Rural Electricity

[TomG]

Plasma is gas where sufficient energy is present to ionize the atoms and cause them to become light emitting. (Basically, lightning). I said plasma rather than lightning, because what my Brother-in-law described wasn't quite like a lightning jump inside his house.

BTW, it's not that you can't do these wiring things, just that it takes some time to figure them out. Various wiring made simple books, plus what a good electrical supply clerk, electricians waiting at the counter, and your inspector tells you will get you by. Just takes some time and aggravation. I did the work because I have some background and because I couldn't get any contractor to come to the country when I needed work done.

 

[Bird]

It appears that even out in the country, some of you have building codes, electrical codes, etc. Of course, I still remember some of them from living in the big city, but out in the country where I live, for new service, the electric company gives you a meter base and a sheet of paper with instructions on mounting it on a 16' treated pole, minimum 6" diameter at the top, 4' in the ground, master breaker panel, wire size and type to use, 8' ground rod, etc. and they inspect that before hooking up the power. Then after it leaves that master panel, you're on your own to do as you please. And you wouldn't believe some the things the lunatic I bought my property from had done. Of course, I had to completely redo my electrical system, replacing everything below the meter.

Bird

 

[PBMAX]

Roy,These folks sure come through with good info...don't they?I thought I'd say one little thing.Tom mentioned impuleses...I'm not sure if take his meaning...But I think he is talking about spikes....At best for this on a budget make sure your surge arrestors (AKA plug/outlet stripps) say surge and spike protector....They will cost abit more but are tipically worth it...and provied abit better protection.Many of the better quality ones will even give you a life of the product estiment and number of tripps life.(trust at your own risk).The ones I bought are name brand (GE I think)and have a 5k warrenty...if they fail to protect for 5yrs..I would deffinetly recommend spick protectors for computers etc.. even on a generator...I work at a communication co (cellular) in the field and a fella was telling me about a generator having problems and spiked a transmitter...OUCH and they cost about as much as a nice size tractor 20k give or take a few..I hear this is pretty rare but still..... Lightining on the other hand is a creature all its own...It has been reperted in several studies I have read here and there and even on the discovery channnel,that lightining has been found to nock out electroniic equipment at a distance of 2 miles away from the strike zone.With just the static off the strike......Who knows.... They are always proving/disproving one theory or the other...UPS-s are alway a good way to go if you can as mentioned they will usually come with shut down soft ware (not always) and can save your tale if you are working on a computer...If you do get one for a computer make sure it will handle the pc and the monitor espcially if it doesn't come shut down soft ware.trust me it's hard to save and shut down if you can't see the screen..(IT can be done if you get luky!)
Hope I helped.

Lil' Paul

 

[TomG]

Bird, lucky you. Right now, I'm knee deep in inspectors and permits. We're demolishing a house we use for a hunt camp and replacing it with a construction trailer. Need several permits and inspectors to change the electrical service and a building permit to plant the trailer on blocks. To get a building permit, we need a health certificate. To get a health certificate, we needed a survey crew to find some missing property stakes. And, if there's any plumbing in the trailer, we need an 800-gallon septic system.

Oh well, guess the survey crew did figure out that the last utility pole is on our neighbour's property, so I can't trench to it for an underground service. Course, my neighbour says he doesn't care, but the utility says they would have to survey for a new easement. More permits. Guess that planting a new pole 20' from the last one is the least pain. Hey, that needs permits and inspectors too.

So, we said nuts to the plumbing, we'd use a biffy or composting toilet and draw our water. I mean, after all it's a hunt camp, even though it's only 10 miles from us. Oh well, then how about a raised 12'x6' leeching pit (for all our dish water and the long baths we take with our drawn water I guess)? Of course, we've got serious sand here. The ground itself is a real good leeching pit.

Well, the leeching pit it is. That's the price of a health certificate, which is the price of a building permit and so on. Welcome to rural life, Ontario style. Oh course, when we get everything planted, then the township bylaw folks may show up and say that were encroaching on our own front yard. A structure can't be ahead of the front of your house. Guess that means three sheds 200' away in some bush. Yep, we're got bylaw folks as well as inspectors.

I imagine these inspectors, consulting engineers and politicians who make the regulations all live in cities. Suppose they figure that people who live in the country don't have anything to do except file permits and entertain inspectors.

 

[TomG]

Paul: Yes, a spike is a kind of transient impulse, and it's good to have surge protectors designed to block spikes. It might be worth noting that surge protector/line filter approaches don't protect against all types of transients, but do protect against the most commonly encountered types.

There are several types of specialty transformers that are used where special AC problems exist. Touring sound companies and recording studios use them, but they are protecting a lot of $'s in equipment. You could blow quite a few computers and it would still cost less than these things.

 

[Roy]

Paul;
They sure do come through (yourself included)! Must say that when I 'stopped' by this forum last November, it was only because I was looking into compacts. Have stuck around because of the users. I myself am an engineer, I like to tinker with things, and am an information junkie. I don't like to be given answers, I prefer reasons behind the conclusion and raw data. Then I can analyze for myself, a see if it makes sense to me. This forum fits that bill. People here tend to take the time to explain and further define their conclusions, not simply state a conclusion as fact. Can't say enough about the users here!

 

[Bird]

We do have one thing that requires permits, inspections, etc. and that is whatever sewer system you use. Septic systems are the most common in the area, but people have lots of problems with them because this clay does not "perk" worth a hoot. The old septic system that was here when I bought the place was a disaster, so 3 years ago, I had an aerobic system installed with 2 sprinkler heads. I really like it, but even though I know how to maintain it myself, the law requires that I have a maintenance contract with a "licensed" installer, so that costs $200 a year for them to come out 4 times a year for 30 minutes to an hour to check everything, clean filters, etc.

Bird

 

[waters]

I mistyped a URL and came up with this site:
http://www.backyardpower.com/
It is not available until next year, but it seems to be an all in one solution. Who knows it may be worth waiting for.

I am not a electrial/fuel cell expert so I would appreciate other people's comments on this.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Roy]

Would of been nice if they had included a cost estimate, guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[PBMAX]

Roy,If you are talking about the cost of fuel cells.I read an article a yr or so back,forget in what mag,about fuel cells.I believe it was a police dept. in NY city(Central Park) had some installed because it was cheaper than upgrading the old building they are in.The point I liked was that there were at the time 4 companies palning to sell them to the public by the yr 2001(will see).Estimated cost of aprox_4500 to 5k per cell installed.The average home is supposed to be able to reduce power bills by quite a bit on just 1 I think it was some were around 45%-50% effitiant +/- per cell.They said 2 would basically make a home self powered.They did say the cells need a primming source (natural gas,propane)there was a list of what could be expected.Souded realy cool.I can tell ya that if you get any ideas about disconecting from the power co it ain't gonna happen.The gov requires the power co to buy any extra power you prduce and requires you to sell it.Forget were I heard it 1st but have heard it from several places.Don't hold me to this its been a while sence I read all this...Still it would be nice to have your own power supply....One last thing they said the cells would save you enough $ to pay for themselves in a few yrs..../w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

Lil' Paul