Living Without Electricity On Our 100 Year Old Farm. (solar panels, heating, insulation)

[Hawk J]

Howdy, FB&C....................


I see a lot o possibilities with the farmhouse. U can put a redwood hottub on the back porch..........................heeheehee.......... ............................................


If'n you can't git water to the house by gravity or handpump u probably wood be able to with a 12volt battery pump like a motorhome has. If u wanna.


I Really like the barn & Vulture......................................... .


Have a Beautiful Evening Y'all..........................

[Cecilia_Rose]

Originally Posted by Hawk J

Howdy, FB&C....................


I see a lot o possibilities with the farmhouse. U can put a redwood hottub on the back porch..........................heeheehee.......... ............................................


If'n you can't git water to the house by gravity or handpump u probably wood be able to with a 12volt battery pump like a motorhome has. If u wanna.


I Really like the barn & Vulture......................................... .


Have a Beautiful Evening Y'all..........................

Tsk Tsk. 12V battery pump.
Shame on you.
How could you even suggest such a thing.

[PaulNKS]

Originally Posted by cecilia_rose

tsk tsk. 12v battery pump.
Shame on you.
How could you even suggest such a thing. :d

roflmbo

[Forest Breath]

snkalaska: I watched Frontier House when it first came out years ago. Me and my Mother loved the show. The woman from Tennessee got on my nerves a bit, it seemed she never appreciated anything her husband did and he worked his hiney off on that show. It was an interesting show and I'd love to go ona show like that. It would be like a vacation LOL!

Cecilia_Rose: I spoke with the old man that grew up in the house. His family was the second family to live in the home. There was no cistern or anything at the home. The original family, Mayfields, carried all of their water from the Spring. When the Davis family moved in, they too carried water from the Spring and drank from the Spring as well. As a matter of fact, a cup hung from a tree and everyone who came down the road drank from the Spring. They had no pump or anything to pump the water out, they just carried it to the house in buckets. When the third family moved in, they put a pump halfway, electric pump, had the house wired for electricity, they had a water heater, electric washer, etc. in the house and the electric pump. When they moved, someone stole the pump from the ump house. The bucket, filter, pipes and all are still there. For awhile I want to use it sa it was originally used when the house was first built, I want to carry all of our water for at least a year. Who knows why, I am weird I suppose, but I love doing that. Next Spring we intend to look into a hand pump to place near the Spring so we can fill buckets up wihtout stooping into the Spring. Eventually, we may look at pumping the water further up the hill somehow.

Hawk J: I am really liking the vulture as well. Yesterday we went down and I had an extra deer roast that was thawed when we were canning and it had not been used yet. I put it out for the vulture and it was the coolest thing I have seen lately, watching he watch me and then trying to figure out why I wold give her such a scrumptious meal.

LOL about the battery, I am NOT totally against the idea. NOt for now but you know, I am 47 and age never goes down, believe it or not. So one day carrying water from the Spring is not going to be as thrilling as it is today. So who knows what we will be looking into at that point. Chris is thinking about maybe one solar panel in the future so....only time will tell. For now tho, we want a year of just living as close to the way the original family lived as possible.

Thanks so much everyone!

[PaulNKS]

I admire what you are doing. I live with solar. I use a 12v diaphragm pump that is wired to my solar system. It fills a pressure tank and that is what "pushes" the water into the house and gives me water pressure.
Paul

[Cecilia_Rose]

Originally Posted by Forest Breath

snkalaska: I watched Frontier House when it first came out years ago. Me and my Mother loved the show. The woman from Tennessee got on my nerves a bit, it seemed she never appreciated anything her husband did and he worked his hiney off on that show. It was an interesting show and I'd love to go ona show like that. It would be like a vacation LOL!

Cecilia_Rose: I spoke with the old man that grew up in the house. His family was the second family to live in the home. There was no cistern or anything at the home. The original family, Mayfields, carried all of their water from the Spring. When the Davis family moved in, they too carried water from the Spring and drank from the Spring as well. As a matter of fact, a cup hung from a tree and everyone who came down the road drank from the Spring. They had no pump or anything to pump the water out, they just carried it to the house in buckets. When the third family moved in, they put a pump halfway, electric pump, had the house wired for electricity, they had a water heater, electric washer, etc. in the house and the electric pump. When they moved, someone stole the pump from the ump house. The bucket, filter, pipes and all are still there. For awhile I want to use it sa it was originally used when the house was first built, I want to carry all of our water for at least a year. Who knows why, I am weird I suppose, but I love doing that. Next Spring we intend to look into a hand pump to place near the Spring so we can fill buckets up wihtout stooping into the Spring. Eventually, we may look at pumping the water further up the hill somehow.

Hawk J: I am really liking the vulture as well. Yesterday we went down and I had an extra deer roast that was thawed when we were canning and it had not been used yet. I put it out for the vulture and it was the coolest thing I have seen lately, watching he watch me and then trying to figure out why I wold give her such a scrumptious meal.

LOL about the battery, I am NOT totally against the idea. NOt for now but you know, I am 47 and age never goes down, believe it or not. So one day carrying water from the Spring is not going to be as thrilling as it is today. So who knows what we will be looking into at that point. Chris is thinking about maybe one solar panel in the future so....only time will tell. For now tho, we want a year of just living as close to the way the original family lived as possible.

