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Tesseract
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To add to the other great suggestions, a book I found helpful when building my tiny house was Working Alone which had lots of great tips for solo building.
A generator inlet box like this is the way. You just make or buy a twist-lock cord to go from the generator to the inlet box. The inlet connector is then wired to your electrical panel, which can be a very simple one for a small cabin. When you add solar later, you wire the generator inlet to your inverter/charger, and then wire the inverter to your electrical panel.
I have multiple chains, and multiple chainsaws. All with different sized chains. Besides using an Alaskan sawmill I also use a Lumber cutting guide When I don't have perfectly straight trees, I'll cut them at the bend and make, 8-in by 8-in to 10 in by 10 in beams. Normally 10 to 12 ft long. To either be milled at a later time. Or used as beams.
I understand the notion of having a lot of chains. But the sawdust that is kicked up is super fine, especially on cross cuts. So after two chains, I clean my chainsaw. Mainly the air filter in the oiling points for the chain. If not I'm going to burn a bar up.
About electric chainsaw sharpeners. They eat up chains, they take off way to much. In my experience. And dealing with multiple chains, means more time for adjustment. I've been hand sharpening, since it was a kid, a few decades. I can sharpen a chain in under 10 minutes, including taking down the rakes if needed.
It looks like a sturdy build! good job, we started ours in May and just got sealed up and moved in last month, but we used a more traditional build style and also pretty small.
For the outhouse it would be nice if there was someway to store the heat from a propane heater in something solid like a ceramic block. But i can't think of anything yet.
That is their older model and is still pretty good. Try and go for a slightly more modern design and one that can take extra batteries in the future for expansion like the https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9XB57XM/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?pd_rd_i=B0B9XB57XM&pd_rd_w=uSlij&content-id=amzn1.sym.9f074495-da4d-4e1c-b407-69e85fa47fdb&pf_rd_p=9f074495-da4d-4e1c-b407-69e85fa47fdb&pf_rd_r=4M69525JHYZBV7A134PV&pd_r...
Man a wood stove would be nice. As far as the outhouse using a buddy heater seems like a good choice. Though running it continually would get pricey.
Thanks the cabin took us about 4 years to build. lol We only had weekends here and there. I thought it would never get finished. Right now all we have left to do is wrap the concrete blocks with some stone found on site and put in a floor. The floor right now is plywood.
So I was looking at this one, which has a pretty good price, but the reviews on charging are not good. I want to be able to plug that thing in at home or a generator. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DPNNT8T#customerReviews
At that price point I could buy a panel for charging. I see there are some other off brand stations at that price point.
Temperature control module plus a 12volt car battery (AGM, 100ah). The control module pulls 0.1watt, at most, so that would last it all winter. Plus a relay to switch your diesel heater on. Set the module to power up the heater if the interior temperature of the cabin drops below freezing.
This would mean that you wouldn't have to worry about pipes freezing, and it would take a lot less time for the cabin to reach comfortable temps if you manually switch the heater on.
Oh, that might work, i'll take a look thank you. I was playing around with some ideas[Googling stuff] last night and came across https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract which looks like it might be promising if i can keep the image fairly well controlled.
I was hoping for a straight forward Pi install but i think i will need to install home-assitant in a docker on the Pi so i can have a part of the machine dedicated for processing stuff like this.
For heavy bleeding, what do you think of the blood stopping powders, like
https://www.amazon.com/Biolife-Woundseal-Powder-4-Count/dp/B00G6QD5VS
I’m not sure how much medical training you have, but for trauma care you should follow the order of treating for severe bleeding, the airway, respiration, circulation, and then hypothermia and/or shock. Having the means to move somebody that’s severely injured is also huge.
So….
For bleeding, have a few CAT tourniquets for severe arterial bleeds to the extremities. They’re affordable, easy to apply, and life saving. Have a few rolls of hemostatic gauze. Medical tape for securing dressings. I’d also highly recommend a pressure bandage or two like this.
For keeping an airway open, try to acquire a Nasopharyngeal Airway (NPA). There’s a million instructional videos for referencing proper use. I’d also recommend a mask if you’re CPR qualified.
On top of that, shock and hypothermia is a serious threat for a trauma patient injured off the grid. Get a survival blanket, and maybe one or two good, military-surplus wool blankets that you can use to keep a patient warm to prevent shock.
