It’s almost time for our local hummingbirds to make their long journey to Mexico for the winter, like mini blackhawk helicopters thrumming their way a 1000 miles or more. Since mid-April (early this year!) we have enjoyed their antics, mating displays and rituals, but, most of all, the continual hummy wars over our feeders.
We have at least 10 hummingbirds who hang around our house. We have two feeders – a two-station feeder right in front of our house and a 6-station feeder about 50 feet from our back porch. We can see the back feeder from our dining room table. It’s like having a TV, but much more fun than watching about wars in foreign countries, oil spills, political nonsense, and whether the president is a Christian. I don’t know if their antics are purely instinct, or whether they are playing, or a combination of both. But they “protect” that feeder with the most amazing aerial displays, body blocks and tackles, sneak attacks, and dive bombs. The dive bombs are amazing – and are also part of their mating rituals. They fly straight up 30 or more feet, and then do a straight drop, beak first, pulling out of the dive at the last second. They also share the feeder at times, but then begin the attacks yet again within a few minutes. During the shows, they fly over or around the house to the front feeder and then back again, although we can’t see both at the same time. The front feeder seems more like a truce station where they can recharge on their sweet fuel, because the wars aren’t as intense there. The back station is the treasured prize, fought over again and again.
Outside our dining room window, we have a double clothes line strung between two supporting pillars for our back porch. Birds (not just our hummies) think that we put the line there for them (and I have to periodically clean bird poop off the porch). They’re probably right – I only use the line for clothes a few hours each week. And the birds buzz me when I’m hanging my wet clothes to let me know they don’t appreciate that I’m using their perch! The hummies use the line as a resting station between battles, and to catch the tiny bugs that add protein to their diets. It’s fun to watch their long tongues dart out to catch the bugs. We also see them shake their feathers, stretch their wings, and scratch their itches, and hover within an inch of our dining room windows. When we sit on the porch they often buzz us, going back and forth a foot or so from our faces for as long as 45 seconds before returning to their perch. We stay very still and talk softly to them during these visits. Last year one hummy tried to feed from my husband’s nose (yuck!) – stuck its beak into his nose and darted his tongue out. I can’t image how weird that must have felt (and we hope the hummy survived his nose germs!).
Within a month, they will be gone. We will miss them, until next Spring. Adios!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Swamp coolers
I live in the high plateau desert - the average humidity here during the summer is less than 15%, often less than 10%. We have an off-grid solar home, so of course we have a swamp cooler, aka evaporative cooler. Other cooling options would drain way too much electricity. But even before we lived here, we had a swamp cooler because we lived in a relatively arid location.
Swamp coolers work so well, and provide fresh, water-filtered air. And they save energy - using 1/3 to 1/4 the electricity of other methods. I often wonder why the municipalities in these arid regions aren't giving rebates or discounts when a house is cooled via evaporation. I also wonder why people aren't choosing to install swamp coolers, or are removing them and installing central air. Here are some of my guesses:
1. Swamp coolers can be noisy, and the switch supplied with them is either on or off via a manual switch
2. You have to have a way to vent the air out of the house to be cooled
3. They can use a fair amount of water
4. Many people don't have a clue how to use them and to maintain them
5. The duct can cause heat loss to the house in the winter
6. If you use less electricity, the municipality receives less utility taxes
7. The heating-cooling industry would rather sell an expensive central air unit than a relatively inexpensive evaporative unit
Ok, so I'll address these points.
1. Yes, they can be noisy. You get used to it very quickly. As far as that clunky switch, BUY A THERMOSTAT switch that is made for swamp coolers so they cycle on and off based on the temperature in the house. Dial Mfg has several different models - I like the "SelectaStat II" model best even though it is the simplest. They are absolutely wonderful and your home is so very comfortable.
2. Opening windows to vent the air and cool each room is a must. But in some locations an open window is an invitation to burglars. When I lived in a city location, we used inexpensive screw-type window locks so the window would only open a few inches. I also had a home with "up-ducts" - flapping ducts that are installed in the ceiling that vent the air to the attic. Adequate attic venting is a must for these to work. I like opening windows better. If you use up-ducts you should put an insulation pillow into each one for the winter.
