larry kidd

Keep in mind most places here in Virginia require 3-5 acres minimum if there is NO access to public water and sewer.

Catie George wrote:Merriam Webster defines resilience as :
“an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”

Is there anything that you, personally, could do, with a $200 (or $1000) budget that would increase your long term resilience?

I’m interested in how you would spend it on yourself, in your current circumstances, rather than how you think someone else should spend that money.

More “personal reflection” than “general advice”. It’s is a “what remains on your wishlist/to do list” question.

It could be a physical item, hiring someone to do something, preventative maintenance, investing in learning.... or better yet, something I haven’t thought of.

I'd take a minute and see how spending it would provide the best long term ROI. That may mean getting rid of an interest payment or paying my insurance ahead or getting some new seeds or livestock. Each individual would have to decide what would be the best for them at the moment to improve their overall circumstances.

Something I've learned about solar power that I haven't seen documented or herd of anywhere. Is temperature soak in hot weather when the panels are perpendicular to the sun. I have found in my personal use that being 15ish degrees off is better than being dead on as the panels don't get as hot and actually "seem" to produce more power. to truly test this one would need two sets of identical panels set at differing angles with thermometers to know if this is fact or fiction.

One thing I can state for a fact is that the only time I've seen my panels produce 100% or 100+% is in sub freezing weather. I have seen approximately 105% charging in sub freezing weather on super sunny winter days.

I was 14  from Virginia to Michigan and back alone so  40 years years ago when I last flew  outside of private planes and copters. Which were also in my late teens. So I haven't been in the air in any shape or form for nearly 40 years.

Once the material starts tearing as I put things on or especially once they are dirty / wet and shred as I try to remove.

Jackie Lei wrote:Hey everyone — quick question for the RV folks here 🙏

Has anyone here actually used LiFePO4 batteries in RV setup? I’m planning an upgrade and deciding between going with one 600Ah battery or two 300Ah batteries in parallel, and I’m a bit stuck on which way is smarter in real-world use.

I’m looking at these two options:
one unit 12V 600Ah battery
two units 12V 300Ah mini size battery (would run two in parallel)

On paper both setups seem workable, but I’d really like to hear from people with hands-on experience — things like reliability, wiring complexity, redundancy, performance, or any regrets after choosing one way over the other.

Any advice or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot for your time!

Have you used a power system of this type at all? 600AH @12V is NOT enough power to run AC overnight. With a total of 600 AH @12V gives you about 5000-6000 useable watt hours and even less if you want maximum life out of them. You need more volume and you really need to consider a better voltage 12v is going to run HOT with those kinds of loads.

Just my $0.02 then again I've been living with or on batteries / solar over 18 years now......

Les Frijo wrote:

larry kidd wrote:I set up a grow tent and having things growing in the house all winter really helps on cold winter days. I sit beside the tent with the door open and it's like being outside in the spring on a nice sunny day.

Midwestern winters would be waaaaay longer without growing things indoors. Just make sure the grow lights you choose produce the UV light you want and need and then stay indoors if need be.

I just using 4000k shop lights.

My homemade potting soil is a grand slam! It's been just over 30 days and the growth rate is explosive! I'm seeing a weeks growth in about 48 hours. I've added nothing but water and a little molasses. When I say a little I mean less than a cup total across everything, that's all I had on hand. lol Oh and I'm not even using grow lights just cheap UFO style shop lights.

I set up a grow tent and having things growing in the house all winter really helps on cold winter days. I sit beside the tent with the door open and it's like being outside in the spring on a nice sunny day.

Les Frijo wrote:

larry kidd wrote:EVE cells from the 18650 battery store or whoever has the current best price. Quality cells versus unknown cells from whoever.

Thanks for the recommendation. I wouldn't have known that EVE cells were any good.

It seems like a big project for what I'm looking for and this seems like it might be all I need and hard to beat in price. With a 5 year warranty it might be worth taking a risk. Assuming I'll be able to get ahold of the company if anything were to go wrong. It's cheaper than a deep cell AGM or lead acid.

Super Empower 12V 100AH LiFePO4

Hope you have better luck than I have IF warranties are needed! I didn't think much about warranties until I called a couple of them in and found out they weren't worth the paper they were printed on!!! Since then I'd rather handle things myself.