Besides that? Your general first-aid items. Band-aids. Latex gloves. Alcohol wipes, rubbing alcohol, and cotton balls / q-tips. Get a good, compartmented bag that you can organize your supplies in for mobility.
Pretty much all of this can be safely stored at varying temperatures:)
I've worked on several old barns and lean-to's most of the rot was about 1 - 2 ft at ground level, with the spans being 12 ft there's not much to use floor or bottle jacks. So I found a pretty cool trick that involves a Hi-lift jack I would screw a 2x4 on the side of the pole and jack it up at the 2x4 to raise it. If your base boards are strong enough or you can strengthen them I would recommend getting one and trying it because it moves pretty fast compared to a bottle or floor jack. Also watch a video on them because they can be dangerous, Good luck!
Get off of these chainsaws on a rope. Toss up it around the tree and cut it down from a safe distance. They work surprisingly well. I’ve taken down a few widow makers with mine.
https://www.amazon.com/Kutir-Inch-High-Reach-Chain/dp/B07JQ2658J
I bought a Mighty Mule by EZ Go - still works great after 4 years- I also bought a separate key pad that works by Bluetooth 20 feet from the gate. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GWFT2AQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hornets, wasps, yellow jackets... From what I understand / know, they're all territorial insects.
We had a severe wasp problem around our home. Bought some of these things and hung them in random places around the yard.
6 Pack Wasp Nest Decoy Safe Hanging Wasp Deterrent for Hornets Yellow Jackets https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B088CVZR8V/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_9S76AT5YB0BJ16NNBPMB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
We still see a stray one here and there, but, it drastically reduced their presence in our yard.
> preferably one that can hold 8 AAs and/or AAAs
Get a pair of 4 bay chargers. The best product from the good brands are usually 4 bay. A lot of them use 12V power directly so don't need an inverter. (They'll also charge li-ion batteries in case you ever need that.) Good brands include Nitecore and XTAR. Liitokala if you are on a tight budget.
The Xtar VC8+ is probably the best option. 8 bays and 12V input. But it is a fairly complicated and full-featured charger.
I've been looking at something like this for my wooden deck: https://www.amazon.com/Welding-Blanket-Fiberglass-Protect-Sparks/dp/B07PQK5JJZ
Maybe if there's fire danger, wet the decks down, apply the blankets and bug out? That plan assumes you have enough warning. Anyway, I might go in this direction.
I got one of these guys (Canada, but they may have equivalents for other places. Check the frequency) on a recommendation. I had zero service in the cabin and had to walk 200' away out into a field and hold my mouth right to get service. It's currently roughly 30' up a tree roughly 50' away and we get at least a bar of LTE consistently in the cabin, typically 2. Occasionally it drops back to 3G / H+ but it works for us. I'm going to get it a bit higher this year and see if that improves things.
SolidRF Cell Phone Signal Booster for Home/Office-Coverage up to 3,000 sq ft-All Canada Carriers-Band 12/17/13/5/25/2/4-3G/4G,5G Ready https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07QR3D8RM/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_3HM81KZ23T2HR9AQS56C
Go solar. But I'm guessing if you're willing to drop a turbine in the water and move it back out again every time you're there, your solar potential might be limited.
In that case, consider transporting a simple car battery that you can bring back and trickle charge before you return to the cabin. I run a 12v well pump off a small 10ah LiFePO battery. It runs for about an hour before I have to put it back on the solar to charge (and then I swap the one currently on the solar back to the kitchen).
Also, I use DeWalt tools and the 20v Max batteries have some decent chooch in them. I picked up an adaptor for them with leads that I connected to a cheap LED RV light.
