Went to GC Central after this morning’s (frigid and wind-blown) shit-shoveling. Only GC guy met me and said we’re off for at least the next five days. Whipped out his magical wi-fi tiny fairydust-driven does-everything-my-laptop-and-satellite-dish-can-do-only-better iPhone-kinda-gadget, pushes a single button, and waves the next week’s weather forecasts under my nose. They all predict climate change like unto Siberia.
“Costs too much for the propane to heat the building,” he said. “The caps aren’t due yet, and I’m already deep into my margin just getting you to do them for me.” So I came home and baked bread instead. Somehow it struck me as odd that I’m not the only person who counts the propane molecules between fill-ups. I dunno why it should have, though.
We did get some good sunlight today. Weather report promised (see above) that it would snow all day, and I guess it did snow like crazy west of here. But this morning was cloudless, and even when clouds did show up I still got enough sunlight to put the batteries into float. So that’s a relief. Still, so far the predictions about temperature have been right. It only got up to about 30 degrees today, and I’ll be lucky if it stays above zero tonight. Promises are for it to get a good deal colder yet. Looking at my notes, this time last year the highs were in the sixties. But last winter was a pleasant freak.
This’ll really test my water supply. I can’t let the faucet drip, because the drain already froze solid. So it’s all up to the insulation. Which, fortunately, I beefed up.
Have you ever run across a workable idea for something cheap and simple to turn a small generator or alternater fast enough to add a few amps to your batteries? It’s intuitive that a windmill and gearbox should spin an auto alternator productively, but if it were so, many folks would be doing it.
No. I’ve read a few people who claimed success in doing that, but I’ve never seen it and don’t believe it. Alternators need sustained high speed – very high speed. More than you’ll ever get from a windmill or turbine.