tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360591141038586592012-02-14T21:28:14.645-08:00Presents experience and nitty-gritty details of converting car to run on waste vegetable oil and replace his furnace with a ground source heat pump geothermal unit.... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.comBlogger571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-53116025924079034382011-12-05T11:59:00.001-08:002011-12-05T12:23:29.217-08:00

It's been a while since my last post, here we go.Took my 2001 Jetta TDI over to a fellow Veggie Jetta TDI driver to have the intake manifold and exhaust gas recirculation control valve cleaned after another 100,000km. I did this before, so here are some of today's photos.A (clean) TDI Manifold:What came out of mine using scrapers and steel brushes:Upclose, the stuff is so black, the previous

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-11273546744828484602009-06-03T06:44:00.000-07:002009-06-05T09:51:34.360-07:00

Question: What's the big deal with the fight between Carbon-Tax and Cap-and-Trade?Answer: Perception, enforcement and finance.PerceptionLet's assume that two proposed policies are looking to collect $1B from the economy - Cap-and-Trade and Carbon-Tax. First off, it's easier to sell the free market aspect of a Cap-and-Trade over the tax aspect of a Carbon-Tax.It's a matter of

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-89358185144081858662009-05-12T05:38:00.000-07:002009-05-12T17:17:04.916-07:00

Like it or not, in Canada we use nuclear power (mostly in Ontario). This source of electrical power has a nasty side-effect: waste from the reactor is possibly the most toxic substance known to man.The cost of stewardship of this waste grows proportionally with the amount of waste produced. The more nuclear power we consume, the more waste we have to take care of for the coming centuries.It

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-32610758102311918072009-05-08T09:08:00.000-07:002009-05-08T09:13:38.276-07:00

Check out the links on the left "Graphs 2009-05-08" for new charts showing fuel consuption of our car as well as electrical consuption for the winter with our new Ground Source Heat Pump furnace.Natural gas consumption has been zero for a while, the gas company come over a put a lock bolt on our meter. No gas bills.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-47556358696450077752009-05-08T08:59:00.000-07:002009-05-11T13:22:07.781-07:00

Looking at my Ontario Generation Charts, you can see that as of April 19-20 2008 the amount of nuclear power produced in Ontario has reduced, likely seasonally based on 2008 behaviour.However, as of that date - the entire Darlington generation site is generating zero MW or power on all 4 of it's 1GW generators. This did not happen in 2008.Very surprising. I can find not mention on www.ieso.ca

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-18854016512055495392009-03-31T08:19:00.000-07:002009-04-03T05:55:03.754-07:00

The CBC's excellent radio show Quirks and Quarks had a guest who wrote a book "Physics for Presidents" and it got people in a bit of a tizzy. Listen to it in MP3 or OGG.So much was the reaction, the host Bob MacDonald wrote about it in his blog.Read it, then check the responses from people. My favourite:Dave from Ottawa"A kilogram of coal, on the other hand, contains about 1,000 times more

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-89124802852417228542009-03-31T03:18:00.000-07:002009-03-31T07:02:36.518-07:00

PurposeLike this blog, I am here to present facts and explain them. In short - the public data shows no less Coal or Natural Gas was burned during Earth Hour. And yes, the Nuclear plants were still going full-tilt (in fact the Bruce-B Generator-5 increased production prior to the event).IntroductionIt's great to "do our part" and not consume electricity. But we need to realize that less

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-31038292872445725562008-12-09T16:27:00.000-08:002009-03-24T05:29:20.869-07:00

As I've said before in my blog, algae as biofuel is attractive.Here's a proof of concept (shown on History Channel) that is using transparent tubes as bio-reactors collecting waste gas from a 1GW power station. It claims that 100% capture from the power station will need 2,000 acres of land or 8 square kilometers (2km x 4km).The University of Kentucky is making making headlines on this. It's

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-63103617095158026992008-12-08T06:28:00.000-08:002008-12-08T06:48:47.809-08:00

Last night it dipped down to -20C, the furnace was running quite a bit in the afternoon so I took this chance to turn off the electricity to our electrical hot water tank and let the furnace heat our hot water.Here you see how the tank is hooked up to the furnace. As you can see, the hot water comes out the top of the tank (since heat rises). The furnace draws from the bottom, and returns to

