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Anyone using solar, wind or living off grid?

Started by sprintfan11, April 01, 2009, 09:53:19 AM

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sprintfan11

I've started the process of getting estimates to install solar panels and a small wind turbine. I'm leaning towards going completely off-grid with batteries and a generator along with the panels and turbine. It just seems ludicrous to invest thousands of $$$ just to reduce an electric bill rather than eliminate it all together. Anyone got any 'sperience in this area? ???
Use up, wear out, make do or do without.

Husqvarna 455 Rancher 20"
1994 GMC 1500 4X4
Central Boiler 5036 OWB
Troy-Built 27 ton splitter
Generac 6500 generator
More stuff to come....

stumpy

I have a cabin in Northern Wisconsin.  We are solar powered with batteries and a generator as backup.  We are off the grid.  I love the system and it works great.  If I could do it at my home, I would stay tied to the grid for the economic advantage.  Not only is it cheaper to build the system, in Wisconsin, The power company buys your solar power for about 10 cents per KWH more than you pay them to buy it back.  I'm sure your state has similar programs.  I'd suggest checking into them.  The other thing I found was that there is currently a 50% rebate for a site assessment.  This assessment is required if you apply for a tax break.  The assessment will suggest the most efficient system to build.
Woodmizer LT30, NHL785 skidsteer, IH 444 tractor

ErikC

  Completely off the grid. Mom and dad also are, and that's why it didn't scare me to do it. I have solar with a generator backup. Hydro is in the works. Dad has solar, 2 pelton wheels, and a generator he never needs.
  I bought all my stuff used. The batteries and panels were never installed from someone who was afraid of Y2K but didn't really follow through. Y2K fizzled, they hadn't installed yet, and after a couple of years sold it to me. The batteries were never cylced and kept charged by a trickle charger. You have to be careful about buying used batteries. My inverter came from another good buy, I bought it, a big diesel generator, and a bunch of tools, and some building materials then sold the generator for what I paid for the whole works.  Free inverter ;D   I also bought a few other things here and there I saw in the paper or whatever. I saved a pile of money (around $10,000) by spending a little effort and being patient. I use a honda eu2000 generator for backup, and only run a few gallons of gas a week through it during winter normally. with the sun out way less than that. Once I'm done with the hydro, that shouldn't be necessary anymore at all. We use electrical like everyone else, have a deep freezer, make coffee in the morning, etc.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

Radar67

Eric, can you give us a run down of your system? How many KW of panels do you have, how many batteries and what size? I want to go off grid with my house, but the wife isn't wanting to reduce some of the high demand systems (ie stove, fridge, ect) Sounds like you have a large enough system to handle it all.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

ErikC

  Give me a day or so and I will get all the specs. I know they are here somewhere... ::)
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

treenail

I don't live off the grid, but have used solar water heating, hot air heating, and have a photovoltaic electric system on my mountain top cabin that is off the grid. Am presently preparing to build a version of the Virginia Tech solar lumber kiln, to speed up the drying process for my sawmill which is at the same location, and will run the drying fans with solar electricity too.  Do own a 500 watt wind turbine that will be installed at some point when time is available.  It has all worked just fine, and I get a real charge out of things when the electric company hires a new meter reader for the neighborhood, and he walks around and around my place looking for a non existant meter. They get quite embarassed when they have to ask. I tell them that the meter is at the neighbors house.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 sawmill , Ford 4wd tractor,Grimm/Leader maple sugaring equipment, Ford F-350 12' flatbed truck

ErikC

  Here is my system:
   16 united solar panels, total of 900 watts at 24 Volt.
   Lucent technologies gel mat battery bank, 6,580 amp hours. These are 2 volt cells that can be connected in many voltage configurations. I have 2 huge 24 volt batteries, wired in parallel basically. A dozen 2 volt cells in each. I think the total battery weight is 3000 lbs or something like that. 
    Trace 4024 pure sine wave inverter. They no longer manufacture this exact inverter, but have a comparable one. It is all wired on a panel with a 40 amp charge controller and DC disconnect switch from the factory, so you hook up the batteries at one place, and the A/C loads at another, and it works. That part was very simple.
    Honda eu2000 generator for backup. At full load it uses a one gallon tank in 4 hours. I just run a tank every couple days during winter, way less during summer.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

