Wood burning stove review - Vermont Castings Aspen C3 2020

(Hi readers, sorry for the long delay! Life has been crazy and I will be bringing you up to speed in the next posts)

Our Vermont Castings Aspen C3 was installed in September 2020 and we started using it in October.  Though my parents had a wood burning stove when I was young, it was my dad's domain and I had little involvement with it. Husband had no direct experience with wood burning stoves before this one.  I mention this because I want to admit we are novices, but I also know people who could talk us through problems - except that this is not my father's wood stove.

I mentioned briefly in a previous post that we were having some issues and we questioned whether it was operator error.  The problem was that smoke was coming out of the door when it was opened and the fire seemed to die down too easily when the door was latched shut.  These problems continued and came to a head on Christmas Eve when it became impossible to open the door at all without smoke billowing out of the door into the house.  Since the kids sleep in lofts where the smoke rises this was extremely distressing and stressful.  We had to let the fire die down instead of risk opening the door, smoking the place up, having to wake the kids and make them move outside as I stuffed stockings and wrapping the final gifts to put under the tree.  Drama.

Christmas morning was a cold one.  The kids opened their gifts but Husband's attention was directed toward the stove.  As soon as the presents were unwrapped he tried to light it, but the results were terrible as the house filled with smoke, the alarms were going off and we all had to evacuate until the air cleared (and of course I had to climb up in a loft in the thick smoke to find the family cat hiding under a bed and bring him down).  Ultimately we had to take the smoldering logs out of the stove and through the front door in order to empty the stove.  Of course we were unable to reach anyone for service on Christmas Day.  We ran our generator and two small space heaters to try and warm the house for the night, but on the day after Christmas (Saturday) we left for the valley (Christmas toys and all).  I felt defeated as we drove away from the homestead.  On Monday I was able to reach the stove professionals (Wizards Hearth and Home) and they scheduled a tech to visit on Tuesday.  I am so thankful for their quick response.  

As it turns out there are a couple of important components inside the fire box lining the top - the baffle and the blanket - and they hang below the flue, but close to it.  We didn't even realize they were there and did not understand their purpose.  The owners manual mentions these parts, but does not say anything about them.  When we were initially having trouble with smoke coming out of the door we called and spoke to a tech and they told us when we start the fire to "stuff the stove full of kindling" and get a good hot kindling fire going before adding larger logs.  Perhaps the baffle and blanket were dislodged during the stove's journey to our house, but we clearly dislodged it further.  We took the tech's instructions to mean we should "stuff the stove" and in doing so I think we further dislodged the baffle and blanket and partially obstructed the flue.  On Christmas Eve Husband inserted a particularly large log and tried to angle it in, but that must have shifted the baffle and blanket to completely obstruct the flue - hence the smoke pouring out of the door.  When the tech removed the pipe attached to the top of the stove he said "I found the problem" and it was clear to see that the flue was blocked by the blanket which was flush against the top of the stove not allowing any air to flow.  In fact the baffle is broken/cracked and a new one will be ordered.  Once the tech arranged the blanket and baffle back in their proper place he lit the stove and for the first time we could watch the fire blaze with the door open and the smoke did not flow into the house.  

In the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve our friends and family were puzzled by the fact that the Aspen C3 does not allow the user to adjust the external air flow - rather it is self-regulated by a thermostatic controlled air intake - a new feature which allows the stove to perform at optimal efficiency and produce the least amount of particulate matter.  These self-regulating features are new to the 2020 models to ensure conformance to EPA emissions standards.  

Because of the self-regulating air flow it is necessary to keep the door unlatched as the initial fire is started.  Once the kindling is burning the door can be latched, but there is a right amount of time that the door has to be open when the fire is starting.  However, I can finally report that after the tech left we have had much better fires, though at times the thermostatic control seems to still not let in enough air.  As the tech said, the stove is finicky - and we completely agree.

