I ordered a cheap solar kit from walmart at one point because I wanted a solar panel I could keep in my truck or bang around without thinking much about it.  This kit also had a very cheap solar charge controller with it and some decent power adapters.  The solar charger was labeled for specs that I personally feel were way off.  I have never seen a cheap controller like that with specs anywhere near that.  Also the item was sold as a "200 Watt solar kit" but I knew it was the 20 watt solar panel by looking at it.  So that was the first issue.  Below is a picture of what comes with the kit and also a video of testing the kit and seeing how it performs and if it was worth the $35.

Testing and comparing the new Harbor Freight 1.5w trickle charge solar panel to the old red version HF used to sell.  I had a couple of the old ones and one of them I used once on a 69 VW street buggy for a couple months then put it in storage.  I picked up the new version last week to try out and test against the old ones.  The results are in the video below.

Having seen people make claims that using 4 tealight candles in a muffin pan that you can boil water in a pan above it, I decided to test out that theory and see if it actually works.  I used the same type and size pans so that the candles had room to burn correctly below the water pan and also have room for plenty of air to get to the candles.  Using 2 cups of standard tap water I put the pan of water over the 4 burning candles and set a timer with my phone, used the finger temp test, and also a cooking thermometer to see just how hot it got.  You can see the setup in the pictures below and the results of the test in the video.

I had purchased two different portable solar panel kits for use with charging portable power banks when I couldn't have access to grid power.  The first one I purchased was the Dokio kit and it is a decent kit.  It comes with a solar charge controller as well as a bunch of cables and adapters.  I also have a lot of power adapter ends from universal kits I purchased from Amazon in the past so I can charge various things with different size and style inputs.  I ended up making each of the panel kits to be able to charge both the power banks you see in the picture below.  The eco-worthy kit I had purchased not too long ago and it doesn't come with a solar charge controller but it does come with a lot of cables and adapters.  

The Dokio kit uses SAE to XT60 cables and the Eco-Worthy kit uses MC4/universal cables so that may help in your decision of what is right for you.  I prefer the Eco-Worthy for that reason and it is also much more rugged and a little smaller than the Dokio kit.  Also the Eco-Worthy kit has pins on that back of each side you can use for stand legs.  The Dokio kit does not and requires you to buy their stands for them separately.  

If you watch the video below you will see the kits in better detail.


No affiliated links for products below.  I purchased them for my own use. 
Dokio:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Eco-Worthy:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

Purchased the Vogelzang VG1820 woodstove insert to have installed at the NH lake house after I had removed the old gas insert that was in it.  I had a company come sleeve the chimney for the stove and install the insert.  In general it has been a decent insert for use up here.  If I could have still got the one installed in my house I would have but had to get this one instead.  The company support was very good and I was able to get a new blower motor sent out when they sent new door hinge pins.  The heater blower would not stay on high setting but the replacement has worked perfectly.  The door pins were a serious issue.  They would walk themselves out when opening the door and closing it over and over.  The first time it happened was a huge surprise because the door came off the top hinge while using the stove but luckily the bottom hinge was still connected.  So the door was hanging down and couldn't close.  I had to grab a fire mitten I have and the ash shovel and lift the door back into place and put the hinge pin back in all while the stove was running.  Not exactly fun.  The company did send out new replacement pins they claimed were a new design for the stove with holes for cotter pins.  Those pins were the same length as the others and did not go below the bottom of the hinge allowing cotter pins to be put in place.  So I made new pins for the stove with cotter pins and they have worked great.  In the two pictures below you can see the picture with the surround on and access door open still has their old pins in it and they are too short.  The other photo of hinges has my new pins I made for it.

The first thing I noticed when getting ready to burn off for the first time was that there was a ton of smoke and crap burning off the stove on first use.  I put the stove out and pulled out the manual to read first burn information.  They stated to do 3 burns to cure the paint and burn off remnants on stove.  First one for 250 degrees for 20 minutes and let cool, second one the same, and third one was 500 degrees and let cool.  This stove burnt off so much smoke during that burn off it was awful.  I have never had a stove that did that much.  However, it has been fine ever since and the finish has held up well.  

