• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
In the most recent podcasts from Paul, he and Alan Booker essentially sent out a call for help from the public to advance the "experiment" with the Willow Feeder (WF) model. A primary concern expressed by Alan was to see if WFs in various climates would produce similar Returns On Investment as have been seen from deposits made at the Willow Candy Warehouse at Wheaton Labs.

I'm not aware of a fully comprehensive resource describing a complete build of a WF, or laying out the various design considerations that present options a builder would want to consider. This ain't exactly Rocket Science, but it would still be good to have a document that approaches the comprehensiveness of ones for RMHs as done by Ianto Evans or the Wisners.

I'd like to maintain this thread as a clearinghouse for questions and answers about the pesky little details that would prevent or stall various efforts to complete and maintain a Willow Feeder operation by inspired Permies. I started planning out a system for my land last year and have a few such issues that are making the process seem like a much more difficult undertaking than it seems it should be.

1) Pressurizing the Candy Chamber
2)
COMMENTS:
 
pioneer
Posts: 807
Location: Inter Michigan-Superior Woodland Forest
129
5
transportation gear foraging trees food preservation bike building solar writing woodworking wood heat
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The greatest hurdle I've had trouble moving past in design thoughts has been how to engineer the negative air pressure in the 'candy chamber'. Obviously it is based around an exhaust pipe extending from the chamber to the exterior of the building. Options used at Wheaton Labs to generate the negative pressure have been battery fans and trombe walls.

The trouble I am having at the conceptual stage is how to create the air tightness in that chamber to allow pressure to build and draw up the exhaust. Can dimensional lumber alone be utilized with tight enough tolerances, or does it require some sort of liner? It seems a rear access door that would be used to cycle the bins in and out would be particularly difficult to construct to form and maintain a seal, such a large, unfixed plane being prone to warping over time.

The other part of this equation is the air intake. Does this need to be strategically placed? Is the gap around the access door the default intake? I would guess that the system would perform best if the exhaust were at one end of the chamber and the intake at the other to ensure flow over and around the bin(s). Would it work to have an air intake from the interior of the feeder to help cycle fresh air into the occupied area?

A related issue is air around the seat access. I recall the WL Feeders have regular seats that have been altered to sit flush with the surface of the candy chamber top such that they form an air seal while in the closed position.
 
Do Re Mi Fa So La Tiny Ad
Freaky Cheap Heat - 2 hour movie - HD streaming
https://permies.com/wiki/238453/Freaky-Cheap-Heat-hour-movie
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic