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This is the Solar Energy, Renewable Fuels, and Energy Conservation Series Page. It is an annotated directory linking to each book's detail page. There, you will find a book description, ordering information for all editions of that book, Table of Contents, and excerpts from that book. |
Site Map
Books: Passive Solar Heater | Emergency Solar Electricity | Emergency Solar Electricity Vol 2 | Energy Tips | Understanding Burners | WOOD As A Fuel, Heating, Stoves | Wood Pellet Handbook | Cooking Without A Kitchen
Topics:Scroll down for: Fuel Shortage History | Energy Tips | Wood and Wood Pellets | Fossil Fuel Depletion | Heat Recovery | Solar Applications | Animal Cooperation | Solar Methane | Solar Projects
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Coping with power shortages and blackouts is possible if you have the right information. When the power goes out, it doesn't matter whether it is summer or winter, most heating and cooling is dependent upon electricity. Well, not quite. Here are books that tell how to heat or cool your home without electricity. We will even show you optional methods; some that will not cost another penny while they operate year after year - once they have improved your home. These books are Do It Yourself books.
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Here is a Passive Solar Space Heater that only you can add to your home. You cannot buy one of these and hang it on the wall or plug it in. See:
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Here is a solar application that is simple, inexpensive- under $100 dollars, and costs nothing to operate. I'm proud to have this on the front of my house, all the way to the bank. Power out? Short of fuel? We get some heat, even on a cloudy day. |
We have used this type of space heater for over 30 years and finally got around to documenting it for everyone. With snow on the ground and temperatures to match, two of these units heat our 1600 sq ft house without furnace or wood stove help. Sure, it quits when the sun goes down, but it really cuts the heating bill while the sun is shining. In the summer, the sun doesn’t shine on it and it doesn’t work, and that’s just the way we like it. We know how to use it for cooling, too
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Coping With Blackouts, Either from a Disaster or from a Grid Power Shortage.
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We undertook to build a solar electric system as an emergency electricity supply in place of a motor generator and still remain cost- competitive. Here is. the description and a detailed discussion of its design and operation. It doesn’t require engine maintenance, doesn’t require fuel storage, its energy source is free, and above all, it is quiet. |
Although its purpose was as an emergency power source, it still generates electricity every day, so we use it. Our office and its computer are permanently connected to the solar system.
Best of all, it is inflation proof. The cost of electricity from the system is fixed when you buy the hardware. It does not keep increasing cost as does the Grid power.
You can take on the task yourself and build a system to satisfy both your needs and financial resources. That's what this book is all about. You don't have to be an engineer, or an electrician. You should know how to use tools and be able to do a creditable job, whatever the undertaking.
The Second Volume of this book was written after we had gained several years of experience with the system described in Volume 1.
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This second volume is what we have learned about operating this Solar Electric system. It is straightforward and applies to most solar electric systems. It includes the Operating Manual written for this system. It is a model for any solar system.
The Chapters: Applications, Facing Associated Problems, and Living With It ,have both additions and updates from those chapters in Volume 1.
We have continued the practice of providing background for those related subjects that are included in the book. In this case Batteries take a major portion of the book.
As a long time solar user, I have proven that solar applications are viable and will ultimately become widespread, If it will work in the Northwest, it should work anywhere. California's Inter-tie Program, with the State sharing the cost of the system, is another proof.
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The Peak Oil phenomena may be the best ticket yet for us to go back to candles and cold houses. Grid power and heating fuels may be limited or non-existent for long periods. It is time to prepare for times without boundless energy usage. |
We use what is in this book ALL the time.
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Understanding Burners
Burners play an important part in your kiln or heating system. It they do their job right, you get most of the heat from the fuel you bought. If they are dirty or faulty and need help, it is time to understand the burners. Either you will do the maintenance yourself or you will be able to understand what the repair person is talking about. It is a consumer's book.
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The burner effectively converts a fuel into heat. Each fuel type requires a burner unique to that fuel. Knowing how they work and how to take care of them is essential to getting the heat from the fuel. The key to efficient burning of any fuel is the burner. The proper choice of burner is the difference between success and failure in fuel combustion. Not only must a burner be understood, but it is necessary to know what it takes to keep each type working. Normal operation requires upkeep and as a burner system becomes more complex, so does its upkeep. |
As a Consumer, it is always nice to know what needs to be done to keep your heating system working. Ever get a snow-job from a service man? From a salesman? As a potential buyer of a furnace or kiln, you have the ability to make a more intelligent choice. You cannot always depend on a salesman for all the facts. He is more likely to promote what he has to sell.
