Rainy Days Are Common In NY state!

What do you do when you use solar for your energy source and it rains? Not a one day rain. Here in New York state we get a lot of rain.  More than our fair share, I am afraid. I am not complaining though as many people I know online are complaining about how hot their states are. Or how dry they are. I love to garden and I love green trees, lawns and plants. I love having my hand-dug well refilled constantly by much rain and snow all year round. Yet if you are using solar for your source of electricity it can be hard to generate without the sun. If it sticks it’s head out a bit from time to time, you will get some. But the way our day looks today so far, we will not be seeing any sunshine on our solar panels.

No Sunshine!

So what we do is run our generator. It is a noise you cannot get away from. I have heard many that are much louder. One year for Christmas my husband’s family gave us a Coleman generator for a present. It was much louder than this one. It was made for camping and power outages. Not for an off-the-grid home charging it’s batteries. It did not last very long. Too much work for that little generator. We, after all…………are NOT camping!

The Generator Charges The Batteries

The generator we use is built for an off-the-grid home. It is really a kit that is sold at Backwoods Solar. According to Backwoods Solar, where we purchased our generator, “The rule of your alternative energy system is to buy a really GOOD engine driven generator and then use it as little as possible!”

It is possible to run a low-cost engine driven car alternator to charge batteries when you don’t need an expensive AC generator. Charge amps adjust manually and will hold your settings and not taper off. The AC alternator delivers over 55 amps or will run 40-50 amps at an easy low engine speed. Runs very quietly if adapted to an exhaust hose and automobile muffler. Will run several hours on one tank of gasoline. Most of the time we run it for a short period of time until the sun finally takes over.

Backwoods Solar sells one of these that comes in a kit. This is what we use and it has made a world of difference. We used to charge our batteries with a vehicle driven up to the house, and connected it that way. The exhaust was horrible! And it ran for hours, and used so much gas. This way is so much easier and quicker.

The complete kit at Backwoods Solar consists of a new 6.5 horsepower electric start Briggs “INTEK” overhead valve engine mounting base plate with belt tension adjuster, alternator, rheostat field control box with amp meter. Includes 5′ pulley and 26” belt on the 12 volt model. It can be bought without the engine, if you have one of your own. Sells now for $935.00 plus shipping. It is item number GK-KIT/12 volt.

So it runs on a day like today when all we are getting is rain. It will charge our batteries so we can be on our computers, use lights or whatever we want to do. If I chose to do laundry in my brand new energy star washing machine or to bake bread in a bread machine, this would be the ideal time to do those types of chores. When the generator is running. As we add more and more solar panels over time, we will not have to run it as often. Right now we only have five panels and living in our state means you need a lot more than that. But we can get by for the time being. If you are in a southern or western state, chances are you will not need as many as we do because you get more sun. That makes all the difference with a solar energy system. Now if we add a wind turbine, that could help us in the winter as we get a lot of wind then.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

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The Present Solar System At Peaceful Forest

I have had many people ask me lately how they can change from using the grid electric to setting up their own alternative energy system. I know it sounds easy from the things I write. The difference for us is we were not hooked up to any other system and didn’t have to deal with the electric company. So I am trying to think of things you can do to get started. It is not that easy to go buy a solar system for your house if you don’t have much money. They cost money. But you can start with one 50 watt panel, a charge controller, an automotive inverter and a couple of golf cart batteries. You can just plug your lamp (with an LED bulb) into the inverter……..and there it is — not running on your utility grid anymore!  As time goes by, you can add another panel.

For the time being here are some things you can do to get started if you cannot afford the equipment. These may look trivial. It is NOT! You must learn to conserve your electric use if you truly want to live off-the-grid or partly off-the-grid.

