Solar Power and Living Happily Ever After

It’s late spring or early summer here now. That means the days are getting  long. It’s light by 5 am and not dark till nearly 10 pm. That’s a lot of hours of sunlight compared to winter here when the hours are more like 8 to 4. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know I live totally off grid. knew I was going to need backup for my solar power in the winter due to short days, the northern angle, and the amount of snow we receive every year. So I’ve had a little generator ever since I moved in on Thanksgiving day last year. And it got a real workout for much of the winter but it’s been a great little purchase. Tough, efficient, and reliable. I couldn’t be happier with it. 

Now my little solar setup is keeping my batteries totally full with no help from my generator! Some very simple things make me happy. Like hearing my fridge kick on and seeing my battery level counting up, not down. The things you learn to appreciate when living off grid!

In between there has been some challenges. About two months ago I realized I did not seem to be getting any power from my panels. So I called my friend with some electrical skills and we used his meter to measure everything and try to figure out what was wrong. Up until this point, I had been getting power consistently. More when there would be a really sunny day, and very little when it was snowing heavily. Anyway, we traced the issue to the charge controller which seemed to be stopping any power from coming into the batteries. Now it is supposed to do just that when they are full to keep them from being destroyed by overcharging. But they were not full, so this seemed odd.

With all my equipment still under warranty, I called the manufacturer, Renolgy, to ask what should be done. They were very helpful. I had a live person to talk to after pushing one button. He asked for the purchase date which I did not have with me since I was at work at the moment. Looking it up with my email address only took a few seconds though and I was told that this would be totally covered by the warranty. He agreed that from the readings I was reporting to him it was an issue with the controller and said they would replace it. He sent me a prepaid label to return the malfunctioning one and mailed me a replacement. All very simple.

Then the dear old USPS lost my package. For over three weeks! This is a pretty small little part, and mail should take about three days to get to WY from CA at the longest. After waiting, and talking to people, and waiting, and more conversations, I gleaned that they’d moved a mail sorting facility that was on my package’s route, and somehow had lost a bunch of mail. Of course, no one had any idea when it might get sorted out. And no one seemed to particularly care either. This was extremely frustrating. I was having to get 100% of my power from my generator for the first time since moving in as I had always, even on short and snow days, had some solar power coming in. Finally the new controller did arrive. 

We hooked it up, and it did the exact same thing as the original one. We double checked all the wiring, it was all correct. Still power coming out of the panels and none going into the batteries as if the controller thought they were full. So I called the company again. And now I’m wondering if they sent us a refurbished unit that was already not working for someone else? I don’t know that much about wiring, so I would blame that, but the first unit worked with no issues for over 5 months so it didn’t seem that could be the problem. This time I got very little response from them. After a few days of not having calls returned, the right person being unavailable, etc., I was getting frustrated. I finally did get through to a (maybe more senior or at least experienced?) gentleman who was super helpful. He walked through every part of the system with us again, measuring the power at each point and confirmed that the panel themselves were indeed working. But the controller was not. He sent a third one out, and at my request, did not send it via USPS. Fed Ex had it at my door the next morning, a huge improvement over the previous three week wait! We connected the third unit, and again had the exact same problem. So once again we were on the phone. The solar controller was still reading the batteries as having a voltage of 14.9 which certainly would be full, but the batteries themselves were actually at 13.3. At this point myself, the gentleman from Renolgy, and my friend who was helping with my wiring were all at a loss. He said he didn’t know what was wrong and the while it should not make a difference, maybe we could try disconnecting everything that was hardwired to the batteries and connecting just the solar controller just in case something else was interfering. In addition to the controller, I have the charger for my generator, a monitor, and the inverter all hardwired to the batteries. These things being an issue again seemed to make no sense since they had all been their and connected in exactly the same way since day one and the solar controller had worked for all those months. But, since no one had any other ideas, we gave that a try. My friend helped me test every part of the system as we disconnected things. 

