Living Off Grid in a Yurt | Solar Panels with Batteries | Harvesting Rainwater Off Roof
Laughter. I love the ring. It’s hard to truly realize how much you appreciate and need someone until they are gone. To be honest, it was depressing and boring being a blackfish hollow alone.
From day one I miss being with Nicole rather than waste the 10 days, I told myself to stay focused and complete one task per day: gutters for rainwater, harvesting, three cords or more of firewood, and preparing the logs for the yurt loft.
For all the projects which kept me sane, our acreage here at blackfish Hollow – is in the Canadian rainforest a temperate part of Canada that receives between seventy to a hundred inches of rain per year.
One of the benefits of our property was, there is already a well on site and we’ll, be combining well water with rainwater to provide all the irrigation we need for showers, drinking and garden. I would consider our location to be the Hawaii of Kenda warmer winters and cooler summers.
A very balanced microclimate throughout the year which I can’t wait to garden in after the infrastructure and necessities of life are installed. . It’s, three chords, so far it’s rain. Here, preliminary, very rudimentary rainwater harvesting system.
It will be expanded upon coming out real soon, but that’s. Gon na be at least usable water. For the time being, showers dishes brushing probably for drinking too, I still wan na drink. The plastic got some better stuff coming in lip.
Pops girl, it’s, raining so hardcore and, of course, like any guy, knows, got ta leave the place clean when the girl comes home and then before I knew it. Nicole was back . We just left, we go solar, they’re based by in and I’m.
Oh and yeah. We just picked up a full system. It’s back there I drew so this is going to be the talk about battery longevity and maintenance, all right so into the battery maintenance for prolonged longevity for anybody’s batteries.
As long as we’re talking about wet lettuce, batteries does even like car battery same thing same idea. We lose our cranking amp capacity, but we gained a low discharge as well as the half hour capacity, mostly for a deep cycle battery.
We anticipate that we have a lot of apps on backup for us, so a car battery a little amount of apps but high cold cranking delivery. So you can use it to turn starters over to initiate the the engine or the motor to starve.
These guys have roughly about 100 and hour of delivery. Okay, so these batteries can absolutely deliver about a hundred amps of actual power to our inverter side of things where we’re gonna take power out of the batteries invert, it 110 volt.
For our conventional AC electric one more question I have for those people watching especially the beginners out there yeah, I think 99 % of people out there would love to get into solar and batteries, but they don’t know what to do yeah.
It’s, a finicky kind of subject because everybody’s. Power consumption is different. Not everybody needs l16 batteries. Not everybody wants to have lead-acid batteries, so so company, like you guys, you have a hand in helping a customer design.
Their system correctly for their for their usage, any their specific, so for specific people they look for zero maintenance and no off gassing. So an AGM battery comes into that sort of situation. Okay, AGM batteries are a still a finicky creature.
There’s, no way for us to correct or balance out cells on AGM batteries. So let us batteries for a green or a newbie person is really the safest way to go. It gets you more intuitive with your system.
It allows you to learn about batteries and how they work, as well as giving you knowledge and a way for you to judge the way that your system is performing and then who knows in 5-10 years when we increase? Let’s, say 10 years.
So the one you get 10 years out of these guys, we might go lithium on we’re gonna have lithium batteries at a much more price. Savvy point lithium is available. Today. Price is way up here, though, as with anything brand new hitting the market so plus, I know the lithium ones, experts are using it and they’re, integrating it into their solar system, but there’s, not a lot of components yet That play both Olivia.
Yes, that’s right, so everything is sort of growing and the lithium technology. We’re right on the cusp, so I think lithium technology is coming in. We have it available to us right now, certain we need to have specific charge controllers and inverter tartars that work with lithium, Jake and Nicole are getting those particular units.
So in ten years when we need to expand or change out the battery bank, we are already geared up for lithium batteries, and the power of the theme is that it’s. Longevity is better, it could be drained more yes and and the weeks and pounds for that.
