A Lot Going On At The Off Grid Homestead

My old heavily abused forklift batteries that I got as scrap are slowly building up more and more usable energy. I have had some nice sunny winter days so I could put an equalize charge on them, which helps to bring back some of their usable energy.

Right now the forklift batteries are sitting at 12.4 volts in the morning after resting all night with no load on them. This is an improvement from the 12.2 volts they previously had.

I never insulated around my tiny house doorway because it has been about 100 degrees upstairs and in the 80s downstairs so far this winter. We have had milder than usual weather so I could not really burn the wood stove very hot. I left off the seals around the tiny house door so that wind could enter and help cool off the tiny home.

Now that we have had some very cold nights and strong winds I have been feeling the cold more. I decided it is time to put the weather stripping around the tiny house door.

This made a huge difference. Before I felt wind blowing around the entire door. Now it feels warm and cozy when I put my hand there. It made an immediate difference in the temperature inside my tiny house on wheels.

My neighbor Chris came over and helped me get the wind turbine tower started. This is a gigantic frame for a super rigid wind turbine tower. I will show the assembly in a separate video but I wanted to mention what I was doing with the bulk of my day so far.

When I was out shopping for supplies I got an awesome deal on a wood stove accessory set with a poker, shovel and tongs for only $8 at Tractor Supply. It was normally $20 but on sale for 30% on clearance because of winter close outs. But this was the last one in the store and it was missing the broom. So they gave it to me for only $8 out the door. This sure beats the wood stick I have been using all this time.

I got all the hardware I needed to put up the wind turbine tower. It sure is a lot of hardware but then again I am building this myself out of salvaged materials.

I finally got my Homelite 4400 Watt generator back from the shop after 5 months. You many remember when I brought this home in summer. It was running but leaking gas a bit around the carb seals. This meant the float was adjusted wrong. I could not fix it so I took it into the shop. It took them 5 months to get it fixed. I guess it was in bad shape because they had to entirely rebuild the carburetor. I am satisfied with the surprisingly low price though. Maybe they felt bad that it took so long. Either way I got it back. Bad thing is that the pull starter is suddenly slipping when I tried to fire it up for the video.

Some packages arrived with some very nice gear for the off grid homestead. I got a clip on ammeter. Some awesome camera gear and accessories and a battery desulfator.

Thank you to everyone who sent a package.

Follow my daily progress on the path to self sufficiency on my off grid solar homestead.
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