I can't afford solar or wind generators yet so I've become very mindful of my energy consumption. Each morning I connect my (very small) solar trickle charger to the batteries. I try to use my DC to AC inverter as little as possible & have stopped turning my anchor light on as well.
To get around the anchor light I did what most everyone around me has done..
I went to Home Depot & bought 2 solar garden lamps, one for the bow & one for the stern. I was pretty happy with that. Call it Karma or synchronicity but last night, as the lights flickered on, I was sitting in my lounge chair watching the harbor go dark (and enjoying the cool breeze). Low and behold the Coast Guard came through with their blue lights flashing, telling everyone who's anchor light wasn't on, to turn them on.
I must have had a grin on my face sitting there enjoying the free energy from the Sun.
Also, to solve my need for music, I picked up a small wind up radio/flashlight for like $12 bucks at KMart. These additions compliment my little LED lights which I solely depend on for light at night. Each little light, found in a Dollar store, has rechargeable AA batteries which are recharged by my little solar battery charger.
I've lowered my "Carbon Footprint" and am always looking to lower it even more :)
Here's a picture of the charger and my "toaster" lol
Once I find another bucket I'm going to try a water desalinization trick I learned.
You put salt water in one bucket, as it evaporates and is caught under a transparent lid you drain the condensation into another bucket... Then I can use it to rinse clothes and rinse down the deck :)
"Link"
Yo, Mikey...we took a boat trip last Sunday way up the St. Marys River almost to Folkston..you can traverse the St. Mary's all the way to the Swamp, Okefenokee Swamp.
ReplyDeletegot a really sub-tropical sunburn on my back, but it's past the itchy stage now, had a couple of kinda warm days withn it. I've got to remember I'm in sub-tropical sun, now.
So glad to hear that you're overcoming your power needs. We just purchased yesterday a few solar light leading out to the pool and on past...going out in a few to place them so they get the most benefit from the sun so they light during dark hours.
the weather is lovely here, I was wondering about the breeze you get from the sea there..here, it amazing how refreshing and cool it can be, even during the hottest part of the summer.
we're having very nice spring weather the next week, 80's during the day, mid 60's at night..hopefully, we might get some much needed rain.
Only one more week, then I'm paroled for a couple of months.
Spankie pulled a disappearing act on us Wednesday night...out all afternoon and night, showed up Thursday, mid day. Sam called me at work to let me know he was sitting on the porch. He's getting the most out of this weather, as are the other cats, but generally they don't pull disappearing acts on us. Damn cat(s). I know you miss yours.