Originally written for ceramists who should know what they are doing when they use a kiln, this book may be applied to burners in a furnace, or whatever their application.
Conserving energy means getting all of what you paid for. A stove or furnace that is not burning efficiently is contribution to air pollution, may be making excess ashes; will definitely not keep you warm.
Not one of you would think of buying a sandwich then throwing half of it away as a matter of course. It is the same with fuel, energy. We want to use it all for the purpose we bought it, whether heating, or cooling, or running your car. We'll spend a lot of time talking about increasing efficiency.
Wood Is Still The most popular home-grown fuel. All you have to do is burn wood efficiently to utilize all of its heat content and minimize air pollution. It doesn't take much land to support a wood lot. There are even rapid-growth tree species to populate a wood lot. Better yet, use the rather recent development of wood pellets from wood products sawdust waste. Wood pellets and their wood pellet-burning stoves are rated as non-polluting heat sources by the EPA.
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There are groups that would choose to outlaw wood burning altogether. I do not blame them. We need to understand what it takes to make a clean efficient burn with minimal pollution. Learning how will save you a lot of time, effort, and money while keeping you warm. Time to read this book. Wood is still the most likely emergency fuel generally available to everyone. Learn to use it wisely. |
All you will ever need to know about wood as a heating fuel, stoves, and wood heating technique.
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A new technology allows us to recover a waste product, sawdust, and burn it efficiently in a non-polluting manner. This is a dream situation for the energy conservationist as well as the person who seeks to preserve our planet. It is a Handbook about wood pellet stoves and a Buyers Guide for the selection of stoves and the pellets, too. |
In a matter of several short years following the publishing of the WOOD book, we wrote this second book on wood heating. It omits conventional wood stoves altogether. It is a consumer's handbook. As a new fuel source it is important to know what to buy: pellet selection, quality, delivery, handling, storage are all important considerations. The choice of the best pellet stove for your needs is an important consideration for a major appliance. It is all in this book.
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Power out? Nothing in the kitchen works without some power? - bad news. Get out the camp stove and fix a hurry-up meal for your family. Disaster? same procedure, only outside, just like camping. No campstove? Better learn the alternatives. A disaster changes the rules. You can run out of propane bottles for the camp stove. You may also need to fix more food than the small stove can handle. What to do? Here it is, from tools to cooking, along with food selection recipes recipies. Don't forget about water. What about food preservation? You may need this book. |
Here is a book from the Disaster Preparedness Series designed to extend the capabilities of the individual to SURVIVE, whatever the cause of calamity. These instructions may not conserve energy, but they make the best use of the energy that may be available, so we included it here as well as in the Disaster Preparedness Series.
If the electric power fails, or if it even flickers, or a fire, flood, or winds make your kitchen unusable or just plain gone, You are without a kitchen. That's when you will want to know:
How to cook on a wood stove, a fireplace, even a camp stove.
How to make the kind of meals needed for survival.
How to cook from scratch.
How to use and reuse all of the heat from your fuel.
How to combine cooking while keeping warm.
How To keep food from spoiling
How to best utilize what water you have.
....that's that’s a beginning.
It is more than a cookbook.
Could it be that bad? Who knows? We should have learned a lesson from New Orleans, or the East Coast Power Blackout. We cannot depend upon government help that comes like molasses in January. We must be able to continue eating, no matter what. It is ON YOUR OWN time, again.
If Mother Nature hurls her best at us, follow the same recipeIt's It’s called SURVIVAL.
Revised Edition, 2005
Back in the early ‘50's, when I was studying engineering with a purpose, I ran onto a statement that many called rash, ridiculous, and impossible. A proposition was presented that the planet would run out of fossil fuel, namely petroleum, by 1970. The evidence was presented , but largely ignored and ridiculed. Even then the prospects of oil becoming scarce was a fate not to be contemplated.
