- Joined
- Mar 27, 2020
- Messages
- 280
- Climate
- Temperate (all seasons)
hey all, thought I'd share my latest 'investment' in sustainability. I managed to take part in the Kick Starter Home BioGas Digester purchase at the end of 2019. With the usual expected delays plus those which occurred due to the Covid-19 outbreak, we've managed to get the system set up and running just before Christmas 2020. So far, it seems to be working as promised and I must say, it is a relief to have somewhere to dispose of 'waste' that a normal composting system may not take well or that you wouldn't feed to the chickens!!
We paved an area for it just off our North facing back verandah, it gets quite a bit of sun from about mid morning til mid/later afternoon and this should be enough heat to process the contents. The Digester tank is filled with water and then with a slurry made from animal manure (not chicken or dog/cat) and then fed up to 2kg of kitchen waste each day. Sand bags sit in slots on top of the gas tank which is above the digester tank, and the weight of the sand bags produces the pressure for the gas burner which we placed just inside the area to the right of the unit - that is now our outdoor kitchen
The last picture was taken just this past week, the gas tank has nearly filled up and it is supposed to give us two hours but possibly up to three hours of gas cooking each day in the warmer summer months. I am now saving to purchase a greenhouse to put over the unit so that it will still be effective during winter. We've already cooked a couple of meals on the gas burner (supplied) in the outdoor kitchen but I've put that inside a little used hooded BBQ unit to protect it from the elements (there is only shade cloth around the upper area of the enclosure) and to help stop the gas flame from being extinguished when we are cooking on blustery days.
Even though my husband was a bit of a sceptic about the whole thing, he too, has cooked on the gas burner while I was away visiting family,and apart from the smell that omits from the BioGas Digester when you add kitchen scraps, he's quite pleased with the overall purchase because, as you would know, cooking and heating/cooling are the biggest costs when it comes to the power bills!!
Quite some years ago, I purchased a Sun Oven and have been able to use that very often during the warmer months to cook complete meals - the only downside is that the unit can tip over in strong winds and we are in the middle of cropping country so we get very strong winds here on a regular basis! It also needs sunshine to work and that can be sparse in the colder months. Between those two investments, I'm hoping that our cooking will be 95% achieved outside from now on and I'm waiting to see if our power usage will reflect that!!??!
We paved an area for it just off our North facing back verandah, it gets quite a bit of sun from about mid morning til mid/later afternoon and this should be enough heat to process the contents. The Digester tank is filled with water and then with a slurry made from animal manure (not chicken or dog/cat) and then fed up to 2kg of kitchen waste each day. Sand bags sit in slots on top of the gas tank which is above the digester tank, and the weight of the sand bags produces the pressure for the gas burner which we placed just inside the area to the right of the unit - that is now our outdoor kitchen
The last picture was taken just this past week, the gas tank has nearly filled up and it is supposed to give us two hours but possibly up to three hours of gas cooking each day in the warmer summer months. I am now saving to purchase a greenhouse to put over the unit so that it will still be effective during winter. We've already cooked a couple of meals on the gas burner (supplied) in the outdoor kitchen but I've put that inside a little used hooded BBQ unit to protect it from the elements (there is only shade cloth around the upper area of the enclosure) and to help stop the gas flame from being extinguished when we are cooking on blustery days.
Even though my husband was a bit of a sceptic about the whole thing, he too, has cooked on the gas burner while I was away visiting family,and apart from the smell that omits from the BioGas Digester when you add kitchen scraps, he's quite pleased with the overall purchase because, as you would know, cooking and heating/cooling are the biggest costs when it comes to the power bills!!
Quite some years ago, I purchased a Sun Oven and have been able to use that very often during the warmer months to cook complete meals - the only downside is that the unit can tip over in strong winds and we are in the middle of cropping country so we get very strong winds here on a regular basis! It also needs sunshine to work and that can be sparse in the colder months. Between those two investments, I'm hoping that our cooking will be 95% achieved outside from now on and I'm waiting to see if our power usage will reflect that!!??!
but I have noticed that some of the pellets of sheep poo that I put it to start with are also ending up in the liquids. The heat generated is supposed to dissolve the solids though because they do advertise that you can put bones in.