energy saving projects around the homestead..

spring is here and dilligaf has been going crazy building raised beds and getting ready for the rest of this years planting,but this thread aint about her..:jester:

ive been bein productive as well dont you worry..
a couple weekends ago i built this milking stand for dilligaf.







something we were in need of as with the smaller goats she was having to lay down to milk them lol. not anymore.



heres a link to the plans i winged it by if anyone is interested..

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1980-01-01/A-Goat-Milking-Stand.aspx




including taring the feet and water sealing it it took about 6 hours to do.


that project sent me on a project frenzy.

 

next i built a solar food dehydrator.something else we have been in need of.

this is i suppose you would call it a convection solar dehydrator/bread rising contraption as you can put water below the tray and use it as a place to let your bread rise.



the bottom chamber has black plastic on bottom as you can see.

]

there are holes drilled at the bottom and the top of the chamber to allow airflow,as the chamber heats up hot air is forced into the dehydration chamber where it circulates through and gos out the vent in the top.

the tray is lined with screen and is about 6 inches above the bottom of the dehydrating chamber,the chamber bottom is black plastic as well.



i have LOTS more of the same size trays so i can build frames out of 2x4's and just stack them as high as needed then cover with the top.


this project took about 4 hours,i got the plans from this site,

http://www.i4at.org/surv/soldehyd.htm

the plans were for cardboard but i wanted something more permanent so i used wood.

the other plan i considered was this one,

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/plans/6244.pdf
i just feel that the one i made will be more efficient.

so thats what ive been into..
anyone else like building things? do you have any projects you would like to share? please feel free an show us what youve created.
we would love to see..

 

well work was,, pretty much non existent for a while,so i decided if im not working i may as well do something constructive towards our sustainability while i can still afford power for power tools lol,,..

so i decided on a plan,, well i came up with one in my head drawing on all ive learned from websites and got the solar oven approximately 80% complete its is a closed box type made of wood large enough for a standard oven rack to fit in. im going to put it on a old industrial pulley wheel assembly i have,so that we can easily rotate it to track the sun.

the reflective shields im using seem to work well. i rough fit them and with no top on it the temp quickly went over 115 with a digital thermometer so i yanked it off. i didnt wanna fuck it up..lol

i think im going to be quite pleased with this project when its complete..

 

heres a pic of our trial run with the dehydrator,bananas,carrots and mushrooms.we wanted to see how it did with a variety of moisture contents and the bottom line is it works GREAT!!



heres a pic of the solar oven im working on,as you can see the things HUGE,, i plan on lining as much as possible with insulation before the final placement of the reflectors.when i get them in place where i want them the inside space will be aprox. 32x24. that is ample room for 3 or 4 pots so there is no need for 1 pot meals.


when i am done its going to be sitting on the pulley you see so as i said we can easily rotate it with the sun.
the frame you see is the frame im going to hinge and use for the top. we have greenhouse plastic im going to use instead of glass.



when im done all total besides a coat of paint on the outside i shouldnt have more than 10 bucks in this project as i used all salvaged materials that i had around here.

i put our stove thermometer out in it and it hit 200 F no problem.. i see no reason why it shouldnt be able to heat up to 300,325 at least when im done with it..

 

both the solar oven and dehydrator are now complete and they both work great..


heres the finished solar oven,it has been as high as 300 F today and its partly cloudy at best so i would say its has met my expectations.



as i said earlier in the thread i mounted it on the old pulley so it can be rotated to maximize the suns energy all day long.


i have since painted the oven flat black to hold the heat better.

if anyone is interested in a good book on homesteading, what i recommend to people is back to basics by readers digest,i call it the beginner homesteaders bible..

 

well the weathers been wonderful and ive been staying busy with projects.i got the rabbit hutches done,helped dilligaf put in a really sweet granite raised bed(the kind of chunks that line graves).
my latest project is a brick/cast iron grill and oven..

this one has been going very slow as i am basically designing it as i go.
i had a old home comfort stove that had deteriorated to where the only real usable things were the fire box lining,the cast iron top and the oven door so everything has had to be designed around what i salvaged..

im really happy with its progress thus far and im becoming increasingly confident that when its finished it will work wiz bang..

