Mark Reaves

BTW found the site again.. 600 watt wind turbine for about $500. No clue how reputable they are or how good their turbines are.

http://www.survivalunlimited.com/hornetwindturbine.htm

paul wheaton wrote:
I've had a lot of fluorescent bulbs die on me really quick too.  And when they say the fluorescent light bulbs last ten times longer, I think the caveat is that you have to leave the light on all the time.  But if you leave the light on a lot more in order to go easy on the bulb, doesn't that negate the energy savings?

I guess I would like to see some sort of consumer-reports-like study showing 20 different fluorescent bulbs and 20 different incandescent bulbs.  Let's track the lumens and power used.  Let's find the unsubsidized cost.  Let's put all of the bulbs through three different tests:

1)  leave the lights on 24x7

2)  leave the lights on for an hour, off for an hour - until the bulb burns out

3)  on for a minute, off for a minute - until the bulb burns out

Until then, my thinking is that what they are saying is "fluorescent light bulbs last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs *" and then "* a first class fluorescent is left on continuously for three years and a crappy/cheap incandescent died after four months."

I cannot help but think that a good incandescent bulb can last just as long as a good fluorescent.   Especially under normal use.

Not totally the same thing but MythBusters did a segment on light bulbs.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdu4wYu48uw
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgM0N7GD5Ic

The compact florescent bulbs are as bad or worse than incandescent simply from their resource use and mercury. There are mercury free florescent bulbs out there but "oddly" they are more expensive. Most people know CFL bulbs use very little electricity but many don't know that they contain mercury and you are supposed to (and should) dispose of them properly. Due to this, many just chunk them in the trash. If one breaks, they don't know to evacuate the room and ventilate. They may stay in the room cursing at the broken bulb lol. I've noticed my CFL bulbs don't last as long as the few incandescent I still have. They burn out pretty quick. Shortest time to burn out was 3 days from purchase. Worse burnout was when the ballast nearly caught fire and filled the room with smell of burning plastic and wire. Before it burned out, there was a lot of red light all of a sudden.

LED lights SHOULD be the way of the future. They are super efficient and probably use less resources than CFL to make and last practically forever. However since they last practically forever, not much profit in it.

As for a ban on incandescent, I don't know. If there was, people would be encouraged to use CFL instead of LED. I agree using LED Christmas lights would be cool.. then again I do leave some Christmas decorations up all year

Solar panel prices are insane. As for wind turbines I did see a 400 watt one once for around $500. Can't remember what it included.

When I get my land in NC and get my home build, I plan on a small solar panel setup with a backup wind turbine. I still require a computer and internet (most likely will have to be dialup or sat net). Other than that, simple lighting will be all I'll be using electricity for.

I'm not 100% but I think this place has cob workshops and is near Charlotte.

http://www.pickardsmountain.org/

Seen a video on Youtube about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqR0Igs63G8

paul wheaton wrote:
I haven't seen anything with more detail.  Do you have a link?

http://www.dickproenneke.com/

Apparently a lot more DVD's than I recall lol.

Be careful with using cell phone net. Generally speaking they have a 5GB a month limit on the "unlimited" plan. After you go over the limit cell companies usually charge insane amounts.

I know old topic but any update? Curiosity is getting the best of me on what it was.

I currently live in bear and mountain lion country. Supposedly there's a mountain lion den less than a mile from here. So far out of 2 years I've only seen 3 bears here, no mountain lions.

However just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.

In late January I'm moving back to NC (currently living in foothills of north eastern California). Too dry here during the summer (no rain at all) and land too expensive. I heard from my mom in NC (central NC) that there has been a few reports of black bears but it isn't too surprising. They probably came down from the NC mountains in search of food or something.

I think there's 2 DVDs. The Alone in the Wilderness and another detailing further. I seen the Alone in the Wilderness and was amazed. He was considered retirement age if I'm not mistaken and he went in the middle of the wilderness with some basic tools and built his home. He lived in that wilderness till he was "tool old to deal with the -50 degree winters" (if my memory serves me right, been awhile since I seen it).

The Alaskan wilderness isn't for me though, I'd rather live in the country at most maybe a 30 mile drive from town. However I can't live in a "typical" home. Too big, too much stuff, too cluttered and too unhealthy.