Easy Method To Take Wood Pallets Apart – No Tools Required

easy-way-to-take-pallets-apart

We have read many articles and watched many videos about taking wood pallets apart - all in hopes that we would find a method easier than the one we were already using.  Using free wood pallets to build furniture and other things is a very enticing prospect.  Of course, the easiest way to take apart … [Read more...]

Installing A Metal Security Screen Door

How to install a security screen door

You can't use flow through ventilation in your house if you can't open the doors and windows.  This is a short story about our adventure when trying to purchase a security screen door. We didn't really know anything about these doors, except we needed one.  We currently have no screen door of any … [Read more...]

Build A Solar Food Dehydrator

beautiful-solar-dehydrator

You can make a very nice solar food dehydrator in a weekend with just a few items.  The time it takes you to build it will depend on your skills and how fancy you want to make it.  Just look around YouTube or Google Images and you will see examples that show workmanship nicer than many homes in the … [Read more...]

What If Your Residential Heating System Ran On Compost?

Jean Pain Method of Heating

What if you could heat your house all winter for free, heat your household water for free, and cook with free gas most of the year?  Sound to good to be true?  Well, it's not!  And you can get almost everything you need to complete this project for free or next to nothing.  Build your own … [Read more...]

Wash Your Clothes With Pedal Power (Pedal Power Washing Machine)

pedal-power-washing-machine

This isn't really a "how-to" article.  It is a "how can you not appreciate this idea?" article. This non-electric washing machine was developed for use in third world countries and meant to be sold for a retail cost of around $40. To save money, it was originally designed to use a standard drink … [Read more...]

Heat Your House With Mirrors

heat-your-home-with-passive-solar-mirrors

This article is not about using mirrors to create "multiple suns" to intensify the sunlight hitting your solar collector.  This article is about using plain old mirrors to help heat your house in the winter. It's all well and good if you have the luxury of designing a house to take advantage of … [Read more...]

Build Your Own Thermal Storage Tank (Solar Hot Water Tank)

build-solar-hot-water-tank-thermal-storage

Now you've built your solar collector to heat your hot water.   What are you supposed to do with all that left-over heat that just fades away during the night while the water it sitting in the collector and hoses?  Build a solar hot water tank for that heated water and enjoy it the next morning, … [Read more...]

Replacing All Your Lights With LEDs

led-light-bulbs-last-longer

Can you really nag someone into learning to turn the lights off? You can, but at what cost? At first it's just an irritant to you - the payer of the bills. Then, it becomes an irritant to the whole family, as you follow the "offenders" from room to room while slowly turning into a curmudgeon that … [Read more...]

Heating and Air Conditioning Using The Earth

heating-and-air-conditioning-using-the-earth

This article is an introduction to readers on how easy it is to provide a very efficient "boost" to your heating and air conditioning systems by taking advantage of the earth's natural tendency (inertia) to stay at a constant temperature just a few feet down from the surface.  You can go to almost … [Read more...]