Solar water heater dashboard upgrade

 When I installed solar collectors for heating the hot water in my house back in 2006, I decided to add a small "dashboard" in the kitchen to monitor the temperatures.  Since I am an electrical engineer, I was able to cobble together a device that displays collector temperature, storage tank temperature, and a green light to indicate when the circulation pump is running.  A red LED indicates low antifreeze fluid in the collector overflow  tank.

Original solar dashboard

 There is more detailed information about the construction of this dashboard on this page of my website: http://www.arttec.net/SolarDHW/10_Dashboard/index.htm
Basically, it uses digital volt meters with LM34 temperature probes that produce a voltage that directly correlates with temperature so that 78.1° is represented by .781 V.

 Over the years I have grown accustomed to looking at this dashboard to confirm that the system is working, and also to decide when to take a shower, run the dishwasher or clothes washing loads by looking at the storage tank temperature and seeing when it has peaked during the day.  The only drawback is the displays did not include a back light and sometimes were hard to read in the evening and nighttime.

I recently came across a new temperature meter designed for monitoring heat exchangers in high-end gaming computers. They are much more attractive, include a back light and use standard 10K thermistors as temperature sensors so I ordered a few to see if I could adapt them.

Temperature meter for heat exchangers

 These meters are available from MPJA (click the image above for details) and also on eBay for under five dollars.

When I received them, the first thing I did was cut off the computer power connectors and connected 5 VDC from a wall power supply to the red and black wires.

Removed computer power connector

 Then I cut off the temperature sensor and replaced it with a standard 10K thermistor that I sell as an accessory for the solar temperature controller products I manufacture (ART TEC Solar).

Original sensor above and standard 10K thermistor below

 I used an 8 conductor CAT-5 computer cable for the wire run down to my solar heating equipment in the basement.  I used two wires each for the sensors, and two wires each for the LED status monitors.

 I mounted the 2 meters in a standard plastic box and mounted it to the window frame above my kitchen sink in place of the original dashboard.  I find these meters much more attractive and they are easier to read day and night.

Updated solar dashboard

 Here is a larger view of the meter next to my kitchen window, right above the sink:

 I am quite pleased with the more contemporary styling of this new dashboard.

Easy composting using an Envirocycle

Nearly 20 years ago I purchased an Envirocycle composter and have used it continuously ever since.  This elegant and simple to use device has been around for over 25 years and is made in America from recycled plastic and shipped in packaging made from 100% recycled materials.  

I put kitchen scraps in it every week or so and occasionally add dry materials as needed such as sawdust or leaves in the fall.  Every week or so I rotate the barrel 3 full rotations, this mixes the contents and accelerates the composting process.  When everything is in balance, there is little to no smell and I leave the unit off the side of the front porch where it is easy to rotate.  The black drum warms up in the sun which also enhances the composting.  Liquids drain through into the liquid collecting base that can store up to a gallon of compost tea.  In the spring and fall I drain this tea into a 5 gallon bucket and then dilute it about 10:1 and use it to fertilize my blueberry bushes and raised vegetable beds.  When I want to use the compost, I simply roll the barrel across the garden to where I need to empty it and then shovel the compost directly onto the vegetable bed or locations where it will be applied.

adding fresh kitchen scraps

Draining the compost tea from the base

diluted compost tea on the left

Picking up roadside trash

Trash from 3/4 mile of local roads (I removed the redeemables and recyclables).

For the last few years I have been walking around my neighborhood here in rural Maine picking up roadside trash every week.  While there is little to no trash on my small dead-end road with about a dozen houses on it, the moment I get out onto the more widely traveled roads I find a lot.  In fact, every week I fill a 15 gallon trash bag by walking about a half mile in each direction on the three roads that intersect the end of my road.  Generally, I find a lot of beer cans and bottles, miniature liquor bottles, cigarette packs, and general fast food packaging and other trash.  Here in Maine I can redeem most of the bottles and cans for 5 cents each so I often pay myself over a dollar a week.  The rest gets sorted into my trash or recycling bins.  During my walk this afternoon, I was thinking about all the reasons that I do this and I thought I would share them with my readers in the hopes that I can inspire some of you to follow suit and pick up trash in your neighborhood if you live in a neighborhood where outdoor trash is an issue.

