LOST JEEPS :: View topic - Going off the grid

Just a thought,
Once you get it all sorted out and find the root cause, add a hanging bulb float switch connected in series to the control side of the motor contactor in the vault. This would kill the pump if the water level ever comes up in the vault high enough to lay the float on its side and prevent it from running.
We use this setup all the time in below ground equipment vaults housing electrical components at our plant to protect the equipment from being flooded out in case of any leak or busted pipe etc...
:idea:

That's a beautiful design!

The view out the front will be amazing. Can you position the house to get both a great view and efficient heating/cooling due to the direction of the sun? And will you be going geothermal?

I'm back from my long hiatus. We've been working to finish up the home plans. I will give you a sneak peek of what it's going to look like:

:shock: Beautiful design!

:Any idea when you'll start building?

Nice going, dieselenthusiast!

That's a lot of raking! :shock:

Looks like that took some work. I'm sure the bees will appreciate the nectar, though.

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
WWDiesel wrote: Just a thought, Once you get it all sorted out and find the root cause, add a hanging bulb float switch connected in series to the control side of the motor contactor in the vault. This would kill the pump if the water level ever comes up in the vault high enough to lay the float on its side and prevent it from running. We use this setup all the time in below ground equipment vaults housing electrical components at our plant to protect the equipment from being flooded out in case of any leak or busted pipe etc... That's not a bad idea, WWDiesel. I might consult with the pump installer to see how doable that would be. Thanks for taking an interest in our project.

Author:	WWDiesel [ Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:31 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
If you need a wiring diagram for it, let me know and I can draw you one up... The float switch is a simple rubber bulb that has mercury in it that allows the current to pass through the bulb as long as it is hanging stright down. If any liquid (water) rises up and floats the bulb on its side it will break the circuit and won't allow the pump to run. You wire the float switch in series with the one leg of the control circuit of the pressure switch. Very simple but 100% effective setup to prevent flooding due to any kind of leak in the system.......

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:02 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
I'm back from my long hiatus. We've been working to finish up the home plans. I will give you a sneak peek of what it's going to look like:

Author:	BillyP [ Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Author:	lfhoward [ Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:06 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
That's a beautiful design! The view out the front will be amazing. Can you position the house to get both a great view and efficient heating/cooling due to the direction of the sun? And will you be going geothermal?

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Author:	CIMARRON13 [ Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:35 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
That looks great.

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:01 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
lfhoward wrote: That's a beautiful design! Thank you. It's taken a few years to come up with that design. As for the interior, the main floor is fully designed. The loft is nearly finished and the basement is being reworked. The front glass might be reworked, but it's pretty close to being finished. The house as you see it has been fully engineered. lfhoward wrote: The view out the front will be amazing. Can you position the house to get both a great view and efficient heating/cooling due to the direction of the sun? And will you be going geothermal? It was designed to compliment the views while taking into consideration the lay of land and solar positioning. We will not be using geothermal. The primary heat source will be wood. The main floor will have this stove: Blaze King Heats 1,500 – 3,000 Square Feet 40 Hour Low Burn Times Thermostatically Controlled 4.32 Cubic Foot Firebox Max Heat Input 703,390 BTUs 88% LHV Efficiency (82% HHV) 51,582 BTU's/h constant output for 12 hours Burn Time Up to 40 hours on low Maximum Log Size 23" EPA Emissions 1.76 gr/hour

Author:	Bmxer524 [ Thu Jan 22, 2015 12:48 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
dieselenthusiast wrote: I'm back from my long hiatus. We've been working to finish up the home plans. I will give you a sneak peek of what it's going to look like: Beautiful design! Any idea when you'll start building?

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Sun Jan 25, 2015 12:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
Bmxer524 wrote: :shock: Beautiful design! Again, thank you. Bmxer524 wrote: :Any idea when you'll start building? It's really hard to say. The bank will finance 80% of the estimated completed appraisal. The problem is that the total cost to build the home will exceed the appraisal. In other words, it will cost more to build than what the home will be worth in today's economy. The vast majority of the banks will not finance a home construction loan in our area since we are in a non-marketable (very rural) geographic location. Historically, the people who built homes here were those who wanted a second home. During the economic downturn, guess which homes got foreclosed on or sold cheap? The aforementioned chain of events really hurt the market and the appraisals. And to complicate matters, the appraisers don't take into consideration landscape, views, character, quality, or the condition of the well. They sit in their offices from afar and make decisions based on square footage. Just to give you an idea, we have approximately $70,000 cash into the land, well, septic, driveway, and electric. My guess is that we are still $50,000 cash short. We can sock away $25,000 per year, so based on my calculations, we should be able to build in two more years unless the bank changes their lending policy.

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:10 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
I spent most of the fall building hive stands for our bees. The goal is to move away from cinder blocks. We had a pretty good harvest for the first year.

Author:	profdlp [ Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
Nice going, dieselenthusiast!

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
profdlp wrote: Nice going, dieselenthusiast! Thanks! We went out to the property today to inspect the bee hives. So far, all the hives are looking good. Due to unseasonably warm weather, most of the snow is melted. The remaining snow patches are just a few inches deep. If the weather stays warm, I think we'll be able to drive out on the property by the middle of March. I'm ready to start working on the property again.

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Sat Mar 21, 2015 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
As predicted, I was able to drive on the property today (mid March). It's still a little wet, but I avoided the soggy areas and kept the ruts to a minimum. I raked and hauled off the pine duff around this big ponderosa. Then I spent most of the afternoon trimming branches.

Author:	profdlp [ Sat Mar 21, 2015 8:27 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
That's a lot of raking!

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Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:55 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
So far, we've had good moisture this winter. Here's a picture of the stream coming off the mountain. It's been flowing continuously since January. It flows right into a nearby lake.

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:22 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
We pulled more stumps today. Here was the toughest one. I'm hoping to plant some nectar producing plants in this area.

Author:	profdlp [ Tue Apr 07, 2015 3:11 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
Looks like that took some work. I'm sure the bees will appreciate the nectar, though.

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
profdlp wrote: Looks like that took some work. I'm sure the bees will appreciate the nectar, though. We pulled stumps for 3.5 hours before a hydraulic hose went bad. We still have a few more hours left to finish. In the mean time, I've been building more hive stands and installing more bees!

Author:	profdlp [ Sat Apr 11, 2015 2:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Going off the grid
Do you open the box of bees inside their new home, or do they just naturally go for it?