Radar67

Thanks Eric. I figure I'll have to get the wife to let go of some items, like the electric dryer, the electric stove, and the power dishwasher. I plan to delete the electric HW heater and plan the lighting to be more efficient. Another big help will be doing a lot of canning to reduce the extra freezer we have running.

I had actually expected you to list a much larger system.  :)
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

stonebroke

I would think that a combination of a windmill and solar panels would work well. the solar would work in the summer when there is less wind and the wind would work in the winter when there is less sun. Just my two cents.

Stonebroke

Radar67

I'm thinking the same thing. If it is stormy or cloudy, the windmill will be working, if the sun is shinning, the panels. And, if there happens to be a breeze while the sun is up, it is just more production.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

moonhill

When your lead acid batteries are 8 years old and you have a cloudy spell of say a week and not much wind, I sometimes wish for a grid hook up.  I wouldn't use it as a way to sell energy back to the grid but use is as a supplement, instead of a genny.  This way you can cut the size of the system down and or add to it as cash allows.  Not everyone lucks into a system as ErikC was able to.   If the cost of the system out weighs the cost of running lines from the grid, go with the grid, unless you like to play.   Grid power is just plain and simply, easy.  If you are concerned with the cost of a monthly electric bill make your home more efficient.  To go completely of grid you will need a life style change.

I would like to see a government regulation requiring all new roof systems to be entirely covered with a PV shingle  or sheet roofing, generating power, there would be no asphalt roof shingles available for anyone.  Think how simple it would be, you don't have to choose color, single tap, 3 tab, Chateau, fiberglass, you could have any color you want as long as it is PV blue.  Any excess power during the day is used to convert water to hydrogen and used during the night, like a battery. 

Your electric car is part of your houses battery pack.  When the car is parked at home, work, or anywhere, there is a hook up and it is being filled up.  And the car, it is any color you want as long as it is PV blue, yes the paint is a PV system generating power, it is even metal flake.   

Hydro?  There is so much power just flowing by with no thought what so ever as to maybe someone should tap into it.

Tidal power, wave action?  The masses live near the ocean already, tap into it.

Geothermal?

Wind? 

Just dreaming, silly ideas.

Go Nuclear, use the sun.

Tim


This is a test, please stand by...

madhatte

I'm in the process of designing a small micro-hydro plant to take advantage of a stream.  The design is essentially borrowed from a submarine electrical distribution bus, except in this case the motor-generator will be built of automotive parts and regulators and inverters will be off-the-shelf parts.  I'll try to post on the subject as the project develops. 

ErikC

  We are in the process of adding hydro. The battery storage we have is great, and the solar is fine when the days are sunny, but a steady 24 hr supply will add tremendously. That should be enough to eliminate the generator entirely. I still have to run one for 240 power tools and welder though. Also we didn't luck into a system, I put it together from several good finds, over about three years. :) 
  We can do pretty much what we want, but there is definitely adjustments in things to live off grid. If nothing else you have to remember not to leave things on. Appliances with little lights that are always on are a draw you should watch for. Just a lot of things like that.  It isn't an inconvenient or uncomfortable life by any means though.
  I wouldn't do it if we had access, but we are out past services, and would have had to lay out a  bundle for lines to our place. I think it's a couple miles in a strait line to the nearest pole. 
  I don't like the idea of adding more expense and regs to building by requiring PV roofs. I do like the idea of PV roofs though. I have seen a few here and there with some PV that looks like shingles, and they are actually a pretty sharp looking roof.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

StorminN

I've got a small system installed, and parts for a slightly bigger one ready to install at my new place this summer...

