My Adventures in selfreliance

I dried the first set of sheets using the clothes line and I have to say the sheets were soft and fresh smelling with no static cling and no use of the dryer at all. I have to do the second load on Sunday as I wanted to have plenty of time for the clothes line to dry the load I washed today.  Overall in 90 degree F. temps most of the light clothes like cotton sheets and t-shirts dried in about 30 minutes on the line. Towels, flannel type sheets and anything with a thick waist band like shorts took an hour plus to dry.  I used a drying rack for my socks, bras and undies and they took at least and hour or more to dry because the drying bar of the rack blocks airflow.  I would say you need about 35-40 feet of clothes line to dry an average load of laundry.

Now I am a single person and usually do 1-2 laundry per week on the weekend. If you have a family doing multiple loads using a dryer rather than a clothes line makes sense on a cost benefit ratio. I just want to let people know that a clothes line makes drying clothes faster and much better than using a drying rack and can be a good option if you only wash 1-2 loads of laundry per week.

I have only one Swamp cooler running on the highest settings. The computer room swamp cooler will cool the room on the low pump/fan setting better than the high pump/fan setting.  I think because it is a much smaller room compared to the living room. I noticed the other day that the Computer room was blowing warmer air on the high setting but would blow cooler air at the low pump/fan setting.  Sometimes less is more effective and that is the case with the computer room swamp cooler.  After almost a month playing around and tweaking the swamp cooler set up I think I have it dialed in to be most efficient for maximum cooling.

Idaho power offers a $150.00 payback check if you move to using swamp cooler as an electric energy saving incentive.  I bought the swamp coolers to save on energy costs on my summer electric bills.  Compared to last year’s summer bills I will break about even and pay for the swamp coolers from the savings on my electric bill through August. If Idaho power wants to send me a check for $150.00 for saving electricity, I will apply for it and take the money.  How many projects around your home can you say pays you back in a couple of months and not years?

Next paycheck I can start buying the materials to build the chicken coop and I think I can mount the solar panels on the roof of the coop. I’m probably looking at an October time frame for building the coop and setting up the solar panels but I’m getting things ready for a temporary install of the panels and see what the generator can power.  Theory  says it should work.  Now it is time for real world tests.

I did a test on the bedroom swamp cooler running it on the low setting for fan +pump today. The bedroom is the smallest space I’m cooling and today’s temp peaked at my place around 94 degrees F. The 4.8 gallon tank lasted 10 hours with some water still in the tank to make sure the pump did not run out of water. I sleep about 7-8 hours at night so I can run the swamp cooler on “low” with the pump and not just as a fan. The other two swamp coolers cool much larger areas and I tend to run them on high with the pump and fan going.  Overnight I will probably keep running the swamp cooler in fan only mode but it is nice to know I can run the bedroom swamp cooler overnight if needed.

The electrical use this summer is looking great compared to last year. I won’t have a direct cost comparison with last years bill  till the 10th of August when the Electric company takes the meter reading. It looks like I will pay about 1/3rd to 1/2 the electrical cost compared to last years bill. That is great as Idaho Power raised rates a little bit this summer so I’m doing even better compared on my Kwh use.

As a Rule of thumb: At 75 degrees and cooler have a full water tank but only use the fan on the swamp cooler. At 85 degrees run the use the low fan/pump setting and at 90 degrees you might use the fan/pump combo on high. The Hisense swamp cooler with the 4.8 gallon tank will last about 5-6 hours on high fan/pump settings cooling a large room and set on low will cool a smaller room for 8-10 hours in a low humidity climate.

I gave mom a 20 watt solar panel to charge the battery of her Chevy 1 ton truck but the battery isn’t charging enough to turn over the big V-8, so she added a real plug in battery charger. It looks like the battery is a bit of a dud but Les Schwab has a good warranty on batteries so she should be able to exchange it for a new battery. Mom can still use the solar panel charger for her lawn mower battery over the winter so I’m happy she has the solar panel.

Mom is looking to move her garden closer to her house and in the gravel area, but since she is using raised beds the gravel should not be an issue.  The place she has the garden gets to much sun and bakes the garden plants in the summer 100 degree + temps.  Moving the garden closer to the house  will make it easier to water and she has a tabletop garden in that area that produces very well even in high temps.

