admin answers:

I would start by studying the elliptical. I would guess it uses an AC induction motor with a variable speed drive. If so, you would need to replace the AC motor with a DC generator using the same mount, and also get it to accept the gear or pulley that was used by the old motor. The battery might need a “charge controller” such as might be used on a PV solar system.

admin answers:

Kool seal’s a great idea. Go solar, two panels on the roof will power fans to blow the hot air out. Park so that you get the afternoon shade on the side of the rv that does not have the roll out canopy and of course roll out the canopy you have, if not get one. Avoid cooking with the stove inside get a portable to use outside with an extension to your outside propane tank. Add insulation, sometimes an older rig was remodeled and insulation was removed due to water damage. There’s also small portable swamp coolers that use way less electricity then an ac unit and could run on solar power get one of those. If your hooked up to water get the water misters that hook up to a hose and put those near windows that the breeze can blow through. Finally when you just get too hot role down the window and move on to a cooler place that’s why “that there is an RV Clark”, you can take your home and roam.

Http://www.rvsolarelectric.com/package.htm

http://www.nextag.com/portable-swamp-coolers/stores-html

http://www.shadeusa.com/misters.htm

http://www.koolseal.com/product_family.asp?family=elastomeric

admin answers:

Internet sales. Supplemental income or full time. Worldwide exposure of your product.

There’s also good money in saving people money. If you can offer a product or service that saves people money, you’re doing well right now.

This is however a double edge answer.

I think the thing to be thinking about is how fragile our livelihoods are. Think about it. If you lost your job today, how long could you live in your current home without any income?

We need to be smarter with our purchases, save our money, invest in items that can help us sustain in any crisis like solar heaters and electric panels, wind generators. Stop living outside our means.

The problem is everyone is flocking to “essential services”, but even the police have suffered budget cuts. We need to be able to maintain in times like this, be better prepared.

We all need to make our own individual financial foundation stronger. A tomato plant with a weak stem won’t be able to produce much fruit…especially in a drought.

admin answers:

Eath4Energy is a scam. Please see my review at http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.php

If your motivation is to reduce your energy bills, then you should first look at conservation projects. These are things like using low flow shower heads, replacing old appliances and adding more insulation.

If your motivation is to generate some energy for learning purposes or as a matter of principle, then consider the following:

Building a wind generator yourself is not a simple project. If you can build an utility trailer for your truck (welding, metal fabrication) then you could certainly tackle the job. There is a great book available from www.otherpower.com called Homebrew Wind Power plus you can order any parts and assemblies that are beyond your abilities to fabricate. Cost of turbine is about $2000 and you need a tower as well. There are cheap units at some hardware stores but they are garbage compared to to the unit designed by www.otherpower.com

A more realistic project would be to get a commercial solar panel (making your own from broken cells on eBay is not worth it), inverter, charge controller and battery and using it to power some things in your house. For about $1000 you could have something to power a small computer. A complete system to power your home is more in the $30,000 range.

There are, unfortunately, no cheap ways to make your own power as Earth4Energy is promoting other than perhaps getting lucky in an eBay auction or purchasing a solar system from a bankruptcy sale.

Do your conservation measures first. Then read Homebrew Wind Power, read the solar links at http://www.nlcpr.com/Links1.php and then decide what type of project you are up for. By then, you will know exactly what you want to do.