Going Green

[52 fordman]

Okay I know we all do our part to recycle parts and find used stuff for the shop and rats.
But does any one do something other? I am working on solar panels and battery set up for lights, and might have a waste oil heater for the winter. Now dont get me wrong I still need the grid power (220/240V) for air compressor and such. I have seen solar heating systems and they work great during the sun light hours. The guy down the street is heating a 30 x 40 with 2 of them during the day and wood at night.

So lets here about how or what you are doing to save a buck help keep it greener.

52 fordman

 

[dmw56]

I'm an Environmental Scientist. I find new homes for excess Govt property, manage hazardous waste and excess chemical. Just tying to save your taxpayer's dollars!

 

[andreasklapp]

i have lots of ideas and interest, but due to lack of funds they are all still just that.

 

[Willowbilly3]

If I was starting a build it would be totally off grid. I presently heat my house with an Ashley wood stove. I recyle all the lumber I can. I get a lot of shipping pallets that have good dismensional lumer that is easy to salvage. I had a place in Alaska that I built with 2x4s and plywood I got from shipping containers.

 

[the reverend muddy grimes]

I find the subject boring. Mostly because the so called green cars are les environmentally sound than the not. For instance, the vw Jetta gets better mileage than any hybrid, but its not green cause it runs on diesel? Hybrids have a large amount of plastic in them, those cars will be in the landfill long after our 50's land yaughts have reverted to the dust from whence they came. Green used to be my favorite color. now the word sickens me.

 

[fuzz]

I have a BP credit card, the logo is green!!..[cl
Just kidding. I congradulate you guys for doing all you can to save the earth and a few bucks ay the same time...

 

[skull]

mmmmoooooooooooooo

l'm eating as many cows as l can, helps lower there ''emissions" into the enviroment

Later[dr

 

[ratdog]

We are just doing a bunch of small things to use less energy.First off we dont have a huge house like everyone around here is building, that obviously wastes a lot more energy.We keep the temp down to 68 in the winter and lower at night,dont use the dryer hardly. planted lots of trees and bushes and stuff that the wildlife likes.Just small things but every bit helps.

 

[pistolpete]

because the so called green cars are les environmentally sound than the not.

Not only is this true for what they are made of primarily plastic, but also things like the batteries - the nickel for the batteries is mined in Canada, shipped to England for processing and then off to Japan/China for fabrication (or something to that effect). If you take into consideration the carbon footprint created to manufacture a "green" car it far outweighs most semi efficient cars on the road.

At home we are pretty similar to what Ratdog has stated. Try to reduce what we use, try to shop local for produce, meats and really try to buy North American made products. It is damn suprising to actually try and find some things still made in Canada/USA. I picked up a jar of relish in the grocery store a couple weeks ago - Made in India. (needless to say I purchased the $0.70 more expensive jar made in Canada)

 

[PA41]

My 'Dream Shop' is modest sized (32x32) with low celings (8') well insulated, with an insulated slab with a pex tube heat system in the floor with the south wall lined with solar water heters running to a hot water heater tank that would be pumped into the floor at 50 or 60 degrees. Just looking for a higher average temp floor than the 35 or 40 degree floor I have to deal with in the winter. It seems like I never really get the shop warm.

I've been in a warmed floor dwelling in the winter. The air was kinda cool, but the gentle heat from the floor made it very comfortable. I'd like to work in that situation, and although it wouldn't be as warm as a home, it might be enough by itself to make a good shop environment, with an air temp of 40 or 50, with radiant floor heat.

Just a dream.

PA41

 

[bob w]

The walls of my house and garage are made from 12" thick styrofoam blocks with rebar and concrete holding all together. It's pretty energy efficient.

 

[cantwell.colton]

the cities around here recently quit offering any recycling programs other than aluminum and paper? said it wasnt cost efficient... sad - most reasons we are as "green" as we are is just to save money -- still looking for a house but thank god the ol lady decided she wanted to move up in the state a little - to the hill country - so excited - going to look at houses this next week with cash in hand so, the next steps of our greenness will only be to make our homestead as self supporting as possible.. hopefully all we will have to be paying for in the near (next 10yrs) future is our direct tv or cable and internet guess we ll see--- all i know is each day i trust the current economic status and government of this wonderful country less and less.

 

[Willowbilly3]

Im not a gloom and doom peddler but you don't have to be a genius to see that the economic fabric of this country is unraveling. The more you are self sufficient (green?) the better off you will be in the future. You don't have to be a pinko commie greenie liberal to have respect for our planet, it's resources and all it's inhabitants.

 

[Gastrick]

I'm using 2 carbs instead of 4 on my next engine.

 

[cantwell.colton]

I'm using 2 carbs instead of 4 on my next engine.

is there a thumbs up .. ahh here it is

 

[Krooser]

How can a Prius be better for the Planet than our old cars? It is loaded with plastic, uses lithium in it's batteries produced in China a country with almost no air or water quality laws (or worker safety rules)... and it's shipped 7,000 miles by a ship using heavy diesel oil then trucked halfway across God's green acre to the dealer... my hot rod's major contribution to global warming occured 50 years ago...

 

[Kustom Mayhem]

The shop heat. All made out of old stuff laying behind the shop...Woodstove with heat chamber and blower. Save money while getting a workout splitting wood.

 

[anvil]

nice wood burner you have their , is it streight threw the drum ?


I reuse old tin and iron

 

[Kustom Mayhem]

I have a 7 inch 1/4 in wall pipe going thru the drum with 3in pipes going thru the center of the 7in to extract the heat. Then the duct work incloses the vertical pipe up the wall and 90s over across the shop with dampers so i can choose which areas get more heat. 8 hour day i stock the stove 3 times when its 35F outside and it keeps me at 76 degrees

 

[Willowbilly3]

Good looking system there. How is it when you first start the fire though? I had one in my shop with about 3-4" of 7" on a horizontal and it would smoke pretty bad until you got it blazing and drawing.
I heat my house with an Ashley (the stove, not the Force,lol) and I love it.
When I lived in Alaska I crammed about 10-12 cords a winter through a big Blaze King.