03-08-2008, 10:52 AM
Jay,
heat your water with solar. You can go as simple as coiled black pipe and get more sophisticated from there. You will probably even have hot water on a cloudy day. What elevation are you? I also heat with wood which is one danged good reason I am trying my best to be in a warm climate for winter.
I have watched madrone--one of the best firewoods on the planet go from abundant to gone in 20 years where I live. Now people heat with fir and oak when they can get it. The timber companies are cutting and/or poisoning all the oaks in the hope their redwood will grow faster, larger, more. So what used to be abundant is no longer. Fir. Can you believe it? One of the worst firewoods on the planet.
As long as you've got the fire going you may as well cook with wood, too. But have you tried a solar oven? They are also easy to rig.
I dunno, I kind of think you should never cut down a 1000 year old tree. We won't see more of those. Nothing you could make could ever be as good as that tree.
april
heat your water with solar. You can go as simple as coiled black pipe and get more sophisticated from there. You will probably even have hot water on a cloudy day. What elevation are you? I also heat with wood which is one danged good reason I am trying my best to be in a warm climate for winter.
I have watched madrone--one of the best firewoods on the planet go from abundant to gone in 20 years where I live. Now people heat with fir and oak when they can get it. The timber companies are cutting and/or poisoning all the oaks in the hope their redwood will grow faster, larger, more. So what used to be abundant is no longer. Fir. Can you believe it? One of the worst firewoods on the planet.
As long as you've got the fire going you may as well cook with wood, too. But have you tried a solar oven? They are also easy to rig.
I dunno, I kind of think you should never cut down a 1000 year old tree. We won't see more of those. Nothing you could make could ever be as good as that tree.
april
april