Comments on: Sizing ourselves for solar

By: geoff

geoff — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:52:03 +0000

hi i wanted to say my family and i live in a small house at moment and generate our own power with solar,i just had my house rewired for 240 volts ,cfls,13 watts which put out 75 watts,i run all my tv,dvd,computer,phones,cell phone with a 300 watt inverter,just got a sundanzer 165l havnt plugged in yet will probaly set a seperate system,will let you know

By: thistinyhouse

thistinyhouse — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:35:23 +0000

Great — thanks for sharing these links! I’ve never heard of Panelconcepts but maybe someone else has? I just came across a fridge comparison article and will write more about this soon.

By: Phillip Stevens

Phillip Stevens — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:41:04 +0000

I don’t have a tiny house (yet). I’ve been looking into “stuff” for one. Some things that I have found you might be interested in.

Fridge: http://www.i-m-d.com/engel/ (Cabela’s carries these)

LED Lighting: http://www.ccrane.com/lights/index.aspx
LED Lighting: http://www.superbrightleds.com/

Curious if anyone has had any experience with http://www.panelconcepts.com cabins?

By: thistinyhouse

thistinyhouse — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:11:36 +0000

Hi Michael,
We have generally found that LED lights are best for reading lights and “mood” lights — we’re still on the lookout for an all around good LED replacement for our 7 watt compact florescent bulbs. Please let us know what you find, too!

By: Michael Janzen

Michael Janzen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:15:36 +0000

I’m really curious to see what LED lighting you find. I’ve just started looking into it more carefully for my tiny free house project. More power to you (literally and figuratively)!

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:11:26 +0000

I was also going to comment on this: “This begs the question, are we crazy or what?”

I figure being crazy is fairly relative… there’s so many people out there that think downsizing like this is the way to go now. Then there’s others who think it’s nuts.

One guy I’m working with saw what I was doing and called the picture of the tumbleweed a unabomber shack. Then I kindly explained to him the whole idea of downsizing and different ways to look at it. (*head nods* walks away…haha.)

I’ll look at getting the kill-a-watt whenever i get home from overseas.

Take care! (I’m right there with some of the “crazy” people too..haha
~Dan

By: thistinyhouse

thistinyhouse — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:08:33 +0000

Thanks for writing in! Yes the Kill-A-Watt has been a very useful tool. And thanks for the link to your blog, Daniel. I’ll check it out. I do love the Tumbleweed designs. Keep us updated on your progress.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:31:54 +0000

Just stumbled upon your blog. Looks great. Lots of good plans you have going. I’ve never seen that type of watt meter before, looks pretty good. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to plan a future solar system. I guess I know where to start now..haha.
I’m making plans right now for a future Tumbleweed house project of my own. No telling when I’ll be able to get to it but some of my planning is on my blog right now.
Take care and good luck to you,
~Dan

By: James D.

James D. — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:02:03 +0000

Great blog! Thanks for the info……. Ran across this DC fan the other day and it says it only take 3 amps per hour. http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=868