Be still my heart :)

I have discovered that I can be extremely patient.  8 - 9 months worth of patience to be precise.

I lived in fear of this chimney separting
enough that it fell down in a messy
heap

You recall last year we had a smoke problem with our incorrectly installed Dover stove.  The aluminium chimney should not have been a stand alone chimney, it should've been enclosed inside a brick chimney.  This is because the aluminium chimney cannot take the contrast in heat and cold and as a result the "sections" expand and contract thereby pulling apart, leaking smoke and causing resin to collect and drip out and down the wall next to it, never mind inside the chimney.

An external chimney which should've been
insulated - and should be much higher
than the roof apex.  The chimney in the
pic above is 150mm galvanised steel -
un-isulated - WRONG!

Also, RMan installed the bend to the outside prior to the stove being in situ, which meant that it was at the wrong (external) height, and the angle of the bend was also incorrect.  We tried to install a (specially ordered and manufactured) bend at a 62.5° angle - WRONG!  Reckon that the standard 45° is standard for a reason.  And I also reckon that that probably did not help with the "draw" - thus smoking us out every time it was lit.

Before - the kitchen with the Dover stove

Well, now that the house is complete internally, there is no way that I was going to allow all that fresh paint / skimmed ceiling / furniture / curtains to accumulate any soot / smoke smell at all.  Which means that we have not lit the Dover since the middle of last winter.

And - we've already had a bit of lovely cold weather recently - which means that winter's on it's way LOL  Memories of the cold I experienced in our building site of a house last winter are still pretty fresh in my mind - and, normally, I don't feel the cold.   Admittedly, we don't have any temporary thin board nailed to large drafty openings anymore, our double glazed windows are all installed, and, with the ceiling in place, the draft from the roof area is no longer a feature in the equation.  Plus, with the furniture, the room feels somehow warmer.  But we still recorded an internal temperature in the house of 13°C recently.

"C'mon, Dani - let's light the Dover - it's freezing," RMan pleaded.

"Nope, it's not happening, RMan.  Either the chimney is redone (call back the builders to knock huge hole through the wall and build / tie in a new (brick) chimney), or everything must be replaced," I replied.

I stood firm.  I don't do that often, but when I do...

I got nowhere - for 8 - 9 months.

Then a cold front hit in early April - and RMan remembered last year - he feels the cold more than I do ;)

When the time was right (i.e. when RMan was really, really cold) I sprang into action.  Persistently.  Adamantly.  And I successfully convinced RMan.

The end result is...

Tadaaaaa! 

The Rosa oven reached 300oC in 1/2 hour -
and the temperature in the room went from
17.9 to 23°C

Our Nordica Rosa was installed yesterday :)

The Nordica Sovrana wood burning stove

Nordica Sovrana

I was originally going to go for a Nordica Sovrana.

However, RMan didn't think it looked "farmy" enough - too clinical.  And, after numerous (seriously, at least 12 ) phone calls and likewise number of e-mails to the supplier, Fernando, in Somerset West, (a very patient man LOL) RMan decided that the Nordica Rosa would better suit our needs.  Me - I wasn't fussy - all I wanted was there wherewithall to keep us toasty warm this winter, and something effective to cook our meals on.  

Here she is in this morning's daylight...

After - the kitchen with the Nordica Rosa installed
she adds a 'je ne sais quois' to the room :)

Nordica Rosa Specifications

Don't you love it when a plan comes together :)

No worries this year about being cold :)

This stove is a completely different beast to the basic Dover stove.  The Rosa doors are:

1  heat resistent glass so that one can see the state of the fire, as well as the state of the food in the oven without having to open the doors constantly;

2  and they all have proper seals which the Dover doesn't.  The Dover is just cast iron against cast iron = plenty of smoke / heat emitting gaps, and very high consumption of wood.  Even the Rosa's chimney has a seal where it meets the stove top.  And the chimney sections have been riveted together, so no danger of their falling down :)

And the emissions are:
    dust - lower than 75mg / mtr3*
    CO2 - lower than 1500 mg / mtr3*
(* 13% O²)

