It's cold outside.

[offthegridandy]

Minus 6 outside the dorr this am. Spent 4 hrs in the warm cab sliding one of the trucks truck around the lanes trying to service frozen porta loos.  Yesterday brilliant sunshine so spent 6 hrs lying on concrete (cold) floor repairing the brakes on a trailer. Didn't quite leave flesh on metal but I had to take the gloves of to pick up an 8mm spanner Ouch.

Andy

[dimogga]

-4.1 in the greenhouse last night.
Lovely sunny morning but BOOO it was cloudy this afternoon.

[clivejo]

Whoopie,!!!
        Our new solar array hit the 4 amp figure today at 127volt,so pumping in a steady 500watts for at least 3 hours.The ground has stayed frozen solid all day.Outside water tanks have half an inch of ice but it was a good day to get things done.
                                                                                                     Biff

Solar array?  Lets have more details!

[Heinz]

Luxury 
Sitting here without a cold wind freezing my right leg, it's all Bodidly's fault for starting this thread... 

H

[Bodidly]

I guess the draught proofing has gone well Heinz

[biff]

hi clivejo,
      i did post the details on another thread but its only approx 650watt x 120volt.It was supposed to be our new tracker but when our 2kw  got fried we banged the panels on the frame and hooked it up to the turbine bank.it has done remarkably well considering the time of year.It catches any sun going and we are very pleased with it.However our 120 volt charging system gave up the ghost today.its just a 2kw pmg run on an old belle mixer electric motor.the bearing sized in the little motor and luckily enough i got it stopped,However it will be missed.It was an exellent trickle charger,just putting out .5 of an amp,steady.It could convert the solar in the smaller arrays to 120vdc because the little motor could be easily driven by them.Its a way round the sunny island.
                                                                   Biff

[Heinz]

Aye, definite improvement. Stupid really, I've been suffering that draught all winter and possibly last? and it took about ten mins. to stop it.

H

[spaces]

We're living in a garden shed (20mm walls, only insulation is a bit of cooking foil) atm! Between other places of residence, this is... Well, two sheds in fact - and the bedshed is insulated fairly well with Kingstuff. Presently -5C outside and it's a balmy 24C in the uninsulated one (20'x12'), thanks to the old French stove running on the sawdust/wvo mix. The bedshed goes 5-6 hours without any stove activity and maintains a happy 14-15C.

Question is, is this - the uninsulated shed - an eco-house? I can't see why not.  

[Heinz]

Sounds cool !! Photos???

H

[spaces]

Cool? Necessity - but lovely and cosy and warm!

[Heinz]

I should have put a smiley there. I realise it's a necessity, but that doesn't mean it's not cool. I've been looking at the Tiny Houses movement in the USA, some clever solutions to the housing problem and if I was still trying to find somewhere to live, I'd probably go that route.

H

[spaces]

What I have really loved - not yet being in a position to buy/build my own and do whatever I like - has been the complete control over the layout. Lived in a huge old farmhouse for quite a few years, yet this is infinitely better. Old free-standing solid wood kitchen units, ergonomically-laid out, loads of worktop etc - it has made me see houses in a new light. Most English ones are pretty useless from the 'ease of living' perspective.

Interesting living in an almost zero thermal mass 'house' - 20 mins from f.freezing to toasty if you light the stove well. And gorgeous on a Spring morning when the Sun makes itself felt - we're facing South. The feeling of the solar heat overtaking the stove heat at about half past eight is fantastic!

Most people are horrified at the sound of it, until they come round for dinner. A cathedral organist acquaintance even suggested the piano should be tuned, even though it's not in here for long!!!

The health visitor looked a wee bit surprised at first (we have a two month old) but in the end we had a job suggesting she needed to get on with the rest of her day.

[biff]

Bitter cold outside,
                   The forcast says -3 but its lower plus the wind is steady strong and biting.No noticable hoare or white frost,everything just forzen solid.This is where our big water tank comes in handy.We can go for days if there is a mains burst.Mind you we do keep the ceiling below it free from insulation so the heat rises to keep it from freezing.
      Today the freeze never lifted,Despite the fantastic sunshine the ice never thawed on the outside water tanks.
                                                                                             Biff

[Heinz]

Two month olds are fun   as are the health visitors. First time ours arrived here, couple of miles of dirt track, yard with junk in it, not much roof on the house and the door half blocked by scaffolding and broken slates. She did relax after a bit, but you could see she wasn't happy when she arrived.  
This place was just four small rooms when I arrived and I did contemplate removing all the internal walls and just living in it for a while to see how the areas developed and add the partition walls to suit.

H

[spaces]

I'd got this image in my head of a starchy 50-odd year old matronly state employee who would consign us all to the loony bin, having visited too many centally-heated Barrat homes. Couldn't have been more wrong.

We should study the Japanese approach to house living rather more than we do. I think the English must have the least thought-through living accommodation in the whole world. Scots not much better...