My nearly new Chevy Bolt

Chevrolet Bolt

I have owned two Chevy Volts starting back in 2012 when I first heard about the vehicle and was a huge fan.  It was GM's experiment to see how people would handle a plug-in electric vehicle with a "range extender" gasoline powered generator on board.  They studied aggregated data from their OnStar system and found that the average commute was about 45 miles so they designed the vehicle to run that far in electric mode and then it would switch on a four-cylinder gas engine that powered a 50 kW generator to provide electric power to the vehicle while operating at approximately 40MPG.  It was a have your cake and eat it too solution that worked for me for over 12 years.

They introduced the Chevy Bolt in 2017 - this is a fully electric vehicle with a range of over 200 miles.  My 2021 model has an EPA rated range of over 238 miles in theory (more on that later).   I purchased it used from a nearby dealer for very reasonable price of $18,500 with only 12,000 miles on the clock.  The reason it was so affordable is due to the battery issue that this vehicle had which had caused some fires - a couple of which burned down houses.  GM identified the problem as a manufacturing defect in the batteries and offered three options for owners of these vehicles:

1. They would replace the battery if it was a known defective one.
2. They would install updated software in the vehicle that would limit the charging range to a maximum of 80% charge so as not to stress the battery.  And the update would also monitor the battery very closely.  If any of the battery cells showed heating or degradation issues they would then replace the battery.  If nothing shows up after 6200 miles they would consider the battery safe to drive and would then increase the battery back to the full range.
3. They would simply buy the vehicle back from the owner.

Car dealers took advantage of this situation and purchased them inexpensively from GM.  My dealer had sold 40 of these recalled vehicles last year.  In some cases these vehicles had batteries replaced, and in others the software update had been installed.  This was the case with my vehicle so the range is limited to  around 180 miles nominal.  This suits my needs perfectly since over 95% of my driving is local, and on longer trips I can simply stop at a super charging station for an hour or so to add over 200 miles range quickly. 

On a recent trip where I drove around 120 miles round-trip I returned home with 29 miles range left.  I was carefully monitoring the miles remaining and the range gauge which we EV owners refer to as the "guess-o-meter" changed from green to amber to warn me of this limited range when it dropped below 30 miles.  Temperatures on this trip were in the mid 30s and low 40s Fahrenheit so I was using some cabin heating which draws down the battery, and I also took advantage of the heated seats and steering wheel which use a lot less power to keep me warm.  

I plugged the vehicle into my level II (240V) charging station and it was fully topped up after about seven hours.  If I were to plug into a (level III) super charging station while on the road, I could fully charge the vehicle in about 1.5 hours. All electric vehicles are provided with a charging adapter for a regular 120 V outlet and this would take about 16 hours for the Bolt.  So clearly it makes sense to install a home charging station. The Bolt draws more power from my home charging station - about 6 kW compared to only 4 kW for the Chevy Volt so I can get more miles of range per hour of charging while charging at home.  

it is important to know that the Volt and Bolt both need to be kept plugged in to a charging station at all times. The reason for this is that the battery needs to be maintained at a comfortable temperature or it could be damaged.  I have an energy monitor that shows that during the winter months the charger delivers power to a heating system in the vehicle periodically in order to maintain a safe temperature for the battery.  I recently saw a news story about some people who got into their Chevy Bolt and it refused to let them drive it until it had warmed up the battery.  Clearly they had not left the vehicle plugged in so it was actually draining the battery down throughout the day in an effort to keep the battery warm.  If you drive with a very cold battery, it can be damaged. 

Overall I am extremely pleased with this vehicle - it is even faster than the Volt with a neck snapping acceleration of 0 to 60 in 6.5 seconds.  One feature that I enjoy is the so-called "one pedal driving" mode.  When you shift from D to L, the regenerative braking system allows you to lift your foot off the accelerator which slows the car to a complete stop without ever touching the brake pedal.  (note that the letters D and L no longer refer to gears because there aren't any in electric vehicles).  This extends the driving range by putting a lot more energy back into the battery.  I was going down a steep hill recently and the dashboard showed that 50 kW (FIFTY. THOUSAND. Watts!) were going back into the battery for several seconds.  Holding down the brake pedal gently while in D mode would have accomplished something similar, but I find the one pedal driving mode to be comfortable.  There is also a paddle on the left side of the steering wheel which can be used to engage regenerative braking as well.  

There are a few things I need to adjust in this vehicle.  One of the criteria for any vehicle I own is that it should be able to fit 8ft pieces of lumber inside.  A friend of mine has a Bolt and he recently had 6 2X4s inside the vehicle by folding down the front passenger seat and the rear seats.  

