Stampie's Grosh Mahal

In reply to Stampie :

The water table is pretty low.  I'm guessing 10 feet or so.  The good thing is ground temps are much higher than up north.

The water table varies widely throughout the state; here in the Red Hills of N. Fla, it's 40 - 60 feet down.  But just 30 miles south, near the Gulf it's only 20 ft down, and sits atop a limestone aquifer.  In most of S. Florida the table is so close to the surface that you can't put a fiberglass pool liner in the ground, it'll float out.  I have no idea what it's like near G'ville, but I do know that the limestone caves of the Floridan acquifer is there, my brother used to go spelunking when he was in UofF.

To find out the water table where you are, go ask the well driller who did your nearest neighbor's well.

From what you've said, you're thinking about a geothermal ground loop.  I've looked into this a lot (but never did it).  Here's an overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_source_heat_pump  The year-round ground temperature at my place is 74 degrees; I know this because when I had my primary power cable buried 5 feet down, I measured the cold air coming out in the summer.   74 degrees is good for summer cooling, and winter heating.  Yours may be a couple of degrees warmer.  Initial cost is high, but yearly operating cost is very low.

In reply to Asas_Dad :

I'm looking at a redneck engineering twist on the geothermal ground loop.  Basically I'd use the FL sun to heat a section of ground using excess energy during the summer only to tap into that stored heat in the somewhat milder FL winter.  I've been asked several times lately when I'd get back down to Gainesville to continue the build.  Let's just say it's been a busy last few months.  I need to decompress then get back on it.  I know Bob misses the wide open spaces where he can go off leash.

Just a thought.....what about using an earth tube? If the local ground temperature is high enough you could heat the cabin with an earth tube alone. I've seen a system here (ground temp 55) that was used in a 2600 sq.ft. house. There was an air-to-air heat exchanger to help get the 55 degree air closer to room temp. In winter the house had passive solar and a small gas furnace to supplement it, and in the summer the cool air went directly to the house. It had no AC unit. in your case you might not need the exchanger at all, depending on the temperature, just a solar powered fan.

Edit: If the ground temp were high enough the ground water might also be warm enough. Then you only need a heated floor and run ground water through it.

I came down to Gainesville for a day trip today. Everything was as I left it. The underbrush is a little thinner from the winter die down. I've got a bunch of squatters using the cabin. 

There's about 10x that all around the door. I guess there are worse things than a bunch of lady bugs using your place. 

I walked the front 1/3 of the property. It's been at least a week since we've had rain but the wetlands are full. I remember it being this way last year as I was looking to buy it. The ditch along the road has a few spots holding water. I don't think the wetlands drain into it but I marked the spots so that I can fix it.   Here's the wetlands. 

It was nice to see that all my systems were in place and just working. There's cold drinks in the fridge, my phone connected to the Wi-Fi as I drove up.  In fact I'm posting this sitting on top of the cabin, enjoying the view, and using my Wi-Fi. 

That is an awesome view!!

Awesome lady bugs! They do a great job of eating aphids.  
 

and as a florida kid, man i love that view. 

Thanks guys.  I've been in a funk lately.  It was good to get down there and start looking at what I need to do.

Good to see you got back down to your Gainesville location, glad everything is functioning as it should be. When the weather cools off here we always have a lot of ladybugs show up in the RV, but not in the house. Maybe they like the quiet. Nice view from the cabin roof. It reminds me of where I lived in Manatee county as a kid. Sadly urban sprawl has swallowed up a lot of that now. See you at the Challenge if not before.

In reply to madmrak351 :

Looking forward to seeing you also.  It's been nice being able to get down for a little bit.  Saturday we went down for the night as we were invited to a party Sunday.  First we checked the wetlands.  Here's the same two spots shown above but now dry.  Not bad for "wetlands" 10 days later.

I accidentally left Bob's orange harness at the property the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  I went to put him in it Sunday morning.  It wouldn't clip around his girth by at least 2 inches.  He weighed 120 then so I'm guessing 140 now?  He also snores but still fits in his bed there.

