Northern Michigan Solar Powered CabinAlternative Energy Living at the 45th parallel
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First of all, welcome to our site! We've been around for several years and conduct all kinds of half baked DIY projects on our show, This Old Shack. Be sure to check out all of our half witted articles and pages. If you have questions, just Email us and we will do our best to confuse you beyond all belief.NAVIGATION Email or Contact us here
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We're going to build our own solar panels!Read the diary entry here. |
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Disaster planning should be part of every single household across America, strike that, the world. When disaster strikes, people die or lives are c80%hanged. In times of plenty, forego the Playstations and buy extra food. You can explain a lack of toys better than a lack of food to your children.
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In
1980 our military switched its entire food ration program over to the full
moisture MRE pouch system. These are the meals we tested on "This Old
Shack". |
Quite possibly the best preparedness site in the world.
There were several reasons for the switch:
Sprinkle of rain = power failure.
Giving a little back by not using so much.
Independent living.
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Gas mileage (Dodge Dakota)I drive a 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport with a 4.7 liter V8. This vehicle has the towing package, which means wide ass tires and wide ass wheels. I need a truck to haul materials and parts to the cabin so getting the best gas mileage is job one with this vehicle. The truck currently has grill inserts, a grill blocker, front air dam, cab spoiler and side skirts. Here are the government ratings for mileage that I use as a baseline.
Update: Combining two additives. Would we reap the benefits of both? Well, we combined a friction reducer and the Acetone. Our mileage in the truck now stands at 25.2 mpg. The drive train is powered by a 5 speed manual transmission and a 3.55 ratio rear axle. The EPA says I should get 15 in the city, 20 on the highway and a combined average of 17. As of 5-19-08, I get 22.9 in the city, and an astounding 26.7 on the highway. Not bad for a vehicle capable of scooting down the 1/4 mile in 15 or so seconds, eh? However, there is a caveat. Most of the driving I do is in a open loop condition, that is before the computer cycles into it's warm engine fuel mixture. I expect to do a closed loop cycle in the near future. Here is how I managed to do this:
First, I switched the lubricants for the engine to synthetic oil. Bye bye dino. I use Mobile 1 in the engine, changing it every 5000 miles. Mobile 1, being a synthetic oil can be run farther than 5000 miles so you've got a little bit of room here. The air intake system has been replaced with a Airaid 3 inch inlet cone filter, installed in the front passenger fender. This provides cleaner, cooler air into the engine. I run standard 87 octane gasoline in the truck. I have not done any engine management (plugs, injectors, cooling) as yet.
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How I testThere are several people on various newsgroups and discussion areas that waylay in uninformed or those just starting out in the off grid world of self power generation. This involves an almost religious belief in a phantom 6v golf cart true deep cycle battery that is superior in every way to any other battery in existence.
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