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-77810698346033399402008-11-25T16:58:00.000-08:002008-11-25T17:01:13.955-08:00

With winter coming, and our heat pump installed. I'll be doing my best to keep the graphs section (to the top and left) up-to-date.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-31741027669903239092008-11-16T09:12:00.000-08:002008-11-25T16:53:34.002-08:00

Always bugs me when you see a film that is one sided (Roger Moore?) - even when I support their cause. But when I saw the guy going up to fast food joint saying: "Can I have a medium Sprite and, uh, all your used cooking oil please?"I have to admit a sense of respect for someone whose doing the same stuff I am.Apple has the trailer up: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/fuel/Or watch it

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-42305241758653085742008-11-03T11:38:00.000-08:002008-11-03T12:29:26.756-08:00

The CBC is carryintg a story close to my heart.Algae blooms: A new source of energy?They cover the important details: - ethenol isn't our future - algae is the fastest growing plant - algae has had a billion year head start - link to the awesome CBC program Quirks and Quarks talking about Algae and engergy.Let's hope the public learns more about this and next time I mention it at a party people

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-39254884666421274762008-09-30T06:26:00.000-07:002008-09-30T06:27:52.135-07:00

Here's the second video, show what's inside the furnace. There's really only a few parts: 1) The refrigerant compressor 2) The heat exchanger 3) The blower 4) The computer control system

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-18411924406245993992008-09-29T06:06:00.000-07:002008-09-29T06:08:02.191-07:00

Here's a YouTube video of my furnace. More to come, busy these days. So sorry.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-41215197100153005982008-08-02T12:45:00.000-07:002008-08-02T12:52:02.284-07:00

A local radio station was giving away tickets to people who had the best story for how they were going to get to Montreal to see Radiohead in concert.I sent in my application with links to this blog and my youtube videos and I won. Nice.Oh, furnace is in. I need to make some good videos before I post. It's kinda neat.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-55474667991737546072008-06-19T11:39:00.000-07:002008-06-19T11:43:13.853-07:00

My contractor exclaimed to me on the phone in the usual gusto consistent with the stereotype of his cultural background. If you can't politely smile at stuff like that, what good is life?Geothermal Heat Exchange furnace will be installed Monday/Tuesday next week (2008-06-23/24). In time to break it in a bit over the summer before the winter heating demands arrives.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-49689047648268449422008-06-17T10:20:00.000-07:002008-06-17T11:04:24.811-07:00

$1.40 per litre fuel getting you down? Going veggie is a way to save some money. But don't go into this to save a couple bucks. It is important to keep in mind this is a hobby - treat it as such. Guidelines:Spend time and thought to find the cheapest and best parts you need for your filtering.Take effort into making the best quality oil you canPay attention to your car - check the engine temp

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-12799566572872223892008-06-08T08:30:00.000-07:002008-06-08T08:36:36.829-07:00

Here's an interesting podcast from CBC on 2008-05-08.Description from CBC.ca:Grease Bandits: ContractorGrease is the word, as they say. For greasers in the movie and musical Grease that word meant slick hair goo and a whole way of life, but grease has become a coveted fuel source. So much so, there's a black market for grease.This raw grease can be refined into yellow grease, which can be used to

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-92220171482467361692008-06-04T17:31:00.000-07:002008-06-04T17:39:47.184-07:00

Pardon for the diversion from my usual subject matter.Someone I know by the name of John Ogilvie asked me to put into a letter what I've come to learn about nuclear power so he could have something to share with other Green Party members. Apparently the Green Party is flatly against nuclear power generation inspite of its benefits (not that it's without drawbacks).I kept my policy of "back it up

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-47923538635882624402008-06-02T10:16:00.000-07:002008-06-02T12:20:41.914-07:00

I peeked around for discussion on natural gas proces and came across a site that sounded objective and reasonably researched (or at least read). They gave this chart of past natural gas prices and some projections on its future cost.Their reasons for their prediction of 30% increase in natural gas in the next 6-8 months?Lower production from new gas wells, less new drilling and depletion of

