Our first storm of the season - Off Grid interactions with old man winter
We welcome the snow as it rejuvenates the land and replenishes the moisture that we all need to prosper. When it comes, we usually get a skiff now and again. But when the storms roll through we could end up with 6 inches / 15 cm of snow at a time. Last nights storm buried our solar system, windows, wood and whole yard. So we go about the task of digging out after a storm when we get up in the morning. Part of our daily routine in the winter!
On a day like today, there is no hurry as we won't be generating any power from the sun. We will be lucky to get 100 watts throughout the whole entire day. In the summer time on a sunny day we could see 8,000 - 10,000 watts.
Front glass of our earthship, angled to accept the sun during the winter months.
Cleared of snow. We got about 6 inches over night.
On a day like today we won't get any sun to generate power, but I clear them anyway. Every watt counts!
When clearing the snow, every square inch has to be clear or it will significantly reduce power generation.
We angle the panels straight up and down in the winter as the sun is so low. Summer time they lay almost flat!
Opps. Some of the wood did not get processed in time. If we don't deal with this right away, the snow will melt and we won't be able to use this wood this season as it will be all wet.
One day we will get our teepee covered again. Would be nice to sit in it on a day like today!
Around here it snows twice. Once from the sky which is shown here. The second snow fall occurs when the sun comes out, warms up the snow on the trees and it all falls off. The second snow fall can hurt if one is not careful!
How much power do you have ?
Our earthship has a 1500W array installed in 2007 and we have a 1440W array on my mother-in-laws house as well, installed in 2011.
Did you notice a decrease in production after 10 years ?
Not really. If there was a decrease it has been really small. What I noticed more is the increase in cloud cover due to the geo-engineering that is going on. It is having an impact on solar power production and passive solar heating of the earthship. However, I stopped keeping track of the data after 3-4 years, so I have no data to support my observations.
I remember those days. Had to careful leaving the house or the second snow would bury you! lol
Especially the snow that slides off the warm tin roof! lol
OOoh my goodness, looks soooo beautiful, magical....heavenly....and I know you'll be staying warm with that amazing wood heat, nothing like it in the world!
lol. Still trying to figure out the new stove. Hitting over 30C in the Earthship which is a feat all on its own. Learning to use big pieces which burn slower and not so many as to cook us out. But the Earthship soaks up the heat so all is not lost! It is beautiful out here today. I love being outside after a fresh dump of snow.
Ooooh plus 30 WOW!! HAHAHAA No doubt you're enjoying being outside :D
The stove vents are a beautiful thing once you get used to when you need to close them and how far you need to close them to keep your stove just right. There's a bit of a learning curve as every stove is a bit different - it's not as easy as a thermostat - but I love the way the fire heat feels as opposed to electrical or gas heating!
No question in my mind! Wood heat is the best!
Good post sir I follow you
Dear White Walking Feather. Words cannot express my gratitude to you for sharing your wisdom with me for free! May YHWH bless you greatly! I finally jave a question I have not seen you address yet. How do you remove the toxic metals, etc. that come out of the airplanes into the rain water you collect? Or are you so blessed as to live in a place where that is not occurring? We have a great location for a homestead but fear being poisoned.
<3 You are very welcome @roundhouseranch. Thank you for the blessings. If I've not addressed our water systems yet, I will make sure I write a post about it right away. It is a bit much to explain here. I'll get that written in the next day or two. Thank you for asking the question as we have been living like this for so long that we forget all the work that we did to get setup. Water is a key one. So I'll make sure to cover that next.
Thanks!