While the tech was here they ran a chimney brush up the pipe and there was a minimal amount of debris - it was not overly dirty.  We also learned (by watching) how to remove the 90 degree pipe inside the house so that we can clean it when needed.  

The final issue we have had is with the door handle - it does not latch well and though the tech fiddled with it when he was here it is not fixed.  They looked at again when they came back to install the baffle and still it doesn't work well.  I have fixed it a number of times and don't think it will ever work well.  The design is poor.

A month later the new baffle arrived.  The tech returned to install it and he had a heck of a time with it.  Husband ultimately had to show him the manual to ensure it was installed properly.  Once the baffle was installed we were able to burn, but the airflow is still not ideal.  After doing a lot more research it is clear that the two 90 degree bends in the pipe are located too close to the stove.  The installation does not follow the guidance in the manual.  We are left with a dilemma - put another hole in our steel building to ensure a proper installation (and airflow) or deal with what we have.  Given the track record of the installers we decided to just get through the end of the winter and deal with it.  Husband has gotten the hang of it - though it needs a lot of babysitting (he calls it his third child).  

Though the wood stove can make this place toasty warm, it is a hassle.  We are glad we can clear our land of down wood and use it for heating and, when the stove works well, it seems to be very efficient (you can't see smoke coming out of the outside pipe).  Our goal was to use renewable energy as much as possible and that is what we are doing!

 

Fall semester ending / homeschooling

It has been a strange fall semester, but it is coming to a close and the Thanksgiving break is very welcome.  ASU has adapted to COVID-19 by offering in-person classes over Zoom as well as in the classroom.  Husband is taking all of his classes online already and I teach most of my classes online, though I do have one in-person class which is being "Zoomed" to students who don't want to attend in-person (most of them).  

Brother is in 6th grade and Sister is in 1st grade.  Our homeschooling curriculum is a hybrid of IXL, Moving Beyond the Page, Duolingo, literature, workbooks, real-world events, and homestead happenings.  Both kids are doing very well, but they would benefit from having some friends to play with.  Currently their social life consists of hanging with their cousins via phone or video game consoles.  They enjoy their virtual play time, but it would be better if they could run around outside with other kids their age.  Last week we stopped at an empty park to let the kids run around - it had been some time since they were able to play on a playground.  They really had fun, but I was again reminded how nice it would be if they could connect with others their ages.  

Even in the past when we homeschooled we still had play dates and met friends at parks - this year has been an exception.  I suppose many families are in this situation.  I am happy to hear about the vaccines that seem to have promise, because it would be great to see our friends again.  

Certainly we parents are not the best playmates for our kids - I am generally pretty serious when they are super silly.  I am task focused when they are aimless.  I have a to do list and they just wanna be free to be on screens when I want them to do chores.  Of course I love going to the National Parks where we can focus on learning something together or going for a hike together.  I love teaching them, reading with them, and talking about things.  They are bright and curious, they have great insights.  They are helpful and sweet.  For the past 3.5 years we have spent most of our time together since Husband and I have mostly worked from home and the kids have mostly been homeschooled.  We are close and I have valued every minute of our increased time together over these years.  With that said, I know it would especially benefit Brother to have a bit of an life away from our life - he will be 11 soon and he would benefit from having other kids to talk 11-year old things with.  

The kids are helpful around the house, Brother does dishes and Sister puts them away (we haven't had a dishwasher for 3.5 years).  They also fold and put away laundry.  I was just thinking that Brother could take on a couple new chores as he turns 11....  

