Chair Man of the Pack Board

A couple weeks ago, our patience paid off. We found a set of chairs that match the new dining table we got from a friend for free (see Downsizing the Dining Table). Since we moved that table to the “homestead,” we’ve watched the local classifieds and the second hand stores for the right chairs. I recently snapped a photo of a chair at some friends’ house that we liked, so that I could post a want ad for them myself. Before I got around to it, the chairs came to us.

In a manner of speaking.

Not at all precarious! (Photo: Michelle Zeiger).

Not at all precarious! (Photo: Michelle Zeiger).

Continue reading →

Posted in Simple Living | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Power Shift: The Plan in Place

All the steps previously outlined in the Power Shift essays here on the blog, most recently Power Shift: Sizing the PV Array, led to assembling our new PV array.

With help and guidance from the tech experts at Real Goods, where we bought our first array, I assembled a pretty robust system of U.S. made solar panels. We will use four Suvina Optimus 260 W panels tied in two parallel strings into the battery bank with a Midnite Solar Classic 150 charge controller. Continue reading →

Posted in Off-the-Grid Power | Tagged , , | Leave a comment