And we found the problem! As we removed wires one by one, suddenly it started working. Then quit. Then it started again. We traced it to the ground wire from the solar controller. It has a little connection where it attaches to the battery, and it’s all covered by a coating to keep any bare wire from being exposed. The contacts inside had worked loose somehow, which you could not see because of that coating, and when you bumped the wire, they could reconnect or disconnect and cause it to start or stop working. After cutting off that end, building a new connection, and rewiring everything to the batteries. It all worked just fine. I called Renolgy back and told them what we found. He was relieved that it was resolved and said it is often really hard to get customers to check other aspects of the wiring as everyone is sure they did it correctly. I thanked him for being the most helpful person I’d talked to at their company and for all his time to help us figure out the problem and sent the extra unit (that never did have anything actually wrong with it) back to them. Overall, I am still very pleased with them as a company, and with the first and last of the representatives I spoke to particularly. As well as with the performance of their products especially for the price.

Now we all know that a solar charge controller that has a loose ground can read a battery bank as being full when it is not really. But now everything is working flawlessly and as I said, keeping my batteries totally topped off each day with no backup help from the generator. And we all lived happily ever after!

At least until next time… 

Coyote Puppies!

For a few days, there was a coyote den very near my little house. There were 8 puppies and mama was back and fourth frequently. Now she's moved them all to a new home, but they sure were fun to watch for a while! There's only one photo I believe where you can see all 8. They move around a ton and were super active when playing with each other. Check out the video clip here of one of them that I took as well. Now they have all moved on, but this was a very special few days.

Ants In My Pants! Or at least in my house....

Apparently peppermint oil is some kind of magic.

Along with it being sweet to live somewhere I can glance out the window and see a moose, elk, fox, deer, etc, there are some challenges. There are lots of little critters around. I don't mind little critters at all, with the exception of spiders. Those I have an irrational fear of. But in general, I really enjoy watching all the little birds, bugs, and rodents that scurry around here.

Exceptions are when they all like my spaces better then theirs. Like when the mice moved into my van repeatedly all spring long. And now the ants have decided they like my house. A few days ago I saw one inside and thought I'd just brought it in with me. Then I saw a few more. And today there was a good little handful scurrying around. Below is one who's thinking it is a good idea to run around on my counter top. He is so wrong! I'm not totally sure where they are coming in, but it seems there could only be a few options. My house is pretty small after all.

So I went on a hunt for natural ant repellants. There are many reasons I don't want to just start spraying RAID or some other poison around including my health, my plant's and dirt's health, and all the animals around here. It turns out that among other thing, everyone says that ants do not like peppermint oil. Over the last few months I have learned that mice, voles, and spiders also really dislike peppermint oil. So I need lot's of peppermint! I have no particular attachment to the brand I have pictured above, it was just the least expensive. 

I soaked some cotton balls with the oil and tossed them under my little tool shed so hopefully no rodent will decide that's a good place to move in. I'll also be adding some to my van though I haven't seen a new mouse in a few weeks. And I mixed more oil with water and some vinegar and sprayed it around the outside of my door, window sills, jacks (because that would be one of the main connections between my house and the ground that could be climbed) and sink drain. Now I'm getting a serious dose of aroma therapy as the scent of peppermint drifts around the house! 

I think it's working. Just in the last few hours, the amount of ants I'm seeing inside seems to be dropping compared to expanding which is what it had been doing the rest of the day. I'm curious to see what I find tomorrow. If this does the trick, I'll be delighted. Especially if it deters spiders as well. Spiders also reportedly dislike cedar and maybe the whole exterior of my home being cedar has something to do with the fact that I have only seen one small spider inside in 7 months of living here. I hope I never seen another one in here. And yay for chemical free ways to solve problems like this!

Full Moon Rising

It's almost dark here at Fy Nyth, but with the full moon peaking over the trees, even with some wispy clouds, it's still pretty light. I like the way my new house color looks at night too I think. And looking at a full moon is pretty. I'm probably going to have to pull my curtains, which I made from blackout fabric, to go to sleep though.