Oh and speaking of laundry - I bought a portable RV washing machine!  It fills from the bathroom sink and empties into the shower - not manually - you have to turn on/off the water and the pump to fill/drain it.  When the wash and rinse are done you move the clothes in batches to the spinner and then I hang everything up on my drying rack or out on the line.  This week has been the first in 3.5 years I have not gone to the laundry mat!  The washer cost approx $140.  I figured I spend at least $10/week on laundry so if I avoid the laundry mat for 14 weeks this purchase will have been worth it.  I will spend more time on laundry using this machine - the main benefit of the laundry mat is being able to wash and dry everything at the same time instead of in batches.  Of course in the time of COVID-19 I value not going to the laundry mat and think this is a good choice.  Also, this can travel with us in the RV.  It is very low powered as well and works well on our solar system (260W wash/140W spin).  Here is it 'set up' in our bathroom with the hose coming from the sink at the top and the drain hose on the bottom left run into the shower.   Wow, modern conveniences on the homestead!

Sister has been reading Roald Dahl books this semester.  She read the BFG, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and is almost done with George's Marvelous Medicine.  She is really improving in her reading skills.  Husband is the lead on reading with Sister and I am the lead on language arts with Brother.  Brother and I just finished Tuck Everlasting - that was a great book.  Moving Beyond the Page is great for the older kids because the curriculum includes a lot of writing - which is something I feel should be a major focus leading up to college.  Sister has two first grade workbooks that supplement her IXL lessons.  Her handwriting is better than Brother's!  They are both great students and I am so proud of them.  We are a family focused on scholastic endeavors all around!  

Experiencing the winter season on the homestead

 

Winter came early (in October) and it was very exciting for our desert children.  The snow inspired a holiday feel and thankfully I was able to find some hats and gloves that fit so they could go out and enjoy it.  

This was a real test of our systems and a reminder that it was time to finish insulating pipes and ensure the cabin can support us during the cold months.  I spent a few hours wrapping the pipes with insulation and duct tape to prevent freezing.

In anticipation of colder weather coming, a week before the snow, we added the rest of the tubes to the Sunbank.  On the advice of James at Sunbank I spray painted half of the tubes so that when warm weather returns I can turn some of the tubes and moderate the heat (because we get LOTS of sun in the summer).  This completely passive system is absolutely amazing.  Despite the cold we have had enough hot water each day to take showers and wash dishes.  I cannot sing the praises of the Sunbank enough.  There is something special about taking solar hot water showers.  Yes, the amount of hot water fluctuates and one has to consider how much sun we get each day - but using this device and not having infinite hot water on demand is another way we are living in harmony with nature and with daily consideration of the natural world.  

Speaking of low-tech ways of dealing with the cold we have learned how to be a functioning part of our wood burning stove system - I say it this way because, when you look in the manual to figure out why your house is filling with smoke, it says, "Your stove is only one part of a system that includes the chimney, the operator, the fuel and the home."  Conclusion: the operator must not be doing something right!

If you haven't operated a wood-burning stove it is all about getting the draft to flow correctly (up and out the chimney).  When lighting the fire the chimney is cold and that hinders the draft...anyhow the way to fix it is to really get the kindling fire hot - like 700 degrees F hot - keeping the door shut while the chimney warms up.  Once there is a hot bed of coals you can add wood and avoid smoking up your house.  Yea!!

So since we have snow and a fire in the stove it really seemed like we ought to set up a Christmas tree.  We've never set up a tree with our kids.  For the past three years we were in the RV and we had a tiny ceramic tree and before that we just didn't have one...so this is the first year we have one.  

Another plus of the stove being lit is that I can cook on the surface.  I have made all kinds of things, tacos, pasta, hashbrowns, beans, fried rice - it is way better than trying to cook on my outdoor stove which looked like this when it snowed.  Of course cooking on a wood-burning stove is also much warmer (especially on one's legs)!

     

With burning wood comes the need to chop wood.  Thankfully we have a lot of dead wood on our property and we are now able to clean it up and put it to use.  

Also, we finally got the backhoe on the tractor and it has come in handy for digging up stumps after we cut down dead trees...

...and haul cut wood back to the pile.

Husband has been cutting and chopping wood...I drive the tractor and help stack :)  Life on the land is peaceful, safe from COVID-19, and full of beautiful scenes. 

