Hello all!

I just had a few questions left and you all seem like you are feeling generous with your suggestions lately. To be honest, that is one of the neatest aspects of Y2K. It has brought a lot of us together, and even turned some of us into preparedness activists. Too cool!

Now for the Q's:

1. Any ideas for powerless COOLING? I live in the desert (Vegas) and thanks to clear skies, I can heat my home with solar energy during the winter..but during the summer Im lost as to what I can do to keep at least one room in my home cool. My home is brand new, and is well insulated throughout, including top of the line double pane, gas filled, UV protected windows. Any ideas?

2. I purchased several 55 gallon water barrels from watertanks.com, and I need to know what people think of aerobic oxygen. Is it as effective as bleach? Any thoughts? If I chose to use bleach, how much should I use for 55 gallons? Again, I have collected info on this, but I wanted to get additional feedback.

3. What types of things are people doing to mask against light escaping their homes at night if power is out? Has anyone considered this?

4. What about guarding against escaping food smells. Cooking food will be like a magnet!

5. Has anyone seen a neighborhood plan written up on the web? One that includes security approaches and other information that could be used to rally my neighborhood if needed? I live is a small, brand new gated community with a block wall all the way around it and a security gate. I have come up with some ideas, but am searching for anything that might be pre-existing on the net.

6. I recently moved from the Northwest to the desert, and while I was still up north I purchased an extensive non-hybrid seed kit. I know it is a lot harder to grow a garden here, but I have seen several stories about people who have grown some award winning veggies out here. Does anyone know where I can get info on desert gardening?

That is all for now..I encourage others to post a few questions here as well.

THANKS!

Cory

-- Cory Hill (coryh@strategic-services.net), October 25, 1999

Answers

Cory - try the GardenWeb Forum for your Q about desert gardening:

http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), October 25, 1999.

Cory,

Your house sounds so nice! I'm in Florida where if there's no AC in summer, it will be HOT. However, I have lived in NYC for more than 30 years without AC and yes, it's hot, but cross ventilation helps. My friend, however, said there are battery operated fans at Real Goods. Worth checking.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), October 25, 1999.

Cory,

In regards to cooling: Installation of solar screens cuts down on the amount of light and heat entering your house (30-40%). During the big power failure here in '96, they were recommending that people hang up sheets soaked in water as this will provide cooling. A non- electric misting system for your porch will work providing that water is available. Inexpensive misting systems run off an outside faucet can be obtained at hardware stores.

In regards to gardening: The water department has a center for help with desert gardening. The name is Desert Demonstration Gardening 3701 W. Alta (cross street Valley View). Telephone number is 258- 3205. They periodically give classes and have literature available.

Lynn

-- Lynn Ratcliffe (mcgrew@ntr.net), October 25, 1999.

I don't know how much land you have, but if you can get a stretch of yard about 150' long, you can put in an earth tube.

Have a backhoe cut a trench 150' long by 7' deep, and wide enough for some 12" galvanized culvert. Drill drain holes in every 'spiral' of the culvert. Place culvert in trench, with a snorkel entrance at the opposite end, and a way to snake in a flexible hose in the other. The result is air that is cooled down to a bearable temperature.

Rather than have to pump the air with a fan, you can build an aluminum stack for the roof top. Make it about 6' high, with a rain sheild on top and a bird screen, of course. Paint the stack black and place it on the roof with the attic air routed thru it. The heating of the air in the stack will cause the air to rise, pulling cool air through the house.

Old tech, works great.

MFU

-- Man From Uncle 1999 (mfu1999@hotmail.com), October 25, 1999.

Cory, since you live in the desert, I feel sure that you have relatively cool nights, due to the lack of water vapor in the air (which is what keeps nights in more humid areas so warm at night)

Fires,shading is extremely important (like you can put 84% shade cloth on windows which get sun shining in during the summer, plant deciduos trees on south side of house, and either deciduous OR evergreens on east and west, where they will shade the house in summer, and let the sun in in winter)

Second, since your nights are cool, open all the windows as soon as outdoor temperature is less than indoor temperature in the evening. Keep them open all night, until it gets warmer outside than inside, then close all the windows. Close blinds, curtains, etc. to keep the heat out and the cool air in.

If you want to spend the money for a solar fan, set the fan in a window to bring cool air into the house all night. During the day, run the fan INSIDE the house just to keep yourself cool.

By the way, anyone in a dry summer climate can save a lot on their heating bills by following these suggestions. Here in Southwest Oregon, we have only had to run the air con a total of six or eight hours per YEAR, because we are ablt to cool the house down into the mid sixties even when the high temp outside is usually in the nineties, and often in the low 100's. Night temps range from 50 to 60, normally.

Stay cool, dude!

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), October 25, 1999.

There are dc swap coolers available. That should keep the house cool during the summer. But living in Las Vegas, water should be a concern. Currently development is outstripping water supply.

-- peacefarmer (peacefarmer@onthefarm.com), October 25, 1999.