A Week of Life In A Tiny House

I wrote this a few months ago for Tiny House Magazine but just realized I'd never shared it with you all and thought some of you might find it interesting. It was a few months ago so the weather was a bit different, but most things are pretty much the same still. It's a bit long, but includes pretty much everything I did in one week.

Did you ever wander what every day life is like in a tiny house? When it's not still being built or photographed all nice and tidy and looking like a showroom model? Just ordinary daily brush-your-teeth-and-go-to-work kind of life? Is it vastly different than your daily life? What extra chores are there? Or hidden inconveniences? 

Hi there! I'm Ariel. I am a single 28 year old woman who lives in a tiny house. To give you a bit of context, my house is built on a 24 foot trailer making it totally mobile and road legal (though I have a sweet parking spot and no plans to move it anytime soon) and has 229 square feet of livable space inside, counting my lofts. I helped design a custom layout, mostly centered around the fact that I cook a lot and wanted a large kitchen, and it was built for me by Tumbleweed. I moved in on Thanksgiving day this past November and live in it full time. I live by myself, but frequently have friends over including overnight guests. I live in the mountains of western WY and due to my secluded location, am completely off grid. Here's what a random week of my life in my tiny home looks like.

3/23/15 - Monday

I went into work this morning. Three days a week I open at the restaurant where I work which drags me out of bed much earlier than I'd prefer. Who really wants coffee to be ready at 6:30 am anyway? I don't like the stuff at all myself, but I seem to be in the minority I suppose.

After leaving work, I did a big grocery shopping trip and made it to the gym only a few minutes late for a Crossfit class. I've been trying to get back in good shape for backpacking this summer after battling a nasty cold for almost 4 weeks that left me with no energy for exercise.

When I returned home, my best friend Seth came over and hung out while tying some more flies for his next fishing trip. I intended to cook a bunch of things, but I was super tired so I just heated up some of the tomato soup I'd made the day before and grilled up some gluten and dairy free quesadillas to go with it. I did get a new batch of alfalfa sprouts growing in a little jar so I'll have them to add to some meals in a few more days. After dinner we were going to watch a movie, but decided we were both pretty shot and should head to bed instead. He's crashing on the guest bed/couch since we both have to get up about the same time in the morning for work. And since he only has an old RV to live in, which means sleeping in my tiny house is much nicer in the winter at least!

3/24/15 - Tuesday

I worked this morning and while there, snow started to fall for the first time in almost a month. It's nice to see a fresh clean coating on everything since it's been pretty brown for a while. When I got home from work, around 3 pm, I shoveled out all my little paths around the house and then decided the sun was melting the snow off the solar panels fast enough that I didn't need to clean them off. Inside I wiped the condensation off the windows. The mold problem that my window frames have had seems to be staying in check at the moment thanks to warmer weather in general and my effort to keep any condensation wiped up regularly. 

I filled my water tank as well, driving my van over to my friends hydrant and filling all my big jugs. Returning with 24 gallons of water in the van, I nearly filled my internal tank which had been almost dry the night before. The water dripping off the roof from the melting snow, tried to find it's way down my neck as I poured the large jugs in to the tank, but really it's not that bad of a chore. I usually use about 140 gallons a month, about the same as the average American uses in one day.

Then, for the first time since moving in here over Thanksgiving, I emptied the solids tank on my composting toilet. I know, that doesn't sound like a a very fun task. My friend Seth assured me in no uncertain terms to never ask for his help with this chore. But really, the contents composted even faster than I expected. I do have composting worms in there that speed up the process. Everything but the last two days additions looked and smelled like damp potting soil. No bad or sewage-y odors at all. Now the former toilet contents are in my outdoor composting bin, decomposing even further. And hey, if I only have to empty this thing 3 times a year, that's not too bad at all.