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-52454593801893001452008-05-28T05:23:00.000-07:002008-12-08T22:42:49.900-08:00

The drilling is done. It was loud. It was dusty. It was awesome!The drill holes were done at 11 degrees in one direction, and 22 degrees in the other. This is approximate based on my measurements.Top view, looking down on the roof of the house:Front view, looking at a cross section towards the front of the house.Some videos:Drill through overburden (aka. top soil).Drilling through

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-52958274311737005962008-05-27T05:24:00.000-07:002008-05-27T05:35:27.559-07:00

Well, the contractor from Earth Energy called me last week to arrange a time to start drilling for my furnace. "The phoenix has landed" he announced in his usual colourful exclamation.And about the same time I got an email from a reader of this blog advising me to stay away from them. I'm not surprised since my experience with the owner was been less than reassuring. When the unit is installed

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-70824775487555036992008-05-08T11:48:00.001-07:002008-05-08T12:02:05.836-07:00

Fun story on the CBC today:http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/080507/K050704AU.htmlIn short - it was cheaper to pay people to take power than it was to shut down generators.This is what happens when daytime power consumption is 20-30% higher than in the middle of the night.If only we could consume power more evenly...?Most people immediately think - "why don't we store the power in batteries!". I

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-46895481945438246512008-04-29T05:28:00.000-07:002008-04-29T05:44:46.131-07:00

I only use non-hydrogenated veggie oil when I filter or in my car. In short, hydrogenated oil is not commonly called veggie oil, but veggie shortening or veggie lard (ie. Crisco).My pumping hot hydrogen gas under pressure and in the presence of a catalyst - veggie oil will cease being liquid at room temperature. This is what McDonald's and KFC use for cooking. This is also how margarine is

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-508799465020076152008-04-28T12:34:00.000-07:002008-12-09T11:55:35.944-08:00

I've read around that it's a good idea to wash waste veggie oil (WVO) - I wasn't convinced.I know one must wash biodiesel to get methanol, glycerin and Sodium-hydroxide by products out. But to wash straight-up WVO?There are two common ways to wash BioDiesel (which some people recommend for WVO as well):Mist washingBubble washingBoth methods can cause emulsification of the water and oil (aka.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-32896012407627565232008-04-24T10:49:00.001-07:002008-12-09T11:55:36.152-08:00

I got lots of traffic on my YouTube videos on Earth Day - lots of comments and emails too.The most popular question was "How do you hook that up to a home?" Well, here's a diagram showing how.Notice that I didn't mention anything about feeding back to the grid. Doing that is can make you some small money, but it's expensive to setup. In place of the DPDT (double pole double throw) switch you have

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-53705791898361322632008-04-24T04:08:00.000-07:002008-04-24T04:11:09.772-07:00

Tried to email you Mark, but Yahoo said you didn't exist.Hello, my question is probably the same as everyone else's. What are you getting on your miles per gallon? The way i understand it is that you start your car on regular desiel gas and then you swith to veg. after it heats up. And then before you turn off your car you switch back to desiel gas right. So i guess i was wondering

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-18962352343756386582008-04-17T05:32:00.000-07:002008-04-17T05:40:51.999-07:00

My dad sent me think link today. Groovy. Expensive, but groovy. Don't know how good it is, but the description seems to suggest they know what they're doing. Acid/base pH balancing, 3 stage water wash, 110V @ 15A power suggests a drying stage.If you're a boating marina selling fuel or farmer that wants to go with green fuel without modifying your vehicle - this looks like the fastest route.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-22845772724772797982008-04-10T06:19:00.000-07:002008-05-08T11:52:21.467-07:00

An excellent site showing the electrical generation in Ontario is www.ieso.caThey provide a metric dung load of information on:%-age generation by type (hydro, nuclear, gas, coal, etc)Maps showing where all the generating plants are (pdf, page 14)%-age consuption by consumer group (home, business, industrial)Seasonal peak consuptions and average demand by cityHistorical top-20 peak daysGenerator

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-42931889357661546522008-04-08T19:57:00.000-07:002008-04-09T05:00:03.776-07:00

