Denny
Denny

Solar Punk Tiny House! Image Flowers in foreground: Vernonia baldwinii, the western ironweed is the purple flower. Rudbeckia subtomentosa, sweet Coneflower is the yellow.

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In reply to
odd
odd

@Denny Thoreau only did it as an experiment, you do it as a living! I’d love to hear you on @Monday! cc: @jean

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Denny
Denny

@odd Yeah, been here since 2008. It's an evolving experiment! I think of it as a both a simple life but still with many modern tech. Kind of reminds me of when a Star Trek away team encounters a small village of people that seem to be living close to nature but with a variety of tech mixed in. And small, simple, reduced, often can mean less carbon and lower cost which reduces stress and frees up time. There's a balance.

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odd
odd

@Denny I’m not sure that I could do it myself, (even if I was well mentally), but somewhere more rural has always had a draw to me. Speaking of tech, it looks like you’ve got a few Watts on that panel. Are there days were you are short on electricity?

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jabel
jabel

@Denny Oh this is cool! Thanks to @odd for leading me here. I’ll be poking around in your archive. 😄

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pimoore
pimoore

@odd @denny @jean Seconded.

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Denny
Denny

@odd The solar I have is just supplemental. It's a 200watt panel that I initially bought more as a back-up for storm outages. My battery is about 700 watt hours of storage so on a daily basis I'm using the solar/battery to power much of my lighting, charge my iPads, iPhone and charge the batteries I use for electric mower. Unfortunately I'm still using the grid for the bulk of my electric: heating/cooling, cooking, small refrigerator. Over time as my budget allows I'll add another panel and a larger battery. My strategy for carbon reduction is to constrain myself as much as possible in what I use from grid - no hot water, winter thermostat set at 58-60, summer 75 to 78, sometimes warmer.

Being rural has some benefits and drawbacks. Love the dark night skies and access to the woods, lots of critters and its quiet. Culturally very conservative in rural Missouri - I don't have many friends, don't fit well which is okay because I'm very good at solitude!

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Denny
Denny

@jabel Poke away!

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odd
odd

@Denny It’s a good cause. I like your thinking of adapting into it, as I’m sure a complete change would not be economically viable or maybe even good mentally. I thought at first that everything came from that panel! Shows how little I know. I saw a post earlier about soap. I think that’s going to be my first contribution to the world, to change my buying habits of soap. Well, come to think of it, buying things online should come absolutely first. I used to be good at being solitary, and I still am, but only as long as I’m surrounded by people I know.

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jean
jean

@odd Noted!

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Denny
Denny

@odd Yeah, soap! Bar soap is working great for me for most things.

Solar panels come in so many different sizes, it took me a bit of time to figure out what I needed for my small battery. Looking forward to increasing the collection/storage capacity at some point! Gradual adaption does seem to be the best way on a small budget.

The solitary life can be beautiful and difficult.

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