Category Archives: Energy Saving

Belize, Energy Saving, Farming, Saving Money

Tin Smithing with Gnome.

Hello!!  Despite designating this time as “rest period” to get ready for the new year’s major work on the farm, Gnome is still tinkering around.  Right now, we are renovating (actually, we are always in this state and will remain in this state for a long time) and we are back to cold water showering  awaiting the re-location of the hot water shower.  Because it has been so cold (20C/68F), we have resorted to bucket washes with hot water.  Water requires energy to heat up so we were burning through a butane tank like there was no tomorrow (we bathe a lot).  So, Gnome put his “Saving Money” cap on and decided to try making a home-made charcoal burner made out of an old milk tin.  This is a prequel to Panda’s last entry about the Gnome Mk1 Charcoal burner.  We thought that Panda was in a similar situation with hot water requirements, so Gnome also gave him one of these to try out.

Pictures of Tin Smithing with Gnome:

Make holes in tin with hand drill:

Charcoal Hob Making.

Then make air holes, at the bottom of the tin, with a jig saw:

The square air holes are not completely cut out and are bent into the tin to form a shelf for mesh wire.  This is Panda’s picture which shows the air holes:

Captain Charcoal®

Charcoal (filled right up to the top) is then placed on the mesh wire and a fire is started:

Charcoal Hob Testing.

It is important to place a piece of metal on top of the tin to allow partial elevation of the cooking pot; we used an old hob ring.

Charcoal Hob in Action.

Viola!  Water boiling in a kettle:

Boiling Water.

Note: use manky camp-fire kettles and pots.  Do not use your fine cookware on these stoves or you will be scrubbing a lot!!  The tin full of charcoal lasts for about 1 or 2 hours so you can boil quite a lot water and then cook a meal afterwards.  Basic food can be made like toasting bread and cooking thinly sliced sweet potato:

Charcoal Gnome Cooking.

Cooking with the charcoal burner:

Cooking Over Charcoal.

This design is not perfect (yet!) and Gnome is working on a new model with air flow control and a handle.  Watch this space…

Energy Saving, Fermentation, Saving Money

Downsizing Again!

Hello Everyone.  It’s a lovely sunny day  and we’ve decided to take it easy today.  The freezer marathon is nearly over and I have learnt a lot about proper conservation from this experience.  I am down-sizing from a 30 cubic feet freezer to a 10 cubic feet (partly because the big old freezer is not working well and is sucking up electricity like there is no tomorrow).  It was a tremendous feat and quite an eye-opener.  Firstly, I realised that I got into a really bad habit of throwing anything I could find into the freezer because I had the luxury of space.  This led  to chaos and dis-organisation reigning supreme and I could never remember where anything was located let alone know what I actually had.

I feel a tad embarrassed to tell you that about a quarter of the freezer was taken up by fruit (which I was saving to make wine or ice-cream…whenever…at some point in the dim and distant future).  I had about 400 sapodilla fruit packed in the freezer amongst a medley of other tropical fruit purees.  When we did our canning marathon, this fruit amounted to only 30 quart sized jars that take up very little space on my shelf (certainly not 7.5  cubic feet!).

Canned Fruit.

Another quarter of the big freezer was taken up by about 50 packets of pre-cooked cassava.  We managed to convert this into a 5 gallon bucket of cassava miso which is sitting in the corner of the kitchen (inconspicuously taking up a lot less space that 7.5 cubic feet!).

cassava

Converted to miso:

Grinding Cassava.

We also canned a 20lb bag of black beans:

Canning Beans.

I am amazed that I have freed up so much space by simply changing the preservation methods.  Plus, I am saving on electricity.

We have 84 quart jars of preserved food including fruit purees, chicken feet(!) and beans.  That’s it…it took up soooo much space in the freezer!!

Preserved Foods.

The rest of my food (which I would prefer to keep frozen) fits very neatly into a 10 cubic feet freezer.  Phew…small is indeed the way to go…makes my life a lot simpler.  Yes, I can actually find food now without my usual crazy chaos!  And, Gnome has urged me to to keep an inventory and has made up a simple  program on the computer for me to use.  Everything is neatly packed in the freezer with clear labelling.  What a difference it makes to be able to find food quickly….Ha-Ha, I have to laugh at myself sometimes!

