review here.) The authors bring solar energy down to a small-scale, realistic level for someone like me. My thinking has been that if I can at least have solar energy for my fridge and freezer, I won't have to worry about losing the food I have stored in them.

My first step was to measure how much electricity these appliances use. From that I would be able to calculate how many solar panels I'd need and how big to make my battery bank. To find that information I used a Kill-A-Watt meter.

Recording watts used by my 400-watt food dehydrator.
Obviously it's a good idea to check wattage for yourself

Recording kilowatt hours.

I measured each appliance separately and added them together. From that I learned:

• Refrigerator uses 2.6 kilowatt hours per day
• Freezer uses 1.6 kWh / day
• Total for both appliances is 4.2 kWh / day

Well, compared to my monthly electrical usage that didn't sound too bad. Then I started running the numbers.

We already have the solar panels. I found them on Craigslist about the time I reviewed Prepper's Total Grid Failure Handbook. They were leftover from a larger job, and we were able to get several new 345-watt Sunpower brand panels for $240 each. What I needed to know was how many panels I'd need and how to size a battery bank for several days of no sun. For that, I looked for an online calculator.

There are a number of online calculators for this, but I found that most of them are developed by businesses geared toward the brands and services they sell. They may give results as packages they offer, or want you to contact them to get the results. Wholesale Solar has one that I thought quite straightforward to use and gave me a ballpark estimate online. The most helpful step-by-step guide was at Preparedness Advice blog. I used both and my results from each were similar. However, what I discovered was quite dismaying.

Assuming I receive at least five hours of sunlight daily, here's what I'd need to make and store enough energy for three days of cloudy day use:

• 1.32 kilowatt size system
• 4, 345 watt solar panels
• 11, 200 amp-hour 12-volt batteries
• Or 8, 260 AH 12-volt batteries.

[NOTE: Batteries used for solar battery banks are deep cycle batteries, not cranking (starting) batteries. Deep cycle batteries are measured in amp hours (AH). This doesn't refer to actual time, because performance varies with conditions (such as temperature). Rather, AH is a way to compare the relative storage capacity of deep cycle batteries. The greater the amp hours, the longer they last before needing recharging.]

Back to my results. Discouraging because I would need more batteries than I assumed! Considering that 200 AH deep cycle batteries start at $350 for the cheaper ones (and 260 AH start at about $500), I have a budget problem. I only have $1500 for this project, and besides batteries I still need to get a charge controller and an inverter, plus all the miscellaneous items like racks, wiring, etc.

The pantry refrigerator, however, is an old one. Out of curiosity, I ran the numbers again with an Energy Star fridge. The following is based on the advertised energy rating and not my actual usage, which of course, could vary. I used an average estimate for low-end energy efficient refrigerators, and here's how the numbers changed:

• Energy★ fridge 0.94 kWh / day (Quite a significant drop!)
• Same freezer, 1.6 kWh / day
• Total for both appliances is roughly 2.6 kWh / day

Total usage for both is the same as my current fridge uses in one day!

For three day's electricity storage with that fridge I'd need:

• 0.8 kilowatt size system
• 3, 345 watt solar panels
• 7, 200 AH 12-volt batteries
• Or 5, 260 AH 12-volt batteries. 

As you can see, energy efficient appliances make a big difference! The cost of such a low-end fridge is about the same as a 260 AH battery, so if I had a bigger budget I could buy a new fridge and still save over $1500 on the batteries. But the budget is what it is, so at this point, feasibility is near impossible. However, that doesn't mean that the mental wheels stop turning. More on that in Solar Pantry Part 2: Analysis.

Solar Pantry Part 1: Feasibility © Aug. 2019

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Something I'm Glad I Recently Bought

Blogging this morning from the public library because our internet is down. Here's why -

What we woke up to Sunday morning.

After an inch of rain on Saturday, we got three inches of snow overnight. Plus, everything was coated with ice.

I dread ice worse than snow. While our northerly neighbors get snowed in under feet of snow, we get iced in by as little as a quarter inch of ice. It coats absolutely everything and makes it near impossible to drive (or walk) anywhere. It's not uncommon for tree branches to be so heavily laden with ice that they break and fall onto power lines. That can mean days or weeks without electricity.

These two pine trees didn't fall on power lines, but they fell on pasture fence!

What's interesting is that Dan was just talking about thinning out some
pines to mill into posts for his carport repair project. Here they are!

Fortunately, we only lost power for two hours. I know some areas in the Southeast are still without, so I'm thankful we didn't have it worse. Still, it made me glad I recently bought something that has been on my winter preparedness to-get list for several years - an Ecofan.

Top of the line AirMax 812 model

It sits on top of the woodstove and makes its own electricity from heat differences between the top and bottom of the fan (technical explanation here). It's a brilliant off-grid way to help circulate heat, because heat from a woodstove typically tends to stay in one room and be slow to move to other parts of the house. Our ceiling fans help with that, but when we lose power they're of no use. That's why I've had my eye on an Ecofan.

It's a bit pricey, however, so when I noticed a huge price drop for it on my Amazon wishlist, I thought, I can live with that. Most folks seem to agree that we're in for a severe winter, so it seemed prudent to finally invest in one. I clicked on the link and discovered that the nice price was for Prime members only. The rest of us would just have to pay the not-so-nice price (unless, of course, we wanted to join Amazon Prime, hint, hint).

That annoyed me. I immediately deleted the Ecofan from my wishlist and set off on a search for a better price. I found it too, at Tractor Supply. Fifteen dollars cheaper than Amazon's exclusive price and with free shipping to my home. I bought two.

So what do we think and how do we like it?

I'd hoped for a photo with blurred spinning
fan blades, but my camera wouldn't cooperate. 

Dan was dubious at first, but after using it for a week or so, we both agree that the house is warmer. And with smaller fires. We can position the fan to direct heat toward us, into the next room, or down the hall. That means that rooms which rarely benefit from woodstove heat are warmer than without the fan.

Whirling away on the back of the wood cookstove.

We still do other things to help the house stay warm: close off rooms that aren't in use, keep curtains closed unless the sun is hitting the windows, and open or close specific room doors to direct heat where we want it.

The only thing I wish I'd known before I bought it is that the Ecofan has a little motor which is recommended to be replaced every several years. Looking back over various web advertising, I can't find that information anywhere, but it was in the leaflet in the box. That's not a deal breaker, but it's disappointing because I'm not keen on things that need me to keep buying stuff for them. It would have been nice to know this beforehand, but that's the downside of shopping on the internet (and fodder for another soapbox).

Still, I'm happy to have another useful item crossed off my preparedness list. It's well made and has some heft to it, so in spite of the one downside, I would still recommend it. For the mechanically minded, here's a link for a DIY model.

A technician is coming out tomorrow to look at our modem, so hopefully, I'll be able to respond to comments and return blog visits soon.

 Something I'm Glad I Recently Bought © Dec 2018 
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/