The small installed system is just four 55W panels, 220W total, charging four L-16 batteries (6V and 130lbs each) through an old Trace C40 charge controller, everything wired at 12V. I have the panels mounted on a home-made tracker I assembled from an old satellite dish mount with a linear actuator and a $35 tracker controller I bought on the internet. This was more of a "proof of concept" system for me... I'm on the grid and this system is separate from my grid power.

The parts I have for the slightly bigger system are (6) 120W panels, which I'll wire in series / parallel with the four 55W panels, so I'll have 940W total for now. I plan to weld up a bigger pole mount and probably fabricate a tracker for this one, too. I have a Trace SW5548 inverter and the associated AC & DC disconnects. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to keep this inverter, or go with a 24V Outback. I've installed and worked on a couple of Outback systems, and I like their gear and the way it goes together. I'll probably get their FW60 MPPT charge controller, I've had good luck with the MX60's I've installed and worked on. I have a bunch of Trojan L-16's in varying states of health, and I'm working on pulsing (desulfating) some and also building my own, more powerful desulfator. I'll probably have a bank of eight L-16's for now.

I have a couple of diesel generators, the bigger one is a single-cylinder water cooled China diesel coupled to an Italian 8kW head. The small one is an air-cooled Lombardini diesel I scrapped from a lighted road sign trailer, it's currently coupled to a big alternator for direct battery charging.

The thing I'm most excited about is messing with solar hot water. The evacuated tube collectors like the Thermomax work well in my region, and myself and a couple of friends are signing up for install training for these this spring. Ideally, I'd like to have hot water heating built into my wood stove for the winter... hot water preheat tank above the woodstove, with thermosiphon working from the woodstove, and then for summertime, solar hot water on the roof above the hot water tank, with a little PV panel to power the circulator pump.

I've installed a couple of small off-grid systems, and they work well. I'll have to find some pics and post them. The key to keeping it small is to USE LESS. When things get complicated, just remember that most people got by just fine without electricity just 100 years ago or so, and a good percentage of the people in the world STILL live without electricity...

Oh yeah, I'll be helping with a 1.8kW wind install this spring, too... we need to find the right tower. A friend was looking for a turbine, and I found an old used one in the paper for $500... it's asyncronous, grid-tied... it came with a 55 foot utility pole as a tower, but we're not completely sold on that and we're looking for a proper metal tower now. I'll post pics when we get that going, too.

Micro hydro is the best, if you have the resource... buying the right piece of property is the key...

Good luck everyone, let's see some pics!

-Norm.
Happiness... is a sharp saw.

moonhill

ErikC, I know regulations are a tough pill to get down, I would be willing to swap some other more stupid regs for the PV roof one.  If this happened the cost of PV would go down and better technology would push forward, as we stand today, it is just the opposite that.  For the designers, they can have the North slope of the roof and select the now expensive less used other type of roofing with it's various patterns and colors and what not.  I would even go so far and say it should be free, the PV roof.  It doesn't kill birds or make noise that the neighbors complain about, " I can't hear the bears over the whisper of the wind turbine", a comment from a local concerned resident of a wind farm here in Maine printed in the Bangor Daily News.  It will create power and free (here lies the problem, it is FREE) power over and above the initial cost.  A whole roof of PV will put out a bunch of power.  I have 8- 85 watt panels and on a sunny day we run the washing machine and a deep well pump, and all the rest of the house hold needs, with no concerns of power and have excess to boot, what would 10 times that do?  They have no moving parts, maintenance would be very low, power out put may fade a bit over time but they are still producing free power.   The down side, I have heard is that the PV manufacturing process is rather harsh.

Tim 
This is a test, please stand by...

