Self Sustainability and Energy Saving

No I am not a hippie , but I am very interested in self sustainability and energy saving , some people will just move straight on from this thread , but hopefully there will be others that add to it , I know Shawn M will , I looked for a spot for this thread to begin , and it sort of looked liked it belongs halfway between property development and horticulture , so Larry just re-locate it as you see fit , thanks (not the bin though)

aquaponics , solar , wind turbines / ventilators , water , building with power / energy consumption in mind

One thing that is frustrating were we live , 35 mins north of Duma in Tugas , Tanjay , is the water supply because we are right at the end of the line , has been known to be no supply for days , we have a tank that collects water from the roof , if it is regular rainfall no probs , but that was p20,000 for the tank , and our neighbours just can't afford that , it is amazing the rainfall that occurs and people are struggling for water , we recently put a well in and all of our neighbours have access to it if they want water. Although water is not expensive there at all , it is the convenience of an ever free uninterrupted supply . (in aus our water bill is p1300/week)

cost of pipe and pump php25,000
cost of crew with drilling equipment php300/foot @ 70 foot deep to get to non salty water
Total php46,000
I haven't got a pic of clean water coming out , but I will attach some pics of the commissioning of the well

 

I have to agree with Tony about the water situation in Tugas. When it rains they shut it off and when it is on it is barely more than a trickle. Have to fill a basin with water just to bathe as there is no way you would get anything out of a shower head.

First thing we did when we bought the lots was to dig a well. I was not as fortunate as Tony so we had to go down 170 feet, but it has proven to be very valuable to have a clean water source on the site during construction. It will be our only water supply, so after an electric pump, filtration and water tank it will end up costing a bit. To me it will be well worth it; I can deal with the brown outs but water outages for days just will not cut it.

Solar and wind generation is still just too expensive in the Philippines for me to be able to justify it. I will keep looking at it to come down. In the mean time I will have a solar water heater and all the exterior lights around the property will be solar. Got to start somewhere I guess.

Shawn

 

Tony,

I'd like to know how you have your rain water collection set up, pics would be great or you can show me in a few weeks when we both have boots on the ground.

Shawn

 

View attachment 10405 No probs , I will see if I can dig some pics out , Papa has been building all his life and never installed guttering til he met me , I have always been frustrated with their struggle for water , and the rainfall they have , unfortunately they simply cannot afford tanks or wells ,.........just found the pics on another comp. we put the tank in about 5 years ago , have yet to put an elevated tank in , maybe this time when we are there if I have time , what do you think is the best way to filter the water from the well ? View attachment 10404 View attachment 10405 View attachment 10406

 

off grid house

I had a friend in Hawaii who had an "off grid" house, no water, not electricity. For water he had a rain collection system which went into a large plastic pool with plastic cover. I believe he just chlorinated the water. For electricity he had a dual wired house, which was 110 and low volt, believe it was 12 volt car battery system. He used the generator sparingly to regard the batteries and to do ironing and other critical high power items. Everything worked well. He was very independent at the time. All his electrical system items were low voltage. You may want to do a internet search of "off grid" houses.

 

Thanks Dave , self sustainability to a certain point , I feel has lot going for it , keeping costs down on everyday requirements for 1 , I know you are into plants / gardening , me too , have you ever seen or heard of aquaponics , that is something I really want to try also
regards Tony

 

Ah yes…Oz water prices….currently I'm getting near $2000 AUD a year….I do have a veggie garden year round in the back yard and keep the front reasonably healthy but I am just sickened by the rip-off….We're in Perth and the local water authority is just plainly a gang of thieves….to keep their bloated workforce around doing almost nothing. I might be wrong but I think we pay the highest water prices on the planet….
But back to the Philippines and self-sufficiency….rainwater tanks are a good idea…some of the locals (here in Western Australia) with larger properties have 10-20k litre tanks….I know of several in the metro area - my neighbour behind me has a 5kl tank….I've considered it - but wouldn't do me much good if I decide to live near Bacolod…..
For electricity - solar is good, wind is good….both is best….but you need to store it for nights. Can be done with a large bank of batteries, assuming you use some A/C to keep from sweating all night….plus freezers/fridges…lighting…security apparatus…etc…There are a few crowds who do large capacity vanadium battery systems - definitely not cheap - and don't know for sure if they are available in the Philippines (but kind of assume they are - because they are in many other countries….) and these can store tremendous amounts of energy…..so all the excess solar and wind power gets tucked away. And because of the complexity and maintenance required..and size...I doubt anyone would steal them….

 

I have just started to collect solar panels, cdr king has them at near the rate in other countries, buck a watt. They have a web site to check the pricing, inverters batteries etc. 12 volt lights, also for nearly the same price of a led bulb, at the china store they have led lights that have solar panel to recharge them. They did surprise me the light is bright and the charge last nearly all night. The water thing, why hasnt there been a hollow block storage tamk built there for the cheap fix. I just did one at the farm lot because wwater sometimes only 1 or 2 days a week. The cost for that tank was less than a 4k P and nealy big enough I could swim in it. 4 foot deep and over 6 long.

 

Forgot to add, I use the metal roofing on the loafing shed with orange sewer pipe as a gutter to divert it into the tank. not much runoff for the past couple weeks though.

 

china store, just remembered the name, uni top