The 250mm diameter insulated stainless steel
chimney

This state of the art wood burning kitchen stove and chimney have been professionally installed, with a (single skin) stainless steel chimney internally, and an insulated (double skin) stainless steel chimney externally - no contraction and expansion going to happen there :)  Also the chimney is now the correct height above the roof apex, which helps with the draw and the smoke dispersal.  The installers, Jaco and Michael, were  fantastic - not only did they have a slow 3.5 hour trip here, in the pouring rain, from Somerset West with the 180kg stove on the back of their bakkie (pickup truck) but their care (when breaking through the wall and eliminating as much debris / dust as they could), attention to detail, and the pride in their work was obvious through the constant measurements / spirit level checks.  Even down to carefully and thoroughly removing any fingerprint marks on the stainless steel chimney and cleaning up their mess (chips of bricks and cement and the dust) afterwards.  Bless them - they arrived at 10.30 a.m. and only left at 5.30 p.m. - still with a 2 hour trip home ahead of them.

They got a steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup to warm them just before they left - it was the least I could do :)

Our local saw mill has (free) scraps of dry bluegum which is the recommended and perfect hardwood to burn in the Rosa (together with the alien Australian Black Wattle we have to hand - until it's finished.  Then is 100% dry bluegum.)

Life is certainly going to be very "rosy" this winter :)  Without using any LP gas nor Escom's expensive, possibly erratic and coal produced electricity.  The Nordica's emissions are far superior to their coal fire generated power too :)

Yeeeeeeha!  All my future birthday's and Christmas pressies in one fell swoop - I'm beside myself with excitement.

Thanks RMan - for all our sakes.  Big points scored... :)

At this precise moment, outside is 11°C, inside is a comfortable 23°C, and I am sitting at the dining room table publishing this, with RMan watching his rugby.  The stove has been lit for an hour and my back is all lovely and warm, a crisp roast chicken and even crispier baked potatoes are cooking in the oven which will be served together with a broccoli and cauliflour cheese bake.

I'm We're going to be in heaven this winter :)

Forgetfulness

For the past 6 - 9 months we have been switching on our geyser for half an hour in the morning, to warm the water up, and then switching it off again once we have showered.  If I have needed hot washing up water, I have been boiling extra water in the kettle (when I make tea and storing the extra in a flask) on a small two plate gas stove - in fact, between the two plate gas stove and a small (clean / virgin LOL) barbecue, which belongs to RSon, we have not had to switch on our stove at all this winter.  And, if I have any say in it, we won't be using it either.


With these measures we have implemented we have, when compared to last year's electricity figures, been saving roughly 8 - 9 kw / day.  That equates to a cost of approximately ZAR300.00 a month - HALF our electricity account!


What has it cost us?  ZAR169.00 for 9 kgs of LPG which is still going strong after being in use for over 10 weeks!!!!  A financial saving of a minimum of ZAR216.00 / month.  And, eco-saving... less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, less demand on the power supplier, instant cooking heat, and cooking and room heating happening simultaneously.

My two plate gas stove

Do I give a continental what my kitchen looks like - not a sausage!  As long as everything is clean - that's my main concern.  The fact that our bank balance is ZAR300 better off - even better.  And roughly 300kw of grid power not consumed - Whoopee!

RSon's baby barbecue - perfect for baking bread,
roasting Chickens, whatever else I would normally
use an oven for.

AND, through using the two plates and the small barbecue for cooking, they are providing very comfortable warmth to our open plan lounge / dining room / kitchen of an evening.   And trust me - last Monday night we had a rain storm, complete with lightning, thunder and hail, which reduced the outside temperature to 7oC (44.5oF)  But our house was lovely and snug and warm.


Killing two birds with one stone!


But, on Monday we forgot to switch off the geyser once we had finished showering...


... and I only discovered it on Tuesday morning when I went to switch on the geyser.

My Owl electricity monitor showed an electricity consumption of 27.635 kw!  For Monday only!   Considering we have been using, on average 17 - 19 kw /day, that is hectic!