Of course our time at the homestead is limited by time in the valley.  Halloween was spent in the city and we enjoyed a local art scavenger hunt in Mesa in lieu of trick-or-treating.

The cycle of life has also been on the forefront of our minds this winter as my grandma passed away two weeks ago.  She was 92 years old, living independently in the house she had lived in for the past 35 years, and relatively healthy until the last months.   She died in her home, under the care of hospice and my parents for her last weeks.  She was dear to me and I value the many times we had together including the year I spent living with her in my freshman year of high school so that I could attend a better school.  Her house is the most consistent one in my life; one that I have visited, slept over at, and lived in (for a school year) since I was 9 years old.  I last saw her in December of 2019.  The kids and I visited and celebrated Brother's 10th birthday. I am sorry it had been almost a whole year since I last saw her.  Here is the last picture I took of her.  Due to COVID-19 the family had a graveside service and will hold a memorial in the spring (hopefully a vaccine will be available then).  I hope we can attend the memorial.  Her life ends as this eventful year, which isolated her from the family, comes to a close.  Her sensibilities and understandings were of times past.  She was not progressive in her thinking and we disagreed on some major issues.  She was overly sensitive, she would cry easily over happiness or sadness.  We also had many very funny times and fun travels.  She embodied hardships that she could not, or would not, speak of.  She did not understand many of my motivations or choices, but she loved me.  She last visited AZ in 2017.  She flew, although she hated to fly, to attend my doctoral graduation ceremony.  It meant so much to me.  She will be missed, but we were blessed to have been touched by a life such as hers.  Goodbye grandma.  I love you.

Updates from the Rancho

The other morning, as I took kitchen scraps to the compost I glanced down the hill to the to the west and could see a few pronghorns grazing in the morning sun.  Tonight, like most nights spent on the homestead, I spent some time admiring the planetarium that I live in.  

After spending three years living in an RV and traveling to 40+ National Parks, it is really wonderful to live in a nature preserve with no monthly expenses (except trash).  The closest National Park to our land is the Petrified Forest and we find ample evidence around us of the ancient forest that used to flourish here. The Ancient peoples who called this place home left their artifacts and teach us that we are all just passing through while Mother Earth endures.  We seek to leave a positive imprint on this piece of nature and are proud that while the average American household uses around 877 kWh, this homestead uses around 150 kWh each month (~17% of what most American households use).  

In new news, we added a shipping container to the homestead which serves as a garage for our two vehicle.  A month ago the rodent activity was very high and we saw evidence of the critters in our vehicles.  We are really happy with the sealed indoor space and the rodent problem has been eliminated.  We like the container a lot and are actually considering a second one....I've been reading how people make greenhouses in them!  My container garden was utterly devastated by the wildlife.  Next year I need an indoor grow space for veggies.  Outside we want to start planting an orchard, but we need to fence in our property to keep cows and pronghorn away. 

In other exciting news, we had our wood burning stove installed!  We have been chopping wood in preparation for winter (it's a work in progress, we need a lot more).  The weather has been very warm for October - today the high was 84.  Even with lows in the 40s we are comfortable inside without the stove at this time.  

Sister has cowgirl boots - they are good for playing in the sand and exploring the high desert! Brother is growing his hair long - he wants to be able to put it in a ponytail.  Homeschooling is going well, we are in a comfortable routine.  When we are here homeschooling works well, we have more room to spread out.  We are thankful that Verizon has expanded coverage to this area.  The hotspot data works pretty well.  

For the past three years (while living FT in the RV) we rented a 5x5 storage space - the rest of our stuff has been stored here.  This past weekend we finally cleared out the storage and brought the rest of our property here.  While we are still tied to the valley (we stay in the RV), it is nice to see things that were boxed three years ago - when we moved from our 4000 square foot house - unboxed and put in their new places!  

Tonight, on solar power, we are listening to vinyl!

