Dennis's Comments

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At 6:40pm on December 4, 2009, Walter L. Ewald said…: Hi Dennis.........anything new with your solar system(s)? I have a new heat pump/furnace which is integrated with my solar HW system....works well, but now we are in winter cloud cover which and my system goes dormant until Feb/Mar depending on sunshine then. Lee

At 7:25pm on April 26, 2009, Walter L. Ewald said…: Hi Dennis......Really good to hear from you again and glad to hear about your projects. I am moving ahead with projects here as well. The big one was to get my solar hot water system operating back to normal again after some problems with the controller. Thanks to Jon Klima, everything is back to normal. I have a Jensen wood burning furnace with boiler plate (coil) near the top of the furnace to heat my solar hot water tank when the sun isn't shining. It was a long, cold and very snowy winter here and my collectors were covered with snow for many months......not much solar gain. That is when I have to depend on wood heat with a propane fired furnace as back up. I am moving away from burning any propane and hope to have everything in place by mid summer......long before next year's heating season. I have a bunch of photos of my system and the passive elements of my house that I have now taken. Please send me a quick e-mail and I will forward those photos to you, and share a few other ideas. My e-mail address is: w8wa@torchlake.com
......>>>> Lee

At 4:42am on April 17, 2009, Walter L. Ewald said…: Hi Dennis...........How are your solar project coming along? It's good to see the new round of renewable tax credits passed in March.....planning on doing more here this summer......>>>Lee

At 10:42am on August 9, 2008, Joe Shmo said…: I am looking for micro wind companies with a track record ( not easy to find ) that I can invest in, any leads would be greatly appreciated.
I have found one in N. Dakota
Promana ticker PSLU did a reverse split and its assets were taken over via a merger by Crownbutte Wind Power on July 31st 2008, Crownbutte board replaced Promana board July 31st 2008
Crownbutte completed a private placement Aug 1st 2008 to build, own
and operate an approved 200 megawatt wind project with 134 turbines in
southwestern North Dakota estimated cost to build $30,000,000.
Project value upon completion and before tax credits is $50,000,000.
CBWP has been consulting for and building wind power farms in North
Dakota since 1999.
Crownbutte Wind Power
111 5th Ave NE
Mandan, ND 58554
www.crownbutte.com
Stock in new entity is available ticker CBWP now.
Any feedback would be appreciated.

At 8:39am on August 4, 2008, Lars Erickson said…: Dennis,
Thank-you for the comment/info. 181 degrees!!!! Wow. Even in the winter, on sub-zero days, it is over 100 degrees between the panes of glass on our leaky old house here, so solar hot water is a definite way to use a renewable resource to displace fossil fuels.

I plan to get the tubes in the floors first, then figure out how to convert them to solar and use some sort of propane. Hey, I just thought of something.... If I am using the solar panels for floor heating, I will want to use an anti-freeze fluid in them anyway, probably, right? In that case, the panels themselves would not necessarily need a drain back system on cold winter nights!

Hmmm

At 11:13am on August 2, 2008, Lars Erickson said…: Dennis,
I would like to learn more about building a solar hot water system. I am planning a ICF house and will put radiant tubes in the floors ( however, someone told me it is better to put them in the walls)

Would you be willing to share some of the knowledge you have been gleaning over the years through your own experiences?

Lars

At 9:16pm on July 28, 2008, Tom Swift said…: Thanks Dennis,
I appreciate encouragement, especially from someone with your experience. I'm surprised that Pickens has brought such large numbers of high quality energy enthusiasts together. Who knew?
Best regards,
Tom

At 12:27pm on July 22, 2008, Colorado Bob said…: Thanks for the kind words.
Sounds like you're foolin' with tomatoes if your having pollination troubles.
Get a small paint brush (artist kind) and tickle the blossoms.

At 8:04am on July 20, 2008, Walter L. Ewald said…: Hi Dennis.......I agree with your comments on overhangs for solar shielding of glass walls or active solar panels for heat. I should have added the diagram that I had done for the heating system for the home. It is on my photos page now. Lee

At 10:24pm on July 18, 2008, Colorado Bob said…: I wanted you to see this . You'll get this

(These wigets are "buggy" sorry for the crappy link -)

The Biological Furnace

http://push.pickensplan.com/photo/photo/show?id=2187034:Photo:303931

At 10:17pm on July 18, 2008, Colorado Bob said…

At 4:34am on July 17, 2008, Walter L. Ewald said…: Dennis.......Good comments and yes, people are lazy or just plain don't care. As you say, because they are not paying attention and take so much for granted, they will be in a world of hurt without a mind shift.

A really good book to read regarding a time-line for the fall of America with regard to the energy crisis is the one written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr called -"Crimes Against Nature". I am currently reading the book. It is a scathing attack on the Bush administration's environmental policies and where they have led us. But, it goes back to Regan dismantling the policy of renewable energy put in place by Jimmy Carter. It is an excellent book. There is a good article that Kennedy wrote in Rolling Stone called - "Global Warming - A Real Solution". These are good reads to give a better perspective of how we got where we are today. Kennedy's website "read more" links are screwed up and they do not lead you to the right article........However, it is worth finding and reading.

Dennis, I will do the same with regard to my progress this year. Could I ask what kind of wind turbine you are using??? And to comment on the critics of solar power and life style......yeah, I get the tree hugger thing. My solar panels are readily visible on my home from the street and only personal friends who sit out on my deck see them. I live in a heavily wooded area except to the south for solar gain. I will post a few new photos of the solar side of my house today. I am earth sheltered on the north side with one story sticking out of the ground but 2 stories are out on the back side (south) with lots of glass and heavy window coverings for night time or really cloudy winter days. I have a Jotel wood burner upstairs and the Jensen forced air wood furnace in the lower level of the home + the solar hot water system.

More later...........Lee

At 8:31pm on July 16, 2008, Dennis said…: I hear ya..........I don't know how you've been treated for the last 25 years but I've always been at the butt end of all the jokes. Mushroom man, troll, cave dweller, tree hugger (which I'm really not), I've heard a lot of them.

He who laughs last laughs..........Well never mind. Unfortunately what's coming up won't be funny at all.

We've (you and I) got it all over most.
I'm trying to get my hot water system up and running this week. I want to show people (AGAIN / STILL) how easy and relatively inexpensive this stuff can be. All they have to do is get off their lazy butts and do it. I work a 60 hour week and I find the time to get this stuff done. People are going to have to get used to working a little bit for the things they have been taking for granted. When they can't afford to buy their way out of doing things after their jobs are gone, then what?

I'm not sure when this country took a wrong turn. I'm only 47 years old and I've watched it happen so I know it has been in the last twenty years. I'd like to think it wasn't on my watch but I think it was.

Well Lee nice writing to you, keep moving forward.
Watch for my progress.
I'll be posting pix as I go,
Dennis

At 8:07am on July 16, 2008, Walter L. Ewald said…: Hi Dennis, Thanks for the post and comments. I see that you do indeed "walk the walk". I have had a solar hot water system since the early 1980s (Carter admn. incentives). The heating system for my home includes propane fired gas furnace, a Jensen wood burning furnace with boiler plate to heat the water in my solar hot water storage tank. A heat exchanger is in my cold air return for the circulation of the hot water generated by the wood furnace or solar panels. I also have a large south facing wall of glass and am looking into adding a 2 KW wind turbine to the mix since we can hook into our local power grid. A stream that runs through my property could also be utilized for mini-hydro. I was a student of architecture at Lawrence Institute of Technology in the 1970s. Again thanks, Lee