Adding a few luxuries to the basics

[SteveA]

(I realized after posting this that there's likely a better category than The Pub to post this. Feel free to move it to an alternate section of TQ)

To contrast the glitz and glamor of Hollywood and the abstract social pinnacles of mass media/government, there comes a greater value to the foundational values and skills which it was built upon.

Here are some clever ideas for working within the system and maintaining some basics as well as a few ways to synergize the past and present:



If there's running water available, here's an interesting mechanism to get some hydraulic leveraging for a water pump (the loops give multiplicative pressure gain):



A simple mechanism for heating - composting:



Passive solar heating:



Of course solar electricity is a nice luxury:



A way to improve the efficiency of usage for appliances can be to replace the DC to 120Vac conversion by substituting 120Vac power adapters with a DC supply more directly drawn from the solar source. With just a few commonly used voltage ranges (i.e. 5Vdc, 9Vdc and 12Vdc) available, power adapters could be replaced with a direct connection to batteries or alternately DC to DC converters could be used. Here's a link to some DC to DC converters using between 12 and 24Vdc:

http://www.mouser.com/Power/DC-DC-Converters-Regulators/_/N-5gc7Zscv7?P=1z0wd98Z1yzv7ogZ1yzxf91Z1yzxf7pZ1yzxmq cZ1yzveraZ1yzxlv4Z1yzrvseZ1yzxluvZ1z0wddoZ1z0wddgZ 1yzt1aaZ1yztb07Z1z0wcjeZ1z0wcg0Z1z0wdb2Z1z0wcglZ1z 0x0e0Z1z0wdd6Z1z0wc52Z1z0wcgjZ1z0wcfiZ1z0wavaZ1yzv en4Z1z0wcfqZ1yzuv6uZ1z0wdixZ1z0wat8Z1z0wbqiZ1yzxgs 9Z1z0wdiuZ1z0wbb6Z1z0wdimZ1z0wc5bZ1z0wbbgZ1z0wdisZ 1z0wdcfZ1yzvem5Z1z0wcfjZ1z0waubZ1z0wcgoZ1z0wdikZ1z 0wchuZ1z0wcg2Z1z0wbb2Z1z0wdbwZ1z0wb9uZ1z0wcl8Z1z0w diiZ1z0wbarZ1yzxgshZ1z0wbq7Z1z0wdbsZ1z0wcknZ1z0wbd zZ1z0wdihZ1z0wcgdZ1z0wbdtZ1z0wbdyZ1z0wbe0Z1z0wdhwZ 1z0wch7Z1z0wdi4Z1yzt1b0Z1yzxgs5Z1z0wdhuZ1z0wbdvZ1z 0wc4yZ1yzxgnkZ1z0wdhsZ1z0wbdrZ1yzxgnjZ1z0wdifZ1yzt 1akZ1z0ixq1Z1z0wdidZ1z0ixqlZ1z0ixqsZ1yzv6lhZ1z0wcl eZ1z0wbeqZ1z0wc6aZ1z0ixquZ1z0wav4Z1yzru8oZ1yzxgmjZ 1yzxgot&Ns=Pricing|0&FS=True

Here's a cute little design for a solar sterling steam engine:



A greenhouse could help in hot, arid or cold environments and reduce the need for an external water supply.



Another inexpensive source of electricity can be to use a regular motor or alternator as a generator. Most any motor with permanent magnets will generate electricity when externally driven (i.e. water or wind)



Desperate for a portable "power tool"? Here's another cute sterling engine design:



I've been personally messing around with trying to make some homemade electronic components from rather commonly available materials and have had some successes ... admittedly, there's not much electronic gear that's really an absolute necessity but being able to accommodate at least a few entertaining pastimes/luxuries is close to a necessity.