We have also used slightly more electricity this month than last month - probably because the weather is colder.


Last month we used 587.65 kw - an average of 19.58 / day :

The lower figure in the bottom right corner in the
consumption for April

And last month (up to 12 noon on the 31/7/2011), we used 631.79 kw...

Bottom lower right hand corner again

... an average of 21.05 kw / day


I feel terrible that I wasted 9-odd kw of energy - just by forgetting to switch the geyser off!


And, I have to say, I would find it difficult to live without my Owl LOL  Information at a glance - who could ask for more?

Electricity blackouts this winter

On the front page of this mornings' Cape Times was an article concerning the proposed enforced decrease in the power usage of all Capetonians, aka rolling blackouts (aka no power for 3 - 6 hours), unless we can voluntarily cut our electricity use by 25 - 40%!  With winter looming, I think that's a tall order.

Also, considering that we had an average increase of 25% in tariffs last year, (and similarly priced increases definitely on the cards for the next two years) to "help finance new power stations / production and thereby avert rolling blackouts" I, personally, am horrified!

Horrified at the cheek of Escom (the South African power provider) at reneging on their reasons for the price increase.  No rolling blackouts indeed!!

But, I also question why the homeowner should be penalised for industries demand for, and use of, power - even a 5-year-old could work out that manufacturing plants / factories consume far more power than the simple homeowner.

And, I am extremely grateful for the power saving methods I have introduced in our home in the past 36 months.  And for the resultant reduction in power consumption by at least 45% in the past 15 months.

This winter we will not put on heaters / electric blankets (which we don't possess) this winter - extra jerseys / thicker socks - even a beanie or a hoodie - they will all help to keep us warmer.  And, if whilst we watch TV in the evening, it is uncomfortably chilly - well, there's nothing like snuggling under a blanket on a comfy chair :-)  And what on earth is wrong with a microwaved bean bag or hot water bottle at the foot of the bed, if that is required?

My solar oven use may be limited due to the fact that we don't get much sun in our garden in winter - however, with that said, whenever I do have sun available, the solar oven will be employed to make soups - plain vegetable / bean / dried pea soups - the type of soups that can be cooked at a low heat and which will not promote the growth of salmonella or some other such dreaded bacteria, so nothing with milk, eggs, chicken or meat.  I WILL NOT use my electric oven under any circumstances - why should I - I haven't used it for the past 10 months anyway!

My hot box, made out of RSons' old toy box
and shredded paper from the office
which didn't land up on the compost heap.

My hot box worked well last year, and I will probably have to use our gas barbecue for baking bread.  But I don't mind that, as it's instant heat - I don't have to wait for it for 20 - 30 minutes in order for it to warm up to the required temperature, wasting who knows how much power / electricity whilst it does so!  A baking stone on the grill also retains the heat and improves this method for cooking bread.  I would obviously try and combine different foods whilst the barbecue is lit, and it is in "oven mode" - bread and roast chicken / bread and a casserole / bread and a quiche... the possibilities are endless.


Washing drying in our laundry room

I do not use a tumble dryer - either I line dry our clothing, or, if the weather is inclement for a number of days, I make a plan in our laundry room (you could even use your bathroom or a spare bedroom).  Ironing - you can't see un-ironed clothing under jerseys or jackets - so why bother? ;-)  Just ensure that you give the clothing a really good shake (a "snap-shake") when you take it out of the washing machine - and on a windy day, the wind will soon knock any creases out of the garment.

The vacuum cleaner - have you ever tried brushing your carpets with a hand brush or broom?  You seriously don't need to go to a gym to get a workout in your own home.

When we boil the kettle, we fill up a thermos flask with the balance of the hot water - it stays more than hot enough for the next cup or two.  And most of my kitchen implements for preparing food are manually operated.

Manual kitchen implements

ALL our light globes are CFL's - and, at night, we only ever have one on at a time.

Plus, we have our solar light - let the sunlight (what there is of it) charge the internal battery during the day, and use that power at night.