ErikC

  I agree with you on the benefits of PV. I love sitting there hearing the creek and the birds while my electricity is being made in silence. I also agree there are useless regs we could swap for this one. But we  don't swap regs in this country, we just add new ones. Other than that fact, I'm with you on the benefits. Still against more rules though.
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

Paul_H

Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

StorminN

I'd like to see PV be more accessible, financially... for everyone. I'm not necessarily talking subsidies, I'm talking loans. Make it as easy to get a loan to buy $40k worth of PV as it is to get a loan to buy a $40k car, and don't make it mandatory that the PV be connected to the grid. As it is now, most state incentives are only for grid-tied systems, and there are only a handful of companies "loaning" for PV installation. I've heard rumblings of utility companies installing PV's on homes, and then billing the customers monthly... but that was last year, before all of the bank dramas.

I'm not a superfan of the "PV panels as an integral part of the roof" approach... mostly because in most parts of the country, those same PV crystals would produce much more power if they just had some air circulation behind them... if they were on a pole mount, or even mounted 6" off the roof... hot panels are much less efficient.

There's going to be no end to more regulations (NEC and otherwise) regarding PV's mounted on homes... GFI's, etc.

I saw a neat prototype panel last week, made by Silicon Energy (Outback's PV panel company, assembled in Arlington, WA)... the panels themself are 48" square and are two layers of glass, no frame... so they can be used as architectural elements... arbors, deck tops, etc... some light still gets through. The Sanyo HIT panels are similar, there is a picture of these panels on the cover of the current Home Power magazine.

-Norm.
Happiness... is a sharp saw.

Fla._Deadheader


Back in the 70's, there was a development of homes built, I believe in Arizona, that had total roof of PV Panels. It was hooked to the grid, and you also had an electric car, that was charged from those panels.  Can't remember the payback time, but, less than 30 years, TOTAL, I think. Included mortgage and car payments.

  Now, with better battery technology, it should be a VIABLE option.
  Should be a link on the web, somewhere. I believe in THAT system, a LOT.  8)
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

ErikC

 There is a recent subdivision in Redding that I noticed all the homes incorporated PV in the roofs. Not a lot though, I think it was more of a marketing/sales thing in this case. 
"green homes for sale, you ease your consciense while we ease your bank account" :D
Peterson 8" with 33' tracks, JCB 1550 4x4 loader backhoe, several stihl chainsaws

moonhill

Maybe we need a regulation saying it is ok to swap one smart one for 5 stupid regs, that would get rid of 4 regs. 

I also see that the roof top PV system as I have outlined has plenty of room for improvements, adding hot water to the system would be fine by me.  We have the technology it just need to be implemented.  I wonder if water flowing over the surface with a collection system and tank would keep the system cool and efficient. 

At what temp does PV's start to loose out put?  Is it gradual or is there a tipping point?

Tim
This is a test, please stand by...

Fla._Deadheader


I was selling-installing, back in the 70's-80's. Seems that I recollect someone doing a water-cooled panel. Don't remember much more, though ???

  It was all mostly experimental in those days.

  On the subject of being harsh, We sold Solarex brand, and they made everything in-house, using Solar as their only power supply, in the factory. Factory was in Maryland??? I believe ???

   Might have to dig out their brochure I saved.  ;D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Lumbergent

It's been suggested by my solar supplier that its wise to rewire the living quarters as much as possible with multistrand wiring and use DC power directly without an inverter. I did this in my tree house which is completely off grid and have reduced consumption. We still need to add solar panels to compensate for rainy and cloudy days.
Futur Hobbit

RjMaan

My relatives have installed the solar panels for their full two story house. They have used large dry batteries for them. Initial the investment was high but in the long run it will save their a lot of money because they are not paying for electricity charges to the government.

JRHill

We've been off grid for 10+ years and have two separate systems:

-Well: Grundfos 11-SQF-2 pump, controller & AC switch (CU200, IO101), Tristar 45 Controller, 780w SunTech 195, Trojan golf cart batteries.
-House: Outback FM 80, VFX 3648, FlexnetDC, FlexWare xformer, Mate 3 / Hub, WattPlot, 2925w SunTech 195, Trojan L16RE-B Batteries. Backup 1: Honda EU7000is w/2 wire auto start via the inverter aux relay, backup 2: 11kw Miller Bobcat.

