New view

[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]

This next picture shows what is wrong.
We had a bit of a northerly breeze last night.

[motto (RIP)]

You've not only got to hold them up, you've also got to hold them down.
A friend had the same thing happen at Guyra. The implements were huddled together on their own and the shed flattened out on the paddock some distance away with the concrete footings still on the ends of the posts.

David

[Euan McDonald]

I can see Keith doing a border raid to recover his cab 12.
That's not what you need at this time of year. Good luck!

[hrpearce]

The shed was going to be partially dissembled this winter to add new stronger posts, my plans may now need changing.
The good news is the blitz was untouched, the bad news the header is now outside and it has many moving parts made of wood and canvas.
It took a while to get close to the blitz as it was well guarded by angry paper wasps.