Today we went to the Green Living Expo at the Roanoke Civic Center.
While there are a lot of interesting things there, I was dismayed that it was all so expensive. Aside from changing out your light bulbs, everything costs thousands of dollars.
However, we don't want to make our house completely solar. There seemed to be this all-or-nothing mentality going on that I found disturbing.
We just want to run the well pump when the power is out. And if we could manage to take a few things off the power grid and run them all the time, so much the better.
That shouldn't entail a $16,000 solar panel. Not when we can run a battery for a fence charger off a tiny little solar panel. That is enough charge to zap a cow for thousands of feet. So surely there must be small solar panels that would run say, the dryer, that don't cost so much.
I am not an expert on these things, however, and the experts don't seem to want to deal with the small stuff.
We also have considered windmill power. But the new windmills again cost many thousands. We would prefer an old-fashioned type windmill, also, not a turbine. I think a windmill on the farm could be very useful.
The Green Living Expo had a lot of good exhibits; I don't mean to sound negative. It just didn't meet our needs very well at this time. I am sure that at some future date it will, when we are looking at different things.
Many websites dealing with homesteading and similar topics cover these items. They are generally out of the mainstream. I think the expo, which is of course attempting to make green living mainstream, has to be more "acceptable" at the present time. Some of the green items can be really out there.
We've given thought to putting a windmill up...we've got constant wind that could be harnessed...but too expensive. Perhaps the promised new "green economy" will help lower prices.
ReplyDeleteI have a pretty extensive list of websites, magazines, and other resources about this subject, if you'd
ReplyDeletelike to contact me off-line. Last December, I went to the Civic Center to attend a timber framing show and was mightily disappointed. I think there were two timber framers and all the rest were log cabins. And every exhibit was pitched to those who have millions of dollars. I've subscribed to magazines that call themselves "green" and everything they offer costs mega-bucks. There is a serious disconnect between wishes and reality here, but there are other solutions.
I want solar power to make our pump on the spring and well work. Baby steps. Having water availability off grid is important to me. Let me know if you find anything!
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