After wrapping up that project, I cooked dinner. Two different meals actually. A bean and sausage soup and pulled chicken, garlic potatoes, and beet greens. Since I barter food for things like my lot to park my house on and my gym membership, I then packed all the food up for other people, and washed the resulting full sink of dishes. I also brewed a new batch of tea for my kombucha scoby's and bottled the current batch of kombucha. I really love drinking this stuff! While working on projects like this that are relatively mindless, I like to listen to audio books. Right now I'm nearly done with "The Murder Room" a true story about some private detectives that work on cracking long cold murder cases. It's pretty interesting. Despite being tiny, I do have a pretty large pantry and nearly full sized fridge/freezer in my house. And they stay stuffed and well stocked at all times. If you locked me in my house I think I could cook and eat for at least a month before the meals started to seriously lack variety.

 After all that, I didn't eat any of the meals I had cooked and instead joined my friend Clay for dinner at his place. Later I watched a movie, and am headed to bed with the snow still falling softly outside.

3/25/15 - Wednesday

 I got to wake up this morning without an alarm clock as I am actually off work! And that's pretty exciting since I've worked almost every day all winter and am working the next twelve days as well. The snow stopped overnight and the sky was bright blue when the sun came up.

 After a breakfast of eggs, avocado, and strawberries, shoveled out all my paths again. I finished topping off my water tank with two more full jugs I'd filled up at my friends place. Now I won't need to get water for quite a while. Then I baked some caramel oatmeal bars, swept my floor, and took the trash out to the dumpster I share with some neighbors since the trash goes out in the morning. I finished my last audio book and started "The Clockwork Orange." A title I've heard of but don't really know anything about. I also spent a bit of time writing and just may have eaten two whole clam shells of blackberries in the process.

 In the afternoon I ran into town and filled up a propane tank, some of my gas cans, checked my P.O. box, returned some audio books to the library, and ran by the grocery store to see if they still had berries on sale. My errands had piled up a bit due to being out of town the later half of the week before on a fishing trip with a friend. The grocer did still have berries on sale. Raspberries and blueberries as well as blackberries this time, so I stocked up on a ton of them. My receipt said I saved $159.37 on a bill of $45. That's pretty sweet. Then I made it to the gym in time for a Crossfit class and to drop off meals for a couple people. Later in the afternoon I filled my dehydrator with berries and overripe bananas as well as froze quite a few bags of berries. These will all come in handy when backpacking and baking in the future. 

 I fired up my generator and let it run t for about 4 hours to top off the battery bank though with the days getting longer and having been mostly sunny recently, my solar panels have been producing a lot of power on their own. I think all summer I will not need the generator at all.

 For dinner I made a roast topped with my homemade sauerkraut, maple glazed sweet potatoes, and garlic asparagus and shared this meal with Clay as well. I have had 5 people all seated at the table for dinner at once, and could probably fit 6, after that, we could not all sit at the table. But having only 2 - 4 people at a time is a little more comfortable. After a relaxing evening of conversation, I am headed to sleep again. This time with the moon that is barely half full lighting up the snow strongly enough to cast shadows.

3/26/15 - Thursday

 I did work today, at my part time day care job, but was able to show up a little later than normal which was nice. I pulled most of the bananas out of the dehydrator before leaving since overnight seems to be long enough for them to dry. It was another sunny day with blue skies and a day with pretty mellow kids which is nice. I was even able to do a bit of writing while they all slept. 

 On the way home, I stopped by the gym and worked out on my own since I didn't want to wait for the next class time. Either I'm going to be stronger again soon, or I'm just going to be really sore all over.  While there, I washed my hair (something I only do about every five days since long fine hair get's very brittle in this dry climate if washed too often). I don't use my shower at home even though it's fully functioning just because I'd have to haul so much extra water to refill my tank. So I use the gym's city water connection and save myself some work.

 My driveway, since it's just a dirt lane with some wood chips on it is super soggy right now thanks to that last snowfall melting rapidly. Until it dries out, I'm leaving my van parked on the gravel a little ways from the house and walking back and forth so I don't tear up the ground or get myself stuck.  Once home, I checked on my drying fruit and some of the blueberries were done. Apparently blackberries and raspberries take longer than I was expecting.