I thought it was important to have the well as an independent system 'cause if we don't have water we can't be here. And the Grundfos pump will take about any power, AC or DC, 40 to 300 volts, you can throw at it.

One of the biggest cost wastes has been on generators. Too small too big, too inefficient, spoiled fuel in storage, etc. Finally, I have the best options in place for power needs and efficiency. A close 2nd is batteries. My 1st bank was changed out at the 5+ year point and that was a disappointment. The batteries were still working but tired. It turned out I did not have my charge settings correct out of fear of overcharging them. Wrong. The replacement bank was working great until I had one of three cells in two different batteries fail about the same time recently. I'm still resolving that problem.

We can't do hydro or wind here. Wrong location.

Its an on going education, for sure.

Paxton

Offgrid for just about 5 years now too....4.8kw solar system, agm batteries, kubota 8kw diesel.  We've just hit the time of year where we get enough sun (if its not snowing or cloudy) to be generator free....love february! 

We have a dishwasher, propane dryer, regular clothes washer, normal appliances, Navian hot water on demand....you wouldn't know we were offgrid other than the panels and diesel hum at night in the winter.   :laugh:

hedgerow

Quote from: Paxton on February 06, 2020, 05:27:37 PM
Offgrid for just about 5 years now too....4.8kw solar system, agm batteries, kubota 8kw diesel.  We've just hit the time of year where we get enough sun (if its not snowing or cloudy) to be generator free....love february!

We have a dishwasher, propane dryer, regular clothes washer, normal appliances, Navian hot water on demand....you wouldn't know we were offgrid other than the panels and diesel hum at night in the winter.   :laugh:
When you made your set up did you do a cost compare between operating a diesel gen instead of a propane gen since it looks like you have propane on site. 

mudfarmer

We have been off grid since a tree fell on the service entrance to a place we were renting 10 years ago and the landlord wouldn't fix it. Started with 45w of PV panels, a marine battery, a LOUD b&s gas generator and an automotive charger :o

Now it is 1800W of PV, 900Ah of LiFePO batteries, Magnum inverter/charger and an inverter generator. It's been a hard knock life. We have always been pretty broke but work hard. Most people would not want to live like we do, and they tell us so. Sometimes we wonder why we keep doing it but then step outside into the middle of paradise.

Time to go kiss the wife and say sorry/thanks for the 10,000th time :-*

62oliver

I know this is an old thread, but the advice remains the same. To anyone considering going off-grid, educate yourself first, a lot.  Do this long before you start plunking your money down.

There is a lot of info online, google "Northern Arizona wind and sun", they have a great forum on this subject.



Husqvarna 266, Case 90xt, JD310C, TJ240E, 02 Duramax

peakbagger

solarpaneltalk.com is also an active forum on solar (I am active on solarpaneltalk). Between the previous Arizona Wind and Sun forum and this one, they are the most active forums. Both have various levels of moderation and both have various approaches to spam control which can be annoying on occasion but really keeps things relatively clean.

Another great resource is Homepower.com. Home Power was the longest and best magazine from the beginning of home renewable power to last year. Sadly they stopped publication last year but their archive is online at the site. As the years go on their advice will gradually get dated but still a great resource. They missed the Lithium battery revolution which still is in its infancy for home use. They do have a lot of articles on wind turbines and they should be a must read for anyone considering wind as it reinforces that with very rare exceptions it rarely is good solution for off grid. They also were advocates of microhydro. If someone has the site with adequate elevation and flow it may be nice option many do not consider.