 

heres some pics of the grill and stove project,.

please keep in mind that almost all materials are salvaged and i am working with what i have to work with.
that is the reason i decided to build it up against the retaining wall.im going to be very close on the number of bricks i have around here.

so far my total investment has been 3 bags of mortar mix and 4, 4 foot pieces of 3/8 inch rebar, a grand total of 19 bucks.

so i started out getting me a good level and square spot up against the wall and poured me a lil foundation..



then i went to laying brick. the smoke will exit from the grill into the oven chamber before continuing on to the chimney..



when i got to where the grill will be placed i put a piece of rebar about every 8 inches under the cook top for extra support. as you can see everything was then leveled up and put in place.

 

heres the grill top in its final place. it needs a good cleaning,the seam in the middle sealed then re seasoned with cookingoil and heat and she will be as good as new..




as you can see from these pictures i lined the fire box of the oven with the cast iron tiles from the cook box of the old stove.this will help to even out and hold heat in the chamber.



if youll notice in the pictures the smoke will go under the oven chamber and up and out through the back to the chimney.



the theory is for a low heat in the stove the exiting smoke from the cook top side should provide enough heat and for higher temps one can shovel coals into the ovens fire box directly.

 

this picture is where the oven bottom is going to set. i was able to save that and the cooking grate from the old stove as well..



from here i have to build my door frame and begin building the oven chamber.

i know shes a bit ugly to look at at the moment,and i dont imagine shes gonna be all that pretty when shes done as i am not a mason by trade but i am confident she will work as designed.

 

next thing i did was to plumb and square the frame for the door and brace it in place.
then i went to laying brick.tying every course to the frame with some brick ties i made out of a old tin gutter.


i just continued up till i reached the top of the frame.




i was very pleased at how close it all matched up.

 

if you look close you can see where i off set the back brick line at the bottom coarse and set a piece of brick on either side out enough to support the grate. also you can see where i laid rebar across the front opening .



from the back you can see where i bent the brick tied around the rebar.
the chimney will have to be offset at this point so i can incorporate the last cook top from the old stove into the top of the oven.at this point i used another piece of flashing over the rebar spanning the door to give me a base for my mortor.




as you can see the piece of cooktop is much narrower than the top of the oven so i am having to cantilever the bricks to compensate for the difference. the bricks in the oven are just for support of the cantilever till it dries then they will be removed.

 

almost forgot ,,the hinges on the door.



its all takin shape,i should finish it by the end of next weekend.
we are really anxious and excited to try it out.



and thats how i left it,,till my fingers heal..



will post more as i progress,once again.. thanks for lookin all..

 

i have been contemplating incorporating a cool smoke smoker into the exhaust of the chimney when i finish the oven and grill.
i have a old refrigerator that im thinking i may be able to flip upside down on the back side of the retaining wall and exhaust the smoke from the grill/oven into and through it thus creating a cool smoke smoker for meat preservation.

i am however not sure that the height constraints are going to allow that.
if not i also have a old cast iron fireplace insert that i can incorporate into a plan like they used in the old days..

the concept would be that i bury the old insert a few feet from the smoker/refrigerator,run a exhaust pipe underground a few feet into the bottom of the fridge and let the smoke exhaust out the top.

im considering burying the smoker into the bank outside the house for temperature consistency if i go this route.
does anyone have any experience building and designing a smoker such as this?
any tips would be appreciated as the thought of keeping 85 degree smoke going for a week is a bit frightening when looking at the potential loss of meat if not done properly.

 

Hey, hello & howdy from this side of the Kudzu Patch...

