I always dream of winning the largest lottery jackpot ever so I can buy up all the rain forests, so can then make the largest parking lot in the world - LOL!!

Just kidding!

I actually raise and rescue eastern box turtles as a hobby. I made a website about it: www.billsboxturtles.com

My real dream would to be able to wall off 10,000 acres of woods for box turtle conservation purposes.

We have a wood-burning fireplace, but it's really just to look at more than for heating purposes, although it does heat up the family room quite well.

Bill

ohh i burn wood to, in a stove but I always thought it would be cool to have a deadicated wood burning boiler ya know instead of a oil or gas filed boiler

water would pass through it heating up and then run off to the raiditors and then return to a tank to be used again in the boiler

maybe there would be some sort of shoot outside that I dump the wood in and it would go into the basement

also electric heat if I could generate enough power to feed it and everything else

I`ve thought about building my own solar array but the sun really is`nt an optimum power source here half the year. In the Buffalo area you need all the help you can get as far as home fuel prices though! I swapped out from oil to all gas when we bought this house. That oil furnace was a bit smelly. I gave it to someone who was going to mod it to burn cooking oil incidentally!

There is always that feeling of being satisfied in not only the tech and creative pleasure but being able to flip off the power companies etc. And to boot by law they have to buy the excess if you generate enough!

I'm here now...Florida, that is.

I should be moving down here in a few weeks. :D

Used my friend's community pool last night.

Nobody there...quite, heated....palm trees all around. Sweet.

Absolutely not thinking it's stupid! That kicks ass. In NY state, utility companies are required to pay you if you generate more electricity than you use as well. They have to buy your surplus! lol.

I've considered it as well, solar panels these days are far better than the old ones. They work in half light, and still work if they get damaged unlike the old glass style ones.

You'd have to get a variance for a tall windmill possibly, but on that much land you'd be ok.

You should do it.

Hey as long as we're asking anyone from the Detroit area? We live north of Detroit a few miles on Lake St Clair |headbang|

You filthy bastard. Are you trying to make me jealous? You've succeeded.
|waves|

You might want to check that very closely. In Grid Tied systems in Florida, that only applies up to 10KW, and then, there is an annual reconciliation. If the power company owes you for generation beyond your usage, they keep it. The concept is that they don't want people to oversize their array.

Once you get above 10KW, you get put on commercial grid rates, which means that the power company only pays you for generated power at the cost of their lowest generated power source. In Florida, that is their last remaining coal powered plant in Rivera at a whopping $.015 per kilowatt hour. Then, the sell that electricity to the consumer at $.09/kwh and mark it up another $.04/kwh for tagging it as 'green' power. Are we in the wrong business or what?

After Hurricane Frances, I strongly considered Solar. For my electric needs, if I were to grid tie, with the Federal and State Subsidies (almost 50% on an installed system), I could have replaced my electric bill with a 5 year 4% federal note and halved my electric bill. At the end of 5 years, I would have been darn close to having no electric bill after the reconciliation. There are reasons I haven't done this yet.

There are some interesting issues in doing Grid Tie systems, one of which is that a grid tie system cannot be functional with a loss of grid power. Meaning, no power from the power company, no juice for the house, even if it is nice and sunny and the panels are cranking out power. There is one company, Beacon something, that makes a 5.5KW inverter/charger that has what they call 'islanding' which allows you to do it, but, doesn't feed power to the line until 5 minutes after power is restored.

Of course, for a 10KW system, you need two of those expensive beasts :)

Solar + Battery can easily run a small cabin/home with modest power requirements. A/C is your largest expense, so, if you don't have a 5 ton A/C unit, you probably don't need a huge grid.

And contrary to popular opinion, Florida being the sunshine state and all, during peak generation times, there is an average 45% cloudcover throughout the summer months which limits viability. Of course, you can oversize the array to take this into account. Arizona residents, your annual average is 3%.

I have a friend that owns a sawmill about 5 miles from me. He has a waterwheel that generates electricity. He gets all his electric for free and a check for about $5k each month from the cocksuckers at Niagara Mohawk :)

Jeez, !Sparky |bow| to your knowledge.

Yeah it was just something I remember from a newscast a few years ago here. A local man put up a windmill farm and the story was how he was actually getting a check from the power company (Niagara Mohawk) instead of sending them a check.

I'm sure there are subtle nuances that give you a narrow window to actually do it, but it can be done. I guess |shocking|

NIMO sucks. LOL They get me for electric, gas in the winter, and even more in the summer. Since we have no spring or autumn, it never stops! |angry|

Don't worry. I will need to go back up there Friday and suffer another couple weeks as I prepare to move.

|thumb