Ok, I thought of a lower cost option for you. Here is a CAD$35 current transducer. Feed the output through a Schottkey diode and the output of that to a capacitor. This is a very simple peak hold circuit. Put one of the power lines to your appliance through the transducer, turn on the appliance and measure the voltage across the capacitor. Convert the voltage to current. Discharge the capacitor by shorting with a 1k resistor, and take your next measurement.
https://www.amazon.ca/Accuracy-Transducer-Transmitter-SZT15-CH-10V-Self-Powered/dp/B07PGMFZRN
The lowest cost semi-legit one I can find is about CAD$100 all-in (US$80?). Hantek 6022BE. Not a bad tool to own after you use it for this though.
https://www.amazon.ca/Hantek-Digital-Oszilloskop-Storage-Oscilloscope/dp/B0728HBNDV
you can just light it with a match/lighter, or get a bbq ignitor and use it as a push button: https://www.amazon.com/MENSI-Propane-Igniter-Generator-Ignition/dp/B07K6BTFJH/ref=sr_1_5?crid=L9YZ3PY4O3A7&keywords=bbq+grill+ignitor&qid=1642084189&sprefix=bbq+grill+ignitor%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-5
if you really want 12vdc, then a spark plug and ignition coil off a car would definitely do it
Easiest way for time/money tradeoff and hassle and safety (which is important with sparks and explody things that can burn stuff down) is a cheap inverter. Amazon has them for $13 that will do the trick. I bought this cheapie for $20ish and it has a power switch- it also has stable enough power output to run 2 laptops and finicky test equipment plus the USB ports are good and the draw is very low when running.. Has a low batt cutoff too. I beat this thing up in rough desert and salty air and it's been surprisingly solid. It's cheap chinese stuff so not UL listed so YMMV but this one has been good for me. https://www.amazon.com/GELOO-Inverter-Converter-Charger-Adapter/dp/B087WP9KZZ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=GELOO&qid=1642097033&sr=8-1
So for $15-25 it solves the problem/project in less than an hour without mods and you get extra power socket and usb outlets.
It does add the step of 'turn on inverter, light stove, turn off inverter' so there's that. You could add a momentary switch (arcade red light up button for example) to hold while igniting (inverters usually take 1 second to turn on) which would be a simple & quick mod.
BBQ grills also have replacement pushbutton piezo igniters for cheap. This can work without any power but you would want to wire it up separately (don't know if it'll mess with the stock igniter circuit) and the spark gap to get good ignition can be really annoying to adjust correctly and often you have to push the button a lot.
This might be a reprint of the original and is more affordable then the other link posted if you can’t find an $8 copy. It is still way more than $8 though
https://www.amazon.com/Household-Discoveries-Encyclopedia-Recipes-Processes/dp/0343058502/
Is also available in pdf on open library for free
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL14172623M/Household_discoveries
Check out this one (they have ones for larger/smaller setups) and it has Bluetooth and an app so you can track power yield, usage, etc. Victron
You may already understand this, but I looked up the weboost signal antenna for one room and it uses 20 watts, meaning even a cheaper UPS like this one should give you overnight power (about 12 hours with some to spare)
I use this one:
Guide Gear Outdoor Wood Stove https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0155324VO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_K16KTXE41MGQ9G15HAQK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
It’s possibly the smallest legit wood stove I’ve ever seen and I use it for my 100sq ft uninsulated cabin and it’ll still sweat you out. The downside is you can’t put anything large in it to burn all night, but it’ll keep you decently warm till morning. There’s a lot of options out there tho.
The only downside to this model is the flue is an awkward size/wall thickness and I had to make a custom collar to mate up with the standard chimney flue pipe I could get at Lowes.
Will wrote a small book on solar systems too. It's very informative and he lays things out very well in the book. It's inexpensive on Amazon as well. I highly suggest picking up a copy.
Mobile Solar Power Made Easy!: Mobile 12 volt off grid solar system design and installation. RV's, Vans, Cars and boats! Do-it-yourself step by step instructions. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1546567119/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_0WEDEY4EZ1NDZXBFD822
I found this adapter on Amazon but don't know if it's exactly the same as the male end of the CR style hoses.
There's a few models, but I got a Wen to replace an old champion i had used to build (and semi power) my place with and had really taken a beating. It's pretty quiet, and *seems* to be running okay (for now). https://www.amazon.com/WEN-56235i-2350-Watt-Generator-Lightweight/dp/B085828BQ6
A little harder to carry! For myself I have grip tape on my stairs. I know it really helps dogs with not slipping on stairs as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Tape-King-Anti-Slip-Traction/dp/B01M63K167 For an example. There is a million versions out there.
My 2 cents:
Pay a little more -- $400-500 -- and get an inverter generator.
