Category: Solar / Power / Energy

  • Cooking With The “Solar Death Ray”

    If you’ve been following my blog for years now you may remember when I used to post about my sun oven cooking experiments… I miss those days. 🙂 Sadly, all of the large trees around my house tend to block out most of the sunshine and so my lack of willingness to work around that…

  • “Grab-n-Go” Power Outage Kit

    “Grab-n-Go” Power Outage Kit

    A funny thing happened while on the way to write this post: the power went out… again. Just yesterday the power went out due to high winds for several hours and it turned out that I got into quite a few basic survival items this time, including more than a dozen items listed below. You…

  • The Power Goes Out And You Would Think Hell Froze Over…

    Just yesterday we had another power outage. There’s just something about rain, winds, tall trees, and above-ground power lines that don’t mix. 😉 Granted, power outages are relatively common where we live and though it only lasted for a handful of hours, I swear my family freaks out every time. My kids, of course, have no access…

  • 4 Off-Grid Power Options (Guest Post)

    4 Off-Grid Power Options (Guest Post)

    Are we still Americans if we unplug? Power supply and appliances for successful off-grid living. As gas and energy prices rise, and the climate continues to fluctuate outside of its natural cycle, the number of people striving for an off-grid lifestyle is at an all-time high. Whether it’s to break away from the dependence of…

  • A Tale of Two 24 Hour Power Outages…

    A Tale of Two 24 Hour Power Outages…

    Twenty-four hours doesn’t sound like a long time, does it? After all, twenty-four hours is a single day… a mere fraction of the week. Sadly, a single day usually passes like the blink of an eye when things are normal. During an emergency (such as a power outage) twenty-four hours could seem like an eternity! Let’s see what life would be like…

  • Focus on Powering a Chest Freezer Filled with Freezer Meals

    As much of a fan as I am of bulk foods as well as freeze dried foods (of late), I understand that not everyone sees things the same as me, which is fine. In fact, bulk foods take both work and sometimes equipment (such as a grain grinder) to make use of them whereas freeze…

  • The Greenhouse of the Future DVD: Abundance and Energy Autonomy

    The Greenhouse of the Future DVD: Abundance and Energy Autonomy

    I was recently sent The Greenhouse of the Future DVD (and eBook) for review. I must first say that I’ve ever only been involved in one greenhouse build (my father-in-laws) and I didn’t even do many of the more difficult parts, including digging it out and the brick masonry work. I can say, however, that it…

  • Luci Inflatable Solar Lantern for Camping, Hiking, Preparedness

    Luci Inflatable Solar Lantern for Camping, Hiking, Preparedness

    Perhaps by now you’ve seen the Luci Inflatable Solar Lantern by Mpowered. I was sent one for review and so I’ll offer my opinion on it for emergency preparedness here… The solar lantern comes in a small package and, in fact, collapses down to a very small size which makes it nice for tossing into…

  • SunJack Solar Charger and CampLight: Perfect Camping and Bug Out Power and Lighting Solution!

    SunJack Solar Charger and CampLight: Perfect Camping and Bug Out Power and Lighting Solution!

    I was sent this SunJack Solar Charger not long ago for review along with the SunJack CampLight (sold separately). Since then I had the opportunity to test out the SunJack Solar Charger (and CampLight) a bit since then I can say that I’m quite impressed. Granted, I’ve never owned a portable solar panel like this one so this…