Grow your own food/ home, yard and garden DIY stuff/fixing your own home issues

[Lord Ba'al]

just dawned on my dundering old self you probably meant celsius!

Indeed I did! Zero is the freezing point in Celcius. Apparently in Fahrenheit it's 32. (had to look that up) So as you say the lowest temp for you this year was 24F then it would have been freezing it seems.

 

[YJ02]

Indeed I did! Zero is the freezing point in Celcius. Apparently in Fahrenheit it's 32. (had to look that up) So as you say the lowest temp for you this year was 24F then it would have been freezing it seems.

well, that was just the lowest for march, but on march 1st it was 60f, so, overall a warm month and a warm winter. which, like i said, for our area, warm is not always good; it can often bring a lot of precipitation, often in the form of heavy wet snow or worse, freezing rain

those 2 would be my two main considerations for a structure; heavy wet snow-which can freeze and become much denser (one of these storms brought down a small part of my deck 5-6 yrs ago) when it freezes up. any accumalation of freezing rain over an 1" or so can be destructive as well-a problem for plastic

 

[PussyGalore]

well, that was just the lowest for march, but on march 1st it was 60f, so, overall a warm month and a warm winter. which, like i said, for our area, warm is not always good; it can often bring a lot of precipitation, often in the form of heavy wet snow or worse, freezing rain

those 2 would be my two main considerations for a structure; heavy wet snow-which can freeze and become much denser (one of these storms brought down a small part of my deck 5-6 yrs ago) when it freezes up. any accumalation of freezing rain over an 1" or so can be destructive as well-a problem for plastic

Why don't you run a low-volt cable along the roof to melt the snow and ice? The same type of cable that they use for house roofs and rain gutters? You could either hard wire it, replete with ON/OFF switch, or you could simply plug it in to an exterior outlet when it snows. (It's been a few years since I've dealt with this type of thing but I think you could find a cable small enough to install and work for that size job.)

 

[YJ02]

Why don't you run a low-volt cable along the roof to melt the snow and ice? The same type of cable that they use for house roofs and rain gutters? You could either hard wire it, replete with ON/OFF switch, or you could simply plug it in to an exterior outlet when it snows. (It's been a few years since I've dealt with this type of thing but I think you could find a cable small enough to install and work for that size job.)

another option to add to the list

 

[YJ02]

beautiful home and location. great ideas

 

[Overmind One]

well, that was just the lowest for march, but on march 1st it was 60f, so, overall a warm month and a warm winter. which, like i said, for our area, warm is not always good; it can often bring a lot of precipitation, often in the form of heavy wet snow or worse, freezing rain

those 2 would be my two main considerations for a structure; heavy wet snow-which can freeze and become much denser (one of these storms brought down a small part of my deck 5-6 yrs ago) when it freezes up. any accumalation of freezing rain over an 1" or so can be destructive as well-a problem for plastic

Why don't you run a low-volt cable along the roof to melt the snow and ice? The same type of cable that they use for house roofs and rain gutters? You could either hard wire it, replete with ON/OFF switch, or you could simply plug it in to an exterior outlet when it snows. (It's been a few years since I've dealt with this type of thing but I think you could find a cable small enough to install and work for that size job.)

This "snow" that you speak of...what is that?

 

[Rac80]

Just light dusting of snow occasionally here , but dang is it COLD!!!!

 

[YJ02]

here is a great website guide for composting basics

http://www.compostthis.co.uk/

 

[YJ02]

If you can't quite DIY it, get someone else to!

varmint and pest removal that is. i know many ppl do not approve of it, and i am not for the wholesale killing of anything, except snakes. but these guys are growing their community quite fast and are not moving. sometimes it is necessary to do this to keep a balance. < in fact, all of PA is facing a large increase in all types of animals big and small.>

a few yrs ago, the guy who used to trap the river behind me kept this population under control

he has since stopped and since last summer, these guys have been ravaging my woods. they took out just about every soft wood (except pine and hemlock) tree and under growth and have moved up to hardwoods! beaver are not fond of hardwood but will eat it /use it if they have too.

they have been taking down oak trees (less then 25ft) and have been chewing on the black cherry and ash

time to declare war! i dont mind losing a few soft wood trees, but they have been wrecking chaos turning my woods fast into a meadow! good thing there is no small creek for them to damn up

got this guy, who has never trapped before (he is originally from pensacola fla) to catch them. it is fur season from dec to march and he has been at it for a few weeks now. got this guy tonight.

38" long, 12" wide and 45lbs

avg. But there is a much bigger one there. the pawprints from the other are nearly twice the size of this guy's paws, that puts him at about 60lbs. i am guessing he is the hardwood chewer.

 

[Overmind One]

So.....bio ethanol fireplace fuel. Does anyone here know how to make it? I have found articles on the web which show how, but they all require a still and a fermenter tank. I have been having to order it from Amazon but it gets expensive.

 

[PussyGalore]

So.....bio ethanol fireplace fuel. Does anyone here know how to make it? I have found articles on the web which show how, but they all require a still and a fermenter tank. I have been having to order it from Amazon but it gets expensive.

