Category: Warmth / Shelter / Cooling
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
DIY Solar Water Heater Using Glow Plugs?
Although there’s no verbal explanation given as the video plays, I think I generally get the idea: Use two glow plugs like a hot water heating element to generate a constant current using a small solar panel and battery. And, while it’s a relatively small water barrel–I’m guessing 15 gallons–he was able to get the…
-
Buried Shipping Containers – So Many Problems!
I’ve long been interested in doing some sort of underground shelter, but never bothered in large part because I have no idea what I’m doing. Besides, it’s a rather expensive prepping project, so I’d hate to get it wrong and waste a bunch of money or, worse, endanger my family. As DIY projects go, burying…
-
How to Prepare by Geographical Region
This was not the apocalypse we were expecting, but all things considered, it could be worse. While it might still be hard to get your hands on toilet paper and Lysol these days, that doesn’t mean you should neglect your survival prep, no matter where you live or how you’re impacted by the current crisis. …