I got a tie down for the batteries. I want to put a box over top. We have solar panels, oh yeah, we have solar panels, but they’re. Well, we subtract on that are effective yeah. We still take it up. I was gonna be quite a journey.
If you guys subscribe, you’re gonna come along for the adventure of installing these panels and battery backups and inverters and controllers. And if you’re interested in having solar panels for electricity, then follow us, because I’m gonna show you how to do it yeah step by step through my own example yeah and our mistakes.
I’m gonna jump in Jake, and I made it back to blackfish Hollow and, as you can see, our kittens were very excited to see us . We wasted no time and got to work, putting together new furniture.
We got in Vancouver, Applause, mmm, good made a delicious salad with some delicious dressing grab. Much Anita, when you’re on the road I like visiting family or traveling, you tend to eat a little bad, so a salad is the way to go right now and it’s delicious it’s been raining all Day still is so I’ve, been in here, putting together furniture the year is a mess, well that see how they’re, so soft when they love to cuddle, which is amazing, huh, look how big they are getting you guys.
They’re gonna be some gigantic kitties, but yeah. So the house is a complete mess right now boxes everywhere, cuz we went to Ikea and we got some chairs which we’re super excited about because we’
Ve been like sitting on the floor and we can’t make all of our furniture. Eventually, we’re gonna try with the cob house that we build, but for right now we need to live comfortably as you’re building.
Other things and laying on the floor is awesome and I’m, going to still have an area for sitting on the floor and have bunch of pillows and stuff like that, because I love sitting on the floor and laying on the floor and I Think that’s awesome, but it’s, also nice to be able to have a desk to put your stuff on.
I’m, a chair to sit and an island, so we went to Ikea and we got a couple of things. Jake is building the sink right now to put the sink our building the sink stand to put the sink on, which will be really awesome to be able to have a sink, and I’m, putting together a desk, and the next project is gon Na be an island, so I’m, really excited about the island.
I think that’s, my favorite part so awesome enjoying this salad. It’s, been raining like crazy and, like the south, part of Vancouver Island is getting like droughts and stuff, and oh really, we heard talk it’s like it’s, it’s.
Warm outside, like this is too much clothing. I’m just wearing this from mosquito protection. I could easily be t-shirt and shorts, no problem yeah, but if I’m in here with the t-shirt and or not t-shirt tank top enjoy, but it feels like Hawaii only with pine trees and conifers and honestly it’s more.
But everyone in town that we go and talk to says August and September is gonna, be warm and not very much rain yeah. They said this is the rainiest summer that they’ve, had so right, okay, moment of truth to see if the water goes down the drain, are you ready, so I mean back into my desert garden days.
I have always wanted to have a sink that first of all, only gets gray water biodegradable soap. Second of all, has a big enough piping system that just drains right out into the garden directly into nature into the fruit tree, because it’s.
Just food and biodegradable soap no need for garbage disposal, no need for a p-trap it just drains right outside we got, I think, looks good. I mean, obviously they’re still looking. This is the bare bones, skeleton of it and rehab it’s connected and we have a sink, which is huge for us.
I mean huge. I don’t think that you guys understand washing our hands, brushing our teeth. Like I, don’t think that you guys understand how cute is it eventually, if you guys stick with us, we’re gonna have more amenities, washer and bathroom shower all the stuff.
But for now you get to see us in the early stages, and just just the sink is really amazing. It’s a big moment for us, but eventually this sink will become. We’re gonna have the sink vide vessel style, that’s, gonna come down, and there’s, going to come up right here and then have a countertop that I’m gonna mill.
Out of wood from outside that’s, gonna be the same level as the sink, but this is connected yeah. So let’s, see your amazing piping job and see the guys done. Let’s. Hope nothing leaks out. The pipes carrying out of there nothing leak yay, Oh missus.
This is huge. I didn’t show because it was hard to show on camera, but I put a little like metal plate that I poked holes in at the end. So no my source lugs can get inside the pipe without them. I’m, really excited now to do the dishes like if I put like plank .