A lot of about gardening is finding what does and does not work. It isn’t a failure if things don’t work. It’s tuition, the price you pay to find out what works. I have to clean out more grape vines in the furrow garden and plant my corn and stuff in one row and the other row will be for lower growing plants. The kiddy pool planters under the walnut trees will grow squash if I can keep all the critters from digging in the pool dirt. Heck it took me almost a month to figure out how to use the swamp coolers effectively through trial and error.

Failure is part of the learning process. If you are afraid to fail, your chances of learning are very low. Embrace failure because that is generally when you learn the most about the project you want to accomplish. If you fear failure you will never try anything new/different.  Perfection is for God, us humans have to keep trying and reaching for a perfect solution. I doubt I’ll ever reach perfect but tweaking things to make them better is enjoyable to me.

I built a lot of PC’s and tweaking old hardware to run great new games was enjoyable to me. I can run a lot of games I like on 5 year old hardware and I amazed that many gamers no longer no how to tweak the performance of PC hardware.  Honestly I never understood modern gaming consoles like Xbox or Playstation as I could build a PC for the price of the console and have a PC that can do much more than any gaming console.

I’m getting a little off topic and into a rant but this should be the last update about the swamp coolers install and test.

SW Idaho had a day with high (50%) humidity and the swamp cooler struggled to drop the temp. in the house below the 80’s but still hit 75-77 degrees in the house while it was in the mid 90’s outside. Lower humidity despite high temps out doors leads to more cooling indoors with the swamp coolers. Humidity is the key for swamp coolers.  It also helps if you acclimatize to the hotter weather slow by working/sitting outdoors in the shade to get used to the hotter weather. Trust me after 100+ degrees F. 75 degrees will feel cool and almost brisk.

I have been watching my electrical use closely this month and it looks like my cost will be about 50% lower this summer compared to last year. The swamp coolers will pay for themselves in a lower cost electric bill in just a couple of months compared to my old system and the portable air conditioners.

Mom stopped by today and remarked how good the swamp cooling felt in my house as the humidity provided by the swamp coolers feels better compared to the dry cool of an air-conditioned in my climate. I gave Mom a mister that has a pump/battery powered fan to help cool her chickens. A 20 watt solar panel that will trickle charge the big Chevy pickup she does not run all the time because of gas costs.  I’m all in with using solar energy but that solar panel cost money to buy so it is not free energy unless it lasts longer than the pay back of the costs. The US Government wants to mandates all new water heater be a heat pump type that cost about $2000.00 to install and will pay back approximately  $1800.00 in energy savings over 10 years. This is not a good deal for consumers.  Just another example of bureaucrat’s mandate that make no sense in real world applications.  Good news even if this rule is passed it will go in effect in 2029. If you have an older water heater you might want to save up some money for a current year model now and not pay for a mandated  heat pump model type in a few of years.

Most government workers are not engineers and have no concept of energy use for average (middle class/poor) people. An income tax break is irrelevant to people who don’t make enough to pay income taxes. Poor people are encouraged to be poor because the politicians get votes/profits of ignorant poor people.

I know in my area that is now considered a HOT housing market that any house on my block could be bought for $30-60 grand when the housing market tanked in 2008-2011. Are these same house now worth $300-400 thousand? My advice for anyone wanting to buy a house is just wait and keep building up cash for a down payment.  There is nothing behind this housing market but speculation and folks assuming the price “must always” go up.  But real estate tanks  many times. Be patient and you can get a bargain. Funny enough many people realize buying an upgraded property carries a 6-8% when they got a mortgage at 3%. Very few people will take on a 6%-8% when they have a 3% mortgage on their current p[property.

Don’t blame the people making sound financial decision’s for themselves blame the Banksters that work the churn.

I moved an exhaust fan to another room and closed off a room from cooling.  The living room feels cooler though I only got a degree lower on the thermostat. At night I turn off the pump of the swamp cooler and run just the fan but I have the water tank full. This does a good job cooling the house over night just using the fans. I think Idaho power uses last years energy use to forecast this years energy use as most people don’t change what they do from year to year.