3. I looked up how much water is used by a swamp cooler. Obviously it varies by location, and by how often the cooler is on (do you have a thermostat??) during the summer months. One web site said that water use can be from 3 to 15 gallons a day, more if you have a bleeder valve system or flush pump (to decrease hard water deposits - look into these if you have that problem). My toilets in my old home used more than 15 gallons a day, and we didn't flush often (we are a yellow mellow, brown flush it down household).
4. Go to a web site that tells you about cooler maintenance. My tips: new pads each year (and use aspen pads, IMO those others just don't work very well), clean out periodically during the season, soak the pads before turning it on the first time each day, use the low fan setting (in our very arid region the high fan setting dries the pads too quickly and it blows warmer air!), and vent the air to the places in the house you are using and close windows in the rooms you aren't using. Pretty darned simple!
5. Use a duct pillow to prevent heat loss in the winter. Make one from old quilts or buy one - either way put it in as soon as you know you won't need your cooler until Spring. Unfortunately, putting the pillow into the duct requires that you remove the diffuser. Over time the screws will strip their holes, and the diffuser will fall onto your head (yes, this happened!). Many years ago a company made a quick release kit for diffusers, making it easy to remove and replace. It's no longer on the market, so you need to make your own. In this house I built a frame around the diffuser out of 1.5" door trim that is just about the thickness of the diffuser. Then I used some heavy duty plastic pieces that are made to attach metal closet organizers to the wall (shaped like a "U" with extended ends) - I screwed one end to the frame while the other end swivels over the edge of the diffuser and back, to either lock it or release it. I used eight of these plastic pieces, two on each side. It took about an hour to make, and it now takes 10 seconds to remove the diffuser, a minute to push the pillow into place, and 10 seconds to replace the diffuser. Cool, huh?
6 & 7. How to deal with governments and large industry? That will be another rant, someday.
Last note. Our neighbors down here said that our swamp cooler would be ok except during monsoon season (what we call rainy season around here) when the humidity can get pretty high, e.g., 30% or more (if you live in a humid area, quit laughing). We had a strong monsoon season this year, and yet the hottest the house got was 77 degrees, and that was rare. We were still comfortable because we had air movement in the house.
Swamp coolers? I say go for it.
Enough for today.
Swamp coolers work so well, and provide fresh, water-filtered air. And they save energy - using 1/3 to 1/4 the electricity of other methods. I often wonder why the municipalities in these arid regions aren't giving rebates or discounts when a house is cooled via evaporation. I also wonder why people aren't choosing to install swamp coolers, or are removing them and installing central air. Here are some of my guesses:
1. Swamp coolers can be noisy, and the switch supplied with them is either on or off via a manual switch
2. You have to have a way to vent the air out of the house to be cooled
3. They can use a fair amount of water
4. Many people don't have a clue how to use them and to maintain them
5. The duct can cause heat loss to the house in the winter
6. If you use less electricity, the municipality receives less utility taxes
7. The heating-cooling industry would rather sell an expensive central air unit than a relatively inexpensive evaporative unit
Ok, so I'll address these points.
1. Yes, they can be noisy. You get used to it very quickly. As far as that clunky switch, BUY A THERMOSTAT switch that is made for swamp coolers so they cycle on and off based on the temperature in the house. Dial Mfg has several different models - I like the "SelectaStat II" model best even though it is the simplest. They are absolutely wonderful and your home is so very comfortable.
2. Opening windows to vent the air and cool each room is a must. But in some locations an open window is an invitation to burglars. When I lived in a city location, we used inexpensive screw-type window locks so the window would only open a few inches. I also had a home with "up-ducts" - flapping ducts that are installed in the ceiling that vent the air to the attic. Adequate attic venting is a must for these to work. I like opening windows better. If you use up-ducts you should put an insulation pillow into each one for the winter.
3. I looked up how much water is used by a swamp cooler. Obviously it varies by location, and by how often the cooler is on (do you have a thermostat??) during the summer months. One web site said that water use can be from 3 to 15 gallons a day, more if you have a bleeder valve system or flush pump (to decrease hard water deposits - look into these if you have that problem). My toilets in my old home used more than 15 gallons a day, and we didn't flush often (we are a yellow mellow, brown flush it down household).