Video 1: Under the hoodVideo 2: In the cabin, on the dashboardVideo 3: In the trunk, the tank itselfBonus Video: Changing veggie fuel filter

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-91010662826579499892008-04-07T05:43:00.000-07:002008-04-10T13:00:22.752-07:00

Ahh. Children are so competitive. But so are green-o nut jobs. And I guess I'm one of them.Someone on one of my YouTube videos commented a better use of my the 1,000 Watts over 12 hours to dewater my veggie oil would have been to charge an electric car. A very cutting and popular view. But utterly wrong.In my attempt to fill the blogosphere with cluons, I will tear his statement down with

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-69975605417954859792008-04-01T08:48:00.000-07:002008-12-09T11:55:36.742-08:00

Here are some pictures of the recent videos of Mark's Generator.Picture 1:- 12HP 2cyl engine, 8KW 220V AC alternator ESA approved- currently unused water tower for coolingPicture 2: - Flexible Aluminum exhaust pipe- 2 piston exhaust joined in a Y-joint- Copper fuel line is wrapped around exhaust for pre-heating (better burn, better flow)Picture 3:- 3 fuel tanks (Veg-1, Diesel, Veg-2)- Flexible

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-6415841492155924632008-03-31T06:14:00.000-07:002008-04-01T09:02:45.984-07:00

Here are two videos of Mark's generator in operation.Added since last post:1. exhaust pipes vent to outside (flex pipe on left)2. glow plugs added for easier starting (battery powered - right)3. 3 40L fuel jugs hung from cieling4. 3-to-1 fuel valve to select fuel (diesel or veggie)Still to-do:1. cooling system2. muffler3. sound-proof the shed4. install electrical cables to his houseWith any luck,

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-7785803306710113992008-03-23T08:45:00.000-07:002008-03-26T05:38:03.837-07:00

My biggest beef with the environmental craze that's going on right now is how mis-information and dis-information is everywhere. There are so many people out there who haven't thought things through and spout out a load of crap as fact.The "green revolution" is a perfect example of Quantum Bogodynamics where Bogons and Cluons are interacting - and in my opinion the Bogons out number the Cluons

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-79603135082295836072008-02-25T09:54:00.000-08:002008-02-25T10:01:42.572-08:00

So, Virgin Atlantic flew a short flight on biofuel. What remarkable about this is Sir Branson pointed out that Algae based biofuels are targeted to produce their Jet Fuel.Stroke of common sense, brilliant.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-15092862173171290282008-02-18T12:44:00.000-08:002008-02-18T13:10:37.364-08:00

CBC is carrying something today few people know about: that plastic doesn't need to come from crude (aka. petroleum oil) oil. Orignally plastics were made from Soy bean.Infact, just about any plant oil can be be used as raw matirial for creating plastics. If only there was a plant that could be grown in sufficant quantity to make a significant dent in the plastics industry...

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-9541196059477323792008-02-11T05:42:00.000-08:002008-02-11T16:59:50.742-08:00

Installation of our geoexchange furnace has been delayed untill the spring. We had hoped to get it in for Christmas, but the 150cm of snow we got really but a wrench in the plans. Add to that the Ontario ground water Regulation 903 (aka. the Walkerton regulation) you get more delays as the company investigates better ways to grout the bore hole. And to top it off, the company is going though a

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-75949486133002890512008-01-05T20:46:00.001-08:002008-01-05T21:30:11.720-08:00

So M's generator is getting closer to being operational.Todo:install cooling system (205L steel barrel filled with water/coolant, convection cooling)install veggie fuel lines (currently only using diesel)install exhaust system!Today we got woodnstuff's man John to come over with the new fly-wheel and between 3 of us we took turns cranking the sucker. With the help of break cleaner from CdnTire (

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-26343168286292104802008-01-03T12:59:00.001-08:002008-02-11T05:52:36.920-08:00

The problem is the people who make biofuel are chemical companies and not agricultural companies.Fundamentally, a company will focus its efforts on the things it does best. Why would a chemical company making fuel ever want to grow the crops used to make the fuel? It makes about as much sense as a bank getting into the business of real estate.So why is this a problem? Because as a chemical

