Water Pumping

The Evolution of the Solar Charge Controller

December 3, 2016

A charge controller is a piece of equipment designed to prevent the batteries in your system from overcharging. It is similar to the voltage regulator in a car. However, unlike a voltage regulator in an automobile, charge controllers have advanced in ways never even imaginable to the hippies in Northern California, USA in the 1970s… […]

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Off Grid Water Systems | How to Eliminate the Water Pump

July 22, 2016
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The best possible scenario when designing your “off the grid water system” is to not need a pump at all! This can be accomplished in many ways: a natural spring fed well that is up the hill from your home or cottage a dug well on a hill above your dwelling create a well with […]

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Choosing the Best Well Pumps for Off Grid Homes

July 13, 2016
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If you are not careful when designing your off grid water pumping system, your pump can be the single largest load on your solar, wind or micro hydro power system.   The best way to provide water to your off grid home is to not use a pump, if possible. But since that is not […]

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Making a Dump Load with a Hot Water Tank Heater

September 18, 2015
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Can a standard off-the-shelf tank style electric hot water heater can make a dump load? Electric tank water heaters are an excellent choice to make a dump load for your solar, wind or micro hydro power system as they are easy to get, cheap, already insulated and have holes to mount low voltage water heating […]

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The Best Off Grid Heating System

March 14, 2015
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The greatest advance in home heating in the past few decades has to be the Open Direct System invented by Radiantec. The Open Direct System uses a highly efficient condensing tank-style water heater that provides both radiant space heating and domestic hot water all in one unit cutting electricity requirements for those of us living […]

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Circulating Pumps for the Off Grid Home

March 16, 2013
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It is almost inevitable you will need at least one circulating pump for your off the grid homestead. Whether it is for radiant home heating, keeping fish alive in a aquaponic or aquaculture system or making a home-made air conditioning system, circulating pumps are very important. If you go to your local hardware store and […]

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Ivan Labs El SID DC Circulating Pumps

March 4, 2013
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The Ivan Labs El SID circulating pumps have been the best choice for solar hot water and radiant heat for at least the past few decades. For solar hot water they are used to pump water from the solar collector(s) to the heat exchanger (or storage tank) and sometimes a second pump to pump from […]

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Choosing a Pump for Your Aquaponics System

February 5, 2013
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Choosing the correct pump for your aquaponics systems is as important or more important than choosing the right fish, bed material, tank size and grow bed size. Without the right pump your fish will die, your plants will die and your fun will come to an end very quickly. Some folks simply head to the […]

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