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A Project to Produce and Store Heat, Energy, Water, and Food, by T.S.
We all know that we can’t survive very long without water, food, and heat. Because we live in uncertain times, the benefits gained by this project would more than offset the initial cost. In a grid down situation, the extra heat, stored water, energy, and food production would be invaluable.
The list of benefits include but are not limited to:
- Heat production to help heat the house.
- Water storage plus heat storage.
- Solar energy production and storage.
- Food production.
Three years ago on a sunny winter day, I went out on our south (well, more like a southwest facing) porch, to enjoy the winter sun. It was a cold day, but without any wind sitting in a chair was warm and cozy. Then it dawned on me that I could enclose this porch with a wall of windows and it would be quite warm on a sunny day even if there was a wind. That’s where this all started, and in the process the porch project has evolved into much more than just a sun porch. Having a strong desire to increase our self-sufficiency as well as provide for my family, this has been an ongoing process that will return many benefits in the future.
In this article, I will share with you the process that will enable you to do all of the above plus more. I was fortunate in that there was already a reinforced concrete slab on which to build and a roof over the porch. The slab is 9-10 inches thick, which according to an architect friend is enough concrete to support the weight of both the wall of double pane windows and 50-gallon water barrels used to store heat and water. If you don’t already have a slab to build on, you will have to have one poured. Make sure it’s reinforced and thick enough for your purposes.
Constructing the Wall of Windows
The area that I had to work with was 29 ft. x 9 ft. On the 29 foot length, I built a wall of double pane windows, including four 32” x 74” and three 45” x 74”. These were purchased at a discount from a local building supply store that specializes in over runs, odd lots, et cetera, saving a lot of money. The ends of the porch are enclosed with 2×4 studs, and each end has a door and a small window to allow for air flow in the warmer months. The east end also has a 32” x 74” double pane window to take advantage of the morning winter sun.
In building this wall, I broke it down into three sections with two of the 32” windows with one of the 45” windows in the middle. The frames were 2×6, doubled in-between the windows, giving me roughly a 4×6 for stability and a single 2×6 on the top and bottom. The frames were first built on the slab, the existing porch header jacked up, the old porch post removed, the frame slid in, a 4×6 post inserted, and the header lowered on top of the frame and 4×6 post.
Source: http://survivalblog.com/a-project-to-produce-and-store-heat-energy-water-and-food-by-t-s/