• Community service - I value my community, and Maine is known as "Vacationland" so it is important to keep our roads clean and attractive.
• Environmental stewardship - 'nuff said.
• Treasure hunt - as I walk searching for distinctive shiny or bright objects, there is an element of treasure hunting and the reward is often 5 cents.
• Good exercise - I generally walk between two and 3 miles and the roads are hilly enough that I raise my heart rate and work up a sweat even on cold days.  It's not just walking but all the bending and stretching that makes it a good aerobic workout.  I often stray out into the fields on each side of the road where windblown trash shows up and there is some scrambling around to get there and back.
• Visible activism - by being highly visible on the road and picking up trash I am hoping to inspire other people to follow suit, or at least raise their awareness of the issue.
• Grateful neighbors - every now and then a neighbor will stop and say "thank you".  It's not the main reason I do this but it's nice to be acknowledged.

I bought less than 40 gallons of gas last year and drove about 8000 miles!

2012 Chevy Volt

I bought my Chevy Volt back in May 2012 and have over 50,000 miles on it now.  I decided to review my records to see how much gas I have used and was pleased to find that in all of 2015 I purchased only 39.28 gallons of gas and drove about 8000 miles.  My average purchase was for 2.7 gallons because Chevy recommends that you only put in one third of a tank in to keep the weight down.  There's no sense in hauling around gallons of gas that you never use.  So my total expenditure for gasoline last year was $108.55.

My Volt uses around $40-45.00 worth of electricity a month, and in the summer that is more than offset by my solar array.  So for 5 months I am literally driving for free on sun power.  In the winter months when we have less sun in Maine my electric bill goes as high as $70, with most of that going to power the car.  In Maine over 30% of our electric supply comes from renewable sources, so the bottom line is that the carbon footprint of my car is negligible.  That is the main reason I own it.

Tor those that may be unfamiliar with the Chevy Volt, it is unique in the industry because it is an electric vehicle with a built-in "range extender".  My model has an electric range of approximately 37 miles under ideal conditions.  When the battery runs down a four-cylinder gas generator kicks in that maintains a battery level allowing the vehicle to continue driving at around 40 miles per gallon.  Since most of my driving is local, I rarely use gas.  The vehicle does turn on the gasoline engine generator in the winter occasionally to help warm battery when temperatures drop below 20°F.

I recently test drove the 2016 model Volt.  The vehicle has been completely redesigned although it it looks rather similar from the outside - with some sexy improvements to the style lines, the interior is quite different.  There are so many changes in its design that it is essentially a different vehicle entirely.  The driving experience was even more sporty than my model because the 0 to 30 acceleration time has been shortened quite a bit, so it literally surges forward and burns rubber if you tromp the accelerator.  This model has a rated 52 mile electric range and gets better gas mileage when in "range extender" mode.  

2016 Chevy Bolt

I am now struggling  with whether or not to upgrade to the new Volt or to go with the brand new all electric Chevy Bolt that will be released towards the end of this year.  This impressive vehicle has a range of over 200 miles per charge and will cost around $30,000 after the $7500 federal tax incentive.  It is amazing that GM has managed to trump Tesla and bring out an affordable electric vehicle well before the much-anticipated Tesla model 3 has been released.  The real issue for me is whether or not I want to deal with the range anxiety issue when taking a long road trip.  I have grown so comfortable with the idea that the Volt offers me a no-worry option of driving as far as I want without any concern that it may be challenging for me to accept the limitations of an electric vehicle range.  I sometimes take trips down to Boston which is around 170 miles away.  While there are more charging stations available in the city, it would be inconvenient to have to take many hours to charge the car up.  Not to mention having to take a cab or public transportation between the charging station and my desired location.

More fun with time-lapse photography

In my last blog post, I had just started getting to know my new Brinno TLC200 Pro time lapse camera.  Since then I have made a number of videos under varying conditions, all of which have turned out really well.  Here's a picture of the camera:

(Click here to purchase on Amazon - As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Once you own a time-lapse camera, you think of all kinds of uses for it.  I have always wanted to see a day in the life of my cat.  She is over 12 years old and relatively sedentary and she likes to sit in her window seat and sleep and then watch the birds at the bird feeder outside the window occasionally.  So I set up the camera to document her from mid-morning until dusk.

Click image to see YouTube video

I have been making wood bowls from freshly cut trees for the last few years.  When an apple tree blew down in a storm recently I was able to harvest some beautiful wood and made some bowls from it.  The rest of the tree will be harvested for firewood.  I set up the camera to take images once per second and got this great video.

Click image to see YouTube video

Update Feb 5, 2016:  I always wanted to see myself clearing snow using my Craftsman snow thrower and we got 7" today so I set up the camera outside with it's waetherproof housing.

