Tommy Bolin

Some of my thoughts.

permies.com/t/357816/Replaced-lead-acid-batteries-LifePO#3462378

I have 1500+-ah of series/parallel 24 volt L-16 type lead acid US Batteries. No grid here anywhere close.
Looking at Battle Born's website, for American tech, I would likely need about 15,000USD worth of heated batteries, to replace them. Mine cost, in 2023, about 2600USD through Oasis Montana, no sales tax, picked them up in Missoula, no freight.
LA batteries, for all their apparent shortcoming are:
Stone
Axe
Simple.
....and pretty dang heavy.
Been around for well over a hundred years. I'm not sure I want a battery that takes it's own brain to function, even if that brain is American made.
We leave our home 4-6 weeks in the early winter, the temps inside get down to about 10F.  Therefore the self heating batteries. Our winter sun is actually decent. My snow covered yard opens to the south, our lake freezes/snows over. One big reflector. Solar panels work better in the cold.
You could spend less for LiFePo I'm sure. But if you told me you believe the circuitry and safety features of some cut rate Chineese battery you bought on TEMU/AliBaba/Amazon, for which you will have NO recourse in 2-4 years, were equivalent to the units sold by a Nevada based company, I would say my belief is you are delusional. In my mind because of complexity and 'newness' of tech, the lithium is not yet close to proven.
Go to the Battle Born website and look at the list of tests and compliances they subject their batteries to and provide the same data for the batteries you seem to want to recommend to me.
I may or may not not get 3000 cycles to death a LiFePo battery seems to promise, but I never run my batteries to less than 70%, and the 4v lead beasts these batteries replaced lasted about 30 years. I don't kid myself that these batteries are the equivalent of the 4V KWatts we had, but I also could apparently replace my US Batteries like 5-6 times before the cost breakeven for lithium is approached.
My only caution for a high capacity LA like these is to mind the charge rate they like for bulk charging. These batteries like almost 40A of charge to begin.
300W panels are cheap, charge controllers and cabling are not, doing that on a budget is tough, possibly not having to panel up is a plus for lithium. Some of the current charge controllers or control/inverter options no longer support three stage LA charging, something else to consider.
Battery prices in Canada are quite high. I can buy in the States and pay the 10% duty and come out money ahead, even with currency conversion.
When your lithium batteries are 15 years old you can tell me how wonderful they are/have been.
I'll be waiting/listening.

Is not the idea behind John Hait's work ' Passive Annual Heat Storage' and the original early 80's version of the house/concept built in Missoula, MT. to redirect the water out of the earthen mass next to the house, keeping it dry?
As well as using the mass of the dry earth to store the heat rather than attempt to insulate the house from a wet heat sink, tempering indoor temperature swings, and taking full advantage of the environment by storing the energy of the summer sun, rather than being forced to shade it out?
I have built hundreds of houses since the 80's, but never any sort of earth shelter, so first hand I don't know, but Mr. Hait's ideas make brilliantly simple sense.
I am just starting an earth sheltered greenhouse up here, the work of John's group is good part of the basis for my plans. I'll have my own (informed) opinions in the next few years.
The .pdf of that book is around, I would suggest reading it.

10 ft. tall is pretty ambitious for a self supporting wall, as in cantilevered up from earth. A lot of sail surface. Be pretty wide at the bottom, have a lot of mass or be firmly anchored.  A 'wandering' wall would be a little more self supporting than a straight fenceline.
Don't know where you are at, but I worked up in the mountains out south of Carlin years ago, remember the wind can get clipping around Elko/Eureka at times.
Having said that, snowfences work, there are some along the 93, and you'll see them up in Idaho and Montana. Just need a fair amount material to build.

Without a roof to shed rain, or a truly waterproof cap, you'll have to get around to the idea that water will eventually find it's way in to your earth or straw.

True straw is the second cutting of grain, the stalk. Light, hollow, fairly inert. If the your 'straw' is being grown, and cut whole, it is more like hay. A lot of energy and biomass in whatever the seedhead contains.
Those are my first thoughts.

Tommy Bolin wrote:Bears like our apples as much as we do.

Along those lines. We had a skunk in the yard yesterday, only second we've had in the last decade. Since we have a bunch of dogs, and plenty of cat type places for him to hole up, he had to go.
Took a canoe ride, dogs always follow along the shore, figured it would give him a chance to p**s off. No luck.
The solution, just like one of last years really persistent bears, was the firehose. Knocked the treed bear out of his perch, sent him off with the dogs following, He did not return. Damn near drowned the skunk, he was easily dispatched. Anatomy reminds me of a badger.

I'm the physical/trades part on our homestead. Mechanic, building, firewood, equipment, etc.
Lil'B grows the hardneck, porcelain and red, 5000 last few  years, 7000 this year. Been at it since 2016. Selling garlic/bulbi and increasing seed stock.
Strawed when it gets cold, lets the vermin find cover somewhere besides next to the garlic for the winter.
We have mold this year looks like to me. Bad straw and fall rain. Sh***y part is the garden with the problem has been out of use for two summers. If mold is the issue, I'll be building another garden here shortly instead of next year,If she does not lose 1500 this year, I will be surprised.
She would resist the peroxide idea, I've suggested it in the past. We'll see. We've had mold before, slugs as well. Interestingly, I have some weakening peroxide rocket fuel that could be diluted. Too weak for anything fun.
Vodka is interesting, I have a very old Anaconda copper gas water heater, with 'still' in it's near future. I could see the test proofs used for sterilization.

That garlic looks and sounds moldy. If that is in fact the case, then replanting is not a good idea, and your soil is contaminated for the foreseeable future.
Amy's garlic looks wonderful and she's been doing it for a minute, listen to anything she says.

thomas rubino wrote:And here in the mountains, with 300' of vertical drop, water arriving at the hydrant in the yard is at 125 psi.
Not even commercial hoses last more than a few hours.
I must purchase a 200-psi industrial air hose and have hose bib ends installed.
Any other hose will burst from the pressure.

Then you sir, are a candidate for the 3/4 canvas layflat. Guaranteed to 300 psi., tested to maybe 600. Resists kink when full of water, stores easy, ultra light. Lay it up like the firefighters do, long laps back and forth in your truck or next to the house, can just grab and go, no kinks, nothing to uncoil.
Jerk it around something sharp and it will cut. Not as durable as rubber carcass for sure.

The black rubber hoses built by Goodyear/Continental in 3/4 with heavy solid brass ends are the best compromise I've found. Lighter than the real heavy red contractor grade. They can kink as will most hoses if you expect to just drag them off a pile. They do however wear very well and stay flexible to far colder temps than the current crop of vinyl WalMart grade garbage. One of my criteria.
Not sure if they are still available at Home Depot. They came on closeout up here at Prince George Home Depot for like 22.00CAD or something ridiculous, I bought all ten they had, without blinking.
The other hose I would consider is the canvas layflat. I bought 200ft of 3/4, to use it on the last fire I was out on here, 2023. Way tough, solid ends, very light, easy to store. Kind of unkink themselves when pressurized. Keep out of the weather, when not in use, should last forever. Greenline, I believe is the brand here.