• 1. Replace all your light bulbs first of all with LEDs.
• 2. If you need to replace an appliance, always choose the most energy efficient appliance you can afford.
• 3. If you are presently using an electric stove, replace it with a gas stove. I know, you thought you could use your stove for free………….well, you can’t. Appliances that use heat are always big drains on your system. In the long run, propane is cheaper. I use both propane and wood and it doesn’t cost too much. All winter I can cook with wood as we have two stoves going. Depends on what you are doing for heat too.
• 4. If you are using a desk top computer, replace it with an energy star laptop. My husband and I both use Lenovo ThinkPads and they have many energy efficient options. We use them plugged into the system and have found them to be very easy to use and are not energy hogs. I love mine!
• 5. Stop using your clothes dryer! They use a lot of power and it is better for your laundry anyway to hang it. In the winter I hang mine upstairs, but if you have a basement with a furnace, then that would be the perfect place to hang it.
• 6. Replace your electric coffee maker with a coffee percolator that perks on your stove. Better coffee too!
• 7. Take a look at your electric gadgets to see what you really need, and what you can get rid of. Like electric can openers, electric tea pots — really! Give me a break, how hard is it to heat water on the stove? I use an electric mixer, and that has been something I could use right from the start of living on our system.

I will be adding more posts like this one to try to help my followers/readers who are just getting started or want to get started. If you are an experienced solar user and have ideas to add to this basic idea, please let me know and I will add it to my next post on this subject. All ideas to help our readers get more independent are welcome!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

]]> http://solarbaby.org/?feed=rss2&p=372 0 http://solarbaby.org/?p=356 http://solarbaby.org/?p=356#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:04:55 +0000 katlupe http://solarbaby.org/?p=356

Your Off-The-Grid Homestead Can Be Beautiful!

Nick Rosen, of the Off-The-Grid forum,  recently released his book, Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America in July. I read this book with great interest to learn more about other “off-the-gridders”. I found the history of General Electric eye opening and read aloud many parts of that chapter to my husband.  I especially loved the part about General Electric marketing directly to the housewives in those early years to lure them into buying electric appliances. It paid off too. Now nobody can live without many of those items and they are considered essential in most homes.

Nick Rosen is a journalist and documentary filmmaker and writes about living off-the-grid for the London Times, The Guardian and Reuters. He traveled across America interviewing people who were willing to let him into their homes and wrote his opinion of them and their lifestyle for this book. I understand from his book that living full time off-the-grid is not something he does currently but something he would like to do in the future. From his forum I get the feeling that he is promoting going off-the-grid and many of his members are either already doing it or dreaming about it.

One of the things that I find misleading about his book, “off the grid” is that many people will think it is about how to live off the grid, or about how to set up the various systems that the people live with. It is not. It is about what Nick Rosen terms the off the grid movement.  As I wrote in an earlier post, “Why We Chose To Live Off-The-Grid” :

“It has lately came to my attention that there is what is thought of as a movement.  A movement to live off-the-grid, like the back-to-the-land movement or the hippie movement or whatever particular movement you can think of. Funny, I didn’t think of living off-the-grid as having any political stance. I can only speak for my husband and myself, but we had only one reason in mind on moving into a house that was off-the-grid. That was because we wanted to be in a secluded location………..but close enough to some small towns to be able to drive a horse and buggy. The other house we were looking at had 25 acres of land with it and was hooked up to the grid but the whole electrical system had to be over hauled and we figured we would just not hook it up. We were leaning toward that property but what was keeping us from it was that it was on a main road and at the time our dog, Nikita was an active puppy and we were afraid of her getting hit by a car. So when the realtor gave us this listing and we finally went to see it we liked it immediately………..because it was surrounded completely by the state forest.”

I liked reading and learning about so many other people living this way, as personally, I only know a handful. Nick Rosen gives you the picture that people living this way are ecentric characters and living this way out of necessity or political reasons. Many people living this way are doing neither. I won’t mention the pot growers or smokers, as that has nothing to do with being off-the-grid. I know people living on the grid who do both too. One thing I feel we have in common with many of the people interviewed is the need for seclusion. The feeling that the world is too crowded and needing space to live without someone breathing down your neck or at least at the front door. In my father-in-law’s house if you stand at the sink, you can see right into the neighbor’s dining room and see exactly what they are eating! Not for us, that is for sure. Nick introduced me to many people that I would be interested in meeting in person and discussing our systems or how we do certain household chores.