Since my livelihood in things electrical and electronic was dependent on having an ongoing supply, I took this idea seriously and started on a lifetime adventure, first of energy conservation, secondly on application of alternative, renewable, energy sources. Since these topics were not part of my primary livelihood, they were always in the background, but near the surface.
Well, the statement came true. We had our first energy crunch in the early 1970's. Gas station lines became commonplace as stations would only stay open long enough to sell their daily quota. Anything that was made with energy rose in cost. Portland cement requires lots of heat in the making, had always been less than a dollar a bag. It was unavailable for months, to the anguish of the construction industry. It came back at $5.00 a bag; kerosene at $0.10 per gallon, suddenly soared up and beyond the price of gasoline. It is still the cheapest distillate to produce.
This was when oil well production in this country peaked and has been going downhill ever since. Imported oil quantities rose as domestic supplies decreased. This was when the United States became an oil importer; no longer an oil exporter.
No need to read the article; the headlines tell the story in a 2005 newspaper. The Nation's third largest oil producing State is out of the oil business.
No one could have foretold the OPEC cartel, when the Near-East oil producing countries would join together and hold the rest of the world hostage. Since we were by far the largest and most industrialized country, we would pay the most to create Middle Eastern wealth.
The economical history of fossil fuels is still developing, with the latest twist is that we are buying oil with a fiat dollar that has no tangible backing, other than the worldwide status (?) of the USA. It is another story worth study, if you want to know where we are headed. See the book, LATOC- Life After The OIl Crash, in the New Economy Series.
Peak oil is a new term that may be the straw that broke the camel's back. ( Check the camel implication.) It is the situation wherein the planet's finite supply has reached its peak output, Peak Oil, and from that point on the production of oil as a fuel decreases. This is especially bad as more countries want increasing amounts of fossil fuel.
Peak Oil has also become the term describing the consequences of a diminishing oil supply.
Learn about Peak Oil: http://onyourownfordisasters.blogspot.com/ , but be sure to save our site in your favorites list. before you click this link. You are going to want these books.
Energy Tips is the book that discloses most of the steps we have used at one time or another to conserve energy, especially in the form of heat. Sometimes it was because of its cost, other times it was because of Grid interruption. Rural living has many opportunities for power interruption, usually unannounced and of indeterminate duration. We spent over 30 years living in rural areas; we had plenty of opportunity to practice and learn. Improvements in Solar-to-electricity energy conversion increased the widespread availability of solar electricity for individual homes, especially as an emergency power source independent of the Grid.
We had woodstove wood stove wood heating for over 30 years. That experience is the basis for All About WOOD: AS A Fuel, Heating, Stoves. When it was published, it was the only book having a chapter on Wood Stove Safety. It also had an introduction to Wood Pellets that has been followed by our book, Wood Pellet Handbook and Buyer's Guide.
Some of us are concerned about the depletion of our planet's fossil fuels, described as Peak Oil, and the resulting pollution caused by not burning these fuels efficiency. The increasing world population does not help these problems. What to do? One solution is to use a renewable fuel. Wood Pellets is the latest opportunity for alternative fuel application. Other solutions will come from Solar, Wind, and Hydro electrical generation. The other solution is to use this link: http://onyourownfordisasters.blogspot.com/ , but mark this site in your favorites list before you use the link.
I recovered about 2 million BTU’s per firing, from the exhaust of our large gas fired kiln, stored it, and used it to heat the building. Heat recovery and heat exchangers is described in the Gas Kiln Handbook.
I also processed the rabbit manure through a solar-heated, methane generator. We modified and ran a Ford Van with methanol-water injection and used the methane generator's effluent to fertilize the orchard.
We built a Minto Wheel, that converted solar energy into rotational power to turn an electrical generator. The Minto wheel we built developed 1 horse power using solar energy.
My efforts to make alcohol using a solar still abandoned when the ATF people required that I give the deed to my land as bond against the alcohol being used for purposes other than fuel. Not worth putting my land at risk.
I designed and manufactured solar water heater collectors as kits for the “do-it-yourselfers.”
I designed and build solar water stills for an engineering firm. In Southern California, it was a reasonable task, with the ocean nearby.
Much of my technological work was a quest for greater profits from our Studio’s products. It has been with practical applications in gas and electric kilns, a bronze foundry, glass blowing furnaces, welding, and the forge. All of these are large energy users. We abandoned glass blowing early in the energy crisis as being the most energy using, least profitable craft.
