Comparing Lithium Iron, Nickel Iron, and Lead Acid batteries for Off-Grid energy storage. Chart reveals important factors to consider when choosing.

Instructions how to make your own diy Olive Oil Lamp (vegetable oil lamp) with a coat-hanger, wick, and a home canning jar.

I’ve determined some of the lowest cost candles – cost per hour comparison of Tea light, Votive, Taper/Candlestick, and Pillar style.

Here’s why most grid-tied solar systems don’t work when the electric grid goes down. But it doesn’t have to be that way…

Many people think 120 F is the best hot water heater temperature. No, it’s not. Here’s why, what it should be, and how to get best of both worlds…

The Kill A Watt meter measures appliance power consumption, (kWh) watts over time. I use several. Here’s how it works, and why I use them…

I originally wrote this back in 2012. I came across it recently, and liked it. So I’m republishing it for general information.   Solar Energy Conversion It all starts by converting a single energy unit from the sun. A photon (a particle that carries electromagnetic force). A photon particle released from the sun takes about…

How Much Energy Consumption per Household – Residential customers in the United States (132.58 million) directly consumed 1,378.6 TWh (Terawatt hours) of electricity in 2017. Source: electricity consumption data is based upon data mined from US DOE Energy Information Administration. An average residential customer in the United States used 866.55 kWh/month (Kilowatt hours) during 2017….

Alternative Energy. Alternative to what? For this post the context will be alternative energy for ‘getting things done’ that ordinarily rely upon the electrical power grid.   Solar Energy Solar energy for electricity Harnessing the sun’s energy with Solar ‘photo voltaic’ (PV) panels. I have been doing this for years. Love it! Most quality panels…

The Four Essential Parts or Building Blocks of an off-grid solar setup, and the description and basics of how it works.