Click image to see YouTube video

These videos were all shot in 1080 P high-definition video, so you can view them full-screen and they look great.  Stay tuned to my YouTube channel to see more videos as I put them up.

Exploring time lapse photography

Brinno TLC200 Pro camera and weather proof case

A few years ago I became interested in time lapse photography and modified an old Nikon digital camera so I could shoot videos of flowers decaying.  Click here to see my webpage that lists all of those videos, or click here to see my YouTube channel.  The process of creating time-lapse videos was tedious because I had to shoot stills first and then merge them into a video, and the result was not very high definition.

I decided to buy myself a Christmas present and purchased a dedicated time lapse camera.  The Brinno TLC 200 Pro HDR camera sells for around $200 not including the weatherproof case which goes for around $40.  Click here to purchase. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)  It shoots in 1080p high definition and saves a .AVI file directly.  It can take images anywhere from one frame per second to 1 frame per day and anything in between and has a variety of advanced features such as HDR (High Dynamic Range) and the ability to program specific times to start and stop filming. 

For my first video, I set the camera up on a tripod outside in its weatherproof case so I could document the sunlight moving around my solar powered workshop.  I was able to program the camera to start around sunrise and stop at sunset.  Click here or on the image below to view the video. 

click on image to see video on YouTube

This video will be a useful reference to show the sun shading effect on my solar systems from trees at various times of day in the middle of winter.  I have needed to top some of them to capture the late afternoon solar energy.
 
I could not be more pleased with the video quality and all of the advanced features of this amazing little camera and look forward to using it a lot in the future.

The Visual Handbook of Energy Conservation

If you have been reading my blog or website, then I assume that you're interested in energy conservation and living sustainably.  A few years ago Charlie Wing published his excellent book: "The Visual Handbook of Energy Conservation".  (click here to get it from Amazon) Charlie is well known for his excellent books on a variety of building topics and I have met him and worked with him on a number of occasions.  In fact he used to live down the road from me a few years before I moved into the neighborhood.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough for anyone who is interested in reducing their energy consumption and lowering operating costs in their home.  The book is written in simple clear language, and every page contains exquisite illustrations, charts, and diagrams in Charlie's inimitable style.  He covers everything from the basic physics of energy to detailed specifics of how building heating systems work.  For instance, he covers every possible detail of every kind of building construction in order to explain what is optimal and how to improve it from an energy conservation standpoint.  

I was just re-reading the book and found that there were major "aha" moments for me in every chapter.  I found myself running around the house reviewing what I have done and considering improvements.  Most of his suggestions for energy conservation are easy, inexpensive things that any home handy person can handle.

I am confident that the investment of $20 or so in purchasing this book will yield an excellent return on investment if you only implement a very few of the suggestions contained within.  If you are planning to make substantial upgrades to your home's energy efficiency, then this will be the perfect handbook to guide you through optimal choices and could save you thousands of dollars both now and in the future.

Why I love paying my electric utility bill

I installed the first part of my solar power system in the fall of 2009 and immediately my power bills dropped considerably. 

The chart below shows the energy flows for my property over the last several years:

Take a moment to study this chart and look at how everything interacts.  The yellow line shows how much surplus energy I export back into the grid on a monthly basis from the solar array.  Clearly, in the summer I am exporting a lot more and this more than offsets my net energy for the month.  Whenever the green net energy line goes below zero, that is when I have a credit.

This chart shows my actual bottom line monthly electric bill:

Over the years I have scaled up my solar power system and now my electric bills flatline in the summer, bottoming out to the minimum connection fee.  This year I had a surplus  from May through October and the utility gave me a credit that carried forward until it was used up.  This electric bill covers both my house, workshop, and the electricity used to charge my Chevy Volt.  So, not only am I not paying for utility energy for months at a time, I am also driving up to 37 miles a day for free on solar power.

During the summer months the energy I am exporting into the grid reduces the load on the power lines feeding my immediate neighborhood.  As neighborhoods grow, the utility often needs to upgrade the infrastructure in order to deliver power to outlying areas.  If new housing developments were all to incorporate solar roofs on their houses, this would reduce the cost of deploying and maintaining power lines to those areas.  You would think that utility companies would appreciate this benefit, but in reality they are pushing back against it because of the lost revenue.  Some utilities are even trying to punish customers with solar power with a surcharge to cover maintenance costs on their power lines.  