I especially was glad to meet Wretha as she is one of my regular blog readers on here. Carolyn Chute I liked because she was the author of the book, The Beans of Egypt, Maine, and I read that many years ago. But for the most part most of the people in the book are not anything like my husband and myself, so I wouldn’t figure that all people living off-the-grid are like them. Makes me wonder if he wrote about us, what kind of picture he would paint about us? Maybe not so good………..hmmmm????

I don’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t enjoy his book because I did. I liked reading his impressions of  the off-the-grid lifestyle here in America since he is from Britain. It is also informative if you are searching for a community where you can go off-the-grid and fit right in. I have so many people contact me on this subject, but they are either just dreaming of it and not really serious, or they are afraid to take those first steps to do away with life as they know it on the grid. This book proves it can be done and that you do not need tons of money to start. Just what I have told people over and over.

So check it out and let me know what your thoughts on the off-the-grid movement is. Is just that you don’t want the electric  bill any longer? Or is that you want to live away from mainstream America in a secluded location? Or is there another reason? I’d be interested in knowing what people are thinking when they request the information from me on going off-the-grid.

Cooking over the fire with cast iron!

Our kids always compared living here to being on a vacation or camping. Well, it was never like being on a vacation to us because we work to keep our place running smoothly. With horses, there is work to be done daily as well. Our water needs to be brought inside every morning and sometimes in the evening, if I used a lot during the day. But there are a lot of things you can use on your off-the-grid homestead that is really just regular camping gear. Since I knew we would not have any electric at all when we first moved here I bought some items that campers use. One of them was the pyramid toaster which I love. We also have one of those popcorn poppers that you shake. It is made for using over a campfire but we have used it plenty right on our gas cooking stove, as well as the wood cook stove.

Some of the items that are regarded as camping equipment were originally designed for normal living back before they were used for camping. My favorite cookware is made of cast iron. I have a variety of pots, skillets and Dutch ovens and use them daily. Nothing is better or easier to use than a well seasoned cast iron pan! My daily dishes are the granite ware dishes and kettles and coffee pot that are sold in most camping stores. I like these because I can keep them in my warming oven all the time and serve hot food on warm plates. You can also set them on a burner or in your oven without worry they will melt or burn. I use the granite ware cups for melting butter all the time. My wood cook stove has a butter melter built on, and you can set the cup on that to melt butter for a recipe. So easy!

A variety of cast iron for cooking is essential!

Some other items we used pretty regular was the coleman table top stove that is used for camping. Of course, we still use lanterns as well as kerosene lamps. But lanterns are pretty much available in all camping stores. The lantern makes a good light to carry out to the barn to check your livestock or take a walk to the outhouse. A lantern for a night light in a house is safe if you have cats, as I always worried about them knocking over a lamp. Another item you can pick up in any most any store nowadays is the coolers or ice chests. A camping store may have a bigger variety and price ranges. It is true you get what you pay for so if you are just using it to store your soda or beer that is one thing. But if you are storing meat, dairy foods and condiments you may want to spend a little bit more and get a really good one.

Eventually we changed over to having most modern conveniences if we wanted them. There are still some items that we keep using since using our own solar system does not mean we want to waste our power.  We have to monitor how much power each gadget or electrical device uses. Can’t go crazy here as we don’t plan on adding too many panels at one time. Building our system slowly over time so it is more affordable that way. Just want to add that there are many items that may be considered to be “old fashioned” by others, but for us they are the choice we have made for that task. Such as the toaster. I will never buy an electrical one……..ever! I hate them and love the way I toast my bread with the pyramid toaster. Some electrical gadgets to me seem to be silly things that have been invented to just make money off lazy people. An electric tea pot? Come on, give me a break! Who buys these things? How hard is it to heat water on a stove?

You can still pack some picnic baskets and go on a camping trip or just take a hike in the forest and get away. Just because you are living off-the-grid doesn’t mean you will never want to leave home and go on a vacation. Many times you might just need to get away. So do it and come home refreshed and ready to dig into those homestead chores!

