Coffee 7-16-11

As promised, here are some pictures of the EFM with new paint. I snapped a picture of the "sharpie notes" on the side so I would remember the dates...might rewrite with a silver marker at a later date. Also shown is my ebay-sourced draft gauge. It works excellent, and I officially have -0.02" at the firedoor. Running at 3 teeth/3.5 air, and that seems to be doing the job for domestic hot water.

Rob, the EFM is lookin' good! I'm sure it'll serve you well for years to come. Yup, if you don't date it it'll be "when did that get done?" before you know it. My Dad dated everything & I'm following his foot steps. If you want to know when we moved into this house, look on the wall inside the coat closet. If you want to know when I had my last tetanus shot , look on the "Kind of important things" list on the wall by the washing machine. You'll find the tetanus shot above "new antifreeze in van" and under "cat got worm pill"

Lisa, thoughts & prayers are with you. I hope your Dad...& Mom too... are pain free and comfy. It's not an easy time of life. The rewards for what you are doing are like a savings bond. They don't seem like much now, but years from now they will hold great value. Hang in there.

Jeff....full detail on the solar install? Are you going to do a self install? I saved a bunch of money by doing it myself, but I did have to pass on the state rebate. They only give it to "professionally installed" systems. OK, Sure, I'll spend an extra 9 grand so I can get $1,500 from the state. Oh, DUH. It would be legal to have one of the pros inspect my system so I could get the rebate. I personally spoke to all 9 and each and every one declined. Sorry.... I digress. I'll PM you my phone number, call anytime if you wanna chat. In the mean time, go to Enphase.com if you'd like to read about the micro inverters. For panels, just do a internet search & start reading. I chose BP for a few reasons, but there are others that may be similar. Is it a wise investment? It depends on a lot of things. #1 being the cost of power in your area. If you live where electricity is $.06 a KWH, then a solar system is not for you, but, if you live in CA or Maine, and plenty of other places, it might just pay off. I'm looking at less than 12 years break even at today's prices. If they go to TOD (time of day) metering, that 12 yrs could turn to 7 or 8 real fast. Technology and prices are changing, and changing fast. Just 4 years ago you had to figure on replacing your (expensive) inverter half way through the life of the panels, but on July 6th of this year, Enphase came out with a new micro inverter that is guaranteed as long as the panels.... 25 yrs. Of course there is some risk, but I'm figuring this to be a good investment. If not, well, my whole life has sucked so what's new? LOL Joking! I hope. OK... check your PM's
PS, I've made over 40 KWH's each of the last 4 days.

Freddy wrote:Yup, if you don't date it it'll be "when did that get done?" before you know it. My Dad dated everything & I'm following his foot steps. If you want to know when we moved into this house, look on the wall inside the coat closet. If you want to know when I had my last tetanus shot , look on the "Kind of important things" list on the wall by the washing machine. You'll find the tetanus shot above "new antifreeze in van" and under "cat got worm pill.".

Somewhere along the line I picked up the dating everything thing, too. It's interesting when I "discover" a date long forgotten. I also put a picture of the family in the walls everytime we are doing something that gives us access to the studs. We've torn down walls, added rooms and changed things throughout the house and each change gets made an updated picture goes in before we seal it up again. First it was just DK and I, then my daughters and then my son. Maybe someone will care down the line; probably not but I do it anyway.

Thank you for all the kind thoughts and prayers - it's reassuring to know that this is something everyone must face, overcome and move on. This is a good growth opportunity for my kids and me. We'll remember the good times fondly and deal with the bad. Take care, Lisa

Freddy wrote:Rob, the EFM is lookin' good! I'm sure it'll serve you well for years to come. Yup, if you don't date it it'll be "when did that get done?" before you know it. My Dad dated everything & I'm following his foot steps.

I picked up the dating from my dad as well. He dates everything he works on, and sometimes adds a note about the weather. Not to long ago the boys pulled a huge air filter out of a truck and on the end it had the date and weather from 6-7 years ago. Time goes fast, and I guess that is a neat way of looking back. I plan on getting a metallic marker and "dating" the EFM again, and I will probably add the names of the guys that helped me get it into the basement.

Late to the party, as usual, or late to the coffee pot actually.. I'm drinking iced coffee, it just too darned hot to drink more than the 'one' first cup of hot coffee first thing in the AM.

I had the 'pleasure' of driving an open car yesterday, in the 92* heat, in traffic, I was roasting. I kept taking side roads through tree-lined neighborhoods to get some 'cooler' air, I really enjoyed driving down my country road, once I got out of 'suburbia'.

It's supposed to be 75-80* over night and 90*+ all week long. I'll be flying from Tuesday-Saturday, so I'll be away from the farm, the ground is already cracked, the gras turned brown, and the Koi pond water level dropping fast..

We need rain.. badly.

