need more power grr

 God I hate this time of year.. overcast and dry

Solar isn't producing much in this kind of weather.. but it's getting dry
enough that I'm down to one summer nozzle on the hydro.. making maybe 50
watts on that.. if the clouds break I make good power off the solar, but
living in the transition between summer dry (and sun) and winter (the
rains) i'm screwed.

I keep pouring that $
gal fuel into the generator to keep the house at
night while the seasons dedide what the fuck they are doing.

I"m out of ideas.. i need another power source.  I have nearly unlimited
fire wood .. but the steam engine thing seems a bit extreme.. and I don't
know what i'm doing at all on that front.

Got a very slow moving creek (in low water/summer) that's too far from the
house to do another hydro on it without spending a LOT of cash just for the
wire.

No wind that's worth getting.

Anyone got a magic cube (no ward force please) that I can plug into?  


fuck I hate this time of year!

-z

  z wrote:

Gasify!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas_generator

--Winston

 @news3.newsguy.com:


see why alt.energy.homepower rules? I'm up sipping some vino after doing
multiple server rebuilds the last two days and having to run the
generator to keep the ssh shells .. and ol Winston hits me with a damn
cool idea..

now to spend some serious hours investigating this one.. anyone got some
idiot's guide to building one of these?

i'm googling like a mofo

thanks man!

-Zachary in Oregon

 z wrote:

This'll keep you out of trouble for a while, Zach:
http://www.gengas.nu/byggbes/contents.shtml

Keep us posted, eh?

--Winston

 @news7.newsguy.com:


oh yeah.. that's some good reading -- keep me busy for a bit.  Might have
to revisit that tomorrow after the vino wears off.. what a weekend.  Dang
hard drive failures on multiple servers (one of those things) and classic
Oregon Coast drizzle weather .. not enough water falling to get a good
flow for the hydro, but just enough to block the sun for the solar.

thanks Winston.. i'm on this like stink on shit .. we'll see if it's
feasable for my place == and if I'm smart enough to build one given what
I've got available.

cheers

-Zachary in Oregon