I turn the light to face the wall and the wall bounces back all the illumination we need :-)

My 'puter - can't really cut back on its' use, as I use it for personal pleasure and for our business - so apart from switching off the screen whenever I am not in front of it for a while, I do also have a screen saver function, which puts it "to sleep" after 5 minutes of non-activity.

Our only real problem is going to be our geyser, and, as our purchase of a solar geyser is unlikely this year, I am really tempted to install a Kexin (Dew Hot) LP gas powered geyser, similar to what we use on the farm.  It works brilliantly, and most importantly, only uses gas when you switch on the hot tap.  An added bonus is that it has adjustable settings, for winter / summer use, and a fire adjuster.  And a Kexin (plus installation) will be about 20% the cost of a solar geyser.  Our existing geyser is at least 25 years old, and CANNOT be efficient anymore - certainly not as efficient as the newer models.

Other than the changes we have made, I cannot see how we can reduce our electricity consumption further.

I don't fear rolling blackouts, as we do have the wherewith all to be really very comfortable during them.  And we have, very happily, experienced life without power on the farm.  I just object to their being enforced!

I feel for all the Capetonians who haven't taken steps to simplify their lives or who haven't become less dependent on Escom - the rolling blackouts will hit them pretty hard, I fear.

But, I have to confess, I do love any excuse for candlelight :-)   And I'll have a valid reason to just sit and knit some more dishcloths whilst the blackouts are in force.  Knitting I can do by candlelight.

I will miss blogging and catching up on blogs if the power is out first thing in the morning... But, Blogger (and the problems I am having with my reading list on my dashboard) permitting, I will catch up sooner or later! :-)

By the way, is no one else interested in a give away?  The offer end this evening.

Our "Owl" is watching us...

I mentioned in an earlier post that I initially bought the Owl electricity monitor for the farm, to monitor how much power we have used and thus enable us to work out how much power we have left in our future deep cycle batteries.  Admittedly, we will not be using a huge amount of power - mainly for our lights and our future TV (in the evenings). Our water (bathroom and kitchen) is heated by our 10lt Kexin gas heater and I have found a solar powered 12vlt freezer, which, once we purchase it, will freeze our food (chicken, preserves, hubby's beer which is just not cold enough and needs a quick chill, etc) as well as 5tl bottles of water, which will be replaced on a daily basis, in order to keep our large cooler box at fridge temperature. Through our frequent trips to the farm we know this system works!

But, until we have our wind turbine and deep cycle batteries, we are using the Owl at home.  It has been tremendous.  On a daily basis we can see, at any given time, how much power we are consuming, what it's costing us, and how much green house gas our electricity consumption is causing.  Each of us, in passing the machine, which is located on our kitchen counter, has said - "wow, we're using that much - what can we switch off?"

The Owl monitor showing (top) energy consumption (the dishwasher was on and (bottom) green house gas emissions

I have kept a spreadsheet of our electricity consumption for the past 3 years - below is a summary of the average electricity consumtion for the month of March in those years:

March 2007 36.414 kWh / day @ 30.05 cents / kWh
March 2008 29.464 kWh / day @ 32.21 cents / kWh
March 2009 22.042 kWh / day @ 47.38 cents / kWh
March 2010 20.862 kWh / day @ 64.44 cents / kWh

Scary to see the price increases - and we have a minimum of 24.8% increase ahead of us - effective in July.  But it has been very rewarding to see our consumption coming down.  It wasn't that difficult :


- I cleaned out and switched off our chest freezer "(out of date' food tends to collect at the bottom anyway and we have two fridges which both have freezers)
- the number of lights we have on in the evenings have been reduced and all our lights globes have been replaced with CFL's
- our geyser is turned down to 50oC (I still have to get a geyser blanket)
- we stopped leaving sundry equipment on standby
- the pool motor now only runs for an hour in the morning and another in the evening - and the pool is sparkling!


This is all good practice for our future farm living - being more aware of everything can only benefit us in the long term.


And it is educating our son, who still lives at home, about his own future place and the real costs of living.