Category: Warmth / Shelter / Cooling
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10 Ways to Stay Warm During a Power Outage
Yes, winter really is coming, and sooner than you think. Given that utility prices are rising, especially natural gas, it might get more difficult to keep warm this coming winter if you’re not thinking ahead. With that in mind, consider the following ten tips in the video below. And, while it was intended for the…
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DIY Ice Maker for SHTF
We all know how important it is to keep food cold or frozen, but have you considered how important ice is for survival? Sure, ice cubes help keep things cool, too, but there’s just something about being able to keep drinks cool during sweltering summer heat, particularly if you don’t have working air conditioning, which…
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How to Make a Super Cooler (Keeps Frozen for 10+ Days)
Are you tired of having to drain the water from your cooler each morning because the ice melted? Maybe you want to buy a Yeti cooler, but they simply cost too much to justify for occasional use? And what if you need extended cooling, enough to last for more than a week without concern? Then…
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Rocket Mass Heater for Cooling?
After the heat wave we’ve been experiencing the past few weeks, I’ll do almost anything to get even a bit cooler during the hottest part of the day, and a rocket mass heater may be just the thing I didn’t realize I needed. During our last few days in the Pacific Northwest, for example, it…
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Common Misconceptions About Heating and Cooling Your Homestead
Deciding to live off-the-grid means you begin sustaining your life without all of the modern technologies. You find ways to source your own water. You plant gardens and harvest fruit from trees. You begin to source your energy from more renewable sources than those that deplete the earth. Plus, you likely have a few animals…
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Mr. Heater Buddy vs Buddy Flex
I have the older style Mr. Heater and for emergency use it works relatively well if only it didn’t use propane so fast. Apparently, the upgraded Mr. Heater Flex has a few features that would be of interest to most people for only a bit more cost, including higher BTU output, omni-directional heat, a windscreen…
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10 Ways to Live Without Refrigeration
He’s makes a point that most of us in the modern world feel like we can’t live without a refrigerator, but it wasn’t so long ago when that’s the way the world did things. And, while I don’t necessarily agree that all of his ten suggestions are the easiest to accomplish, they’ll certainly give you…
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DIY Geothermal Greenhouse – No Supplemental Heat Needed
Not only do you get the benefit of not having to heat your greenhouse during the winter, but the water barrels that act as the heatsinks allow you to store hundreds of gallons of potable water too! FYI, he starts talking about his supplemental heat system at around the 5:15 mark and then a bit…
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DIY Solar Water Heater
Last week I posted this solar water heater using glow plugs video and, while an interesting idea, it’s not very useful when it comes to making the best use of a precious resource: off-grid electricity. With that in mind, I thought it would be useful to show a different idea of how to heat water…