Ethanol is alcohol so it has to be distilled. Not sure where to find it for home use to be honest. How much do you use on a regular basis? Gallons? How does your fireplace work? I'm assuming you're talking about a patio fireplace that is outdoors. I'd be careful of anything indoors due to poisonous fumes.

 

[Overmind One]

Ethanol is alcohol so it has to be distilled. Not sure where to find it for home use to be honest. How much do you use on a regular basis? Gallons? How does your fireplace work? I'm assuming you're talking about a patio fireplace that is outdoors. I'd be careful of anything indoors due to poisonous fumes.

No, it's a ventless tabletop fireplace and I use it indoors and outdoors (it's ok). Its this one:

It takes one cup of fuel to burn about 2 hours, so yeah it's a lot of fuel. I love it, but the fuel is hard to get locally. I have 24 bottles on order.

 

[YJ02]

I have 24 bottles on order.

what size bottle and how much each?

home depot $14 for 32oz gelled alcohol for indoor/outdoor and cooking (bbq)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rutland-32-fl-oz-Gelled-Fire-Starter-49Q/202218092

here is a diy recipe for in home fire starter:

Flaming Gel Ingredients

• antacid tablets - must contain at least 1000 mg calcium carbonate per tablet
• vinegar (weak acetic acid)
• isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) - 90% or higher is recommended*

70% isopropyl alcohol will work,

https://www.thoughtco.com/make-flaming-gel-recipe-607499


and then this guy with a hand sanitizer recipe


and a gelled ethanol one



BTW-- I ORDERED YOU THIS FROM AMAZON!

 

[Overmind One]

what size bottle and how much each?

home depot $14 for 32oz gelled alcohol for indoor/outdoor and cooking (bbq)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rutland-32-fl-oz-Gelled-Fire-Starter-49Q/202218092

here is a diy recipe for in home fire starter:

Flaming Gel Ingredients

• antacid tablets - must contain at least 1000 mg calcium carbonate per tablet
• vinegar (weak acetic acid)
• isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) - 90% or higher is recommended*

70% isopropyl alcohol will work,

https://www.thoughtco.com/make-flaming-gel-recipe-607499


and then this guy with a hand sanitizer recipe


and a gelled ethanol one



BTW-- I ORDERED YOU THIS FROM AMAZON!

View attachment 33855

Return to sender!

Seriously though, each bottle is a quart, and each "burn" of about an hour and a half is a cup. Twelve bottles is about $60.00 on Amazon.

 

[YJ02]

Return to sender!

Seriously though, each bottle is a quart, and each "burn" of about an hour and a half is a cup. Twelve bottles is about $60.00 on Amazon.

seems like the hand sanitizer method would be a good one and cheap. you wouldn't have to have it in a can, you could use it like the fuel you have been using

 

[Overmind One]

seems like the hand sanitizer method would be a good one and cheap. you wouldn't have to have it in a can, you could use it like the fuel you have been using

The fireplace is not for producing primary heat, it puts out 3600 Btu but I have an IR heater for that. I would like to take the IR heater offline from time to time and supplement with my fireplace.

 

[YJ02]

The fireplace is not for producing primary heat, it puts out 3600 Btu but I have an IR heater for thatt. I would like to take the IR heater offline from time to time and supplement with my fireplace.

I am sure there is a recipe on there someplace for using an additive that would cause a hand sani mix to give off more BTU's
-----------------------------------------------------------
that fire starter i linked from home depot, i used to use it to start the fires in my woodstoves. one day i got bored and cut off the top of a coke can and used a piece of small metal tubing-part of rifle cleaning kit.

i put a funnel into the tube with some cheesecloth in the bottom to slow the drip. i filled the funnel with the fire starter and set it up at a decent angle to run into the soda can

i started the fire starter on fire in the can. the stuff slow dripped into the can about a drop every 2 mins or so.

the can got very very hot and radiated out heat at about three times its circumference

if i could get a larger aluminum can and a better way of delivery, it would make a great heater for a tent or garage

 

[PussyGalore]

No, it's a ventless tabletop fireplace and I use it indoors and outdoors (it's ok). Its this one:

View attachment 33853
It takes one cup of fuel to burn about 2 hours, so yeah it's a lot of fuel. I love it, but the fuel is hard to get locally. I have 24 bottles on order.

Fascinating. I've never seen one of those before. Needless to say, please be careful with it.

 

[Overmind One]

Fascinating. I've never seen one of those before. Needless to say, please be careful with it.

They are very safe, odor and smoke free, and do not require venting of any fumes because there aren't any. Here is how they look in action (disregard vendor name). Mine is identical to the one in the picture I posted, and is the Moda Flame Vigo. You have to know how to buy these, as I have seen the Vigo sell for over $400.00, when I got mine on Amazon for $70.00:

 

[YJ02]

i have seen them in stores around here, but marketed for outdoor use. they claim same specs as per indoor use one and use alcohol gel fuel--ventless, odorless,etc

i have seen tabletop and floating ones for ponds/pools