A caveat is that there are many folks working on Lithium chemistry battery solutions for off grid currently but they are still in the "homebrew" stage. Due to the chemistry and charge density, when things go bad they can go real bad like burn your house down and kill your family bad. There are vendors on Ebay repackaging surplus EV cells into home battery packs but in many cases they are not complete solutions, many have the infamous asterisk symbol stating a Battery Management System (BMS) is required. Lithium battery packs are composed of many cells and each cell needs to be monitored and switched in an out of charge mode by a BMS. In general Lead Acid batterys are far simpler but have their limitations.

I am long term, grid tied solar user but have never been off grid, nevertheless I have on occasion in the past been asked to advise on "orphan" off grid systems and also have talked to several current and former off grid owners over the years. The most successful are run by technical folks who learn the basics, design the system and then maintain it. The least successful are purchased systems unless maintained by the person who designed and built the system. Probably the most unsatisfied  owners are the ones where they buys house with a homebrew system, they inevitably end up having to spend a lot of dollars rebuilding the system and many end up reselling the home at a loss and moving back on grid.   

Living off grid is a major lifestyle choice that imposes a lot of limitations on those who use it. Someone used to grid power would be hard pressed to really understand those limitations until they try it and doing it right is an expensive learning experience. In many case couples try it and fairly frequently one side of the couple decides its not for them. While working in VT I ran into several divorced spouses that claimed the divorce was partially or substantially caused by off grid living.      


maple flats

I don't live off grid, but I have 3 solar systems. The one at my house is totally separate from the grid, I have 6 panels on a south wall 285 watts each. They run to a Midnight solar charge controller and keep 4 Rolls Surrette 6V 683 AH lead acid batteries and an inverter. The batteries are in the cellar. From there I have a double duplex receptacle in the living room to run the entertainment center, a duplex receptacle in the cellar for the sump pump (and the washing machine when the batteries are near topped off) and this is a duplex house, a line goes to the other side to run that sump pump. I also have a GFCI duplex receptacle on the back deck that runs a pool pump in summer.
My other 2 solar systems are at my sugarhouse and they are grid tied and net metered. I have 1480 watts solar array to a Xantrex charge controller, and 8 6v Trojan batteries. They run to a Xantrex 6048V inverter, which when the batteries are at full charge, it sends excess power to the grid. I also have 22 panels 220 watts hooked to a Fronius inverter and grid tied.
Batteries, a newer battery chemistry in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4). They can be real good, unless you do what I did. I hooked 16 of them up in my sugarhouse (48V system to the inverter). I read that the LIfEPo4 batteries can't be charged when frozen. I read about how to deal with that and built an insulated box for the battery bank and set them on a 12V heating pad. I added a 48V to 12V transformer to run it. Then I added a Battery Management System (BMS) to keep the batteries balanced and to disconnect when temps fell to 35F. What I failed to do was to hook the BMS to the transformer. The first time I got lots of snow and cold weather, the batteries shut down from charging but the heating pad (65 watts) ran enough to kill the batteries. What I should have done is build a shelf in the only heated room in the sugarhouse which has a propane furnace. The batteries would have stayed warm and would have last 20+ years according to specs. I killed them beyond repair in the 4rd month in service. That battery bank cost $2500, I turned them into recyclable scrap. Once those batteries (each of the 16 cells was 3.2-3.3V) get drained too low the lithium gets transferred to another part and can't be resurrected. I tried in vane to recharge them with no luck. I would have been better off buying lead acid again and done the monthly service. The first 8 last for 10 yr 8 mos. The LiFePo4 batteries were projected to work for as long as 40+ years, but my stupidity cost me the whole battery bank.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

mike_belben

Man that hurts.  Oof.  



The house i will build is 1/4 mile to the pole and will go off grid, but from the getgo its been planned around diesel generators and vegetable oil which ive gotten cheap a long time ago. Not buying any battery system until the last minute.  Thermal mass, south facing, maybe sod roof and definitely wood heated.  Maybe rainwater too.. Wells arent cheap here with all the rock.


