Selfsufficientish.com

You write well Millie. Your career may not involve things that worry you. The wealthiest person I know is very dyslexic it does not hold him back.

Go for it, Persist, keep trying, you can not fail in the end.

John

£1,500 wind turbine that barely powers a hairdryer. From the Daily Mail today. The above headline. (p33) Load of hot air? Thousands are buying household turbines, It say's. Lots of stuff here to deter the would be buyer of self sufficient goodies. Pay back time of 15 years quoted. Sounds like man...

Biodegradeable bags are creeping in, they are obviously needed now in black bin liners. Any out there?

John

A way forward perhaps, but not free. Woodland, relatively cheap to buy in some parts of the country. I understand that if you go unnoticed in your self build home and prove occupation for a number of years, you can stay. There was recently that tramp ( with respect) type person that lived on an area...

Hi Paradox, Yes £10 is a cheap price for your trickle charger, better to put in a little charge than none. Batteries do perform better when warm. With your multimeter you can get an indication of the state of charge by taking a voltage reading. I guess you know that. Can't remember the figures of...

I overlooked a small point Martin. You say that payback time can be as little as 5 years!!! This equates to a 'hot water cost saving of £600!!! per year'. Some mistake here surely? With respect, I would'nt advertise that, bit risky. I have looked at my own electricity bill, for 'all' the electric...

Regarding a payback time of 10 years this ,assumes, a very generous saving of £300 per year on your hot water costs! Cloudy days in Summer too. So for 10 years you are denied the interest on your £3 grand sitting in a building society at 4 or 5 %, compounded. Add to this the very real possibil...

Muddypause, thinking 10mm pipe. Smaller diameter pipe, hotter water, perhaps. Solartwin's pipe is 6mm so I guess hotter. Perhaps its not black in colour, it could be under the solar collector plate. Could be ok to copy, if you found the pipe. Martin, Simple question, based on your figures, how many ...

Just looked on the Solartwin website, there 'placcy' pipes, (actually silicone rubber), are OK from -60 to plus 200c! A good concept that is well proven, lots of info. But very expensive.

John

Hi Martin, as far as plastic pipes go, I mention this as 'Solartwin' appear to use these in their system. It's an interesting and well proven concept. I have'nt found plastic pipes myself, The low cost way is copper tubing. You would know about Solartwin? I guess they can withstand the temperature? ...

Not clued up with computers Muddypause (could'nt get a picture on here despite lots of trying) I found websites that advised on Al clip fins on copper pipes and copper pipes on Al absorber plates with wire twists to hold the piping, for example. Joining the copper tube to a copper plate would be a b...

Paradox say' his 12v trickle charger is charging his batteries. I have one of these. It is rated at 1.5w max current 125ma. I put a multi meter (new purchase from maplins so not to clued up with it yet) on mine in hazy winter sunshine. It read 18.9v and showed 0.03ma. can check these figures. If so ...

A few years ago we got one of those flyers through the door ' FREE ENERGY' solar hot water, free estimates etc. An old couple up the road brought one and he told me of its many virtues, designed by mercedes benz, he said. Must be good. I had the opportunity of taking a quick look, it was the latest ...

Kids don't give new foods a chance, they decided on sight if they like it, or not. Disguise what you have for them. I am no cook but a home made burger with decent stuff including veg., will appeal. My daughter would not eat much in the way of veg. She still does'nt eat much in the way of veg. I bak...

Thanks for your advice zombiecazz, Tried all sorts of things, best I could do. Not to strong on computer stuff.

John