I sprayed the weeds around the house and the Goat heads are grey and the weeds in the front yard got knocked back.  I sprayed down the morning glory in the alley way and it died back. I sprayed the weeds along the front yard fence and the weeds died back.  Some people say that 30% vinegar does not kill weeds. But I have had great results using 30 % vinegar.  Perhaps people thing they can spray vinegar once and it will kill all weeds.   Nope, even vile Round up must be applied  yearly to kill weeds. Vinegar should be apply monthly if possible.

I started cleaning up the patio and added a propane tank to the dual burners for preserving foods. My little fire pit did not drain water so I drilled a few more holes and sprayed the fire pit with another layer of High heat paint. I have a “plant table” That was getting a bit rusted. I cleaned and scuffed it up with a sanding block.  Cleaned it up with Acetone and painted with two layers of Rustoleom metal spray paint.

I have tried to show how  swamp coolers can work in a low humidity climate. It is up to you if you want some swamp coolers.

Home Depot delivered the last swamp cooler a day early so I got it set up in my bedroom.  I have fully committed to using the swamp cooler and removed the little window air conditioner from the bedroom window. I’m using a window fan to exhaust air where the air conditioner was and I’m getting a better straight line air flow.  Nampa temp hit 103 degrees F. I got 74 degrees F. in the bedroom after running the new setup after an hour or two.  It will be interesting to see how well the swamp coolers do this weekend as the temp will be going up to 105 degrees F. this weekend but will (cool?) back into the high 90’s next week.

I have been watching my power usage on line and it looks like my use is going to be significantly lower compared to last year.  I’m estimating that my bill be cut in 1/2 and possibly by 2/3rds with very similar hot summer. To say I am happy with the results of the swamp coolers is a massive understatement.

I got out early today and did some clipping of the grape vines. I have grapes coming on already and they are bigger than I had anticipated. The weed wacking went well and I cut back more of the volunteer trees. I did not hit them with the vinegar as I was done after getting the front lawn mowed. I can spray down the weeds on Friday after I get some of the backyard and garden chores done. I have green tomatoes on some of the plants!  I picked up some corn on the cob and green beans at a local farm stand. Those will get cleaned up and frozen for the fall/winter.

As a cost/benefit/effort ratio I think swamp cooler could be good be better than most air conditioners for some people. My Mom has a great little system that costs about a $100-$120 per month and she does not need to add a swamp cooler for energy savings. You have to decide how much conveince is worth.  The age of your cooler and if you are willing to put forth the effort to save energy costs.  I’m not judging as your time maybe more valuable than mine. I have the time to fill my my swamp coolers.  You might get paid more for having a set thermostat of cooling.

I think in a low humidity environment around 50% a swamp cooler is a viable cooling system. I think portable swamp coolers can cool a house down if you are willing to tweak and add water to the system it can work.

Last but not least look at the power draws of an air conditioner compared to a swamp cooler. If there is a blackout in the summer powering a swamp cooler will take 1/3 of the energy compared to an air conditioner.

The two cords are delivered and stacked. This year I paid to have the wood company stack  and they had it all done in about two hours.  Plus they did a much better job stacking the wood in the “kennel” area. I can walk the entire length between stacks of wood. That will make accessing the fire wood much easier compared to climbing the stacks trying to cover the wood with tarps. Getting the wood delivered early today worked out great for the firewood guys as they could work in the shade so no one heat stroked out. A big bonus is the smell of the wood every time I walk out to that area.

A heat wave starts on the 19th and will last at least until August 2 according to the weather forecasts.  Day time highs will hover around 100 degrees F. during this time frame. Similar to last year but no smoke in the air from forest fires like last year. (Fingers Crossed)! If the swamp coolers can cool the house 20-25 degrees compared to outside temps the are more than adequate for my cooling needs. I have the air conditioners if the swamp cooler can’t keep up with the heat.

