Andrew Pritchard

thomas rubino wrote:Hi Andrew;
I can't remember why, but this product has been experimented with for Rocket stoves and was dismissed as not effective.
I believe it had to do with longevity.  

In a J tube or a Batchbox.
Firebrick, insulated above 2500F.
Or heavy firebrick also rated to 2500F and above.
Combined with RA330 steel as a roof and Morgan superwool as an insulator, creates a long term Rocket engine that will last years.

That's what I thought would probably be the response, but it's nice to see people experimenting with other (and cheap) materials.

I encountered a video by NightHawkInLight on YouTube not so long ago, where he demonstrates a very cheap and readily available material, which he demonstrates as being incredibly insulative called StarLite.


and


I was wondering if anyone else had seen it, and had tried using it in a rocket stove/rocket mass heater?

I'm going to need some of these

Then there's this:

So I'm a Cub Scout leader for a small pack here in Nova Scotia. I suggested to our leadership that perhaps the cubs could grow a tomato plant for a number of reasons:

1) Teaching skills they wouldn't otherwise learn
2) Taking responsibility to look after something - make sure it's watered etc
3) Eventually eat what they grow

I thinking something like cherry tomato plants since they are small enough to go on a window sill, which anyone can do regardless of circumstances. I can't even grow much outside right now (circumstances beyond my control), so a sill plant would be ideal.

So I'm think cherry tomatoes or something similar - unless someone can come up with a better strain?

Mike Haasl wrote:Thanks M!  The missus and I talked today and I think we're both leaning towards having it in the garage addition that we still need to build.  We can put a heavily insulated room in it and keep the batteries in there as well.  

You can now get "server rack" battery packs which have built in heaters so temperature is no longer the problem LiFePo4 batteries used to have. When you attempt to charge the battery when the temperature is too low, it stops charging and uses the power to turn on the internal heaters. Once it's up to temperature the heaters turn off and it returns to charging. With good insulation and the natural inefficiencies of a battery will keep the battery warm whilst it's charging and discharging. Will Prowse has been discussing them recently on YouTube.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:Q1) Or maybe find a donor diesel car, and a generator head.
Maybe you could install a remote starter like the city folks have for their cars... could even be up on cinder blocks like the country folks have for their cars...

That's a great idea!

Mike Haasl wrote:From what I've read, veggie oil is better on diesel engines than diesel is.  Don't they salt the food after it's out of the fryer?

When Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel engine, he demonstrated it with peanut oil. Vegetable oil is not that dissimilar. From my understanding the only issue with WVO, is when it gets cold it becomes more viscous so the engine might have trouble getting started. Others who have been using veggie oil sometimes have 2 tanks. The main tank has the veggie oil in it, and the auxillary tank has regular diesel in it and they switch it over to regular diesel and leave it running a little while once they are done so the fuel line is filled with diesel. This allows the engine to start using regular fuel and once it's up to temperature, they switch over to veggie oil for the bulk of the work. Of course this isn't going to be so helpful when you're running the generator automagically.

Will Prowse is your go to source for any kind off grid power:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoj6RxIAQq8kmJme-5dnN0Q

You can buy an all in one inverter/charge controller for a couple of thousand dollars, many of which have a connection for a generator to just plug right into the charge controller when your batteries are running low.

I don't know anything about generators, so I can't comment on fuel source etc.

Q4 - that depends entirely on your generator

Q5 - If you go with the charge controller/inverter with  generator input, you can just wire it into that and off you go.

Q6 - See above.

Q7 - Yes. Lifepo batteries are the way to go, especially if you're in warmer environment. Here in Canada we have to be a little more concerned about the lower temperatures.

Q8 - Yes. The more expensive ones will have a control wire to turn on a generator.

Also, this kind of charge controller is more often linked with solar panels. Buying the right one, will allow you to add solar panels over time.

Off grid living at it's finest