Belize, Energy Saving, Farming, Saving Money

Positive Sod’s Law!

Jumping.Munchkin Gnome’s last words before he went to sleep last night were, ” I intend to work all day tomorrow.”

Activation: Positive Sod's Law.
Activation Sequence: Positive Sod’s Law.

And sure enough, it poured down today so no outside activity was possible.  In a funny sort of way, we were trying out a new technique which we have coined “Positive Sod’s Law.”  This utilises a statement of intention, the Sod’s Law principle and the fact that the final result is what you inadvertently wanted but managed to get through the convoluted channel of a “Sod.”

Anyway, since the well-pump has “done broke” as they would say here in Belize, we have been on water conservation “red alert.”  This simply means that we are on bucket washes.

On a typical “Red Alert Day” we use the following amounts of water:

1) Bucket washes limited to 3 x day each; 30 gallons in total (120 litres).

2)  Washing Clothes; 20 gallons (80 litres).

3)  Washing dishes; 10 gallons (40 litres).

4)  Water for consumption; 5 gallons (20 litres).

5)  Miscellaneous; 5 gallons (20 litres).

Total water used up in one day is 70 gallons (about 280 litres as an over estimation).

We have two rain water tanks that store 660 gallons so that each tank gives us about 8 to 9 days of water.  This means, we can last about 2 weeks of dry weather before we start on the “Positive Sod’s Law” technique.  This is assuming that we get our water tanks filled right up to the top after each rain…this is not usually the case…more the case of one full tank.

Anyway, it rained lots today and the distant rumbling of thunder, grey clouds and flood flies indicate that there is more to come.

Flood Flies.
Flood Flies.

We are anticipating the invasion of the termite queens (the nuptial flight) in the house so we are getting ready for an early night.  This equates to a mass of crawling termites and wings a-plenty.  Just another Manic Monday!!

Belize, Construction, Energy Saving, Saving Money

Making Paper Bricks.

Munchkin.Face.DarkWe bought a 4-in-1 Paper Log Maker from Amazon to make paper bricks which will be used as insulation for the inside wall of our house.  Right now, we are experimenting with different materials in order to find the best material combination for our purposes.  Our first go just consisted of scrap bits of paper, cardboard and newspaper; we basically stuffed a 5 gallon bucket full of paper and filled it with water up to the top.  After 24 hours, the paper was soft enough to be shredded coarsely by hand.  On searching through the Internet, we found that some people actually purchased paper shredders for this purpose and put shredded paper into buckets of water.  Our method is preferred because it doesn’t involve the need to purchase another piece of machinery.  As an interesting aside, the main use of this contraption is to produce paper logs for burning.  I have not found any one else trying to construct with it.

Paper Mashed Up by Paint Stirrer.
Paper Mashed Up by Paint Stirrer.

After 72 hours the paper was getting gummy and sticky.  Next, we buzzed the paper with a paint stirrer for about 3-5 minutes to get a uniform paste of paper and water.  The mixture was then packed into the brick log maker and then the handle was pushed down to squeeze water out of the bricks.  We noted that the mechanism did not entirely squeeze all the water out of the bricks and it required the adequate drying time after to remove all the water.  If you push the log-maker too hard down, the handles bend.

Brick Maker with Paper Mash.
Brick Maker with Paper Mash.

We made our first 4 bricks about one week ago; so far, they are still drying.  The weather down here in Toledo, Belize has been partially sunny but still interspersed with rains.  Our aim is to make the paper bricks in the dry season here so that the bricks will dry faster in the hot-baking sun.

First 4 Paper Bricks.
First 4 Paper Bricks.

In our next experiment, we will try more card-board (since this material is actually easier to find down here from all the Chinese grocery shops) and a bit of lime (calcium hydroxide) to act as a binder.

Belize, Energy Saving, Saving Money

Today’s Work So Far.

Gnome: Today: It’s Guy Fawkes today.  Don’t have fireworks and can’t burn the mattress yet.  Watch V instead, for consolation.