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-73787323271299385252008-01-03T11:28:00.001-08:002008-01-03T11:33:02.354-08:00

The geothermal contractor we've made arrangements with has had a rough December with all the snow.Drilling though snow isn't the problem. Operating a drill rig with exposed machine parts in blowing snow - that's the problem. With luck, I'll have a firm date soon on when the drill can start.A neighbour emailed me today explaining a new local temple is having construction difficulties because

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-37809085773457147672007-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:002007-11-30T13:37:40.148-08:00

$25,000 is a lot of money for a furnace. If you won $25k, you'd be dancing. If you misplaced $25k you'd be depressed.In spite of my tone in this blog, my wife and I took this decision seriously and here's how we came to it.1. Assume we're replacing our furnace and air conditionerThat's $7,000 of assumed cost right there. Our furnace was mid-efficiency (by today's standards low-efficiency)

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-67922559962039130762007-11-25T05:48:00.000-08:002008-12-09T11:55:39.487-08:00

The GreaseCar modification to my car doesn't change anything with the engine - it's a 2nd fuel tank that's heated from the waste heat of the engine (coolant).The GreaseCar website has an excellent flash animation explaining everything.Here's what the modification looked like once I got it back from Young Street Garage.1) Under the hood.The red hoses contain coolant to heat up the fuel filter

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-20225593340173032512007-11-24T06:24:00.000-08:002008-12-09T11:55:40.125-08:00

There are three questions I'm always asked when I tell people about the veggie oil conversion I did to our car.Are you pulling my leg?What's the fuel economy of veggie oil vs diesel?Is there any loss in power / acceleration?The fuel economy is hard to measure as accurately as diesel since I don't have the fuel station's 0.001 Litre accuracy in my plastic jugs.The power question I can never answer

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-27408368115343886642007-11-23T08:48:00.000-08:002007-11-24T16:01:51.023-08:00

Not many first time veggie oil users are aware that cooking oil absorbs water when food is cooked in it. Potatoes are mostly water, so is fish, shrimp, chicken, and just about everything else you cook in a deep fryer. What's how it cooks in fact - the oil instantly vaporises the water at the surface of the food. That vapour appears as bubbles in the oil. Some fraction of the vapour doesn't

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-37756308353735236032007-11-22T13:58:00.000-08:002007-11-23T08:47:25.545-08:00

Just for fun, I was reading this site deciding if I should replace all my old mouse-poop-filled blown pink insulation in my attic. [Can Rebate, Ont Rebate]I have no room to add to the insulation in my attic, so I'll likely need to throw it all out or risk ice built up from lack of soffit venting.6 inches of blown fiberglass: R-13.26 inches of fiberglass batts: R-18.8416 inches of blown fiberglass

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-42894376721161964832007-11-22T13:42:00.000-08:002007-11-22T13:49:53.023-08:00

This morning the rep from Earth Energy Solutions came by our home at 08:00 and we signed over the first 25% of $25,000 and signed a contract. They'll be installing the unit before Christmas.Catch? DX systems aren't eligible for the $7,000 in rebates from the Ontario and Canadian governments because they don't meet CSA-448 standards. The other heat pumps cost well more than $7k so this is still

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-34273249029710957562007-11-19T18:29:00.000-08:002007-11-22T09:09:03.460-08:00

My long time friend M lives away from the city and when the power goes out - he's not in an area with a high priority for restoring power.Without electricity his home is at risk of flood, freezing/bursting pipes and other damage. Not to mention his little girl would be stuck in the cold with no water (water well needs power to pump) or warm food (electric range and oven).With his wife's blessing

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-42840474798910938702007-11-08T18:17:00.001-08:002007-11-08T18:50:06.114-08:00

Tomorrow we're going to ask a contractor "ok, how do we pay you"?It's taken 6 months to get to this point. We went through several stages to hunting:EducationUpon contemplating producing copious amounts of our own electricity (not with dinky solar power) I started to wonder how much hydro we'd need to heat a home. The answer is about 50 kW (over 200 Amps at 220V). Insane. Then I tripped upon

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-55443213311664691222007-10-29T08:13:00.000-07:002008-12-09T11:55:40.638-08:00