Husband installed a security system with multiple cameras that are motion activated and connected to the internet.  When we are in the valley we can monitor the homestead in real time and receive notifications if anyone is on the property.  This gives us a lot of piece of mind when we are away.  

In many ways the pandemic, while terrible and terrifying, ironically has allowed us the freedom to finish this long work in progress.  Working on our homestead has also been a great source of comfort and has been really good for my mental health.  A self-sufficient debt-free existence has certainly been a worthwhile pursuit on many levels.  Here we have created the systems upon which we rely - instead of being subject to the fallibility of end-stage capitalism.  Each day there are projects and tasks we have set for ourselves as we build into existence the the ideas of yesterday.  

Nature is profound and near here.  We are the minority infringing on the sacred spaces which belong to the critters.  

The darkness is a force, the phases of the moon are a part of our day - the full moon cast shadows from the trees and none but the brightest starts are visible.  In the new moon the deafening silence of the milky way transports the thoughts to infinity.  

Early September Moonrise

This is how we are supposed to live.  The city is sick.  It dulls our senses with consumerism and noise. Here we are free.  Here we live with the patterns of the sky, not in defiance of them.  We cannot trap ourselves indoors; we are forced to reckon with the elements.  This world is all we have, we owe it our lives.  We can be good stewards or we can greedily swallow up more and more until we are fat and sick and we have left destruction in our wake.  There are cycles that continue to exist even if they are ignored - best we open our eyes and learn to live with the cycles to avoid becoming victims of our own hubris and greed.  Nature out of balance is a force that will knock us down if we cannot cooperate. Have we not learned from the past?  We must rediscover that which was known by the ancient peoples - that Mother Earth is not something to be taken for granted - quite the opposite! She is sacred.  We do not own Mother Earth, we are owned.  We are animals pretending to be gods.  We must change course.  We must remember.  We must be stewards.  What can you do to bring balance to that which is so terribly tipped?  

Solar system performance

The solar system is performing very well.  It is rated for 4-5 kWh per day.  During one week, on the sunniest day we got 6 kWh from the panels; on partly cloudy day we got just under 4 kWh.  

We have a 24V battery bank with a rating of 420 amp hours - we can draw about half of the amp hours overnight if they are fully charged.

Our main draws on the system are:

• Delivery pump for water
• Dometic chest fridge/freezer
• Fans
• Coffee pot in the AM - if sunny
• WeBoost cellular signal booster
• Batteries of three laptop computers, three phones, two Nintendo Switch units
• Xbox (part of the day)
• TV x2 (part of the day)
• microwave - intermittently - if sunny
• Lights

I can also use kitchen appliances such as a coffee grinder, mixer, and food processor during the day when it is sunny.  Cooking with the sun and a propane grill (no ability to cook indoors) takes a bit of an adjustment.  I also have to adjust to a much smaller fridge.  

The kids have been happy that video games are still available to them on a solar system.  They also get a fair amount of time outdoors.

One of the amazing things about living off of the sun is taking a shower with solar hot water.  Today, though it was cloudy most of the day the hot water was at 110 degrees F. On sunny days the water temps at 130 degrees F.  The water stays very warm overnight despite the evenings getting cooler.  I am very curious about how the solar water heater will perform in the winter.  

Life on the homestead is relaxed.  There was such an amazing push to get all the systems complete and now we are enjoying the fruits of our labor.  While there are still many projects on the list it is satisfying to take a break and enjoy the fact that we are able to live in this space with all of our conveniences after over 20 years of camping.  Though we are currently traveling between our trailer in Mesa and the land due to my job, it is my hope that one day we will be able to reside at the homestead full-time.  During the long weekends we can catch a glimpse of the full-time simple life.  With the temperatures in the Phoenix area breaking all kinds of records and with the struggle to keep the trailer cool in those conditions we welcome every moment we can escape to the mountains.  

Soon we will get our wood-burning stove installed!  We are really looking forward to spending the winter break in our cozy cabin.  