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole
Powered By KG Lupole LLC

It has lately came to my attention that there is what is thought of as a movement.  A movement to live off-the-grid, like the back-to-the-land movement or the hippie movement or whatever particular movement you can think of. Funny, I didn’t think of living off-the-grid as having any political stance. I can only speak for my husband and myself, but we had only one reason in mind on moving into a house that was off-the-grid. That was because we wanted to be in a secluded location………..but close enough to some small towns to be able to drive a horse and buggy. The other house we were looking at had 25 acres of land with it and was hooked up to the grid but the whole electrical system had to be over hauled and we figured we would just not hook it up. We were leaning toward that property but what was keeping us from it was that it was on a main road and at the time our dog, Nikita was an active puppy and we were afraid of her getting hit by a car. So when the realtor gave us this listing and we finally went to see it we liked it immediately………..because it was surrounded completely by the state forest.

I like the independence. I like the freedom. I love the fact that we do not have to pay an electric bill. I also think we both love it that there are no ugly wires strung to our house. Even our wires to our telephone are underground…………even under the road. Our wires to our solar panels that are now on top of our barn roof are underground to the barn and then go upstairs and out the roof. You don’t see them. I feel our home is a mix of old fashioned living with high technology. We use some old fashioned methods but not because they are old fashioned, but because those methods might be best suited for us. We do not like to use gasoline powered items unless we have to. Like gas lawn mowers, rototillers, trimmers, etc.

We like relying on ourselves as much as we can. Yes, we have to interact with some outside forces. Such as internet connection, telephone company, propane company, tax man and a variety of business expenses but for the most part, we are left alone. This year, I expect to get a lot of food stored up and hopefully get more work done on our house. We see progress every year but it is never enough for us. Slow…..but sure is our motto. This year we have done quite a bit here at Peaceful Forest Homestead. Such as:

1. Battery room is almost all walled in with cinder blocks.

2. Pipe going into our well to be hooked up when we can get our pump and pressurized tank.

3. Electric wire going to the barn from the house.

4. Solar panels on top of the barn roof.

5. Midnight Solar box installed in barn.

6. Pantry gutted.

7. Root cellar all cleaned out.

8. Stone bench built in root cellar.

9. Cherry tree trimmed in back yard.

10. Fence line on front of paddock moved back.

11. New door on the upstairs entry into barn.

It doesn’t sound like a lot but combine those jobs with the job of horse care, household chores all done manually, wood work, gardening and preserving food and running a home-based business consisting of two websites and four blogs and selling items on Bonanzle, Amazon and Homesteading Today’s Barter board, three cats and one big dog…………….whew!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Photo Credit: Powerhouse Museum Collection

Since my post, Vehicles Are Essential Living Off-The-Grid two weeks ago, I have gotten emails from readers asking more questions. Everyone that reads this blog or my other one, Homesteading On The Internet, knows that we did manage to live for nine months without any motor vehicle. To say it wasn’t easy is definitely an understatement. I thought I’d be able to take the Dial-A-Ride available through out Chenango County to go to the store. I didn’t know they had rules about how many packages you could carry! It would cost me about $19. to go to our small city of Norwich, which is 13 miles away. So I had to accept rides from a friend. It was nice because we would go shopping and out to eat  and have a nice day. But I felt like I was dependent on someone else. So we went back to the motor vehicles.

At the time, we kept buying older vehicles to save having an auto loan. I just did not want the monthly payment as it did not seem to fit with my frugal homesteading life. I will tell you this though, even with a husband who could fix the vehicles and growing up with a family of auto mechanics………..it is NOT worth it! Every month when I pay our truck payment, I say, “thank you”! They need to be fixed constantly. I put more money into those so called frugal vehicles than my monthly payment for my Dodge Dakota truck. It has never needed a repair so far and we have had it since 2006.

I mentioned on here before about a new website I had found, and thought I should mention it again on this post. It is called Repair Pal, and if you go to their “find a shop”  link, put in the area you live in or are traveling through. Say you are looking for a Chicago auto repair shop. This page will tell you information about the city also, in case you are just traveling, or new to the area, and are not familiar with it. It warns you about things to look out for when driving through the area and the climate and things that may go wrong with your vehicle due to the climate.

