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Gardening & Energy Conservation
As we begin to approach colder weather (it's only a couple months away), I
find energy conservation coming more and more to mind. I'm curious to know how some others are using gardening/landscaping/horticulture to further energy conservation. Of course, planting a tree to shade a house is one way but what else have others found gives a beneficial impact? |
#2
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
JNJ wrote:
As we begin to approach colder weather (it's only a couple months away), I find energy conservation coming more and more to mind. I'm curious to know how some others are using gardening/landscaping/horticulture to further energy conservation. Of course, planting a tree to shade a house is one way but what else have others found gives a beneficial impact? Behind my house were two vacant lots overlooking a bluff. They were heavily wooded. Last year they cleared the lots to build, and the wind and cold was noticeable. (The houses are built now, and privacy fences have gone up, so it won't be quite as cold this winter.) -- Warren H. ========== Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife. Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants to go outside now. Blatant Plug: Support me at: http://www.holzemville.com/mall/ |
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 12:15:24 -0400, "JNJ" wrote:
I'm curious to know how some others are using gardening/landscaping/horticulture to further energy conservation. Of course, planting a tree to shade a house is one way but what else have others found gives a beneficial impact? I divert all the house rain gutters to rain barrels for garden water and it keeps the electric bill down (we have an electric pump to a private well). Just 3/4 inches of rain can fill each of 3 40-gallon trash barrels. The water isn't pretty so it only goes to the garden and peach tree. Any excess runs over the barrel and into irrigation ditches which I dug into the garden. Last year we had a drought, about one small thunderstorm every 3 to 4 weeks...so every drop counted. The rain barrels are covered with a 1/2" thick wood plate, with a 8"dia hole drilled in the center. The hole is covered with two layers of window-screening to keep out mosquitos, then covered with a single 1/2" hardware cloth to keep mice from chewing out the screening. It has worked extremely well the past 6 months in keeping pests out of the water, although in once occurrence I left the barrel open for 5 minutes and a mouse got in. Dan |
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 19:51:19 GMT, "Warren"
wrote: Behind my house were two vacant lots overlooking a bluff. They were heavily wooded. Last year they cleared the lots to build, and the wind and cold was noticeable. (The houses are built now, and privacy fences have gone up, so it won't be quite as cold this winter.) I had that happen around here just 2 weeks ago...a developer clear cut 150-year old oaks and other hardwoods....absolutely trashed 2 acres of forest. The place now looks like a poster-child for the amazon rain forest advocates. I wouldn't be suprised if he compacted the soil too, bringing in 8-ton trucks to haul the wood away. There should be township codes banning outright deforestation of all hardwoods, especially older ones. I'm definetly gonna complain about this. Dan |
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
Do Dan, do! There must be some kind of conservation laws the @*^&%$ has
broached. If I'd been there I probably would have tied myself to a tree or laid in front of his damned cats! -- Jayel "dstvns" wrote in message ... On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 19:51:19 GMT, "Warren" wrote: Behind my house were two vacant lots overlooking a bluff. They were heavily wooded. Last year they cleared the lots to build, and the wind and cold was noticeable. (The houses are built now, and privacy fences have gone up, so it won't be quite as cold this winter.) I had that happen around here just 2 weeks ago...a developer clear cut 150-year old oaks and other hardwoods....absolutely trashed 2 acres of forest. The place now looks like a poster-child for the amazon rain forest advocates. I wouldn't be suprised if he compacted the soil too, bringing in 8-ton trucks to haul the wood away. There should be township codes banning outright deforestation of all hardwoods, especially older ones. I'm definetly gonna complain about this. Dan |
#6
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
I divert all the house rain gutters to rain barrels for garden water
and it keeps the electric bill down (we have an electric pump to a private well). Just 3/4 inches of rain can fill each of 3 40-gallon trash barrels. The water isn't pretty so it only goes to the garden and peach tree. Any excess runs over the barrel and into irrigation ditches which I dug into the garden. Last year we had a drought, about one small thunderstorm every 3 to 4 weeks...so every drop counted. I'll be redirecting our downspouts here soon as well. The house has a typical pitched roof as well as a small roof on an add-on (only a couple hundred square feet). From what I've read, the typical home can capture enough rainfall on the roof to account from a large chunk of the typical water usage a 2 or 3 family needs in a year. Some interesting numbers. I'm also looking into water purification systems -- would be nice to grab the runoff from the roof and bring it into the house for things like laundry, toilets, showers, and so forth. James |
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 19:44:27 -0400, "JNJ" wrote:
