Category Archives: Off the Grid

Standing seam metal for shop re-roof

The old ‘Ondura‘ roof had started to degrade, but thankfully there was only one leak so far and it was just on the side wing not the interior shop. Ondura has to be re-coated every so many years and ours never had been. Prepping the shop for the new roof entailed removing a few thousand screws and then taking the existing Ondura panels off. We had: me, my mom, my dad, a couple friends and the friend’s dump truck so

New tankless hot water heater

I am looking forward to a visit from Martin Plumbing this morning to install a new tankless hot water heater! Our old hot water heater has performed well for over a decade, but there are some nice new models out today and I am excited to be trying one out. My family lives off the grid and a tankless (or ‘on demand’) hot water heater is a great match for an energy efficient home. 🙂

Kawasaki MULE 4010 Trans4X4 skid plates

The Mule 4010 is a nice farm machine that is quite durable. However, if you do a lot of driving through heavy brush you may want to invest in some skid plates to protect the undercarriage from damage. Kawasaki offers a rear skid plate, and CV join guards. Here are the relevant part numbers and prices: For MULE™ 4010 Trans4X4 Rear Skid Plate: KAF30-035 $199.95 MSRP C/V Joint Guards: Front KAF25-049 $109.95 MSRP Rear KAF30-036 $92.95 MSRP Description: Metal covers

Propane generator available at Lowe’s

A big winter storm is headed this way and as such the local Lowe’s was almost sold out of generators! I found this out while picking up some flooring at the service counter. Sitting on a cart near the counter was a pretty cool portable propane generator, I will let the photos speak for themselves: I had no need of a generator as our solar panels at home were getting plenty of sunlight and our batteries were fully charged, woot.

Exede slowed speed: ping results

Here are ping times when Viasat slows your Exede service due to reaching 100% of your monthly data allowance: Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=989ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=606ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=1103ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=630ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=863ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=1360ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=719ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=838ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=1223ms TTL=51 Reply from 72.30.38.140: bytes=32 time=1391ms TTL=51 Reply

Sample wilderness cabin solar setup

NOTE: If you’ve read this blog long you probably already know that my family lives of the grid. So when my good friend K asked me for sample info about a very basic solar setup (for a wilderness cabin that would only be sporadically used on weekends for lights and radio etc.) I was happy to respond… Hola K! Here’s the solar checklist that we spoke about earlier, with these components your dad would have a basic solar setup: NOTE: I recommend a

Exede now offers an unlimited download time period

Exciting news for satellite internet users! From 12 midnight to 5AM, local to your installation time zone, you can download an unlimited amount without it affecting your monthly bandwidth quota. Woot! 🙂 Late Night Free Zone: free downloads and uploads every night from 12 midnight – 5 a.m. local to your time zonehttp://www.exede.com/exede-customers/late-night-free-zoneEvery night during the wee hours, we’re giving Exede customers a free hall pass to enjoy their superfast Internet service just a little bit more. Or a whole