Time to shout

What an extraordinary week.  We quickly forget that some of the things we get up to are perhaps seen as unusual, and that our view of the world is likewise not always terribly mainstream (whatever that is). So it is always interesting when people want to come and take...

No guilt? Just kidding

Today I am including a caveat to my ‘All the benefits without the guilt’, as a way to show how easy it is to fall into a particular mindset. My previous post made it all sound so simple. Why do all that work when a simple device can make your life easier?...
All the benefits without the guilt

All the benefits without the guilt

Something I am starting to understand about generating your own energy is that in the same way that you have to watch when there is little sun and no wind (which is pretty rare), you also have to find ways to use power when it is available. Here we cook, heat water...
Could you retire early?

Could you retire early?

  A friend recently introduced me to the excellent website of the strangely named Mr Money Mustache, and I have to say that despite my initial apprehension about it all being rather money driven, it is actually a very helpful and interesting blog. The gist of it...
Connecting it all together

Connecting it all together

Someone asked how we get the data about our power generation and usage to the side of our website. Well here is as concise an answer as I can manage. Here’s a schematic – Power comes from our PV Panel Arrays (shown top). The big array (centre) is wired as...
Their power comes from our obedience

Their power comes from our obedience

  I had a conversation with a younger colleague today that serves as an example of why it is so important to question authority. We were talking about how there are times when I think it would be good to video or record ‘officials’ when they come to...