In my model year the rear cargo area drops down about a foot behind the rear seats. This would be fine for normal people who use that area for groceries or suitcases, but I prefer a large flat area.  I looked at 2020 models and they had a hinged cover for that rear cargo well that brings it up to the same height as the folded down rear seats.  

 

I did some research and found that I can put a hinged cover back in to replicate what was in those earlier models at a cost of around $140.  

 

 

 
Another thing I do with all my vehicles here in Maine is put WeatherTech brand rubber floor mats in the two front locations.  Maine is muddy for many months of the year and that can really wear down the front carpets.

Incidentally, the license plate that I've had for many years is SUN PWRD, since all my electric vehicles have been powered from my solar power system which currently has 39 panels rated to up to 7 kW.  This means that I am driving essentially for free from the power of the sun it feels like an Infinite Improbability Drive (a reference to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).  I found a nice chrome emblem that I can add to the back of the car to reflect this:

And I always keep a towel in the back of the car, just in case! 😀

Repair, re-use, recycle, repurpose

Four words that represent a sustainable life.  

Repair

My first impulse when anything breaks is to see if I can repair it.  I have enough skills to repair anything made of wood, metal, plastic and electronics.  Sometimes a bit of duct tape will work, and others require glue, soldering electronics, or making a replacement part.  

Recently a battery powered thermometer stopped working.  Inside the battery compartment I found the alkaline battery had corroded the springs as often happens and there is that classic powdery green corrosion.  A simple fix is to use a Q-tip soaked in white vinegar to clean off the corrosion, then wipe it down with a little scotch bright and finally dab it with a paper towel soaked in WD-40.  I threw away the dead alkaline battery that was long past its prime, but if it used a rechargeable battery I would have recycled it by dropping it off in a blue bin at the Lowe's product return department.  They also accept old CFL lamps that contain mercury.

Reuse

If there are items that I don't need I will turn them into Goodwill to be reused.  or, I might offer something to a friend who can use it such as a light fixture.  Other items that I don't need I donate to the ReStore such as building materials.  An absolute last resort is to put something in the trash.  

Recycle

Like many people I recycle everything I can, and usually put out far more recycling than I do trash.  In a recent post I talked about how I  ride around my neighborhood on my E bike with large panniers on the back to pick up trash and redeemable cans and bottles.   In the last 12 months I have redeemed over 3000 containers using the Clynk redemption centers at local supermarkets here in Maine - that's over $150 earned!  

 

The the items I cannot redeem are put in my recycling bin, and the trash that is mostly fast food packaging goes in my trash, but some of the paper materials I can recycle.  I keep a 50 gallon bin in my laundry room that is close to the kitchen so it's very easy to put kitchen recyclables in there easily.  And I recycle a lot of corrugated boxes from shipments that I receive.  Mixed stream recycling is picked up every two weeks and I usually fill it to the top.  

Used rechargeable batteries and electronic products such as cell phones and toys that contain rechargeable batteries can be returned to any call2recycle location, here's a link to find a location near you. 

Repurpose

Often when something breaks, I will see if I can take it apart and reuse some of the materials.  If there is wood involved, then I can cut it up and use it for firewood in my woodstoves for instance.  I also save all my newspapers to use as kindling.

I teach wood bowl making classes, and each bowl produces several gallons of shavings.  I use these shavings for garden mulch, cat litter, and kindling.

Every year or so I review all my old gallon cans of household paint to see if they  still have liquid paint in them and if I don't need them I can drop them off at my nearest hardware store where the paint is reused.  Dry and congealed paint cannot be returned, so I leave it out in the open until it is fully dried and then put it in the trash.  Maine is the eighth state in the US that has a Paint Care program for repurposing old architectural paint, here's a link to that program sponsored by the natural resources Council of Maine.  

My absolute last resort is to put something in the trash and it typically takes me weeks to fill a 30 gallon trash bin.  I'm sure there are many other things that I do that I have forgotten to mention, so drop me a line if you have other suggestions.

Zero waste compostable garbage bags

It has always bothered me when I throw garbage bags into my trash bin because I know that plastic will last for decades in the landfill or elsewhere.  So I was delightfully surprised to learn about hold on bags that are made from plant-based materials that are non-toxic and biodegradable without leaving any toxic residue.

Apparently they called the company HoldOn because there was a moment when they came up with the idea and went "hold on", there's a better way to do this.

