Energy class: Part 3
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #113 • November/December, 2008
In Part I of this series of articles, we reviewed how home utility costs will be the next energy source expected to have major cost increases...
Design calculations for no-head, low-head waterwheels
By Rudy Behrens
Issue #17 • September/October, 1992
(This is the second of our three-part series on waterwheels. The third installation (Issue No. 18) will deal with overshot wheels. -- Editor.)
For those of you who are...
Emergency solar power for $950
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #73 • January/February, 2002
For less than the price of a desktop computer you can have the piece of mind that your lights and small appliances can operate for months...
How to select the right backup generator
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
Now that the threat of terrorist sabotage to our utility infrastructure has been added to our basic concerns about storm related power outages, this may be...
Millenium Vehicles
By Michael Hackleman
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
A major failing of transportation worldwide is that 99.9% of vehicles on farms, street, and freeways work on one energy source: liquid fuels. In any disastersmall or large,...
Use solar landscape lights for emergencies
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #141 • May/June, 2013
Solar-powered landscape lights in dark room.
Note different light patterns and brightness.
People own all kinds of household items that can be used to make life easier during...
Prepper power! Part 1
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #136 • July/August, 2012
The interesting thing about being a "prepper" is most preppers don't want anybody to know they are one! No doubt many fear they will be ostracized...
Water: a safe supply when you’re off the grid
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #71 • September/October, 2001
That remote mountain property seemed like a steal until you found out you could not drill a well. Four years ago we were approached by a...
Walden Pond, the solar version: Part 1
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #99 • May/June, 2006
I have been writing solar power articles for many years on every possible application. This has included everything from simple solar chargers for cell phones to...
Converting a Gasoline-Powered Rototiller to Electric
By Glenn Willis, Jr.
Issue #87 • May/June, 2004
Several years ago my sister and her husband had an 8-horse gas-powered rototiller that went belly up. They fussed with it a bit, but couldn't get it...
Solar power trailer Part 2
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #109 • January/February, 2008
In Part I of this article in the November/December 2007 issue, I described the many uses for a solar power system that could be made totally...
Grid-tied, Grid-connected, Off-grid. What’s the difference?
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #140 • March/April, 2013
Several weeks ago I received a call from a woman in Florida complaining that they just had a power outage lasting several days and her solar...
Design calculations for overshot waterwheels
By Rudy Behrens
Issue #18 • November/December, 1992
(For good background information for this article, the reader should read "Waterpower for personal use" in Issue No. 16 and "Design calculations for overshot waterwheels" in Issue No....
Solar Food Drying
By Marcella Shaffer
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
The oldest known method of food preservation is drying food using the heat from the sun. Unfortunately it has become the least used as freezers and pressure canners...
Build Your Own Car Wash
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #133 • January/February, 2012
Completed car wash in operation
If someone told me a year ago that I would have a commercial car wash behind my garage, I would have laughed....