I know my cooling portables are not as efficient as a new whole home heat pump system that I’m not sure will do great job in the potential extreme temps that we can have in SW Idaho.  But, I can control how much energy I use. I can easily power the swamp coolers with a generator. I can’t do that with a whole house system in a blackout. Prepping is about having back up systems that you have tested and know how to make use of, when things go sideways.

I have a small freezer in the shop that needs to be de-frosted. I know I can move all the frozen goods to another freezer while it is defrosting. I think I may move this freezer to the patio for the outdoor kitchen setup after it is defrosted.  I can blow out the coils and use it for vegie storage if needed.  Still thinking about moving the freezer but it really needs to be defrosted.

Tom Mcgyver talked about a house attic fan and I checked into the company and the costs. For my house of 1240 sq.ft. they had a fan on sale for about $700.00. Idaho power offers a check for installing that sort of attic fan of $250.00 if installed by a contractor. So the cost might not be as big of hit to the wallet as Tom implied. I learned Idaho Power will give a $150.00 check if you “self install” swamp cooler that they approve via a form sent on the website. Net zero energy use is not only idiotic it defies the laws of physics. But if the utility companies will pay me back for saving energy/my energy bill. I’m going for it!

A 25 degree difference is about the best I will ever get using the swamp coolers. Usually a swamp cooler can cool a home 15-20 degrees compared to the outside temp. so I am getting great performance from the swamp coolers. Eighty degrees in the house is not optimal but it was 107 today so if it drops back around 98-100 I hope to keep the house around 75 degrees and that is comfy.

I tested out the clothes line today and it did a great job and was easier to use than I anticipated.  There was some sag in the line but I think once the line gets stretched I’ll eliminate most of the sag. Clothes dried in about an hour in this heat and then I put the clothes in a no heat dryer and that got rid of any stiffness to the clothing. Using the clothes line works much better than using the wooden drying rack. If I don’t have to use the dryer I will save on heating up the house this summer and on the electric bill so the line will pay for itself in less than a month.

I charged up all my battery powered lights and battery banks just in case we have a black/brown out with all of the power demands because of the heat. The only thing I have left to charge is the Anker power bank and I will be setting up the solar panels in the next couple of days to power up that bad boy and see if I can use it for powering a couple of items during the day.

Last but not least I installed the blinds on the big living room window. This is a large 71 inch wide window but I went with two 35 inch wide blinds so I could have more control over how much light came in the window. I think they look good and the installation was fairly simple. The blinds cost about $15.00 each at Home Depot. I doubt I see any cooling gains with the blinds since I put up the big sunshade cloth but they should be nice in the fall and winter.

Using an air conditioner is all about insulation and holding that cool air in the house. With swamp coolers it is all about air flow and circulation. Today I added a window fan to the bedroom that blows air out of the house and now I have cooler rooms using the swamp coolers. We have been taught that an air tight, insulated home/apt. is best but with a swamp cooler air flow/circulation is best for cooling.

Today I added a small window fan to my bedroom to blow out air and it made a huge difference in cooling the bedroom though I don’t have a swamp cooler in that room. It seems counter-intuitive to have a window open to blow out air but swamp coolers really do work best if you have a window fan to exhaust the air in the house. I’m using the window fan that has 2,  9 inch fans and fits most windows. These fans have plastic louvers that fill the window and “block” the heat coming in. It was early morning when I added the fan blowing the air out and in an hour I had a 4 degree F. temp. drop and the bedroom stayed about 75 degrees F. today. Yesterday that room was 79-80 degrees F. without the fan.

I ordered another of the Hisense refurb swamp coolers because I thought it might cool the bedroom more but since I added the fan blowing air out and I have better cooling in the bedroom this swamp cooler will be for cooling other places like the shop or patio and as a back up this summer. SW Idaho has a heat wave forecasted next week and it will be a test of the swamp coolers. I have had some time to tweak using the swamp coolers and we will see if they do a good job during few weeks of 100 degree F. temperatures. Real world tests are always the best, even if the conditions are not exactly the same for you. This gives you a baseline for your own tests.