I'll be redirecting our downspouts here soon as well. The house has a typical pitched roof as well as a small roof on an add-on (only a couple hundred square feet). From what I've read, the typical home can capture enough rainfall on the roof to account from a large chunk of the typical water usage a 2 or 3 family needs in a year. Some interesting numbers. I'm also looking into water purification systems -- would be nice to grab the runoff from the roof and bring it into the house for things like laundry, toilets, showers, and so forth. James The next large project we are going to do is have a cistern installed with a filter system. That way, no water from the city need be used. I don't drink it now. What the hell is chloramine? Anyway, in Texas where we live, we have an average yearly rainfall of 31 inches. It's enough to fill a ten thousand gallon cistern many times. As little as a quarter inch of water can fill all of my current 75 gallon rain barrels. The City of Austin sells them for 45 dollars. They are the ones in the Gardeners Supply Catalog which otherwise cost 130 dollars each. Maybe even a bit more. Victoria |
#8
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
The next large project we are going to do is have a cistern installed with
a filter system. That way, no water from the city need be used. I don't drink it now. What the hell is chloramine? Anyway, in Texas where we live, we have an average yearly rainfall of 31 inches. It's enough to fill a ten thousand gallon cistern many times. As little as a quarter inch of water can fill all of my current 75 gallon rain barrels. The City of Austin sells them for 45 dollars. They are the ones in the Gardeners Supply Catalog which otherwise cost 130 dollars each. Maybe even a bit more. I originally wanted to dig a well -- my basement is forever flooding from the ever rising water table so I figured why not? Well, the City is why not -- if city water is available one cannot dig a well. This redirected my interests to rainwater. I already run a water filter on my tap water before drinking or cooking. I wonder how much more costly it would be to filter rainwater instead. James |
#9
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
Just out of curiousity (and an interest in land use rights) I'm curious if
you could point me towards a website or citation that states that one may not drill a well on one's property in your city..... thanks, Dave "JNJ" wrote in message ... The next large project we are going to do is have a cistern installed with a filter system. That way, no water from the city need be used. I don't drink it now. What the hell is chloramine? Anyway, in Texas where we live, we have an average yearly rainfall of 31 inches. It's enough to fill a ten thousand gallon cistern many times. As little as a quarter inch of water can fill all of my current 75 gallon rain barrels. The City of Austin sells them for 45 dollars. They are the ones in the Gardeners Supply Catalog which otherwise cost 130 dollars each. Maybe even a bit more. I originally wanted to dig a well -- my basement is forever flooding from the ever rising water table so I figured why not? Well, the City is why not -- if city water is available one cannot dig a well. This redirected my interests to rainwater. I already run a water filter on my tap water before drinking or cooking. I wonder how much more costly it would be to filter rainwater instead. James |
#10
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
Just out of curiousity (and an interest in land use rights) I'm curious if
you could point me towards a website or citation that states that one may not drill a well on one's property in your city..... thanks, Sigh You WOULD ask -- I don't have the actual cite here. A fellow down at city hall was good enough to send me a copy of the chapter of municipal code but the cite was incomplete. The verbage was fairly straightforward -- it stated the guidelines for having a well or a cistern, how it was to be maintained and who governed it (health department) then followed up with.... "(H) When water from the municipal system becomes available to any dwelling, the owner shall provide water from that system and immediately abandon the private supply." Under this chapter I likely cannot even create a large receptacle for capturing rainwater for use in anything but gardening/agriculture and even then there are further regulations. I'm still going to find a way to use it for laundry and toilets and such (call me a rebel). A local energy consultant and I have been corresponding and he's made it clear in no uncertain terms that Cincinnati's government is not conservation friendly. James |
#11
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
Our county (Harris, Houston) has a subsidence district that all well
permits go through. We paying for all the evil deeds we did pulling out well water in the past years. Leave it in the ground and recycle your roof water. Work with nature and not against by depleting the well/water table. JK David J Bockman wrote: = Just out of curiousity (and an interest in land use rights) I'm curious= if you could point me towards a website or citation that states that one m= ay not drill a well on one's property in your city..... thanks, = Dave = "JNJ" wrote in message ... The next large project we are going to do is have a cistern install= ed with a filter system. That way, no water from the city need be used. I d= on't drink it now. What the hell is chloramine? Anyway, in Texas where we live, = we have an average yearly rainfall of 31 inches. It's enough to fill a ten thousand gallon cistern many times. As little as a quarter inch of water can fill = all of my current 75 gallon rain barrels. The City of Austin sells them for 4= 5 dollars. They are the ones in the Gardeners Supply Catalog which otherwise c= ost 130 dollars each. Maybe even a bit more. I originally wanted to dig a well -- my basement is forever flooding = from the ever rising water table so I figured why not? Well, the City is = why not -- if city water is available one cannot dig a well. This redire= cted my interests to rainwater. I already run a water filter on my tap water before drinking or cooki= ng. I wonder how much more costly it would be to filter rainwater instead. James -- = J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP =F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business =F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal |
#12
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
"JNJ" wrote in message ...