4. Go to a web site that tells you about cooler maintenance. My tips: new pads each year (and use aspen pads, IMO those others just don't work very well), clean out periodically during the season, soak the pads before turning it on the first time each day, use the low fan setting (in our very arid region the high fan setting dries the pads too quickly and it blows warmer air!), and vent the air to the places in the house you are using and close windows in the rooms you aren't using. Pretty darned simple!
5. Use a duct pillow to prevent heat loss in the winter. Make one from old quilts or buy one - either way put it in as soon as you know you won't need your cooler until Spring. Unfortunately, putting the pillow into the duct requires that you remove the diffuser. Over time the screws will strip their holes, and the diffuser will fall onto your head (yes, this happened!). Many years ago a company made a quick release kit for diffusers, making it easy to remove and replace. It's no longer on the market, so you need to make your own. In this house I built a frame around the diffuser out of 1.5" door trim that is just about the thickness of the diffuser. Then I used some heavy duty plastic pieces that are made to attach metal closet organizers to the wall (shaped like a "U" with extended ends) - I screwed one end to the frame while the other end swivels over the edge of the diffuser and back, to either lock it or release it. I used eight of these plastic pieces, two on each side. It took about an hour to make, and it now takes 10 seconds to remove the diffuser, a minute to push the pillow into place, and 10 seconds to replace the diffuser. Cool, huh?
6 & 7. How to deal with governments and large industry? That will be another rant, someday.
Last note. Our neighbors down here said that our swamp cooler would be ok except during monsoon season (what we call rainy season around here) when the humidity can get pretty high, e.g., 30% or more (if you live in a humid area, quit laughing). We had a strong monsoon season this year, and yet the hottest the house got was 77 degrees, and that was rare. We were still comfortable because we had air movement in the house.
Swamp coolers? I say go for it.
Enough for today.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Welcome
I’m new to blogging. In my old life I would never have thought to create a blog and share my life and my thoughts with cyberspace. Too busy, too old, not bold enough to just let myself hang out there for anyone to see, and criticize.
So, why did I put “Dead Horse Ranch” in my blog’s title? About 12 years ago my husband and I bought land in this beautiful red rock paradise. While my husband was finalizing the deal (nit picking every possible point, thank heavens) we drove our motorhome down to our 20 acres and camped. Between our initial look and our first real trip there, a local rancher had dumped a dead horse on the land. Yuck! We tried to find out who had done the nasty deed, but to no avail, so the horse stayed there and rotted, fed the coyotes and assorted other critters, and was a bag of predator-scattered bones by the time we built our home a decade later. At first it was disgusting, then it became an interesting story, now there is a horse skull proudly displayed in front of our home – a great conversation piece.
We built an 1800 square foot off-grid solar home. Now that we have lived here almost two years we have accumulated many fun stories - at least they are fun in hindsight. I’ll babble away when I feel like sharing, and see what happens.
Enough for my first posting.
Thought for the day
Why does a smoke alarm always have a false alarm in the middle of the night rather than during waking hours? And why on a night when you really needed a full night’s sleep?
So, why did I put “Dead Horse Ranch” in my blog’s title? About 12 years ago my husband and I bought land in this beautiful red rock paradise. While my husband was finalizing the deal (nit picking every possible point, thank heavens) we drove our motorhome down to our 20 acres and camped. Between our initial look and our first real trip there, a local rancher had dumped a dead horse on the land. Yuck! We tried to find out who had done the nasty deed, but to no avail, so the horse stayed there and rotted, fed the coyotes and assorted other critters, and was a bag of predator-scattered bones by the time we built our home a decade later. At first it was disgusting, then it became an interesting story, now there is a horse skull proudly displayed in front of our home – a great conversation piece.
We built an 1800 square foot off-grid solar home. Now that we have lived here almost two years we have accumulated many fun stories - at least they are fun in hindsight. I’ll babble away when I feel like sharing, and see what happens.
Enough for my first posting.
Thought for the day
Why does a smoke alarm always have a false alarm in the middle of the night rather than during waking hours? And why on a night when you really needed a full night’s sleep?
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