Thanks so much everyone!

FB

I have not always been so "civilized". In my youth I spent a lot of time at my Gr Grans and at my Gr Aunts. Both had electricity but neither had inside plumbing. So I am very familiar with going out in the snow to hand pump water. And making that long trek to the loo in the snow. My Aunts was just outside a town but Grans was off a dirt road a 100 miles from nowhere. So no tv reception.

Im really glad you are enjoying yourself so much. its about time. I have BTDT and while I managed to entertain myself at th time I prefer my creature comforts. Sounds like you will be following right along in the footsteps of the previous tenets. At first they carried water cause they had to. Then as they got older and could afford it they had it piped into the house. I was just teasin about the 12v. Even the Amish are using solar now.


I have been researching grey water usage for myself. It seems a shame to waste all that water that goes down the drain. when I could be usin it to water my posies. I havent figured a cost effective way yet tho. It would be a lot easier for you to hook a kitchen drain into piping that flowed into your kitchen garden.

Just a thought for later. Maybe you could dig a cistern to hold roof run off to use for dsh washing etc. You could use a hand pump in the kitchen. No electric needed .

[piperspal]

Hi ForestBreath, I'm so happy for you and look forward to this new thread as much as I did the old one. Even more so,
as I'm optimistic about the outcome this time!

I hope that anyone who decides to follow this thread will take the advice of others & read FB's first account.
Makes the gains noted in this one that much sweeter!

I saw an episode of Extreme Living on HGTV the other night. A couple built their home from used tires & dirt. They call it an "earth ship". The couple recycles their water from bathing/cooking/drinking. They run that H2O thru pipes that then stop and water all sorts of plants before moving further along; eventually flushing their toilet and then watering more vegetation before dispersing to the ground around their home.

I realize this is much different from your plans; but watching that & reading your thread sure does make me conscious of how much water & electricity I consume. Bless you for following your calling & thanks for sharing with us!

[Big-moorlygho1]

Poor Chris that photo of him on the porch says to me you overworked him and all he wanted was a nap and you wanted a photo LOL. Fb I am so glad things are working out for you and Chris. Wishing you both the best.

[Forest Breath]

PaulNKS: I know that some time in the future, Chris will have a bit of solar, even if it is in the barn! LOL

Cecilia_Rose: We are going to hook up our current water system and run the pipe straight to the kitchen sink, we won't need a pump then and I will have the rain water for use. One of the barrels will have the spigot outside so we can fill buckets of water out there as needed. We will have that and the Spring and eventually a hand pump, at least, for the Spring.

piperspal: I am glad you found your way to the new thread. And thanks so much for your kind words. I get more and more excited about the farm every day. My grandson calls it "The Broken House" lol. We get a kick out of that. My dreams and plans are still somewhat tainted from what happened, but I have hope in my heart again and pulling into the driveway yesterday at the farm made me feel very good.

Big-moorlygho1: LOL yeah I snapped several pics and even took a video. He fell asleep. We were taking a break and I was crocheting, waving at neighbors and having a good ol' time, talking to Chris and I looked over and he was sound asleep. We actually rested that day more than we worked, because we are determined to now drive ourselves into the ground getting this home ready. We want to enjoy everything but work hard enough to get things done. Ripping out that counter and water heater was tough for the two of us, but the breaks on the porch in between things is super nice. Thanks so much for your post!

I have taken next Monday and Tuesday off for vacation, so I will have 5 days off in a row! We have lots of plans for the farm. I spoke with my attorney yesterday and we are pretty sure that Hazel has been given the advice from her attorney that if she waits long enough, I will get tired of it all and just leave. So we plan to leave some things at the old place and drop by there every single day on the way home so she cannot say we have abandoned the place. We will leave some not so needed things there and be there daily. He also suggested I treat the land as if I own it because we have nothing from her saying otherwise. She admitted she had the agreement and our house is there, she is refusing to settle, so we will be cutting some trees down this weekend so they can season for next winter. When she hears the chain saw and a few other things I have planned, she may decide she needs to make a move....if she thinks we are planning for a future there.

I am pretty sure the vulture is a black vulture, as it has no red on the head and fits the desciption of a black vulture. She was sitting on the eggs when I checked on her yesterday. We are going to close in the stall where she is so the dogs cannot get to her when we take them down and she can have some peace with her babies. Her stall will be away from where the chickens are. I just want her to have the chance to raise her babies in peace since she has worked so hard on them so far.

[plfriend]

Forest Breath,
Just found this thread yesterday and spend the majority of the day reading the old one. I really have no interest in living the way you do, but I admire you for doing it. I do love working in the yard and gardening, but I want electricity and bathroom facilities. My family has an RV and we enjoy cooking outdoors, sitting by the campfire and things like that. My children who are now 16 and 19 still spend 80% of our time outside during the warm months.
I love to read, I read anything I can get my hands on, and I think your story would make a great book, or even a short story in a magazine. You have a gift of writing, I could not stop reading the thread until I had finished it....just like a good book you can't put down.