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess y'all are going to love the dehydrator. You might want to make a second one. I have 4 of them. Two "store bought" ones that I scrounged for free, one I built like your's and another real big one that uses lots of solar heat and a 20 inch box fan. When it's the end of the garden season or the shiitake mushrooms are fruiting heavy, I have all 4 going. [Y'all might want to look into growing shiitake for yourselves & for market, make much $$$$, during the cool/wet times of the year when little else is. Healthy, tastes great & easy]. Anyway, dig around on the web & you'll find lots of ways to prepare meat using the dehydrator... beef, goat, deer & rabbit. Making jerky mostly, takes 6 to 8 hours at 150 degrees.

Solar hot water heater is also a project I did several years ago & has I'm sure saved me a ton of $$$. Of course I also use my solar powered clothes dryer (some call it a clothsline). I also have a lot of info about using solar power to pump water out of anything from a pond to 200 feet underground. Real simple, fairly cheap, uses NO batteries or inverters. Let me know if you're interested.

This year (so far) my biggest project has been water saving rather than energy saving. I've been adding to my drip irrigation system. I started building on it a few years ago, adding more as I can each year. Last year it really made a huge difference with my blackberries especially.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

i dunno if i said but i have oodles of the drying trays for the dehydrator. i figure i can just build frames and stack them on up.i like the idea of incorporating a small fan for added air flow. ill have to see just how well it does come late summer..

couple years back we were offerred a bunch of logs already inoculated with shitakes.. hell they had been producing for years..
the people never did bring them over,found out later they just left them at th house they were renting.. pissed me off but oh well.

we have discussed a couple options on the solar water heater. what method do you use?
also,yes im very interested in the solar water pumps,any info on that would be appreciated as well..

have a great day..

 

I'm working on a drawing of what I did for the water heater and putting the water pumping info together.

Peace,
poor_old_dad

 

that solar dehydrator is awesome! im absolutly making one, thanks so much for the links. i cant wait to dry berries and tomatoes....
i dont have a water heater (not a working one anyway lol), ive just been using the extra water from making tea to wash dishes with and i have japanese baths or shower elsewhere, but one project i want to get done this year is a solar shower and an outdoor sink/counter with solar hot water for washing dishes.
ive already filled all available ground (next to nothing) with raised no dig beds. i would have liked to use the soil thats there but its like 90% cedar needles so ive been packing in soil and compost. i get seaweed for free off the beach though.
theres an abandoned house with a flattish roof in front of my cabin and i want to make a container garden on the roof, so theres another project that will slowly come together as my seedlings mature.
i like your milking stand and your little pygmy (or dwarf?) goat. i made a milking stand for my toggenburg/nubian that was pretty similar to yours. her kid was a dwarf cross. the stand sure comes in handy for trimming feet

 

Can't get most of the pics on the end of the first page, and the second page to open. What I can see of the cookstove is awesome for what you have in it. From the pics I see, it seems like you have the perfect setup for a small smoker. If you could add a door and suspend a small hook or two in the stack...maybe you did, like I said, I can't get most of the pics to open. Thanks for posting this though, I'm going to keep it in my little resource library to build someday.

Peace

 

im REALLY sorry about the missing pics.
i somehow had them disappear out of my gallery.
put a post in user support but had no reply on why..

i have finished the grill/oven and we have used it since friday evening .
it works like a charm,although the oven takes a bit more fuel to heat up properly than i would have hoped..

i will go through and reload the pics to my gallery and repost them sometime today..
thanks for your interest..

 

O.K.

i think most of the pictures are now back in the thread..
and here is the final installment of the grill/oven pics.

thursday i made the doors for the fireboxes out of 2x10. i flashed one side to protect the wood somewhat from the heat and put handles on them.



i got home early friday and finished the top,i laid flashing over the cantilevered bricks,reinforced it with rebar,laid a slab of mortar and set the warming plate in place,then i just ran another couple course's of brick for the chimney .


that was it, i set the door in place and she was complete except for the seasoning of the cast iron on the grill top and the warming plate.