 Seth came over to hang out and do some writing and sleep tonight. I just heated up leftovers from last night for our dinner and took a break from really cooking. It's staying light till just after 8 p.m. these days. It seems like just last month that it was dark at 4 in the afternoon. Seth's recovered enough from his back injury last summer to finally be able to sit on my couch for a while instead of having to stand or lay down. He's typing rapidly in a deep philosophical debate and I'm sipping a glass of sparkling apple mango juice as I type. This is a pretty relaxing evening. 

 The pretty little creek that runs about 20 feet from my front door is getting loud! All the ice that sealed it up all winter is now gone and it's getting high and brown with all the snow melt. I can hear it's gentle roar through the window I keep slightly open in my loft bedroom as I head to bed.

3/27/15 - Friday

Since Seth slept here last night and didn't have to work this morning, I tried to be really quiet when I got up. Not that it really does any good since he's such a light sleeper and I think was awake before my alarm even went off. But that is a challenge in a small space. When the furtherest away from someone you can be is 24 feet or less, it's pretty hard not wake them up. Especially when the other person is a very light sleeper.

I worked at the restaurant today. After work we had a meeting about scheduling for the coming months. I think I'll be able to stick with the same plan as last summer, work three days in a row, bake for the restaurant one of those evenings, and have four and a half full days off every week to go backpacking. Ahh, the freedoms of low bills, choosing to not buy much, and having nothing like a school loan to pay off!

 I might have seen a wolf today. There is one that has left tracks in the snow around my house several times this winter, but I've never actually gotten to see him. But this afternoon I saw something canine-ish for sure, though it was a long way off and moving uphill across the creek from my house. No one seems to have any dogs that roam around here, but it could have been a coyote, it was a good ways away. The gate seemed more wolf like though... Who knows?

Carrying bags of groceries in from the far end of the lane where there is dry gravel to park on can be a bit of a workout. Mostly because I try to make as few trips as possible so I'm always trying to hold onto too many things at once. Right now there are few dry spots in the drive, but lots of mud for tires to sink into. I'll be happy when it all dries up and I'm able to pull right up to my house again. I'll have to be sure to carry the trash out with me when I leave in the morning. Especially with as few square feet as I have in my house, you don't want to leave anything stinky in the garbage. The whole house will start to smell pretty rapidly.

 After work I made dinner for my former room mate Beth. She and I lived together for 6 years and got to be pretty close. We were room mates right up till I moved into this tiny house after the place we'd been renting was sold. She moved in with some other girl friends. We have both been working a lot all winter and have not been able to hang out much. She brought over a pistachio cheese cake since she's a great cook and baker and know that is close to my favorite dessert. Forget dairy free if there is a cheesecake within reach! I'll deal with some stomach pains. It was nice to catch up on each other's lives. We talked till I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

3/28/15 - Saturday

When I awoke this morning I could hear a pair of whooping (sandhill) cranes in the distance. I think there is a pair nesting not to far from my house. They are super loud but pretty neat birds to watch. It seemed like I had more condensation on windows this morning than sometimes. Maybe it was just a little colder last night than it's been in a while. I wiped it all up and thought again about how I wish I would have designed this place with a few less (I have 15) windows and have a few larger ones. They'd be much easier to clean up.

Another day of work. On the way there, I had a mouse run right across my toes while driving. I had trapped one a few weeks ago but I guess more are figuring out how to get in now that all their tunnels through the snow around here are melting and they are looking for new homes. Agh! I least it wasn't a spider, I would have probably had a wreck if it was. I guess I'll have to reset my traps in there. I don't want them chewing up all my camping gear that lives in the van.

Apparently the power was out for a while on the main road I live off of today. Someone told me that power was probably out at my house since they know the general area where I live, while I was still at work. And it was cool to be able to say "I don't think so!" That's a really nice side to all the additional work that living off grid brings with it. I do still have all my stuff working if something goes down with everyone else's connection in the area.