Most (all?) are "quiet" so for that reason alone worth the $$. I had a Champion that i ran into the ground as a general work generator (running power tools etc), left it out in the rain and generally mistreated it. Was around $500. Got a new Wen (basically a Honda rip-off), which is equally as good, but smaller.
No, that is so not worth it. Here is the online direct from the company ad: https://www.sunoven.com/product/all-american-sun-oven/
they are charging $390. That is insane. It is a foil lined box. An actual oven costs just about that much.
The Amazon page direct from the company is $470. Here is the URL.
I think thi company is trying to make a bundle while people are intersted in living off-grid, but have absolutely no sense of true value.
some of the best books about the old ways of how to live.
Maybe "standard" isn't the right name but this is what I had:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0032EL74E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UqDLFbK6RT0F7
It charged my battery bank at 4-6 amps. Whenever our batteries got too low (which was often as they were old and there's very little sun in an Irish winter) we would run the generator into the charger fir a few hours. Connected directly to the batteries not through the controller.
Worked but there may be more elegant solutions...
I have 6x 12V 35ah batteries, in parallel. so 210ah @ 12V. These ones.
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Trolling-Motor-Battery-Sevylor/dp/B00K8ECOCK/
I only used these bc they were what i had in the GoalZero box that i had daisy chained 2 extras to.
You may be able to find the recommended mounting brackets from the place they were purchased. For example in my case on Amazon they suggested the Renogy mounting brackets. Renogy mounting brackets.
The cost for engineering and building the structure to hold those weights are cost prohibitive for most people. A free standing living roof would be a much better option. Here is a great book showing the complete method.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579905323/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
On my smokehouse I utulized it, but on my earth shltered home I went with a somewhat traditional roof with metal roofing for rain water catchment.
> unknown moisture content
Could you use something like this moisture meter. I use something similar to check firewood.
Nice cabin. I saw your jug of water on the counter. Get one of these. Totally worth the 10 bucks https://www.amazon.com/botellas-el%C3%A9ctrica-port%C3%A1til-universal-galones/dp/B07HFPC7HB/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=water+jug+pump+5+gallon&qid=1594529911&sr=8-3
If you want to add a bit more to the line since it’s coming from sinks you can find these Grease Interceptor on Amazon. Just look for the used options to show up occasionally. That 8lb model will sell for ~30$ used/opened regularly. Dig a small pit for it along your line. Paint it with anti-rust rubberized paint then place it in-line in its own small rock bed. Make walls around it to the surface and add in insulation/a cover for the access point. It’ll keep it from freezing and give you a trap to catch anything solid or grease you might have missed in your sinks.
Not crucial but a good addition if you want to be more certain about what hits your final pit.
Heads up. You can shorten amazon links. A lot of it is tracking info. you can see you keyword search you used to find the Y-connector. It looks like Product + tracking. All you need is the first part to get you there.
https://www.amazon.com/SOMMERLAND-A1001-Connector-Splitter-Washers/dp/B018Q3AQ4W/
is all you need. The rest is tracking. It goes /Amazon/Nameofproduct/dp/ProductCode. The rest is trash. I copy/paste the url then shorten it.
> how hard would it be to live with a composting toilet
Pretty easy. Composting toilets are not difficult. You can get one for about $100 too.
> how would I get water into the place for cooking and showering?
With no water hookup, it might be easiest to just bring in water for drinking, and maybe a 10 or so gallon water tank for cooking. If you want to shower, you have to do a lot more.
> If the cabin is hooked up to solar, I imagine I wouldn't be able to keep food in the freezer and fridge while I'm away in the event that it's gray and rainy outside for a week, right?
You still get solar power when it's cloudy, just not as much. What you need are solar panels and deep-cycle AGM batteries. With the right balance of solar panels and batteries, you'll be able keep everything running just fine while you're not there. The number of batteries and solar panels relies on a lot of factors, so it's hard to give some numbers. A single 100 Ampere-hour battery could probably run a small fridge for a day, and then you just need enough solar panel wattage to recharge that battery every day, even when it's cloudy. They also sell really efficient freezers and fridges that run of 12v so it's more efficient for this setup. They are expensive but I hear they work very well. https://www.amazon.com/43-Portable-Compact-Refrigerator-Freezer/dp/B0012EGZ9S
> I should also note that I am completely not handy at ALL. So the easier the better
Solar panel setup isn't that hard IMO. Plumbing is hard.