The "cabin" is 52 sq feet.  You can see about half of it in that picture.  Being there Saturday night made me think about how much space I really need for a home vs. garage/shop.  Going to think more over the next few weeks.

That's one ponderous k-9.

In reply to NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) :

I'm lucky in that when he gets excited he tends to hop in the air so you redirect him while he's up.  I'm unlucky in that he tends to be very protective of me or an area he thinks is ours.  Still working out things but I'm learning more about him each day.

Indy - Guy said:

In reply to Stampie :

 

Black Electrical tape.

Forgot to say that you were right but I'm also a DA.  I had zip tape sitting feet away.  Saturday night I put it over the painter's tape.

In reply to Stampie :

Why did you ever doubt me?

In reply to Indy - Guy :

I wouldn't say doubt you but more of delayed hearing you.

In reply to Stampie :

Well, at least you finally came to your senses.  

Carry on 

Tagging myself. I need to go back and read!

Quick comments, look at a diesel heater for heat. WAY cheap on amazon these days, all combustion is outside living area. Run on 12v which is good for solar setup, and dont draw much.

Solar is a fickle beast in WA, maybe better in FL. 

I got a power hour at the property this morning.  Was heading into town to do stuff with dyintorace and Mr_Joshua this afternoon.  Was planing on staying the weekend but rain was forecast for yesterday so I did what I could.

First I set up the bee hives for swarms.  I know it's not all proper and all but it was a quickie let's do this and if we get some great.  If not oh well.  I could only get 4 concrete blocks leaving town so I set up two hives about 200 feet apart on them and set the other four hives in the middle together.  When I get back I'll look at moving those four.  Pictures of bee hives sans bees because even if you don't admit it most people are visual people.

The solar panels were dirty from pollen.  I checked the history and it's putting out from 700wh to 1kwh a day and using around 600wh a day.  Yesterday was rain and with the pollen it put out 700wh.

I cleaned the pollen off and added the fourth panel I had.  It was putting out 275watts once done at 11am.  I think that'll get it up above 1kw most days instead of that being a really good day.

Other than that I grabbed my hammer crimper and headed over to dyintorace's house.

Bob and I came in this afternoon to get ready for a weekend of last minute preparation.  This week I looked up cell towers and determined that the ghost tower looks like it really exists at least from satellite view. First stop we did was confirm it was there. 

Yep that's a cell tower. From what info I can gather it's Verizon only but at least I now know there's a tower within 1.5 miles of me. I was thinking my antenna aim might have been off but after getting to the property I checked and I was within 5 degrees. Not bad for winging it. 

Last few times I've come to town to help dyingtorace I've dropped off GRM express items and some of my future build items. Since I wasn't staying the night I tended to just throw them into the cabin. I needed to organize so I spent some time getting it ready for Bob and I tonight. I also checked the temp in the cabin around 5pm and it was 78. Not bad for the sun being on it all day. Still need to figure out some cooling method for this summer but I have an idea. 

Next up was move the solar system to the roof of the cabin. Mainly because Lil Stampie and his friend are going to sleep in a tent for the Challenge. This allows them an 8x8 platform to set up on. Second reason is the panels had shade in the morning and evening. Here's them set up.

It went from 90 watts at 4:30 to 138 watts once moved an hour later. I also wired them in series now that they won't have as much shade. Here's where it was at the same time. Should extend the solar day a lot. 

Other than that we've chilled with Bob wanting pets. 

Stampie do you have a pond on your property?  I'm just trying to figure out where you are gonna put the canoe.

Edit: spam deleted while I was posting.

Updates required for this thread sir!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Nothing much to update.  I was going to go last week but plans got canceled.

In reply to Stampie :

Just show us old pictures and lie to us.  Anything.  

Several of us are living vicariously through you.  We NEED MOAR!

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Unfortunately I have to take care of boring life stuff right now so that I can do the fun stuff.  Ten more monthly only fans subscribers and I'm good.

Am I going to have to drive up there myself and document StampieLand?

Tom Suddard said:

Am I going to have to drive up there myself and document StampieLand?

I support this  Trent the tractor needs some love too!