I got a retractable clothes line as my dryer is an energy beast.  I have dried clothes without using a dryer and it is amazing how physically demanding it is compared to tossing wet clothes in a dryer.  Yes I’m a wimp!  😉

I have only myself to worry about and do about 2 loads of laundry on the weekend. So it is not like I’m hanging laundry for a family. My setting up a clothes line is not about being eco-friendly. It’s about saving money on electric bills and being self-sufficient as possible.  I’ll burn some wood in my fire pit to piss off the ECO gods this fall! I’ll make s’mores!  I probably do more to save the environment because I want to save money each month than any of so called “Elites” that preach about Climate change.

Had a good day shopping though no great buys. I finished up the last envelope of cash on hand for any little economic hiccups that might happen. We will see how long that lasts…

I have to say you need to do your own research and test. Not to discount all reviews but I have used many products that work great and all can think of some of the reviews given the person had 5 thumbs an inability to read English or any other languages to read the owner’s manuals. Before I bought my swamp coolers I checked out the internet for the basics of using a swamp cooler, some hints to make them better and knew it would take some time and experimenting to see what worked best for my house.

I can see all the people that told me that a swamp cooler won’t work in this area, are the folks that gave up when it wasn’t easy and you need to keep tweaking the system to make it work.

Oh and I bought a watch, now I have to remember I wear a watch!

I added a 90% sun blocking shade cloth over the big window in my living room and a 50% sun block cloth over the Computer room window. The house is staying cooler longer and the swamp coolers are working better at cooling the house!  One thing I  really like about the tan color 90% sun blocking shade cloth is how much light comes into the living room compared to using window blinds/curtains that turn the room into a dark cave.

The company I got the shade cloth from is https://www.gardenport.com.  I have also bought frost cloth and other odds and ends from this site. Prices and quality are both very good. I don’t get anything $ from recommending this company. I just think you get a good product at a good price.

Onto the electric bill, compared to  June of last year my bill is $50.00 lower this June and the weather was cooler in June of 2022 compared to June of 2023.  Turning off the electric water heater during the day and using the swamp coolers have had a positive impact on lowering my summer electric bill.  I want to add one more swamp cooler to the bedroom.  That will be about the most I can do with swamp coolers to cool my house for relatively low cost.

Overall I’m pleased with how well the swamp coolers have preformed during the start of the hot part of summer. Upcoming around July 20th is at least 10+ days of 100 degree F. heat and this sort of heat will probably hang around going into August if not longer. We will see if the swamp coolers can keep the house around the mid 70’s F. or if I need to add the air conditioners because of the heat.

I’m going to do a temporary set up of 300 watt solar panels to my new Anker 757 power bank and do a tests power stuff like the window air conditioner, small freezer and the fridge one at a time and maybe 2 at one time. That way I’ll know what the Anker can power and for how long if there is a black/brown out of the electric grid. I’ll be using three Renology 100 watt solar panels and not the Anker solar panels. I will give updates as I test different configurations. I know if I’m going to use the Anker or any sort of generator I need to add a few more heavy duty extension cords.  I have a 10 gauge cord but I want to add a couple of  25 foot 12 gauge cords to run the fridge or freezer via a generator.  Common “orange” extension cords are only 14 gauge. Like shotguns smaller gauge wire number means more power.  Or at least more power with less heat build up.

I learned a new thing about running swamp coolers as a fan overnight.  My swamp coolers run about 5-6 hours on a 4.8 gallon tank of water. You can use the swamp cooler as a fan at a higher temp. because the fan is still circulating air over cool water in the tank even if the pump is not soaking down the evaporation media. As the night air cools use that swamp cooler as a fan once the temp. drops into the mid 70’s F.  You get over night cooling and don’t have to worry about the pump running dry.  the next day run the pump only to soak the evaporation media before turning on the fan and pump. Swamp coolers are more work compared to a whole house cooling system, But in a grid down situation a swamp cooler can cool a room or two for a fraction of the electric cost of small air conditioner.

While I was setting up the new sunshade I cleaned up a few weeds and gave the evergreen shrub a cutting and shaping and I think it looks better. Of course no one else will see it because of the new sun shade!  I found some 30% vinegar in the shop and mixed up a spray bottle half and half with water for washing down windows. If you have hard water stains on your windows the vinegar is one of the best cleaners for that problem. Plus vinegar is a good glass cleaner in general.  I’m using a spray bottle of the water vinegar mix, a bucket of water and a squeegee like you see at the gas station. I even cleaned up the weeds in this area again since weeds are the closest thing to immortality  us humans can see.

