Winter solstice…

I suspect anybody who gets electricity from solar panels and who lives in a place with actual winter probably pays a lot of attention to the solstice. I certainly do, and more so this year since Ian’s power system got its big downgrade in battery power.

In the Lair it matters but not as much. Day before yesterday I roasted pork, which took about an hour and a half, and I really should have started earlier in the day. My gas oven ironically requires a lot of juice, and in winter should really only be used in the middle of the day (or powered by a generator, which I also considered doing but was too lazy to drag it out of the cabin to the powershed.) But other than anomalous behavior like that, my small battery bank matches my very modest electricity needs. Let’s just say LED lighting was a bigger revolution in my life than it probably was in yours.

But Ian’s place has bigger amperage draws, with a water pressure pump, a refrigerator, and a washer and dryer. The fridge doesn’t actually draw much and I can choose when to use the washer (and have no need to use the dryer at all in winter) but that pump turned out to be a bit of a problem once I didn’t have the big battery bank for a cushion. So I took the pump off its 12/12 timer and just manually turn it on when I need water pressure, and then right back off again. Which is probably screwing up the water softener’s operation but it’s only for another couple of months.

So anyway, even though so far this winter has been freakishly mild – it’s sunny and 62^o at the moment – that’s why I’ve been counting the days till December 21, the shortest day in the year. In theory, assuming we don’t get a lot of cloudy weather* the electricity situation at Ian’s Cave can only gradually improve from this point on.

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*which of course at some point we certainly will, unless ‘climate change’ is working miracles. But that’s so unpredictable I can’t really plan for it except to let the laundry pile up until it passes.