Solar hot water

Sometimes you don't know something exists until you need it.  When we started looking for a solar water heater we saw a couple different systems, but we really thought the Sunbank residential solar water heater was the perfect solution.  Having dealt with the company for a few months now I can attest that the customer service is excellent and James, who appears in their YouTube videos, is responsive via email and super helpful with technical questions.

The system is sent via freight from California and it is clear that the freight drivers don't give two shits about how the packages arrive.  We ended up with one broken tube and a number of bent heat pipes.  Apparently it is really hard to ship these things because the replacements ended up broken as well and we took a refund for the broken glass.  Thankfully this system does not need all of the tubes to create hot water. (at least in AZ)...but I am getting ahead of myself.

The installation starts with building the aluminum frame - here it is in a very preliminary stage.

 Once it is put together you add the 40 gallon tank:

Plumbing this sucker ended up being a bit more challenging that I thought it would be.  I planned on using Pex because, well, I don't know how to sweat copper, but Pex can only handle temps to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. So we spent a lot of time considering how to ensure we don't overheat the water.  Our short-term solutions is to only use half of the tubes.  With half of the tubes our water is around 100 degrees F - this allows for a very comfortable shower.    

We did run into a few issues when plumbing this.  I had an older manual I downloaded from the Sunbank website and I purchased the items to insulate the lines based upon that manual.  In an email with James he gave me the newest manual and they had changed their recommendation about how to insulate - but I had already bought the items....so we tried it and learned why they changed their recommendation.

The old recommendation was to use ducting which you can see in this picture.  It is hanging away from the tank while we connected the hot and cold lines.

 

So we had everything connected, thread sealed and pipe doped - and then we tried to "slide" the duct up over the lines to attach it to the tank....and we created leaks by shaking the lines.  It was SO frustrating.  We had to cut off both lines, I had to figure out how to get the crimped Pex rings off and we had to redo the whole thing.

In the end we used the new recommendation of insulation and it looks like this:

From the front:

Of course we are in Northeast AZ and get full sun much of every day - we are going to add a couple more tubes and see how that changes the temperature of the water.  We know in the winter we will likely need all of the tubes.  James from Sunbank recommends a method of painting half of the tube and then rotating them depending on the time of year.  

I think we will go this route eventually - just have to find the time for this project!  For the time being using fewer tubes is working great!

A part that was not easy to find was a mixing valve.  I just received it yesterday.  This will protects people from scalding themselves when running the hot water inside.  Of course we know our hot water is only at 100 right now, but if we add tubes it will get hotter.  The mixing valve keeps the water coming into the house at 120 degrees by mixing the hot with the cold line.  I have some concerns about installing it because I will not know how hot it is getting so I am going to wait a bit and experiment with more tubes first.  

The mixing valve will be installed in this valve box:

It is not buried yet and the connections look like this:

It's hard to see, but this is where I have the shut offs for the hot and cold and I added a hose bib on our pressurized line.  The valve box will also be full of insulation for the winter.  

Overall this has been a challenging project, but I am so happy to be showering in hot water from the sun!  While this may not be the best system for all locations, it is certainly working well for us.  Many people use the Sunbank as a pre-heater to their conventional system.  We do not have a conventional system at all.  The test of this system (for us) will come during the winter!

DC plumbing system

 

I'll start with a photo because I truly could not imagine how this electrical system went together until I saw it all mounted.  Thank goodness Husband has an engineering brain. I have previously posted about putting up the solar array and running the wires to the combiner box; setting up the batteries; and mounting the charge controller and inverter.  Once these things were in place Husband added a DC switch panel so that we could get our water system operational.  The DC switch is the black part that looks like no wires are running to it (that is because they come in the back).  So....DC appliances run directly off of the batteries.  The main appliance we will run with DC power is our delivery pump.  I made the following diagram of our water system to show the major components.  While I can't seem to wrap my head around electricity very easily, I do understand the plumbing!