The front cabin shack house thing is grid tied.  I dont mind if it remains a laundromat and chest freezer site.  
Praise The Lord

Hilltop366

Quote from: mike_belben on December 08, 2020, 11:42:14 AMWells arent cheap here with all the rock.


I put in a drilled well because after digging a test hole I figured out that the ground water and the ledge start at about the same level (14'), the well driller only needed to put in 25' of casing so the rock (solid ledge actually saved me a lot of money.

mike_belben

Wow thats pretty good luck.  Ours is pennsylvania era sandstone which apparently doesnt hold water so well.. Its all fractured.  Our dirt holds surface water but the ground water seems to be between 600 and 3000ft.  I hear 10Gs for avg well and its just drill till you hit wildcatter style.  Pay by the foot.  No thanks.    
Praise The Lord

Hilltop366

It worked out well ;D, I ended up at 100' with 8 gallons per min, they hit water at 3 different levels. If it wasn't for all the dissolved iron (had to add a iron filter) it would be perfect.  Seems to me it was around $2000-2500.

Halfway down my 1600' driveway there is a test well that was put in for the provincial government ,it was suppose to be 150' deep and the engineer told the well driller that it would likely be 80' before he hit ledge (I'm not sure why, there is ledge sticking out of the driveway) they spent half a day, hit ledge at 2' and gave up at 75' with over 30 gpm, the water goes up and down a few feet with the tide.

Back on topic, I rough priced a wind/solar system before I built it came out around $25000 plus continual maintenance plus having to buy pricy efficient appliances so at $6400 to run power it didn't make sense.

At about $80 per month for power x 17 years I have been here + the $6400 install I am almost to the break even point for the solar/wind with no maintenance/replacement. What may make sense would have been to add solar hot water and reduce my power bill to around $30-40 per month.

mudfarmer

We had a well punched this year, 325ft did not hit water until 280ft but hit bedrock at 20ft so saved a bundle on casing. 40gpm. Thankfully the static level ended up at 12ft below grade so we can pump out of it with just about anything. The driller recommended the same Grundfos 11-SQF-2 pump that @JRHill is using and it sure looks like a nice pump to me but the quote based on neighbor's wells was about half as deep as it ended up so we do not have a Grundfos SQF pump yet :D

@maple flats very sorry to hear about your LiFePo4 batteries, that is an awful experience! Ours have built in BMS but are inside and should not freeze. So far, soooo good. Have a tendency to abuse batteries real bad so the lack of maintenance and depth of discharge were biggest selling points for me.

LED lights have come so far and finally convinced high quality inverters are reliable enough that I have been replacing 12v direct wired LEDs with 110v versions from Lowes. More light and less power usage even though it is going DC->AC->DC to get there. Could have just replaced the old tech with newer and stayed 12v but some days it feels good to just go with the flow...

maple flats

Mudfarmer, that reminds me of a farm I installed an outdoor wood furnace back in the '90's. We asked how good his well was to know if we had to start filling sooner rather than later. The farmer was told us while we installed the furnace that when he got his 20x40' swimming pool put in. He says he kept asking if he could start filling the pool, the workers said not yet each time and told him it would take a day or two if he could run his well non stop. Then when they went to lunch they said he could "start". When they left he got out his pump and big hose to fill the pool. When the workers returned after lunch they found the pool full. It seems that farm (just 3-4 miles from Lake Ontario) had a underground river just 20' down. He could run a 4" pump and hose full flow and never run out of water. He said the well drillers never could determine the GPM they didn't have a pump big enough.
As I recall, he said it was good water too, no iron nor sulfur or other issues.
logging small time for years but just learning how,  2012 36 HP Mahindra tractor, 3point log arch, 8000# class excavator, lifts 2500# and sets logs on mill precisely where needed, Woodland Mills HM130Max , maple syrup a hobby that consumes my time. looking to learn blacksmithing.

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