My solar power system, like most systems installed in the last 5 to 6 years is utility inter-tied.  This means that there is no battery bank and surplus energy is returned to the grid rather than being stored in batteries.  However, battery technology is now reaching the point where it is beginning to become relatively affordable to pull the plug on the utility altogether and simply store that surplus energy in a battery for use overnight and on cloudy days etc.  This is referred to as "grid defection".  Renewable energy pundits are suggesting that entire communities could pull the plug in the future and that utility companies will need to figure out a new business model.

Safely disposing old paint

Paint cans accumulating in my utility room

Do you have a place in your home where old partly used paint cans have accumulated?  Have you thought about how to dispose of those cans of paint safely?  Until recently there were very few options that are environmentally benign.  You can leave an opened can of latex paint out in the open until it dries out completely and then safely dispose it in the trash.  For smaller amounts of water-based paint left in the bottom of a can you can wash out the can in the sink and then put the cleaned empty can in the trash or if it is really clean - in the recycling bin.  This is not recommended for septic tanks however.  And finally, for solvent paints the only responsible option is to take them to a hazardous waste disposal facility which is tedious.

 
There is now a new option offered through a nonprofit industry trade association called PaintCare that is setting up return/recycling centers where old paint can be turned in and recycled or disposed of properly.  This paint can now be collected for reuse, recycling, energy recovery, or safe disposal.  As of this writing, in December 2015 there are only eight states offering this service and you can use a map on their website to find a drop-off location near you.  These are typically hardware or paint stores or hazardous waste disposal sites.

According to their website: "The program is funded through fees on each container of architectural paint sold in states with paint stewardship programs. Budgets and fees are set on a state-by-state basis. So far these fees have been the same in each state with a program: 35 cents, 75 cents or $1.60 per container, depending on the container size."

I was very pleased to learn about this program and will be going through my collection of paint going back 15 years to decide what to recycle.


UPDATE - a few days later

drying out old paint residue

I just returned from the hardware store that participates in the program.  I took five  gallon cans with varying amounts of paint in them and the first thing the guy did in the paint department was to turn the lighter weight cans over and tap them on the bottom.  From this he was able to determine that there was a thin layer of congealed paint in the bottom that he could not use.  He told me that they are recycling the paint as useful paint and not as dried out material and that I should leave the cans open outside until the paint dries out and then just dispose of them in the trash.  Any can that is one third or more filled with liquid paint is useful to them.  

I asked him how often the paint was picked up and he said they cart off 250 gallons a WEEK!  This is just from one local Ace Hardware store in Maine.  Wow, talk about a successful program!

From tree trunks to bowls

A few years ago my friend Tom asked me if I would clear some trees from the field below his house.  I was delighted to discover that there were several cherry trees with trunks ranging from 6 to 8 inches in diameter.  Since I enjoy wood turning, I brought some of the logs back and made bowls from them on my lathe.  Turning fresh, green wood is very enjoyable because it is so soft and cuts easily.  Then, as the finished bowl dries it changes shape and curves up into a boat shape which adds a lot of charm to a handmade bowl.  

some of the bowls I made this year

The bowl on the right is cherry and the three small ones are made from a small plum tree that died on my property last winter.  The large salad bowl came from a piece of maple that my friend Topher gave me from a tree that he had felled on his property this spring.  It is beautiful spalted maple, and took me hours to turn because that wood is so very hard.  


Below is a picture of that bowl, along with the other half of the log that it came from.

I have sold a number of these bowls at a local craft gallery and branded them as "Green Nut Bowls".  This is a play on words since these are typically used as nut bowls and they are made by me, a "green nut" - because they were made entirely using solar power.  I harvested the trees using my cordless and corded electric chain saws that derive their power from my solar power system.  And since my home and workshop are solar powered my lathe is also powered by renewable energy.

turning a small bowl (chainsaws in the background)

My lathe is a "hot rodded" 1950s Rockwell that I have heavily modified to use as a bowl lathe.  I removed the original motor and dropped in a 1HP electronically speed controlled motor that I can also reverse as needed for sanding and finishing.

Recently, some of my Bed & Breakfast guests have seen the bowls and asked me to make one for them and I was able to make one right in front of them since a small bowl only takes 30 to 40 minutes to turn.  I charge $7.00 per inch diameter, so a 5" bowl goes for $35.00.  I use the bowls I have made daily and the people that I have made them for tell me that they cherish them.  

From a sustainability perspective, I feel that I am making optimal use of a local resource in much the same way as Native Americans would have.  In the process of making each bowl, I consciously honor the life of the tree and give thanks for the gift of its wood.