Andrew Williams

paul wheaton wrote:It kinda starts here https://permies.com/w/heat

If you ever watch a superhero movie, they go to battle for the good of humanity and get the shit beat out of them. So, here we are, trying to save those people in your neck of the woods that don't yet know about rocket mass heaters.  

We try.  

And try.  

And try.  

My nose is getting bloodied, but it is a small price to pay to try.

When I met ernie and erica for the first time, it was my first ever exposure to rocket mass heaters.  "Why don't more people know about this?"  "We tell everyone we can."   And when you look at the comments on reddit, there it is:  

    - nothing is as efficient as a mini split

    - it's just a wood stove

So ...  I think the next step is that we need an infographic that compares all forms of heat by a buffet of metrics.  So it can cut through this sort of shit.  https://permies.com/w/280/191709/people-rocket-mass-heaters#1633841

I have a couple of demonstration videos planned. One, the CO myth. Another, demonstrating the effectiveness of radiant heat. But for that I need to buy a wet bulb meter. It's worth it though.

paul wheaton wrote:this might help  https://permies.com/t/197678/sour-grapes-snake-oil-corporate

Ah ok, that makes sense. Thanks.

I don't know how you can stand going on Reddit! You have the skin of a rhino.

.....And the tsunami of irrational hatred I received was equal parts terrifying, hilarious, and baffling.

So, last night, the youtube video of my RMH got a lot of views in a few hours. I woke up to find it had gained 10,000 views overnight.  A quick investigation informed me it was because someone had posted it to Reddit.
I don't use Reddit, because.... Well.... Reddit.
So, I went to look at it.
And oh the comments!
Many of them seemed to be raging along the lines of "this guy again?". Some were still spitting with rage about an AMA I'd done a while ago.
I've never done an AMA, on Reddit, or otherwise.

A quick search....

Ah. That was Paul.

Now I'm sure it would stun the brave heroes spewing negativity all over RMH Reddit posts to hear this, but, in many ways, not all bearded permaculturists are the same.

I rarely wear denim, for a start.
I'm ambivalent about pie.
I'm a mere, practically hobbit-like, 6 feet tall.

We're not interchangeable, is my point.
But I am absolutely a firm advocate of rocket technologies.
However I'm not going to descend into the depths of Reddit to argue with people who appear to hold the belief that using the word 'thermodynamics' in any sentence makes them a scientist.
No. I'm going to make even more videos about RMH tech.
Then use the income generated to build more rocket powered systems.

They're going to hate on me anyway, may as well obtain a yield!

Ela La Salle wrote:

Andrew Williams wrote:A game changer for me in reducing plastic waste has been vacuum sealing dry goods in recycled glass jars. I buy in bulk, and vacuum it at home.
Many things like flour can be bought in paper sacks, but plastic is pretty good at maintaining shelf life. Compared to vacuum storage though, plastics are inefficient, ineffective and completely redundant.

I've been doing it for years. Just on a side note , this is my method for that type of lids not sealing;
I place dry, clean folded dish towel in a microwave, heat it on high  for a minute, then take out the dish towel and place the lid/s in between the towel fold to warm up for a bit and place still warm lid on the jar and vacuum seal it.  The rubber gasket seals when the lid is still quite warm. I never had issues of not working.

Brilliant! I can see a video update coming soon.

A game changer for me in reducing plastic waste has been vacuum sealing dry goods in recycled glass jars. I buy in bulk, and vacuum it at home.
Many things like flour can be bought in paper sacks, but plastic is pretty good at maintaining shelf life. Compared to vacuum storage though, plastics are inefficient, ineffective and completely reduntant.

This is the final video on our rice trials for 2020. We've had mixed success, which is fairly inevitable with such an experimental system.

The best technique I've come across for long term storage without any plastics uses recycled glass jars to vacuum seal dry goods. It's bizarre to me that so few people seem to have heard about it, but it's been a complete game changer, for me at least. I made a video about it.
https://youtu.be/W79s3p-_21Q

You only need 7 or 8!

A little while ago I came up with an interesting way to make seed cubes quickly, that I've not seen elsewhere, so I thought I'd share it here. I have a duck pond and rice padi system, that allows me to dump the duck pond water into the padi to flood it. The soil blocks are a handy little side yield of the system. I've not filmed it yet, but I've run experiments with them and they germinate veg seeds as well as anything I've ever used. The title isn't click-bait in the slightest, I don't do that. I'm going to be using this method exclusively from now on, and will never buy plastic cell trays again. I'm really pleased with it.

After the cold snap delayed planting out, we've finally got the rice seedlings into the padi field. I suspect we're now the northernmost rice farmers in western Europe.