I am using all three sizes:

4 Gallon Trash Bags: Our 17” x 18” small kitchen bags

 

13 Gallon Compostable Trash Bags

 

Compostable zip-seal Snack Bags 

(as an Amazon associate, I earn a small commission from sales of these products)

I am really pleased with these bags, they are strong and sturdy and hold up to normal use very well.  I really wish more products were made to be fully compostable like this, we would leave the world a better place for future generations.

My solar powered lifestyle

I am a DIY guy so I tend to do everything myself.  Pictured above left is my grid tied solar array consisting of 40 solar panels that I have installed with the help of friends over the years.  There is a very detailed blog on my website covering the design and installation of this system.  In peak sun it produces over 6 kW and surplus power goes back into the grid where I get a credit for every kilowatt hour exported thanks to net metering.  This allows me to be largely carbon neutral from April through November.  A few years ago I self-installed heat pumps in both my workshop building (pictured) and my home (here's a video about that).  I am located in Maine at the 44th parallel so in the winter, I have less solar and a higher demand for electricity to run the heat pumps, so for a few months I pay a substantial electric bill to run my heat pumps when the average temperature stays below freezing in the winter. (You can see detailed stats of my solar energy system power here).  The utility power is sourced from more than 60% renewable including hydropower, wind, and other renewables.  I believe Maine has the highest utility supplied renewable energy offering in the US.

Pictured in the photo above are also the following items:

2017 Chevy Volt.  This is my second Volt and it is an amazing car that is the fastest and sexiest vehicle I have ever owned.  With over 50,000 miles on it I still get a thrill driving it knowing that it is fully carbon neutral and I even put vanity plates on it that say: SUN PWRD.

 

Aventon Level.2 E bike.  This is my second E bike and it has an impressive 60 mile range with pedal assist and somewhat less than that if I were to use it in throttle only mode (riding it like a motorcycle without pedaling).  It is capable of level III, meaning that pedal assist can take me up to 28 mph easily.  (Level II goes up to 20 mph).  Despite all the electric assist, I get a lot of good exercise riding an average of 10 miles a day in good weather.  And as you can see in my previous post I have large panniers on the back that I use for picking up garbage and redeemable bottles and cans around my neighborhood.

Green Works self-propelled 80V cordless lawnmower.  This mower is an absolute beast and chews through tall grass with no problem at all.  I really like the self-propelled feature in the summer when it's unpleasantly hot and humid.  My lawn areas are relatively modest, just to keep a setback around the building and open areas around my garden beds, and fruit trees and this mower can cover the whole area on a single charge of the two 80 V 4AH batteries.

Black & Decker cordless 20V string trimmer.  This is a surprisingly powerful machine that chews through tall weeds with abandon.

Black & Decker 20V cordless hedge trimmer.  I refer to this as my "light saber" because it will cut anything up to half inch branches with ease.

Redeeming cans and bottles for fun/the environment/exercise/profit

My e-bike with panniers

I purchased my first E bike over a year ago and put over 1000 miles on it in the first year.  Prior to that I used to walk around my neighborhood with my friend to get exercise and we would also take a garbage bag and pick up trash and recyclables and redeemable bottles and cans.  After we both got E-bikes, I installed large panniers on my bike so I can carry more than two grocery bags full of trash.   

 

Partial screenshot from the Clynk app

In the last seven months, I have redeemed over 1700 containers.  It is shocking how many beer cans and bottles and miniature liquor bottles I pick up every week.  Apparently there are dozens of people who drink and drive and then throw these containers out of their vehicles onto the side of the road.😲 I cover a range that encompasses roughly a 3 mile radius from my rural home here in Maine which is all two-lane blacktops. 

The redemption system here in Maine pays $0.05 per container redeemed and $0.15 for vodka and wine bottles.  I signed up with a system known as Clynk that makes redeeming these containers easy.  You just put them in their special biodegradable bag with a barcode and drop them off.  They process them in the next few days and then give me a credit that I can pick up at the grocery store as cash.

This is a typical catch from a 10 mile bike ride

When I get home, I separate out the trash, recyclables, and redeemables.  There are many containers that I cannot redeem because they've been crushed on the road, I also clean up dirty cans and bottles before redeeming them, many of the beer cans are filled with dead slugs which is really gross.  There are also a lot of fast food containers and other general trash that I pick up.

Shown above is just the separated out redeemables.  There is a surprising number of miniature liquor bottles.  The state of Maine only recently enacted a law requiring $0.05 per miniature bottle, previously they were not counted as redeemable materials.  This does not seem to have diminished the use of these bottles much.

