All About Batteries

Off grid homes, RV's, and boats use a house bank, a bank of batteries used to store the energy from solar, wind, and backup generators for times of no sun or no wind. These are not car batteries, these are specially designed deep cycle batteries that can handle repeated deep discharge and charge cycles. Learn about the following and more from Living With 12vdc and Wiring For 12vdc, on the Ample Power CD at http://www.green-trust.org/products/ What happens inside a battery when it discharges and
charges?How much energy can be stored?How is storage capacity measured?How can capacity remaining be determined?When is the best time to recharge?What charging techniques yield optimum performance?How fast can a battery be charged?How should a battery be discharged?What kind of regular maintenance is required?What pitfalls must be avoided?

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The Worms Arrive

Our vermiposting red worms arrived today. Now our composting project kicks into high gear. The beds are ready, kitchen craps have been collected, and compost will be ready for spring. Read more at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

Our veggie oil burner also arrived, so the used fryer oil to hot water project begins. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/.

The parts for our home made generator / battery charger arrived today as well. You can read more about that at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/diy_generator/

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The Homebrew Power CD

After the huge Server Upgrades here at HomeBrewPower we have finally got around to recompiling our CD Rom that was previously available only in hard copy for $20.00 + P&P.

The Entire contents have been recompiled, tweaked and buffered and made available for download for what we think is a VERY fair price of $5.00.

To purchase the package just visit our homepage http://www.homebrewpower.co.uk/ and click on the purchase link. Your personal download link will be emailed to you soon as funds have landed. (Usually within 10 minutes!)

I know there were quite a few wanting the CD Rom in the past, well now I think you can finally have one.

Kind regards

Andy Mahoney

Home Brew Power

(Off-Grid Power Installer - UK)

http://www.homebrewpower.co.uk/

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Why Compost With Worms?

As we progress on our worm composting project, many folks have asked us why we are doing this. We really thought the questions would be how, so we pause to give a few reasons why this should be done, then you can have fun with the how.

We need a high quality fertilized soil for growing our food. Food scraps are too valuable to throw out in the trash. It's too cold out in our winters to compost outdoors. It's educational for the kids to learn how our world works.

Up to 50% of our waste stream is organics that can be composted. Composting alleviates the strain on the public waste system, and provides soil enhancers that go far beyond the capability of chemical fertilizers.

Read what others have to say about this inexpensive and fun hobby, and visit http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/ to participate in our project:

Many homeowners have some kind of home composting system in operation. However, people living in condominiums, apartments and other residences don’t have a suitable place to start a compost pile. These people feel left out on a worthwhile cause, and need alternative ways to be part of the composting program.

There is a solution! Kitchen wastes can be converted to a rich humus with the help of redworms. Children find worms fascinating. They are very well behaved "pets," and also help with household chores!

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm

Worm composting is using worms to recycle food scraps and other organic material into a valuable soil amendment called vermicompost, or worm compost. Worms eat food scraps, which become compost as they pass through the worm's body. Compost exits the worm through its' tail end. This compost can then be used to grow plants. To understand why vermicompost is good for plants, remember that the worms are eating nutrient-rich fruit and vegetable scraps, and turning them into nutrient-rich compost.

http://www.css.cornell.edu/compost/worms/basics.html

Let worms eat your organic waste! They will happily turn it into some of the best fertilizer on earth - worm compost, otherwise known as worm castings or vermicompost. This is a fascinating, fun, and easy way to recycle your organic kitchen wastes. Worm composting, or vermiculture, requires very little work, produces no offensive odors, and helps plants thrive. Only a few things are needed to make good worm compost: a bin, bedding, worms, and worm food. By following the steps listed below, you will learn to make, take care of, and use your own worm compost.

http://earth911.org/blog/2007/04/02/composting-with-worms/

It's simple. The worms are kept in a bin with shredded paper or other biodegradable bedding. You feed them food waste. They digest the waste and bedding then excrete nutrient-rich castings. After a few months, the castings combined with the well-decomposed bedding, become vermicompost -- one of the richest soil improvements around. It will do wonders for plants, flowers, fruit trees and garden vegetables. And, anglers will appreciate having a steady supply of worms on hand.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/compost2.htm

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Agrichar - Soil Productivity Magic Bullet?

The huge potential of agricultural soils to reduce greenhouse gases and increase production at the same time has been reinforced by new research findings at NSW Department of Primary Industries’ (DPI) Wollongbar Agricultural Institute.

Trials of agrichar - a product hailed as a saviour of Australia’s carbon-depleted soils and the environment - have doubled and, in one case, tripled crop growth when applied at the rate of 10 tonnes per hectare.

Agrichar is a black carbon byproduct of a process called pyrolysis, which involves heating green waste or other biomass without oxygen to generate renewable energy.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/updates/issues/may-2007/soils-offer-new-hope

http://www.abc.net.au/science/broadband/catalyst/asx/Agrichar_hi.asx

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DIY Generator Project

Our generator project is progressing. We have a 10hp B&S OHV engine, a GM 108 amp alternator, and are awaiting a bracket and pulley to be delivered. We are constructing a 3 stage charger to maintain our deep cycle battery bank, with appropriate instrumentation.

More info at http://www.green-trust.org/ebooks/.

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Heating and Cooking, on the cheap!