No man is an island. I have a good friend M whom I feed my need to talk about crazy ideas like heating your home without gas, wood, or fuel. We also talk about running a car using waste oil.We had an agreement - that I would get a ground source heat pump and he'll get a Lister generator powered by veggie oil.Lister engines were made in Lister England in the 1930's and knock-offs are now made

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-23438373598854846462007-10-25T18:11:00.000-07:002007-10-25T14:38:48.774-07:00

Now a little something about the furnace we're looking to get.When we bought our home in 2005, the previous owner put in the cheapest furnace he could get - he was just flipping the house. At the time (nothing's changed I understand) the efficacy of a furnace did not have an effect on the value of a house.One cold winter day the price of natural gas jumped in sympathy of high crude oil prices.

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-2139154406737998492007-10-25T14:40:00.000-07:002007-10-25T14:49:32.208-07:00

Filtering is important. Find out to the micron rating of your standard diesel fuel filter and filter below that.My veggie fuel filter from GreaseCar (Fleetguard FF-5156) filters to 15 micron. I filter my oil to 10 micron using two bags - one in the other. Next season I'm going to 1 micron. You can never be too careful I figure.I found gravity feed to be very easy and simple for the amount of

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-62134048404668119492007-10-17T18:11:00.001-07:002008-12-09T11:55:42.288-08:00

Here are some historic charts of our fuel consumption in our cars. My wife is the daughter of an accountant - does it show?Chart 1: Fuel Prices vs TimeRed: Gas CAD per litrePurple: Diesel CAD per litre (post pump price jump)Chart 2: Cumulative fuel volume purchasedPink: Gas (Ford Taurus)Black: Diesel (Jetta TDI)Chart 3: Cumulative fuel volume purchased (just diesel)Notice how fuel consumption

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-57048556538637372772007-10-17T05:39:00.000-07:002007-10-25T07:35:34.106-07:00

Oil's density is about 0.9kg per liter. Making a 20L bucket of waste veggie oil worth about $18 (Diesel is about $1/L) after you account for dregs and cost of processing.Gold's price is over $740CAD at the time of this posting. 32.15 Troy Ounces per kg.18L of oil is about 16.2kg. 16.2kg of gold is worth $385,414.20.Not quite gold - but money in your pocket just the same.Here's a video intended to

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-67185965891625343052007-10-16T08:13:00.000-07:002007-10-25T07:35:17.634-07:00

There are many great resources online describing how people have setup their oil processing plants. There are very few videos and pictures showing the details of how they process their oil on a daily basis.Here's the first video of many to come describing how I solicit, collect, filter, dewater, store and use vegetable oil as fuel for my car. Here's a summaryYou need 4 locations:Pre-filter

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-79508975883335135112007-10-13T08:03:00.001-07:002008-12-09T11:55:42.595-08:00

One Tuesday night in September 2005 the Arbour Environmental Shoppe had a guest speaker present after store hours; his name was Steve Anderson and he made is own BioDiesel.He would collect waste cooking oil (canola typically) from the local chip waggons in Arnprior outside of Ottawa and process it in to fuel for his diesel pick-up truck. The process which he demonstrated for the audience that

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-76848039846359674572007-10-11T17:27:00.000-07:002008-12-09T11:55:42.767-08:00

Picture it ... Ottawa ... 2005.My fiancée (currently promoted to wife) and I had a big blue Ford Taurus sedan whose exhaust system was going to cost $900 in repairs. The boat of a car had a book value of $500. We should have been wearing ear protection while driving in that thing - I'm sure some greasy bar-hopping men with well lubricated hair would have been very impressed.As luck would have it,

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2736059114103858659.post-3902957596282627302007-10-11T09:12:00.000-07:002007-10-25T07:25:42.324-07:00

This is a first for me. These fancy-shmancy blogs that all these trendy 'kids' have to talk about this and that. So why did I betray my stubbern mindset to avoid being trendy?Because the stuff I'm doing to my car, my house, my friend's house is just too damn cool. I want to share what I've learned about using waste vegetable oil as car/home/power fuel, furnaces, and other misc things that happen

... Smells Like Frieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08299362254857872957noreply@blogger.com1