Cory,
A room can be kept cool by having a large
vent to bring in air from under the house and
another large vent to let air go into the attic.
Older pantries were designed this way to keep
the food cool.

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), October 25, 1999.

MFU

LOL, I read the post and got out my design notes for an underground air cooling system....I did heat transfer calculations on one several years ago for my house.

Your numbers are right on for a good system. Since Cory mentions solar heating he might have a panel or two, in which case he could use a fan or two to help the air flow.......it would be nice to get really good flow right as the sun goes down so that the place is cool for sleeping, and the stack will lose efficiency just at that time.

-- de (delewis@XOUTinetone.net), October 25, 1999.

Being an old gold prospector (by hobby) from out your way. I found that the old timers had a rather neat desert refrigiator going for themselves...Simply it is a wooden box with a closeable lid (turned side ways so as the lid acts like a door.) And the box is enfolded with burlap bags and tied to the box with tie wire. The all you have to do is position a jug/pail etc over it filled with water...and a tiny little hole in the bottom of the jug/ pail. The water dripping on the burlap bags will keep the contents of the box very cool by the evaporation of the water from the burlap bags.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), October 26, 1999.

You didn't say if your new home had a basement or not. Underground will definitely be cooler than above ground. If it is at all possible, perhaps you could pursue an underground shelter of some type. It will keep your food storage cooler and make it last longer too.

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), October 26, 1999.

Just last nite, I was reading the book, "Dare to Prepare"----there is a whole chapter in it about the various ways to store water. The author says that people who have used aerobic oxygen report that it is more favorable than iodine or chlorine. Stabilized oxygen is safe and has no taste. If you are treating chlorinated water (tap water), use 10 drops of aerobic oxygen to a gallon of water. If using non- chlorinated water, use 20 drops. You can do the math for 55 gallons.

If using liquid bleach, be sure it has 5.25% sodium hypochlorite and no soap, scent or phosphates. Also, if bleach is more than a year old, it loses about 50% strength. In this case, the amount of bleach should be doubled, if it is not replaceable. For every 5 gallons of clear water, use 1/2 tsp. of bleach. If cloudy water, use 1 tsp. bleach. If you're just treating a gallon of water, use 8 drops bleach for clear water, or l6 drops for cloudy water. (Use an eye dropper, and don't use it for any other purpose!)

I just got this book, and it is great! Heard about it on the Art Bell show, when Stan Deo was the guest speaker. Written by Stan's wife. (Art has a website with his past guests, and it's linked to their books, etc.)

-- Jo Ann (MaJo@Michiana.com), October 26, 1999.

Jo Ann, I asked a lot of questions about aerobic oxygen, finally talking to the American Association of Microbiologists (not the exact title, but close). I also tracked down some of the PhDs who were alleged to have endorsed this product--they were very surprised to find their names so used. I decided to go with bleach.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 26, 1999.

Old Git.......did you find out any reasons why NOT to use the aerobic oxygen? (I'm not promoting it, only quoting the article. I bought some, so am interested in hearing why I should not use it.)

Th book's author said she and her hubby were using dry bleach, but it does have to be used with precautions, since it can be dangerous if not handled properly. This is probably not our common household dry bleach... it is calcium hypochlorite available at swimming pool supply stores or many hardware and grocery stores. The author advises there be no other active ingredients in it. She cautions that if it becomes warm and moist,it can explode-it must be kept in a dry area. It also can cause burning and skin irritation, and the fumes are TOXIC. One has to avoid breathing the fumes, and to wear rubber gloves, when adding it to water. It's a good method of purifying your water, but strict precautions must be taken!

The author also says Giardia and Cryptospordium are chlorine resitant. They use the 1 micron filter to supplement their chlorine treatment. They feel the chlorine treatment is the best, providing you use the precautions.

-- Jo Ann (MaJo@Michiana.com), October 26, 1999.

Cory,

I read a MotherEarth news article sometime back where some fella down your way was basically living off the circuit. One way to help keep his home cool was having a solar-powered water-fountain (also kept fish in it - nice dual purpose). The water was recycled too, but fairly simple to create, as I recall.

Can't remember the issue, but you might call M.E. and see if they can look up the issue for you.

Good luck!

-- Deb (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), October 26, 1999.

Well the Singapore airport is solar cooled using thermomax evacuated tube solar collectors and a absorbtion style type AC unit. Personally I use mister nozzles from drip type irrigation systems and nowadays 2 24vdc Rotron 8" "Patriot" series fans running on 12vdc (these use 10w total, was using a 20" AC box fan which drew 60w on medium speed). The mister nozzles (1.5 gph) are downstream from the fans and this yields a temp drop of 24 degrees max. Works well. The "patio cooler" type mister sets (what I had on my 20" box fan) work well, fan or not.

For blocking light aluminized mylar sheeting (TAP plastics and other sources) can be used.

DCK

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), October 26, 1999.