I enjoy getting the exercise and cleaning up my neighborhood - it's like a treasure hunt for me - looking for shiny objects along the road.  I call this my "get rich slow scheme" since I make around $100 per year, but it's not about the money for me.  I just use some of it to buy candy or lottery tickets.

I encourage those of you who might live in areas where you find a lot of trash along the roadside to walk with a garbage bag and pick it up.  Even if  your state doesn't have a redemption system, much of the trash I find can be recycled.  I feel strongly that it takes all of us working together as a community to improve the planet.

Whole house surge/lightning protection

 

As an engineer, I have a lot of electronic equipment in my home and separate workshop building.  While I could plug all of these items into separate surge strips, that would be unreasonably expensive and would not offer as much protection as installing a Delta surge protector in the main breaker box.  These devices are designed specifically to absorb the massive energy spikes that come from lightning and other transients.  

I installed this device in my breaker boxes many years ago and I'm really glad that I did!  I remember sitting on my front porch watching a massive thunderstorm come through and I saw a lightning strike hit the power pole 20 feet from workshop building with a massive FLASH-BANG that was terrifying. (That's not my home in the video above). 

The next day I noticed that my appliances were making a humming sound so I checked the voltage of the electrical outlets and found that I was getting 140 V AC and not the specified 120 V AC.  This implied that the pole transformer had been damaged by lightning so I called the utility company.  They showed up literally 20 minutes later with a replacement transformer and it took them about 1/2 an hour to replace it.  If I had not installed surge protection I would have lost thousands of dollars worth of electronic devices including all my consumer items like TV, DVD, stereo, computers and kitchen appliances like the microwave etc.  The only item that fell victim to that massive lightning strike was my cable modem because there was no protection on the cable line.  I have since added protection for the cable itself.

My house is on a rise in rural Maine surrounded by tall trees and lightning has hit and destroyed a couple of trees near the house.  My workshop building has 38 solar panels mounted to the roof.  For this reason I hired a company to install lightning rods on both my home and workshop building.  Back in 2010, they installed the systems at a total cost of around $3500 for both buildings. 

The roof mounted rods are connected to very heavy woven copper wires about 1/2" diameter that run down to two opposite corners of the building where they are connected to ground rods pounded deep into the ground.  If you are at all concerned about the risk of lightning hitting your home this is your first line of defense.  Lightning frequently destroys homes with fire and explosive damage.

 

Bedding in my garlic with wood shavings from my bowl turning classes

it's early November and the time of year when I plant garlic so it will come up in the spring.  I purchase heirloom garlic from the local farmers market and simply break off cloves and put them in the dirt about 2 to 4 inches down.  Then it is recommended to cover them over with mulch to protect them.  So I use shavings from the wood turning classes that I teach.  (More info about those classes here).  In the spring I purchase basil seedlings from the farmers market and plant those in the same vegetable beds.  The whole idea here is to make basil pesto from a combination of my own plants and garlic.  I typically can nine or more 8 ounce jars of pesto and store them in the fridge to tide me over through the winter.  And of course I enjoy garlic and many of the foods and stir fries that I prepare.

I also use my wood shavings for litter and kindling to light my wood stoves - one in my home and one in my workshop.  This particular batch of shavings includes some Osage Orange shavings that a student sent me from a tree on his property in Texas.  Here's a photo of the prepared bowl blank and a finished bowl:

 This blend of shavings looks quite nice on my vegetable bed:

I rake the shavings off once I see shoots poking up in the late spring and will either dump them out in the woods, or mulch them in two other garden beds.

This is all about living sustainably for me and also being self-reliant and saving money.

100% Recycled paper

 

When I buy printer paper from Staples (or any other office supply source), I always spend a little extra to purchase 100% recycled copy paper from a forestry certified source.  Staples also sell 30% recycled content office paper that is slightly less expensive.  It's a simple way to vote with my dollars for a more sustainable planet.  if more of us did this, we would support an industry that creates fully sustainable paper.

In my small town here in rural Maine we have a biweekly pickup of mixed stream recycling of plastics, metals, paper and cardboard.  I like to think that some of the paper I recycled has been turned into fully recycled content that I then purchase later. 

Chives from my garden

 

I have two chives plants in my garden beds, on the left is regular chives and on the right, garlic chives.  The chives plant is over 15 years old and the garlic chives I've had for over three years now.  These are the only perennials in my vegetable beds and I use fresh chives in scrambled eggs and stir fries throughout the growing season which runs from April through October.  Today was our first frost night so I have harvested a bunch of chives and dried them for use through the rest of the year.

I cut them up with scissors and lay them on parchment paper and then put them in the oven at 150°F for about half an hour or so.

