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  1. #31
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    Sep 2014
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    Australia
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    660

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    More visual progress today. Concrete is going down tomorrow at 7.30am!!






    Being a sparky in a past life, you think I would be pretty handy with a trenching shovel, but after 15+ years off the tools IT just abuot killed me today and all I did was dig the start of the trench. Got a 32mm conduit for power (3phase 6mm2 cable, 1 single phase 2.5mm2 for future solar projects), a 25mm data conduit for internet and phone cable, and I also added PVC water pipe the next size up from 25mm.. I don't get the plumbing part, so I just went with what the hardware store recommended.

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  3. #32
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    Jan 2008
    Location
    Blue Mountains
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    61
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    866

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    Looking good there Pearo. Nothing like a cat. 5 cyclone to make things interesting. Good luck with the pour.

    Peter
    The time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

  4. #33
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Australia
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    660

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    After yet another rain delay, the pour commences.


    All the concrete down



    The concretor runs a pretty efficient business. He turns up, does a bunch of work, then comes back to finish the job. He had his bobcat driver turn up, start working then he disappears. Today, they rock up, get the concrete down a screeded in a record time (I have never seen concretors work that fast), the off they go to another job. All the gear is still, and the concrete needs to go off a bit before they finish, so they must have racked off to do another job. All the workman ship has been top notch so far as well, proper slab with proper footings, stepped down perfectly, all square.

  5. #34
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    Sep 2008
    Location
    Wongawallan, SE Qld
    Posts
    161

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    What's the idea of the step Pearo?

  6. #35
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Australia
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    660

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    Quote Originally Posted by Larks View Post
    What's the idea of the step Pearo?
    There is a carport on the end for the *cough* wifes car which would also make a nice area for sawing and painting! Probably can't swing much more than a hatchback or small sedan in there!

  7. #36
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    660

    Default Air Conditioning and Lighting

    There is a couple of things I plan to do with the shed, and that is LED lighting and Aircon. Initially, I wanted to run the LED lighting of solar panels and a deep cycle battery or two, with the intention of also running a couple of LED flood lights for outside. I have not done the math on it yet, but I had in my head a 250W solar panel and a couple of ~100ah 12V deep cycle batteries.

    However, I recently discovered that you can buy 48VDC split system air-conditioners. The prices are a bit expensive, a 4.4kw unit is about $3300, which is roughly $2000 dearer than a 240V equivalent. However if you purchase out of china you could potentially shave off about $1000-1500. You can set the 48V units up with batteries so they can run around the clock, or you can purchase a power supply so they can run off 240V. Batteries are expensive, so I figure now I could purchase one of these units, have it run of solar during the day, then 240V as the sun goes down. It gives me the option of adding batteries at a later date, and I will do this as the cost of batteries is slowly coming down.

    So now I have to do the math. The cost of the 48V unit as opposed to a 240V unit running off an inverter and the extra losses involved. I will sit down and figure that out through the week.

    My initial basic mental calculations say this will take about 7-10 years to recover the initial expenditure, and this is provided that all the gear lasts 10 years and does not need replacing or repairing. This includes the cost of about 150ah worth of batteries, which would probably provide a few hours of running time.

    So for now, I intend to build my LED lighting around a 48VDC system. I will initially install 2 * 24V solar panels and 2 * 12V batteries running 24VDC initially and wire it all up so that it can run off 48VDC with minimal work at a later date.

  8. #37
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    Sep 2014
    Location
    Australia
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    660

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    Big pile of steel turned up on Friday



    I ordered the larger pitch roof, but its a lot smaller than I thought. So much for the ceiling storage area!

  9. #38
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Dundowran Beach
    Age
    76
    Posts
    19,922

    Thumbs up

    Good progress Pearo!!!

    I like your enthusiasm for solar. Were I younger-- and working I would do much the same.

  10. #39
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast
    Age
    70
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    2,730

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    A question on solar. Where is the best place to buy just the components to build a homebrew setup? Off grid obviously.

    The local Solar Hart shop has an off grid pool pump display but they are suggesting $5k for 4 panels and a 24v pump. The setup also doesn't have the grunt to run the chlorinator as well. I can buy an awful lot of electricity to run a $400 240v pump for that. It was also instructive to note how simply waving a hand over the panels affected the pump throughput since there was no battery UPS conditioner in the circuit.

  11. #40
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    Sep 2014
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    Australia
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzie View Post
    A question on solar. Where is the best place to buy just the components to build a homebrew setup? Off grid obviously.

    The local Solar Hart shop has an off grid pool pump display but they are suggesting $5k for 4 panels and a 24v pump. The setup also doesn't have the grunt to run the chlorinator as well. I can buy an awful lot of electricity to run a $400 240v pump for that. It was also instructive to note how simply waving a hand over the panels affected the pump throughput since there was no battery UPS conditioner in the circuit.
    There us a co-operative somewhere near gatton, called polygreen solar. I am yet to speak to them, but I have heard what they do is collect orders from people until they can fill a shipping container, then get the stuff delivered. Not sure how accurate that is, but I do intend chasing them up. http://polygreensolar.com/


    I cant go fully offgrid, as the cost of batteries makes it prohibitive. But I think I can at least run lighting and maybe aircon at a squeeze with no grid connection. My beer fridge just died this week, so I am going to run that on solar now as well. Running machinery is simply not an option with current technology.

  12. #41
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    660

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    This day has been a long time coming. Date I signed the contract was the 14th September 2014, over 6 months ago.

    Today, the first wall is up.



    I wanted a mezzanine for storing camping gear and other infrequently used stuff. The plan was to build it into the rafters, but when they were delivered they looked way to small. With the wall up, there is a lot more height than I expected, so I might steel a quarter the roof and build a mezzanine about 1m down. I will have a play with this idea once its all up.

  13. #42
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Glenbrook NSW Australia
    Posts
    705

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    The journey starts with one small.. step ....I mean WALL....
    vapourforge.com

  14. #43
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    Sep 2014
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    660

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    Had an aircraft booked for a joyflight this morning, so I missed out on a chunk of the progress. Neighbours are going to be peeved off when they see it! They did not want it, and its much taller than I expected!



    Should be completed tomorrow weather permitting. Should have the paint down on the floor by the end of the weekend. Then maybe I can unwrap the table saw (in the foreground of above picture under the tarp) and re-assemble it. I am still renovating this house, and to finish I desperately need this shed so I can move all my tools out of the garage/laundry areas and start using them again!

  15. #44
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    Jan 2008
    Location
    Blue Mountains
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    61
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    Happy days!!
    The time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

  16. #45
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Dundowran Beach
    Age
    76
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    19,922

    Thumbs up

    Bit sad that I won't be able to attend he shed warming party!!!

    Good to see this progress Pearo. Enjoy yourself!!!

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