The electrical energy usage went mostly to kilns as described in the Electric Kiln Handbook, arc welding, the machine shop, and the print shop. We also had heavy electric motors in our clay mixing machinery, and for crushing and grinding our own glazes. That is the basis for The Clay Book.
The gas line and meter into our studio was sized for 1 million BTU per hour. We cut our usage to one-tenth of its capacity.
We raised rabbits commercially, about 500, and used rabbit fertilizer to fertilize the garden and to fuel a solar heated methane generator . The effluent from the generator fertilized our orchard. The dust from the rabbit pellets fed geese and chickens. We traded rabbit and chicken meat for sea food with the local fishermen. We sold about 250 rabbits, live, per month- that's about 1000 pounds per month. They made a LOT of fertilizer.
Why Rabbits?
Rabbit fertilizer is a natural, ready for immediate application, plant food. Everything grows better with rabbit fertilizer. It is also a very efficient meat source. [ a steer takes an acre of grazing space, plus additional feed to produce 600-800 pounds of meat per year. Rabbits produce 200 pounds of meat per year in a 3 ft.-square cage while producing an average of half the feed weight in meat.
The rabbitry had a greenhouse attached to both ends. The plants provided additional oxygen to the rabbits and the rabbits responded by providing the plants with carbon dioxide. We grew fresh greens in rabbit fertilizer for the rabbits in the two greenhouses. We did something right. Our rabbits grew to the four pound selling weight in six weeks. A solar drier sterilized the nest boxes as well as drying them.
Worm beds under the cages gave us super-rich nutrients for the garden that grew fresh greens to keep our 500-or so rabbits healthy and happy.
Our goats ate the greens from the alfalfa and left the stems, which was what the rabbits wanted; they would discard the greens to get at the stems. We fed the goats alfalfa and recovered the stems for the rabbits.
We also raised a garden pig to make productive use of garden and orchard waste. Piggy would also fertilize and plow up a new garden plot as the pen was moved each year. Piggy also served as disposal for rabbits that died of natural causes. With a population of 500, it happens. This practice would probably be omitted now, since the advent of Mad-cow disease.
Before each winter, piggy became hams and bacon. The smoking drove our down-wind neighbors wild from the aroma of smoked hams. We also smoked rabbits, fish, cheese, and nuts, using orchard fruit-wood trimmings. “Waste not, want not” is an old, old saying. Smoking is a very good means of food preservation.
In San Diego, it is mostly sunny, usually hot and dry. We ran water on the rabbitry roof to cool the bunnies and drained the heated water into the orchard through a drip system. Water from the laundry and shower was filtered and used for irrigation; a necessary application in the water-short southland. Our water bill was still as high as the electricity bill.
We shipped 250 rabbits per month, about 1000 pounds live weight, from a 1500 square-foot rabbitry. Contrast that with the 1 acre minimum, about 40,000 square feet, needed to support a cow, as mentioned earlier. All of this is the story in our book, Farming Is Easy. . . ..
It is only recently that developments have dropped the cost of producing solar electricity to be cost competitive with Grid power. Two of our books, Emergency Power With SOLAR ELECTRICITY, Vols. 1 and 2, tell how to build , operate, and maintain your own solar electricity system. It is a system designed to replace the emergency motor-generator and it is cost competitive. More so when you consider that we don’t have to buy and store gasoline and we have some electricity to use all of the time.
We have had solar space heaters on all of our homes for over 30 years, even up here in the Northwest, where they are mostly considered “unfeasible.” Ha! They provide all of the daytime heating of our home. They are described in a book, How To Build and Benefit From A Passive Solar Space Heater.
Let’s not forget the practical applications of combustion technology that gave us better profits for our ceramics and heating efforts. Understanding, Maintaining and Using BURNERS, Gas Kiln Firing, Vols. 1 and 2, and How To Get The Most Heat From Your Fuel, are the books resulting from our efforts at energy conservation.
All of the books on this page are available as separate e-books.
To Order the Books, go to a book's detail page.
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Last revised: Febuary 5, 2008
This page describes the copyrighted books of Ralph Ritchie and Fern Ritchie.
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