It's amazing what you can learn from people who lived during the olden days when electricity was not readily available in rural areas.
(1) My ram pump has been working like a charm until the creek got low due to drought but it watered animals and garden for free (other than initial cost to build if you cannot find one or have super friends) Or about $150 for parts from another friend who started from scratch.
Today I learned about:
(2) Carbide lamps & heat! Calcium chloride (rock salt) has many uses but one not listed on here
http://www.calciumchloride.com/market.shtml is ELECTRICITY. Yeap--Before electricity, you had a metal tank and filled with water. You added small amount of CC (will check into exact amount) which has acetalyne (& methane) as by products & piped it into house for heat or to run electrical things....not sure how that part worked. They even had small versions for lamps. These produce twice the light of candles Guy said formula he used lasted 6 months with 100 gal tank. Anyway..... here is history for those interested.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbide_lamp Side note--Rock salt for ice melting has extenders which may or may not affect the performs. I think I will try to make one of these.