If you are thinking of purchasing a certain type of car, then Repair Pal also helps you there. Just put in the kind of vehicle you are thinking of buying. Say a Toyota Corolla. You will find: Ratings and Reviews, Questions and Answers, Common Problems and Recalls and Technical Service Bulletins. This will alert you to problems with the vehicles or help you make the choice on one that has no known problems. That seems pretty rare. But this way you can see which problems could come up that you do not want to deal with. Especially pricey ones!

Then there is the Auto Repair Encyclopedia that will assist you in repairing your vehicle or giving you an idea of what could be wrong with it. If you think your water pump is bad then you would put that in and the parts list for what you need to replace it is right there. It also gives you related items which are what else could be wrong besides the water pump or instead of the water pump. They also give you quotes of what the repair might cost you. A very handy tool indeed!

In the future I do believe there will be a big change over to electric vehicles. If you could power your home and your transportation with the sun, wind and hydro power, that would be awesome! I think that time is coming. My husband is very much into this way of thinking and can’t wait for it to happen. Hopefully, in our lifetime.

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole
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Sunshine Coming into Peaceful Forest

A big savings on keeping your off-the-grid homestead cool in the summer is by using thermal windows. Windows can make a big difference. Bringing in heat in the winter and keeping it out in the summer. Many people use window shades, canopies or thermal window curtains to effectively do that. I have not replaced our windows yet but we plan on doing that as soon as we can. For the time being I rely on the window treatments to do that. That is not to say that the window treatments are not part of the end result when the windows are changed over. They are a big part of it. They work as a passive solar addition to your home. They are well worth the investment, though these days the cost of thermal window curtains has gone way down.

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

Thermal blackout curtains are another option. Not only do they keep the sun out so you sleep in  a comfortable atmosphere when it is hot outside, or humid, as it is today in upstate New York.  They also block out the sun so it keeps the room totally dark if you want to sleep or just keep the room from the sunlight.  I keep my curtains drawn on many of these hot days. Then when the sun moves to another side of the house I can open those curtains and let some light in. Our dog, Nikita needs the house cool in the summer because she has a heavy coat, and she hates summer time. So a shaded house is essential for a pet owner and especially if you are gone during the day and your pets are inside. It is so hot here today that even my cat is sleeping on the floor which she never does.

It is usually not so hard to live with your off-the-grid system but when it gets this hot and humid in July it is harder than normal. We do not have any type of air conditioning or even fans. We could have fans, but we have never really needed any. Eventually we will put one of those ceiling fans up and that will keep us cool. I also want to add a solar attic fan to our attic. Keep the air moving. I have always just used cold water to keep myself cool in the summer. Putting your feet in a pan of cold water will cool your whole body off………….real fast! Try it. Or put a wash cloth soaked in cold water on your neck. That is very refreshing for me.

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

In conclusion I would like to add that shower curtains are another type of curtain needed on your homestead. Not so much for insulation, as with the thermal curtains or blackout curtains but for keeping the water in your shower and not on your floor.  I like the new hookless shower curtain variety as they only take a second or two to put up. Wow! We plan on enlarging our bathroom when we are done with the kitchen. I would like a tub and a separate handicap accessible  shower stall. Setting up your bathroom is part of an off-the-grid home. You want to make it easy to use and access as you get older. If you do it right, now, you won’t have to do it over later.

Copywrite © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

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When we first started out here at Peaceful Forest Homestead using solar, as I have told many times before here, and on my other blog, Homesteading On The Internet, we had one 55 watt panel, a very tiny charge controller (so tiny in fact, it has no name on it anywhere) and used an automotive inverter from Walmart and two fork-lift truck batteries. If we needed to charge our batteries we had to bring our car up to the window and hook it up and let it run. Yuck! You can imagine the smell and the noise! I always remember my pet hen, Lil’ Red for some unknown reason, would hang out around the stinky car while it was running. We went through a lot of gas that way. The one panel we had was on a wooden frame and we would move it around the yard to try to keep it in the sun! Of course, we were new to this solar power stuff.

