New view

[hrpearce]

The boys helped me replace six stumps under the lounge room and one under the front varandah today. The job is much easier with help than by yourself as I was when I did the bedroom.

[Keith Webb]

Two things go through my mind... redback spiders and brown snakes. Oh, and no quick escape.

Originally Posted by hrpearce

The boys helped me replace six stumps under the lounge room and one under the front varandah today. The job is much easier with help than by yourself as I was when I did the bedroom.

[hrpearce]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Two things go through my mind... redback spiders and brown snakes. Oh, and no quick escape.

Keith you are starting to sound like those wimpy Canadians

[Mike Cecil]

Ian, yes, the joys of counting in nice even tens!! Not so anymore; had to dredge the memory banks to the 'premetric' era of my (very young) youth, and then adapt for some US deviations from Imperial, like those funny US Gallons!

But we deviate too much.....

A nice heated shed floor for winter and reverse cycle air con for summer would be magic in any climate!

Mike C

[hrpearce]

More concreting after work today, will it ever end.

[hrpearce]

I used my Christmas bonus this year to buy the rest of the lights for the BBQ area. I took advantage of a wet day to stay undercover and wire the lights.
four 10 wat LED spots light up a 6x6 metre area nicely. So with the four 12 Wat LED's up the other end we are lighting 6x12 metres with 88 wats.

[hrpearce]

I just finished the last edge poor the next lot will come in a truck

[hrpearce]

I have been researching alternative power for quite a number of years. I went to a field day about 30 years ago and then wind sounded attractive but the cost of the tower to put the turbine on was beyond me. Next I looked into hydro it was promising but flood proofing was a problem. Until recently solar was too expensive to consider, that changed in the last couple of years, just hope it lives up to the sails pitch.

[Private_collector]

Hippie!

No, seriously, it makes good sense. You should notice a pleasant change in your future electricity bills. We had little choice but to get a stand alone system, because when we had the house built in 2007 the power poles hadntrcome this far down our road, though i could see the last of the poles from my veranda. Instead of paying over $28,000 to have the network extend to us, the decision was made to buy a full 'remote' system, and although it came close to the same cost (after rebates), we don't regret the choice. We run off our own power 6 days a week, and I only switch across to network power on Sundays. That's the day we do anything that requires high-drain appliances. The solar system is quite sufficient to allow full use of lighting, pump, refrigeration, computer/s, TV, grinder, etc... The washing machine doesn't like running off power from our batteries, because the sine wave of that is slightly different, and it's little computer brain doesn't appreciate it. Also, other high wattage appliances like vacuum cleaner and my workshop equipment would either run poorly or drain the power stored, very quickly. That's Ok though. I don't mind paying approximately 1/7 of what would be a 'normal' power bill. In fact, when the govt made the decision to remove the ambulance levy from all electricity bills, our power costs halved! While I was on long service leave in Jan/Feb this year, I did a few full days of using things like air compressor or MIG welder. That was one of the very few occasions when our quarterly electricity bill reached $100 or thereabouts. The batteries need to be monitored at least every couple of months, to be sure the elecrtolyte levels are topped up. More often in summer, naturally. All it takes is a bit of demineralised water and 5 minutes of your time. I should note that our hot water system is solar, with gas boosting, and all our heating is gas also, so those two areas which would normally would chew through electricity, dont make much of a dent in our supply. I do have a wind turbine too, but because of an error by the supplier, it is only used for recharging of 12v batteries. I had requested a 24 volt turbine, and received 12 volt instead. My battery bank is 24 volt, so 12 volt isn't much use there.

Although I don't regret the decision (had no choice, really), I wouldn't expect that we are anywhere near breaking even on the initial setup cost. It does amuse me when power outage occurs on the grid, and I stand on the front steps and see no other lights on in the entire area......except ours!

If anyone dared to suggest I would have alternative power supply, a decade of so ago, I would recommend they receive a psychiatric assessment, but here we are, reaping the benefits of alternative energy sources. Bless the tree-huggers! They were right......in this instance.

[hrpearce]

What is wrong with this picture?

[Bob Carriere]

..... and a nice butt end view of something CMP like!!!!

[hrpearce]

A slight change to the view again today

[Private_collector]

How much have you got there, Rob?

Is it Grid Connect, or Stand Alone?

[hrpearce]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

How much have you got there, Rob?

Is it Grid Connect, or Stand Alone?

Tony, it's 4.5 kwh, 18 panels, grid connected. I can't afford the batteries for stand alone. The panels and invertor will take forty months to pay off.

[Private_collector]

Who would have thought 20 years ago that so many of us would have solar panels on our roof. Back then, you would have been considered odd to go down that track.

It seems the hippies were right, and way ahead of their time, eh!