While Husband was busy with electrical components, I plumbed the system.  As I previously mentioned our submersible pump (in the well) is also a DC pump and it has two 75 watt panels dedicated solely to that appliance.  The submersible pump fills a storage tank.  In order to have pressurized lines in the house you either have to build the storage tank up (like a water tower) to get a gravity system, or you have to have some sort of delivery pump.  We have a DC delivery pump and a pressure tank.  The pressure tank is basically a tank with an inflatable bladder.  The delivery pump pushes water into the tank and lines to the house to a maximum pressure and then shuts off.  When the pressure gets to a particular low point the pump turns back on.  The pressure switch is the monitor for how pressurized the lines are and it connects and breaks the circuit to the delivery pump when needed.  The only thing I left off of the diagram is a check valve that is installed directly off the discharge from the delivery pump.

Here is how it looked before I started putting it all together. The black tank is the storage tank and the grey one is the pressure tank.

And the final product!  I admit that I had to redo a number of fittings after the first attempt due to leaks.  On the second attempt I purchased the PVC pipe cleaner and used that on all pipes and fittings prior to using the primer and cement.  I had much better results and highly recommend not skipping that step!  No leaks!!

I also added a hose bib in case we need to drain the storage tank and a main line shut off.  The pressure switch and pressure tank took a little adjustment in terms of inflating the tank to the right amount and setting the switch.  We have the cut on at 15 psi and the off at 30.  This gives good pressure to the faucets and toilet.  My next job is to plumb the hot water line...this is only the cold!

Outside the PVC runs in the trench and then I switch to PEX before entering the house as that is how the rough in was installed when we built the house.  I really prefer PEX and am looking forward to completing the hot water loop with that instead of PVC. Also in the trench you can see the 2 inch pipe which is attached to the top of the storage tank.  When the tank is full the overflow runs through this pipe and is collected in an outside storage tank (which I will add soon).  We will use that water for irrigation.  

So just this week we were able to turn on faucets for the first time!  I've been filling buckets to fill the back of the toilet and hauling water for hand washing for quite a long time, but now the water is connected and we have indoor plumbing - cold only for the time being - but it is so very exciting!

Accomplishing long term goals

I just want to take a minute to reflect upon the feeling one experiences in accomplishing a long-term goal. I'm talking about taking on a task that requires a multi-year commitment, such as earning a college degree.  I found such a profound satisfaction in earning college degrees that I ended up with a doctorate!  But even that degree and the work that it took pales in comparison to building one's own homestead.  A degree has a major map, someone else has done all of the planning.  With a doctorate there is more creativity involved. The student has to conduct original research which is daunting and difficult in many ways, but still there are formulas and templates found in the work of those that came before you.  With this project there was no blueprint - I am not saying that others have not done this - I am saying that in making our homestead we had to consider our unique circumstances, land, location, etc.  We had to plan out and make decisions about everything and then implement these plans learning many new skills in the process.  Though we listened to others and read other accounts, we had to navigate many choices and find the path that met our circumstances.  I know that our homestead is unique.  While others might question decisions we made, we know that they are the right decisions for our time and place. 

In this picture, Sister is playing in the shade of our power plant.  This is a dream that started in 1999 before we were even ready to start a family.  To see the lights turning on in the house, to have water running from faucets and to have made that happen... to have designed the systems and put them together - it is such an amazing feeling.

The solar array is a beautiful, because it represents 20 years of dreaming, planning, thinking and doing!

Some of the components of this system we have owned for many years and they are finally being put into their final place in the service of our grand vision.  It's surreal.  As an example, our pump solar panels have been with us for 20 years.  Having them mounted and being able to easily switch them on and off without having to move them...well, it is easy to take it for granted, but when I step back and think of how far we have come from a raw piece of land to where we are today, I am very proud.  

