January Earnings
February 10th, 2009Earnings from all sources came to a total of $2482.11. January was one of the best months for earnings, ever. Many thanks to all contributors.
Becky and I are getting into a use-it-or-lose it mode with some of our savings. The curtain could come down at any moment, and we started thinking: What do we really need? We have just ordered a medium sized hen house and large solar hot water heater.
The hen house is a kitset that’s manufactured by Outpost Buildings. We bought the medium sized, two bay unit, which can accommodate up to 25 chickens. We’re guessing that we want to keep a maximum of 20 chickens, at some point. So, this one will give us plenty of room. We’re going to start out with a much more modest number of eight or so.
Kiwis interested in Outpost Buildings can check them out at RD1. Believe me, the paper catalogue is much better than their website.
The solar hot water heater we’re getting is the 30 tube monster sold by Sander’s Engineering. It weird to imagine being able to do laundry with hot water, or take hot baths without worrying about how badly Contact Energy is going to screw us over. Contact, you suck, everyone knows it, and we’re all sick of you. You’re almost as diabolical as Telecom. TrustPower is getting our business now.
I feel a lot better now. Sorry to go so far off the rails, but “the free market” has resulted in some interesting creatures in New Zealand.
Anyway, these are, by far, the largest purchases that we have made since we’ve been on our small farm. I’ve been holding off, hoarding cash. But it’s time to let it rip. Past time.
Next up will be the alkathene piping / irrigation project to bring the water down from our dam. Then a three bay shed. Then… Then…
How much drop can you get out of your dam? Is it possible to set up a small hydropower system?
I’m not sure exactly, but it’s probably close to 50 feet. There’s definitely potential for a microhydro rig in the rainy season, which is about nine months out of the year. HA.
We had the dam (more of a pond, really) dug so that it collects the rain water that was naturally pooling at the base of a hill. Even after rain stops, it continues to fill for days. Most of it just runs off. To set it up properly for microhydro would cost… thousands, and be able to generate what??? between 20 and 50 watts (wild guess). It might be much better because the flow during strong rain would be… a lot. I don’t know. I can’t imagine that it would be able to produce more than 100 watts at the max.
Much better bang for the buck at this point is the solar hot water system.
Hi Kevin
Check out this site – it may shed some light on your options to generate http://www.ecoinnovation.co.nz/c-6-hydro.aspx
I love your purchases – with savings no less!
Awesome. I’ll have to look at them some other time. This computer is acting like there is jello inside – experiencing high winds and will have a 50 degree F change in temperature. Tornadoes and thunderstorms expected. Got to get ready to go down into the root cellar any time now.