My aunt stopped by and got the 15 gallon food grade water barrel and a couple of 5 gallon camp jugs for water for my Mom. Mom’s city water is vile and smells and tastes of chlorine. My aunt has a well of good tasting water so the jugs will go to Mom. That will save her money since she buys drinking water at the store.  My aunt dropped off eggs and they are freaking huge! I have Double A large egg cartons and I can’t even close the carton as the eggs are so big.  My aunt says the chickens that are laying these big eggs are  “golden sexlinks” but I’m sure how she raises the chickens has an affect on the egg size.

I am optimistic but I’m also trying to bullet proof myself as possible against the PTBs.

Hottest weekend this year but it is supposed to drop back into the normal range next week.  The swamp coolers are still doing okay but all rooms are warmer but still below 80 degrees F. Bedroom is 73 degrees F. and the living room is 77 degrees F. The biggest problem is it not cooling down over night so I can’t use my fans to cool the house off. That has a big impact on the house temps for the rest of the day.

I am filling the water tank on the swamp coolers and the run time for the living room cooler is about 5 hours and the bedroom cooler lasts about 6 hours.  The coolers have a hose connection for continuous operations but I don’t want to run a hose into the house so I have not tested that out.

Because it is not cooling off a lot at night I’ll probably use the air conditioner at night for the next few days.  I’m still happy with the swamp coolers as they have worked very well with the “normal” hot summer weather. A few days using one small air conditioner is a huge improvement to using one 24/7 during the summer.

If I’m reading my electrical usage correctly I have saved almost 200 kwh compared to my electrical use last summer by turning off the hot water heat during the day and using the swamp coolers rather than air conditioners for cooling and it has only been two weeks!  I love the swamp cooler even if they are not a perfect replacement for the air conditioners. I’m staying cool on most days and the energy savings is substantial. I can set up/run my window air conditioners if it gets unbearably hot but overall I’m happy with my swamp coolers and will add more in the future for cooling my shop and patio.  I have a couple of timers to shut off the swamp coolers before the tank runs dry after 5-6 hours. that would work for cool air for most of the night. I’ll have to test them out this weekend.

I finished up dead heading the roses in the front yard and it looks like the garlic is ready to harvest in the front yard beds.  The peas did well in the north bed but I did not do a good job creating a trellis for them to climb.  The peas did bad in the sw facing bed and got to hot. This is a bed that needs sun/heat loving plants but the north bed could be good for cool weather loving plants.

I have few black berries and raspberries forming in the container plants.  From what I understand most raspberries and black berries don’t produce the first year after planting but I have berries forming. I’ll take it as I love berries even if it just a couple off a new plant.

I have a fire wood delivery coming the 18th of July of 2 cords of wood and I’m paying for the firewood guys to stack it. They can stack in two hours what would take me 2-3 weeks to get stacked so the extra cost is worth the time savings.  We have only 8 weeks of summer left before September and it will be all all about Fall harvest and getting ready for winter.

I started cutting up kindling for the wood heating season today and filled a box that I’m giving to Mom for her little woodstove. I split a wagon load of wood for kindling to start filling my own kindling boxes. When you buy cut and split wood you get chunks of wood that won’t start burning with a match. You need a fire starter of some sort, usually paper, kindling and wood that is in between the size of kindling and the cut and split wood.  I find as I cut kindling there are some chunks of wood that is to knotty or twisted for good kindling and those smaller chunks of wood become the base of my fires I set the kindling on before I add the larger chunks of split firewood. Even if you buy cut and split firewood you will need a 3-4 pound  axe and hatchet for cutting kindling.

I suppose I’m “old school” lighting a fire with just one match. I see people start woodfires with a propane torch and I cringe. Nothing against them and that works great until you run out of propane. It works but it feels wrong to me. I like laying out the wood and fire starter and using a wooden match to start the fire and build it up  slowly with larger chunks of wood.