CW's Back Yard Water Garden Begins!

[GBBUDD]

Sand on the shelves with kids will blow right over the boulders and end up in the bottom of the pond adding to the depth you have already on the pipes.
A trash pump will suck up alot of the sand in water so long as you do it gently keeping ratio 1 to 1.
I know your doing sand for the bare feet but your going to have algea on everything ... algea ... barefeet... water. Rocks.... spell slip sliding.... boat shoes with 1 inch river as the bottom is where I'd look at for a finish

 

[GBBUDD]

Looks great . The step up deck on the long side will help alot. Tge shed on the other the bog in the back gives reinforcing to 3 sides. Maybe a flower box in each corner next to the window or a step up for the kids something to lock the front with the deck on the sides.

 

[combatwombat]

Got a few days of sunshine and even a few minutes I could slip out into it to get some work done. Waterfall from bog to pond is "finished." Refilling bog shortly to test. Still just have my little 3000 gph utility pump to test with though. Need to put my order in for the big'n soon to see how it will really flow.

Also, realized I still 500 watts of incandescents burning downstairs. Back of napkin math says I can swap em all for LEDs and get 400 more watts for the pond! We're teetering on the edge of net-zero annual energy use via solar. Haven't hooked up the wife's hot tub yet, though...

 

[brokensword]

Haven't hooked up the wife's hot tub yet, though...

I thought that's what all this thread was for!

 

[j.w]

Got a few days of sunshine and even a few minutes I could slip out into it to get some work done. Waterfall from bog to pond is "finished." Refilling bog shortly to test. Still just have my little 3000 gph utility pump to test with though. Need to put my order in for the big'n soon to see how it will really flow.

Also, realized I still 500 watts of incandescents burning downstairs. Back of napkin math says I can swap em all for LEDs and get 400 more watts for the pond! We're teetering on the edge of net-zero annual energy use via solar. Haven't hooked up the wife's hot tub yet, though...

So can you run a hot tub w/solar?

 

[combatwombat]

So can you run a hot tub w/solar?

Do you mean in general or us specifically? You can run anything on solar if you have enough panels and batteries. We're grid tied with no batteries. We use what we make as we make it. If it's not enough at any moment, we draw from the grid. If it's too much, we export to the grid and receive a credit.

We overproduce spring/summer/fall and underproduce in winter with the net annual usage pretty close to 0. Took a lot of energy efficiency upgrades and mindful usage to get there without a pond or a hot tub, so not a lot left to cut to keep net usage at 0 once those loads are added.

So we can't run a hot tub on our solar, but it could certainly be done a number of ways:

1. Install a big enough whole-house system to cover annual usage without batteries and rely on good net metering from your utility to even out the spikes and dips in production.
2. Install a big enough system with batteries to store your own energy to power the tub when the sun is down.
3. Panels fed directly to the tub and only use it when the sun is shining.
4. Same as #3 but with a solar water heater.
5. Any combination of the above working together.

Sorry if you were looking for a yes/no answer!

My south and west facing roofs are already full, but I bet I have just enough east facing roof to cover a few pond pumps and a 3kw hot tub heater.

 

[j.w]

Do you mean in general or us specifically? You can run anything on solar if you have enough panels and batteries. We're grid tied with no batteries. We use what we make as we make it. If it's not enough at any moment, we draw from the grid. If it's too much, we export to the grid and receive a credit.

We overproduce spring/summer/fall and underproduce in winter with the net annual usage pretty close to 0. Took a lot of energy efficiency upgrades and mindful usage to get there without a pond or a hot tub, so not a lot left to cut to keep net usage at 0 once those loads are added.

So we can't run a hot tub on our solar, but it could certainly be done a number of ways:

1. Install a big enough whole-house system to cover annual usage without batteries and rely on good net metering from your utility to even out the spikes and dips in production.
2. Install a big enough system with batteries to store your own energy to power the tub when the sun is down.
3. Panels fed directly to the tub and only use it when the sun is shining.
4. Same as #3 but with a solar water heater.
5. Any combination of the above working together.

Sorry if you were looking for a yes/no answer!

My south and west facing roofs are already full, but I bet I have just enough east facing roof to cover a few pond pumps and a 3kw hot tub heater.

Yep was asking for what you can do. So right now you can't but you could w/those 5 ways. So maybe you will be able to do some more by adding more to that other part of the roof. Will wait and see if you do it. Thanks for your reply. Guess for solar the earlier in your life you start this solar thing then the more it becomes cost effective in the long run.

 

[combatwombat]

Yep was asking for what you can do.

I guess I should have stopped there before typing a novel you didn't need to read. haha

Guess for solar the earlier in your life you start this solar thing then the more it becomes cost effective in the long run.

True for most things, I suppose. We should break even at end of year 6. That's only because I DIY'd it and was able to roll some other improvements into the tax credit. Otherwise I think it would have been nearly 20 years to break even and totally not worth it.

 

[cas]

My south and west facing roofs are already full,

When they mount the panels to the roof, do you worry about damage to the roof and the roof leaking?

 

[combatwombat]

When they mount the panels to the roof, do you worry about damage to the roof and the roof leaking?

No, because I did it myself.

When installed properly, though, a leak from a solar panel mount is just as likely/unlikely as a leak from any other roof penetration. If you have a competent installer, there's not much to worry about.

 

[GBBUDD]

Do you mean in general or us specifically? You can run anything on solar if you have enough panels and batteries. We're grid tied with no batteries. We use what we make as we make it. If it's not enough at any moment, we draw from the grid. If it's too much, we export to the grid and receive a credit.

We overproduce spring/summer/fall and underproduce in winter with the net annual usage pretty close to 0. Took a lot of energy efficiency upgrades and mindful usage to get there without a pond or a hot tub, so not a lot left to cut to keep net usage at 0 once those loads are added.

So we can't run a hot tub on our solar, but it could certainly be done a number of ways:

1. Install a big enough whole-house system to cover annual usage without batteries and rely on good net metering from your utility to even out the spikes and dips in production.
2. Install a big enough system with batteries to store your own energy to power the tub when the sun is down.
3. Panels fed directly to the tub and only use it when the sun is shining.
4. Same as #3 but with a solar water heater.
5. Any combination of the above working together.

Sorry if you were looking for a yes/no answer!

My south and west facing roofs are already full, but I bet I have just enough east facing roof to cover a few pond pumps and a 3kw hot tub heater.

How many panels and how many watts are they that you are using and how many in tghe family your still working with little ones aren't you so your draw in minimal for kids?

 

[combatwombat]

How many panels and how many watts are they that you are using and how many in tghe family your still working with little ones aren't you so your draw in minimal for kids?

(37) 310w panels = 11.5kw system total. Connected to 7.6kw inverter which is on the small side for the # of panels, but works perfectly in my situation. 3 adults (wife and I plus a mom) and 1 toddler all at home full time.

Annual production is 13mwh/year and we currently use 12.5mwh. House is all electric. No gas service available.

Just the wife and I were using almost 16mwh/yr before our daughter arrived. I've been relentlessly improving air sealing and insulation around the house since we moved in and the electric furnace / water heater were extremely old. As they broke down, I replaced with much more efficient equipment.

 

[combatwombat]

Waterfall test! Lots of caveats—it's definitely not finished and not pushing much water over it right now. But it's running! It's finally #$*%ing running.

 

[Dimelius]

Really relaxin sound, i love it, feel like zen waterfall. Nice job CW

 

[GBBUDD]

na ahhhh that wasn't your pond you morphed to a a a alternate reality ...........



LEAVE IT RUNNING ADD AMONIA TO THE POND START YOUR CYCLING