Once dried I store them in an 8 ounce ball jar with a reusable plastic lid.  4 to 5 ounces usually lasts me through the winter and into the spring.  

I usually make scrambled eggs with fresh chives and shredded cheddar cheese.  Back when I was running an air B&B from my home my guests really enjoyed my special scrambled eggs.  They would watch as I walked out to the garden to cut fresh chives for the breakfast and enjoyed the local resource.  I would also use locally sourced free range chicken eggs that I bought at the farmers market.  Garlic chives when fresh have a real zing to them that have a definite garlicky flavor.

I enjoy making optimal use of all of the resources on my property as part of my commitment to living sustainably.

Solar water heating - 16 years of practical use

 

Solar water heating collectors

Back in 2006 I installed solar collectors on the side of my house that preheated water before it went into a propane water heater tank.  (see my detailed blog about this installation).  

demand heater on left
40 gal. storage on right

When that water heater tank failed in 2010 I replaced it with a propane demand unit that uses a lot less propane because it only fires up to heat water on an as-needed basis.  Standard water tanks - whether they are heated with gas or electricity waste a lot of energy by maintaining the heat in the tank that leaks out and has to be topped up all the time.

The company that made this complete kit that I purchased was called Butler Sun Solutions, and sadly they are no longer around because Barry Butler the founder has died.  Barry was an absolute genius and designed a very simple very affordable system that could be retrofitted into standard water heater tanks.  Since installing the system, I have done many upgrades and improvements.  But the original design as built had a break even cost (after incentives) of about five years.  I paid around $3000 for a complete kit and state and federal incentives reduced that to about $1500.  

One of the improvements I made was to put a "dashboard" on the window frame above my kitchen sink so I could monitor temperatures of the solar collectors and the storage tank.  As you can see from the photo above - the 40 gallon storage tank as reached 91.5°F.  The peak temperature of the collectors was over 150°F before this photo was taken in the afternoon.

I built a webpage that shows live real-time statistics of the performance of the system, click here to see that page.  As you can see, on a clear sunny day the water tank temperature can reach well over 100°F.  Sudden dips in the tank temperature are due to hot water usage such as dish washing and showers etc.

There are trade-offs to having a propane on-demand water heater.  Hot water does not arrive as quickly as it would from a storage style tank, however you can take really long showers because the water is heated as needed continuously.  The other trade-off is that when the solar storage tank temperature is above 100°F the demand heater gets confused and doesn't contribute heat, so there are sometimes periods where the shower gets cooler for a while before everything evens out.  These are small compromises that I'm comfortable making in order to leave the world a better place by reducing my use of fossil fuels.

What I've learned about the performance of this system is interesting.  I get the best performance around the spring and fall equinoxes.  Since I am at a latitude of approximately 43°, this means that the ideal tilt angle for the collectors to orient them optimally towards the sun would be at 43° (or rounded off to 45° for a typical roof slope).  But since my collectors are mounted vertically to a wall I'm sacrificing performance.  So in the summer when the sun is at its highest, the sun angle is least optimal and performance is compromised, conversely in the winter when the sun angle is much lower, the performance is improved, but with the trade-off of colder temperatures that limit how hot the water can get in the collectors.  Here in Maine, the average temperature remains below freezing for months in the winter and can dip well below 0°F

So clearly the maximum benefit of this system is in the spring and the fall where my demand water heater only has to make up the difference in temperature between what is in the storage tank and 120°F.  My well water temperature is about 50°F which is tempered somewhat by a pressure storage tank in the basement for a net of about 60 to 65°F.  So any increase above that threshold reduces my propane consumption.

I update the chart above every year to reflect the heating season's usage and costs.  As you can see I have reduced my gallons per year from around 800 gallons to as little as 111.5 gallons in 2020.  The red line represents dollars per gallon and clearly the cost of propane is extremely volatile and unpredictable.  However as you can see from the blue line my annual costs are going down despite increasing cost of propane.

So the net result is I am reducing my carbon footprint significantly while also saving money on my water heating costs.  Clearly, it's a win-win!

I realize that not everyone is inclined to do a DIY installation like mine, but the systems are not unreasonably expensive, especially in southern climates and the return on investment is typically less than 10 years.  Most competent solar installers can install something like this.  

As the news is constantly filled with epic climate crisis triggered events, it's time we all buckled down and did what we can to reduce our fossil fuel footprints.  Thousands of people are dying every year as a direct result of the climate crisis, and those of us with disposable income can afford to make adjustments for the betterment of mankind.