So here it is eleven years later and everything has changed. We still have a small system. Though it has, and is still growing. Our panels have grown to five, they are now on our barn roof. Every morning they are getting good sun. We have had them bringing in as much as 21 amps which is the most we have ever had. Right now as I am writing this, they are bringing in 15 amps. What a difference!  And for longer periods of time too.

The important thing is that we are independent of the utility company. No matter what, we are on our own and not dependent on the electric dictator. Our power has never gone out unless it was from the fault of something in our power system. Which we did have that happen a few years back. But once it was fixed with the expert advice from Backwoods Solar, where we purchased a good share of our equipment, we were up and running. Haven’t had any issues since then. Never have to call the electric dictator to complain about the bill or make arrangements to pay it. Nothing like that! And no matter how cheap your bill is………..you still are giving someone else money to run your house. I don’t care if it is thirty or forty dollars a month or less, you could be putting that in your pocket instead. It is your choice though and I am not writing this blog to convince anyone to change to using solar or any other alternative power system. I am just telling you that it is possible to do even if you are on a strict budget. Our system went together little by little, dollar by dollar.

So not only am I happy every morning when we have sun for my garden but for my solar system as well. July should be a good sunny month for us here but you never know as the part of New York we live in gets lots of rain. I know on the horizon is solar panels that get charged even on cloudy days and I know my husband would be happy to have those panels. Because someday we plan on having an electric car that is charged with our own power system.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

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Living out beyond the power lines makes it easy to choose to set up your own energy system. It also means that your secluded homestead could be susceptible to unwanted intruders or burglars. Your solar system alone could make you a target for solar panel theft. Yes, I read on line about one lady who was sleeping in her house when all her panels were stolen off her roof! Don’t laugh at her………….the article also told of a police station using solar for their system and had theirs stolen as well. Now you can laugh! But don’t think it can’t happen to you! With the cost of things, including solar panels so high, people will do what they must to get them or to sell them. So you must protect yourself as well as your belongs. This is where a home security team comes in, keeping your home protected whether you are home or not. Even a dog could be shot or drugged. A security system offers you a monitoring system that reacts to emergencies twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.  Even in times of emergencies, such as storms, the monitoring system stays in place and active.

Leaving the doors unlocked or your keys in your vehicle are pretty normal for small towns or rural areas. A couple of years ago a man had escaped from prison and he was going to rural areas around us and stealing trucks. He liked it if the keys were left in it as it made it easier for him to steal. So people were locking up their trucks at night instead of letting them sit there begging to be stolen. Leaving your garage door open when you leave to go to town is not good either. That is almost as bad as the people on Face Book who announce to the world that they are going away for two weeks and locking up their house. Not a good idea! Especially since Google maps will lead anyone right to your door!

The first thing to do when considering setting up protection for your home is to take a good look at it. Can you see a bunch of things right off the bat that would make it inviting to intruders? Here is a small survey at Fort Worth, PD designed for looking at your home in a new light. It will help you see things that you can change to make your home less appealing to thieves and vandals. The survey covers the house itself, including the doors and windows, the landscaping and the garage. Best to know how a thief thinks when trying to make a protection plan! What would appeal to you may not appeal to them.

Now to protect your home here are some  police security tips. I figure they would know better than me how to do it. When I took the survey I realized our home is not as well protected as I would like. So now we are working on some of these points. Since our home is being remodeled and designed to accommodate our alternative energy system I think we can incorporate some of these tips into our design. Makes me wonder how smart it is putting in so many windows which would bring in passive heat when windows are what is the easiest to break into. I look at so many fancy homes and they have lots of windows and landscaping to give them privacy. That is not good either. The landscaping hides someone trying to break in your home.