Having an off-grid homestead where we can grow food, produce our own power and water, and live a very low cost life is liberating.  We've owned the cookie cutter house in the suburbs on more than one occasion and we walked away from it because we were not content being reliant on systems which are failing us.  In terms of water quality, energy production, food production, infrastructure, public health, and educational systems we felt we could "level up" to the point where we could seek rugged individualism and self-sufficiency.  As so we have - we often tell Brother (a passionate video gamer) that we are playing Minecraft in our real life.  We are actualizing a dream.  Yes, in America everything is for sale.  You can buy a life someone else designed, or you can take the road less traveled and create your own adventure.

From my perspective you should always follow your bliss.

Installing a solar array - it's all about the pole (and mounting rails, trenching, conduit, and wiring)

Who knew that digging a six foot deep hole 30 inches wide would be so difficult?  That is the precise depth and diameter needed for the proper installation of the 12 foot, 6 inch diameter, 200 lb steel pole which ultimately will hold the panels.  

We were hoping we could hire out this particular job - apparently a bobcat with the proper auger can do the job, but we were unable to find such a person/machine for hire.  In the end Husband tackled this job with a shovel and got the job done in only three days (soaking the ground at night so that it was easier to work in the morning)!  

Of course as he dug down the width became larger than 30".  Since the hole with the pole would be full of cement, any additional width meant additional bags of concrete (which I was NOT looking forward to).  He became a man on a mission and made a number of phone calls to find a construction company that sold concrete forms that would allow us the exact dimensions to fill with concrete.  One day he left really early in the morning and drove to and from Flagstaff to pick up the form.  We were pleased to see the form fit perfectly in the hole.

Thankfully between the time Husband started digging the hole and the time he finished it we purchased a tractor - one of the first jobs it helped us with was lifting the 200 lb pole into the hole.

The pole needed paint and we also added a rebar cage around it inside the form for added stability.

Next we built a frame around the top to hold the pole in place while adding concrete.

Next came my least favorite part - mixing and pouring 1 yard of concrete (that is 60, 60lb bags)  The pallet of bags looks like this.

This is a grueling and horrible job.  Our mixer could mix two bags at a time.  Thankfully Brother was very helpful filling buckets of water to add to the mixer.  Husband and I took turns lifting and pouring bags all morning until my back quit on me.  I couldn't lift another bag when there were about 4 left.  I know Husband felt the same, but he was able to lift the last bags to finish the job.  We used the flatbed trailer as a prop for the metal slide - it actually worked really well in terms of the layout/logistics.

Despite the challenges we were able to mix and pour all 60 bags in one morning.

So, that whole event including digging the hole, purchasing and installing the form and pole, purchasing and picking up a pallet of concrete and pouring the concrete took a week (working every day).

Next we installed the gimble and the mounting rails.  Again the tractor was a great help because the "strongback" was heavy and had to be lifted above our heads and held in the exact position to install the hardware.

The rails were easy to add once the main support was in place.

I suppose the next step is obvious - put up the panels!

After that came another hard job - we rented a trencher from Home Depot so we could bury the lines.  That machine is really heavy and you have to pull back on it when it is working - I think it was faster than digging, but it was still work.  We tied a rope between the two points to ensure we stayed on the path.

Finally, we ran all of the electrical wire in conduit and grounding wire.  We had previously pounded in grounding rods (8 foot long copper poles).  One of the grounding poles is pounded in near the base of the pole. We had planned all needed wire and conduit - it is so good to see all of the supplies we collected be put into place!

 

Putting wires in conduit is a bit of a time consuming project. It's best to lay everything out on the ground get all the wires through, then cement the conduit together before dropping it into the trench.  Finally - the wires are connected to the combiner box!  This brings the power into the building and into the components I previously mentioned.  These steps took us about 1 and a half weeks to complete.

SO....these productive weeks have brought us to the point of having power connected to the batteries.  In my next post I will delve into our plumbing and our DC delivery pump.  It is really a dream come true to see this all coming together!