Okay, now we’re really set up for success. You guys look at this came up with this temporary system. Jake went and cut a stump. We have these that Jake milled awhile ago for the shelf and we just kind of securely fastened it down to this and then now temporary temporary, which I mean I’m, so excited I’m, so excited to wash my hands.
I’m, really excited brush my teeth and I’m, really excited to do the dishes so so later on in this video, we’re, going to do a mealtime segment, but or maybe tomorrow we’ll. Do the mail time segment, but it’ll, be wrapped up in one video.
Possibly I just wanted to do one of the gifts that we got and I’m – really excited about and we have a new sink now. So I can actually set the things out by the sink, and so that’s. I’m gonna. Do it real quick right now, while we still have a little bit of sunlight, so someone sent us Meijer cleaning supplies, we have hand soap, some more hands that we got two hands, so we have dish soap, multi, surface spray, cleaning spray.
We got two of each thing and I’m just so excited about these, because, as Jake mentioned earlier, we’re only using so that is, biodegradable and Myers is a biodegraded is is perfect for us and it’s. An amazing gift, so thank you.
Thank you. So much I’m, really excited to use the hand so because now I can wash my hands in a sink and it’s. Just oh, I’m, so excited so. Thank you so much Applause.
So clearly that didn’t work out so well, but I am still so flippin happy, oh sorry, with the lighting getting dark. But can you hear the rain? The rain is intense right now it’s been like that all day, so I don’t think you guys understand how excited I am to have a sink in here.
This is a huge game. Changer and we also got an island and with two chairs uh to have a table, they even actually sit out it’s like so amazing. It’s too dark over there for me to show you so I’m. Just gonna wait till tomorrow morning to show you when there’s, better lighting cuz, I’ll.
Just make it look better. I mean it’s, just so crazy house furniture basic furniture can just really tie a place together and really make it feel. Like a home. I mean I can’t. Wait you guys to see it.
We’re. Coming up, but I’ll show you guys in the morning it’s beautiful and I just love doing it so goodnight and I know it’s, not even what its gonna look like. We saw so much to do, but just to even have it it’s.
Just I get to do the dishes inside the comfort of my own home and not outside, with all the mosquitos and a bucket of water, with no lights about I mean it is just on the I won’t forget those time at all.
It’s, making me think of them just like yeah. I have a question for you: how ready are you for a kitchen and a sink and running water? Ready yeah? I’m beyond ready, so it’s a little bit lighter in here now versus last night.
I wanted to give you guys a little bit of a tour. I’m, just kind of new additions that we have here in the yurt, which really makes it feel awesome in here. You guys have already seen the sink energy to the dishes, which has been a huge game-changer, but we also got a table chairs and a really cool door.
Divider. That, I think, is awesome. So you have this awesome island that we got from Ikea and the top part at the table that’s, not the actual table part. It wasn’t in the box, so IKEA sending that to us, but I think it’s.
Gon na make it look, awesome and really pull it together, but it’s, so amazing being able to have chairs and a table like it’s just rocking my world then over here we have this really cool door divider, that is Covering up our closet and our dresser, which is really nice because, like if guests come over, they don’t have to see all of our clothes hanging there, and it just creates a little bit of privacy and a little bit of separation, which is Really, nice and our bed area got moved around a little bit, so it’s, looking really nice over there, but eventually we’
Ll have a loft that will come out and the bed will just go up there. But for now it’s right here and it looks really good and I love what the tapestry did and that hanging plant. And then we have our mirror, which is so nice to be able to have a mirror.
I propped you up on the sink because it’s a little bit better lighting over here, but I did a full yurt tour on our patreon page. So if you want to see everything that is going on here in the yurt and on the outside, then go check our patreon page, it’s, really cool there’s, a lot of really fun videos and pictures and stuff that we Don’t show here on YouTube, so the link is down in the description join us next time, Jake and Nicole off-grid, as we turn our yurt into a two-story using lumber from our forest
