Thank you Toddy, I am going to try thisBeeswax, good beeswax is hard. If you have good beeswax it's worth a try, but I suspect that the commercial ones for the lanterns have added Vybar or Stearic acid added to harden them further.
You don't need a lot, 4% is very adequate.
The wax mix needed is much like the stuff used for hurricane lantern candles. Again, they soak up and retain the heat, and the wax puddles....and drowns the wick if they get it wrong.
M
26 foot poles on a transit were bad enough!!!!Oh fab. I used to supply poles for some of the bigger tipis! Thinnings from the woodlands they were and a great way to see some lovely parts of the UK and meet some interesting folk.
26+ feet on the roof of a LWB Land Rover probably wasn’t quite legal……but great times.
S
A pic pls, though a tough situation still probably not as depressing as the ones we are getting from Ukraine.We live on a hill out of town safe from the water but cant go anywhere so we are now using the food we stored,
We are in the Northern Rivers NSW and big floods occur every few years but this one is not normal. Sorry dont know how to post pics, sun is out now but not far from here people are being evacuated, helicopters buzzing around pulling people off roofs. News from Ukraine is terrible, think I would be on the move heading West, lots of angry people with guns is something to avoidA pic pls, though a tough situation still probably not as depressing as the ones we are getting from Ukraine.
Sounds like a time to invent the boat. Sorry. I faintly recall that in Northern Oz there are regions where a yearly flood is expected.
Glad to hear that you are ok and doing well.I am in Australia surrounded by floods, the last time this occured I saw how quickly supermarkets emptied so have been preparing. Bought bags of rice, oats for porridge and various beans and stored them in drums to stop rodents getting them, also stocked up on tinned food: fish, beans, fruit etc, got a limited supply of uht milk other essentials and my medicines. When we had a glut of fruit or veg I made up jars of marmalade, fruit salad, chutneys etc and stored them.
Now we are in the middle of what they are calling a 500 year flood. We live on a hill out of town safe from the water but cant go anywhere so we are now using the food we stored, hopefully the water will go down soon.
Wherever you are it doesnt hurt to keep a stock of supplies for emegencies!
There's not much to see with my solar. Panels, wires to a little box, more wires to batteries. It's nothing like my neighbours set up, mine is just a few hundred watts. I run smaller panels to the 12V batteries running the electric fences too but they are just little 20W jobs trickle charging. Happy to answer any questions that you might have ( if I can of course).For those of you whom have solar power, solar thermal or wind power supply systems, I would be grateful to see your setups.
Cheers Gra
For those of you whom have solar power, solar thermal or wind power supply systems, I would be grateful to see your setups.
Cheers Gra
There's not much to see with my solar. Panels, wires to a little box, more wires to batteries. It's nothing like my neighbours set up, mine is just a few hundred watts. I run smaller panels to the 12V batteries running the electric fences too but they are just little 20W jobs trickle charging. Happy to answer any questions that you might have ( if I can of course).
My solar photovoltaic panels are vertical on my south wall. They don't function very well under a foot of snow so there's nopossibility of laying them to face the sky. In the house downstairs is the little charge controller, then the deep cycle 6VDC batteries. Plate area matters. The 6's are connected to give me 12VDC. They usually sit about 13.5VDC. Next comes the pure sine wave inverter, just 1.5kW.
One free outlet on the inverter. The other feeds a line to the upstairs kitchen where I have installed a quad outlet box on an out-of-the-way corner wall.
That's it.
I need to go downstairs and push one button on the inverter. The scrolling display shows V, A, consumption and time.
Back upstairs, I'll put the kettle on.
Some of these questions need a lot of information to answer. Let's start withThank you, at the moment I am unsure just how much is enough, or good enough in relation to solar power generation and battery storage.
My home is pretty much a blank sheet, and just a shell, so in a way fortunate in designing it ourselves, so along side a 240v system, was thinking of a direct 12v system for led lights through out and power points.
So one of the questions, is to run dedicated 12v, in addition occasional 240v inverter use, how many 12v batteries would be recommended.
Also 12v versus 24v batteries, which would you recommend?
Pictures of your solar battery storage / plant room would be of interest, to help me design mine.
.
This is all good advice! My one addition, if considering a generator as well as solar for heavy use ( e.g. washing machine) is to give propane a thought. It stores pretty much forever, comes in safe bulk tanks that cost very little to install ( and can also run on cylinders) and burns cleanly. You can also easily re-jet cookers to propane so you have taken care of your cooking draw. Obviously have a wood stove as well but a propane cooker is handy in Summer.- if you have a semi permanent diesel generator utilize the waste heat from coolant, easy and cheap to make, adds quite a lot to your efficiency
Thank you, I need to sit down and work out the usage and get back to you.Some of these questions need a lot of information to answer. Let's start with
1) Is your system intended for a backup to mains power for a few critical items or a replacement for grid power On a day to day basis?
2) Do you anticipate having other sources of heating?
3) What is the daily, maximum, consumption of your intended setup in kWh?
4) What is your planned peak consumption in terms of Watts?
These questions are vital if planning a "whole house" system. Some items draw power steadily (lighting), some use a surge of power then settle down (freezers), some use a lot of fluctuating power (washing machines), some just consume huge amounts of power (kettles, fan heaters).
If you run a washing machine a lot, you need to both generate and store a lot of power. If you use a kettle occasionally, you need a big inverter, decent storage, but not necessarily huge panels.
That's the best bet, using it for light's and consumer electronics costs a fraction of using it for everything. Try to get one of those usage monitors ( you don't need a smart meter).Thank you, I need to sit down and work out the usage and get back to you.