Greg L

I'm late for the java this week, so I will just drink a pop instead. Have been working on the coal furnace install at my parents home. The install is done and I have test fired the unit. I have a thread in the stoker section under the heading," need info" for those who might be interested in seeing the stoker running as well as my short narrative of the progress. I have to take another day and tidy up the cellar area and double check everything. I do not want to miss anything and have it a surprise to me when the time comes to fire the unit for the season. I guess now I will be hauling in coal to their cellar in preparation for winter. Freddie, nice set up! I have a neighbor who has a similar setup on his garage. He just added a lot more panels this spring. His entire roof is now covered. How do they perform when covered with a layer of snow? Do you have plans on expanding the number of panels? The shop remains busy which is a good thing. My wife and I just added more miles to our long runs which should have been done last week,however, our schedules did not allow for us to schedule them in. So, tonight is our low mile run (9.5 miles) and tomorrow morning will be a long run day. I hope everyone is staying cool with this nice heat wave and thinking snow and cold coal burning weather.

The snowman.

the snowman wrote: How do they perform when covered with a layer of snow?

They don't! If they are partially covered they might melt themselves off, but if they are covered, the output is zero. You are welcome to sweep them off but I plan on doing nothing. The system is designed such that if they are buried 2 1/2 months a year, they will avergae out & pay my entire bill. I hope I don't have to add any, but with the micro inverters it would be easy to add one or more if desired.

I do plan on having some fun next year, For fun & hobby I hope to take four of them & put them on top of my 60 foot windmill tower, then, make them track the sun. The windmill has been decommissioned so I might's well use the tower for something!

So let me try & get this straight neighbor--you run alot of miles during the week & you stay wired on soda pop?? only in up-up state

I used to do quite a bit of running myself on all the hills around Pittsburgh, now that I live someplace flat with grass along the sides of the road instead of concrete or asphalt my replacement knees just don't want to do it anymore.

freetown fred: Yup! My wife and I run a lot of miles per week. We only take off one day per week. During all of this running I still find time to make furniture and my wife teach school. It sure does make for a complicated week. I could live on pop if I let myself. I use to make my own home made root beer. I always had a hard time waiting for it and would find myself drinking it before it was completely done. Your right, only in up upstate can a person get away with such acts of craziness. I think it is the amount of snow, cold and long burn season that we have, has an adverse affect on our minds.

Samhill: Did you run on your replacement knees? I have always been interested if it is possible to run with them. I currently run bare foot(over a year now). My knees and every other joint seems to be much happier than when I was running in shoes. Do you miss running?

Even though I run a lot of miles, I still think about coal. Every house I pass I wonder if they have a hidden treasure of coal in their basement just waiting for me to come remove it. I have been stopped on a run by a home owner who knows I burn coal and asked if I wanted their coal or they know someone who would like their coal removed. Some of my best furniture designs have come to me during a long run.

Freddie: I didn't think they performed while covered with snow. I think it is a great idea to use the windmill and track the sun with the panels. I have seen a couple of arrays on the ground that are set up to track the sun. Good idea and a great way to get the most out of your panels. Do you have an idea on a motor drive system to move the panels? How many panels would you be able to mount on the wind mill? Anyway, I must get back to work. I look forward to all of your postings.

the snowman.

Run run run run run run run. I used to enjoy running. Not long distance, but if I needed to go someplace, I'd run. I taught myself years ago to run landing on my toes. Even when I walk I do not touch heel first. It's easier on your body, it's much quieter, and you accelerate faster.

Strength-wise I could put a bunch of panels on the tower, but, my plan is for four. That will be about 75 square feet of panel. The frame to hold them safely would get very expensive very fast if I went with 6 or more panels. I'm up for suggestions as to how to track the sun. My wife came up with "Make it a giant clock, just let it go all the way around rather than return to starting position". The only thing if I did that is that it would require a $350 slip ring assembly and they don't work so well with DC power. Oh, wait! I HAVE a slip ring assembly on the tower already AND using the micro inverters makes it so AC would be going through the slip rings. I'm liking that idea. Barring that, perhaps a big ol' ball screw with associated drive and light seeking diodes. I dunno.... time will tell!

Snowman, the only running I've done on the new knees is a about 50 yard sprint just to test them. The doc kind of frowned on running distances, in any event he said that I could do anything even weight training but that it would take a year or more before I would more or less fully recover. Only problem I have now is my endurance is still low & going down steps is a chore. I'll be 64 in a couple of weeks, I found that walking is now more my speed I now stop & pick the berries rather than running by & never notice them. I don't miss the running at all, kind of like having a muscle car when I was younger, used to drive fast now I do slightly over the limit & p-o those behind me.

In my past life when I had half a brain I attended an orthopedics technical conference. After hours bar talk was that they loved running as those guys made up 80% of their practice.

coalnewbie:

I have been running for almost thirty years. I have not had an injury more than a sore muscle due to messing around while running. I have raced almost as long as I have been running. During the summer running schedule, my weekly miles will climax to 100 miles a week. This all has been done and continues to be done without injury or the need to see a doctor. Not all runners end up in that 80% bracket who make up some doctors practice. As with any physical exercise, the risk of injury is always present. Should we not do something because we might get injured or should we forge ahead with all the knowledge we can gather as how not to get injured in our chosen sport. I believe we should forge ahead. For me, running serves me well on several levels. I stay physically fit, solve most of my problems while running, and sometimes I score a load of free coal while running. Two years ago while on a run I solved world hunger and our nations energy crises. I have yet to tell anyone. Now that is funny.

the snowman

Oh OK--even I gotta admit--that is FUNNY