So remember to try to follow some of these guidelines when setting up an off-the-grid home. The problem with these homesteads is that they are  usually many miles away from other homes. No neighbors and no traffic are two things that could make your home easy for a break-in or a vandal. And don’t forget that your solar panels are not something to be taken for granted. They are outside in plain view probably and they are of value to others. So be careful or they may end up missing if you don’t set up some sort of protection from theft and vandalism. Setting up a security system could be the best investment you could make!  Good luck!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

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A part of the off-the-grid homestead that we don’t seem to talk about too much is our motor vehicles that we use for transportation. Most homesteads or off-the-grid homes are out in the boonies or at least out of  town by more than a couple of miles. For us though, we are only six  miles from our nearest small town. We are mainly off-the-grid because our house is situated in the middle of the state forest. Electric lines run about a half mile from us. We’ll never connect to it though. So when you live out like this your really need your car or truck. We lived for eight months out here without one to see if we could and how we would survive. We did. But it wasn’t easy!

We have a 2003 Dodge Dakota truck and we love it. It has never needed any kind of repair since we purchased it in 2006. Of course, it does not a have a lot of miles on it and my husband does preventive maintenance on it regularly. That makes a huge difference!  I recently came across this site and liked it so much that I wrote about it on my other blog, Homesteading On The Internet. I wanted to share Repair Pal with all my readers here on Solar Baby as well. It is a concept that I feel is timely. We are all turning to the Internet for everything now and our vehicles are next. Not only doing research on  what kind of vehicle to buy, but now, many people are purchasing them directly off a website. I know we  kind of found our vehicle online. The dealership contacted my husband and told him that they had a truck for him to come look at. It was a good deal and that truck is the best!

Our Dodge Dakota

On Repair Pal you  put your zip code or city in the search box to find repair shops in whatever area you live or work in. For instance say you need a  Houston auto repair shop. You would come to the Houston page and it lists every repair shop with a map for directions. If your particular shop isn’t in there (which they aren’t all in their data base…….yet), you can add it. It also tells you a little bit of information about Houston and the traffic patterns there. I checked out the repair shops for my area and it was very accurate and even had some I did not know about. Of course Houston had more than sixteen pages of shops and my town of Oxford, NY only had two pages! We are way smaller, of course.

It has a search engine for whatever kind of vehicle you have. If you have an Acura TL Repair Pal will have everything you need to know about your car, including comments from other owners. Add your own comments, good or bad. Keep an online record of all your vehicle repairs and maintenance  for the future. All the recalls for your vehicle are listed there for you to read and study. Very handy guide for keeping you informed of any important recalls for your truck or car!  Also a list of common problems that I believe may be shared with other vehicle owners. I’d check it out for any vehicle I was considering purchasing in the future too.

Photo Credit: US National Archives

There is an encyclopedia on Repair Pal and I really  like this feature a lot. You can look up what might be wrong with your vehicle and it gives you ideas of what to do or how to prevent it from happening again. If you are considering getting an oil change, it explains to you the basis of the oil change and what you need to do.  Also the  common misdiagnose feature explains facts that could be mistaken for other things faulty. Estimates of what the repair you need may cost.  They of course, can not tell you the exact price for the repair as it may vary for each vehicle and what is needed. So remember it is just an estimate, you’d have to contact the repair shop and talk to them.

I had to check out the brake job on the encyclopedia! That is what we always seem to need on our vehicles. Maybe it is because New York state is full of huge mountains and there is not a flat road anywhere here that I can think of. This is one area our Dodge Dakota has had work on. Not because it broke done due to brakes but because my husband likes to have them replaced before they are faulty.  I have been in several vehicles over the years that had the brakes go out on them, and believe me it is not something you’d want to happen again. I can think of four different times of  having to live through the fear of driving home with no brakes! If you use Repair Pal to study the brake system you will see that they are not as mysterious as they seem.

For the most part motor vehicles are a very important part of your homestead. We are always having to go pick up supplies. I remember how hard it was to get them when we were not using a vehicle. Someday, in the near future we hope to have one of those new electric vehicles that will be powered by our own alternative energy system. Now that would be real nice! But until that time we are dependent on our truck. So keeping it in tip top condition is very important!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

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