There was a bald eagle flying overhead just up the road from my house on my way home. And then I looked out the window from my loft and saw a hawk skim by. I think he was hunting for mice as they emerge from the melting snow. Too bad he didn't get the ones that want to live in my van. Getting mice in there seems like it might be an ongoing problem as it continues to warm up. Oh the joys of living in remote areas with lots of critters!

It was in the low 60's this afternoon and I was able to leave several windows open for a while. It's always nice to get a bunch of fresh air in the house after keeping everything closed up tight through the winter.

I thought about taking a nap but instead relaxed for a bit and did some reading. I don't have any big projects right now and am feeling very settled into my house. There doesn't seem to be too many surprises coming up now with "oh dear, what do I do about that" kinds of reactions from me. Everything runs pretty much as expected and I think I've (with lots of help from a knowledgeable friend) worked out most of the kinks and gotten over the crest of the off grid learning curve.

Later in the evening I went over to Clay's and watched a couple movies so most of the day was pretty quiet. I stayed up later than I should have since I open tomorrow at the restaurant. 

3/29/15 - Sunday

One more early morning at work. It felt like a long day, but maybe that was just because I was sort of tired all day and we were really busy. I came home from work and took a two hour nap which felt amazing.

When I got in my van to drive to work this morning, I realized I had caught two mice overnight. I thought there was only one in there again, I guess I was wrong. So I emptied both traps and reset them. I caught another one a few hours later in the afternoon. I think they are getting in through the engine somehow so I might do some digging around in there tomorrow and see if there is some kind of small gap that I can block with steel wool. I'd love to adopt a shelter cat or two and keep them around but I don't think they would survive 24 hours with all the owls, eagles, hawks, foxes, coyotes, wolves, cats, bears, pine martins, etc that live around here. And I can't keep one inside at all since I'm pretty allergic to them.

Driving home, I passed and was able to get decent photos of two different moose. I see lots of moose around here all the time, but am usually in a hurry or the light isn't good for a photo. I also caught a third mouse by the time I got home. This is going to have to change. I have way too much outdoor gear stored in my van for mice to chew up.

It was warm again today and I opened a bunch of windows today as well. Since my house was built in about 5 days, driven here the next day, I've been living in it ever since, and it's been winter, it has never really had a chance to sit open and get a lot of good air movement. It'll be nice to air everything out more regularly over the summer.

Seth came over and I made trout chowder for dinner with locally caught wild fish thanks to another friend. I fired up my generator to top off the batteries again. And we spent the evening watching epic fail clips and other generally useful things on youtube. Now I'm falling asleep with the sound of the creek outside my window and know that my alarm will come far too early in the morning once again.

Updated Interior Shots

I've had so many outside projects that the inside of my house has been neglected for a while. But once again it's pouring rain outside, for the 28th day in a row, and I'm tired of working out in the damp and rain. So, I did a bit of cleaning inside. And emptied out some more stuff as I've lived in here for 7 months now and realized I still have things I don't really need or want. I feel the most relaxed when my space is tidy and clutter free. I got rid of an extra end table, chair, a box full of books, and a few other random things. Minimizing might continue for a while. Not having extra stuff is so relaxing and freeing, it's kind of addicting!

Most stuff is still in my kitchen. And I honestly use it all almost daily so I don't think this will ever be reduced much.

The living / dinning room is pretty open now and much easier to move around in when the table is folded out. And hanging the shoes on the wall by the door helped too. You can't really even see them in the shot below because they are totally out of the way.

I also tidied the sleeping loft which had been needing done for a while.

The storage loft need some work still. There are things up there that I almost never use and it's not organized in a way that allows me to access everything very easily. So I guess it's good that the stuff up there right now I don't really need. 

Look at all that open floor space!

And I finished off the cleaning with some bright little flowers that were growing along the edge of the meadow above my house. The next project which I may start today if it keeps raining is to paint my walls white. We'll see how fast that goes...