Do you have a small cabin, camp, or just want to be a bit more self sufficient? Here's what we are playing with. The military used to use these tent heaters. They can heat a small space, and be used for cooking. What makes them particularly neat, is that they are multi fuel. They will burn wood or coal, plus they can burn liquid fuels from diesel and kerosene, to gasoline and alcohol. Here's the best news, THEY WILL BURN USED FRYER OIL. Yes, the waste vegetable oil that your Italian or Chinese restaurant throws away after frying your food, is a fuel source. We even use it in our diesel engines. Imagine producing your own electricity in a fryer fueled generator. We do this here at Green-Trust. Learn more about these stoves at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/.

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Free Book Download: Much Ado About Almost Nothing

2007, Hans Camenzind

This is the story of the electron. 3,000 years ago the tiny particle caused nothing but fear and superstition whenever it appeared. Its perception by man changed slowly as a few heretics dared to investigate. Then man discovered the "Leyden Jar", a gadget which produced a vicious electrical shock, to the amusement of the experimenters and kings.

Discover a new side of Benjamin Franklin as an unlikely scientist in an unlikely place, who stunned the European establishment by discovering fundamental principles and thus opened the field to other people. People like Luigi Galvani (who drew the wrong conclusions), Alessandro Volta (who corrected him and ruined his life), André Ampere, an emotional mathematician, and Georg Ohm, who discovered the basic law of electricity but presented it so badly that he was ignored.

Read more at:

http://www.historyofelectronics.com/

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Florida's Diesel Electric Hybrid Buses

A buddy of mine, Ron Morrison, grabbed a shot of this Diesel Electric Hybrid bus.

Farther away from the beach I saw this city bus. Hybrid diesel-electric. It was really quiet zooming away from a stoplight & was hitting 40 mph. I had to wait till both of us caught a stoplight for me to hop out of my car to take this picture.

More info can be found at http://www.scgov.net/PublicCommunications/MediaRelations/documents/HybridBusFactSheet8-06.pdf.

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Solar Homes & Solar Collectors

Solar energy is our birthright like the air we breathe or the water we drink. Solar Home Plans and affordable Solar Hot Water Plans are the gateway into a "Solar Age" of energy independence. Fossil fuels are no longer necessary to keep the wheels of civilization turning. Build your own solar heating system with an MTD Solar Collector Kit. Explore the Strawberry Fields Book Store for more information. Alternative energies like solar energy will increase in value as fossil fuel prices escalate. Solar collectors, solar hot water systems, heat storage vaults, photovoltaic electricity, solar panels, solar greenhouses and solar house plans will become more important in this century. According to Buckminster Fuller "We have wondered too far from the roots." An energy crisis can only be avoided only if we learn to rely on a diffuse, sustainable resource like the sun. .

http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/

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Watermotor - Simple Mechanical Drive

Most of the common machines used in workshops, industry, and farms are driven by motors of only .5 - 5 horsepower. The Watermotor will produce this amount of power at an extremely low cost and with a minimum of ecological disruption.

High energy efficiency means that the quantity of water necessary for operation and cost of installation is greatly reduced, while on the other hand the number of actual locations where waterpower on this scale is available increases exponentially. In effect, every small fast-flowing stream becomes an important local energy resource, perhaps in many cases the only practical one available. In the world's hilly and mountainous areas there are often few roads and even fewer electric power-lines. While frequently rich in small scale water-power resources, the people are poor.

The Watermotor is a practical means of utilizing one of the easiest to use and most efficient sources of natural energy.

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Fire damages round house

A unique Jefferson County home (http://www.woodhenge.org/), celebrated for its eco-friendly design, was damaged by fire Sunday afternoon.

No one was home at the residence of Jim and Krista Juczak at 14910 Fuller Road in the Town of Adams when the fire was reported to Jefferson County Emergency Dispatch at 1:26 p.m.

The round-shaped home, constructed of concrete and face logs is one of the more famous abodes in the area, having been the subject of various broadcast and print reports as well as host to tours for educational groups.

Mr. Juczak said he believed the blaze originated as a chimney fire and that most of the damage probably resulted from smoke and water. The structure is insured.

Firefighters from Adams, Adams Center and Town of Watertown were at the scene.

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Low current LED Lighting

We recently got a line on these 110vac LED light strips. Containing 198 LED's, 5mm in size, the strip consumes 11 watts and outputs almost 700 lumens. They sell for $25 delivered in the lower 48 states. Get them at http://www.green-trust.org/products/.

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Multi Fuel Burner - Heat / Cook with Veggie Oil

We have a bunch of used but good condition 45k btu heaters (Military Surplus M1941) coming in that will burn a multitude of liquid fuels, like kerosene, diesel, used fryer oil, etc. This is a DIY Tinker type item, not a ready to run appliance. Can be installed in an existing wood stove or drum (We have the original wood/coal stove for these oil kit inserts available for $115). These sell for $50 delivered in the USA (lower 48), and we are working out a quantity drop ship to the UK for local delivery. For USA customers, send steve@green-trust.org an email, for EU customers, send a email to andy@homebrewpower.co.uk

We have a digitized manual available at http://www.green-trust.org/Alaskan%20Oil%20Heater/ and a discussion group for this device at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/m1941/

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