The next large project we are going to do is have a cistern installed with a filter system. That way, no water from the city need be used. I don't drink it now. What the hell is chloramine? Anyway, in Texas where we live, we have an average yearly rainfall of 31 inches. It's enough to fill a ten thousand gallon cistern many times. As little as a quarter inch of water can fill all of my current 75 gallon rain barrels. The City of Austin sells them for 45 dollars. They are the ones in the Gardeners Supply Catalog which otherwise cost 130 dollars each. Maybe even a bit more. I originally wanted to dig a well -- my basement is forever flooding from the ever rising water table so I figured why not? Well, the City is why not -- if city water is available one cannot dig a well. This redirected my interests to rainwater. I already run a water filter on my tap water before drinking or cooking. I wonder how much more costly it would be to filter rainwater instead. James Dig the well inside the basement where it's cool and shady and out of sight of the nosey village idiots and minor apparatchiks. Only call it a sump . |
#13
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
Dig the well inside the basement where it's cool and shady and out of
sight of the nosey village idiots and minor apparatchiks. Only call it a sump . Actually, we will be putting in a sump pump in the near future in an effort to at least BEGIN to control the water in the basement. We're also looking at apply a type of rubber (SaniTred) to the walls to help there. At the moment, it's pretty damp, musty, and humid down there -- t'ain't healthy. James |
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:11:27 -0400, "JNJ" wrote:
I originally wanted to dig a well -- my basement is forever flooding from the ever rising water table so I figured why not? Well, the City is why not -- if city water is available one cannot dig a well. This redirected my interests to rainwater. I already run a water filter on my tap water before drinking or cooking. I wonder how much more costly it would be to filter rainwater instead. James I don't know specific prices for each element, but to have a ten thousand gallon cistern buried or placed on the property, with the plumbing for house water, filtration so it's potable, we're looking at around $5,000.00 to $7,000.00. To filter it, you'd have to call some of the people in your area to find out how to do that. I don't want well water. There are any number of toxins in it at any given time. At least with rainwater, it comes from the sky, over the roof and into the system. Filtering out the sediment from the roof is far easier than filtering the 70+ toxins found in tap water, on any given day. |
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Gardening & Energy Conservation
I don't know specific prices for each element, but to have a ten thousand
gallon cistern buried or placed on the property, with the plumbing for house water, filtration so it's potable, we're looking at around $5,000.00 to $7,000.00. After a review of relevant code, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Municipal code specifically prohibits anyone within the city limits from having an operating cistern or well where city water is available. Needless to say, that puts a bit of a kink in the works. Might need to do a little political activism on this 'un. BTW, did I mention that the water utility is owned and operated as a department of the city? To filter it, you'd have to call some of the people in your area to find out how to do that. I don't want well water. There are any number of toxins in it at any given time. At least with rainwater, it comes from the sky, over the roof and into the system. Filtering out the sediment from the roof is far easier than filtering the 70+ toxins found in tap water, on any given day. We're fortunate that our water is actually pretty good quality as far as city water goes, but I'd still prefer to get it myself and save the $$$. |
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