The other issue I ran into was the surround itself not working how it came from factory.  This was not manufactures fault but a space issue with where it was being installed.  So where the stove had to sit the surround came too far towards the front of the stove and covered the damper lever on the right side.  So I cut the material on the surround and added hinges and a knob to have an access door.  It works and looks like it was made for the surround.

Overall it has been a good stove for this location and has kept the place warm in cold weather so I can't complain.  It does its job.  The only annoying thing is that it also pings a great deal with heating up or cooling down.  Our other insert stove at home barely makes a sound once it is warm.  Considering the cost of this one was the same as the one we have at home I don't think I would buy it again and would work to find one more like the other one.  

I had purchased an inexpensive Craftsman hatchet 15 or so years ago to keep around for small cutting needs.  I never liked the finish on the handle and the hatchet head was not ideal and cutting edge on it was pretty awful.  So I put it aside with a bunch of stuff and came across it again a couple weeks ago.  I decided I was going to make into a better hatchet that I would like and use.  One thing I did like about it was the handle itself had a shape I liked and it was shaped to fit in your hand better than many of the other less expensive ones that were basically a chunk of wood that made it cheaper to build and sell.  

I didn't care for the finish on the handle and the poly/lacquer type shiny finish because it made it slippery and can give blisters over time.  That was pretty easily fixed by removing that and putting lindseed oil on it.  I also filed the hatchet head on the cutting edge to take off metal and make the cutting shape better.  Then used sharpening stones to give it a sharp edge like a knife.  Then I needed to make a sheath out of extra leather pieces I had.  Overall it came out well and now I will use it instead of my Fiskars hatchet.  Didn't take long to do, used basically inexpensive tools and things I had lying around was not an expensive hatchet to begin with.  I detail a little more in the video what was done to it.

First picture shows what the hatchet looked like before I started doing any work to it.  

I have setup for testing out various setups, panels, controllers and battery banks a temporary testing area in my small back wood shop.  I had purchased long ago four of the old Harbor Freight 45W solar kits that had three 15w panels and mounting bracket and hardware.  The charge controllers and lights that came with the kit were not really of much use (even back then tbh) and were tossed.  I mounted the 4 kits on the roof and then put a small solar controller and one single lead acid 18ah battery I had sitting around.  Pretty sure I ordered the wrong battery for generator or something so had it available.  You can see in the first picture it was just a quick basic setup.  I slowly upgraded the system to include a breaker shutoff for panels coming in, a battery charge monitor, usb charging ports that worked off a switch and kept making changes.  At one point I added a 2nd identical 18ah battery in parallel and later a 3rd battery to the bank.  I also changed to one single new 200watt 12v solar panel and two 100ah lead acid batteries instead of the other battery bank.  

I am by no means a solar expert but have been testing smaller setups seeing what works well and what doesn't.  I have been increasing solar setup sizes and will be doing a hybrid solar/wind turbine setup at the lake this summer.  So keep in mind you need to do your own due diligence and research when setting up your own systems.  There are so many variables at play such as solar panels, 12, 24 or 48v systems, different controllers, wire gauge sizes, etc that will affect how well your system works and what your needs are.  

I will actually be pulling the current 200 watt panel and two 100ah batteries from this setup and going back to the HF old panels and three 18ah battery bank for the shop since it is a testing setup and that setup works well for just the lighting I need.  

In the video below it is a little long because I start going over the setup in the shop but then give information about the lights used, amount of watts they draw, different inverters etc and give information of what you could expect for light run times based on the battery bank size and battery type at the end of the video.

We finally put a mini-split unit in my home and liked the unit for cooling the lower level living area and occasional heat if needed.  So I was thinking about putting one in our NH lake house.  After seeing the hybrid solar units I wanted to try one out before ordering the 9k btu unit for NH.  The 9k DIY units were still just in promotion stage and not being sold yet so I purchased the standard 12k EG4 unit to test out in my back garage to see if it would even work well or be worth the expense.  The older units like mine you had to vacuum out the lines after connecting the lines to the system before you let out the freon from the outdoor unit.  The new 12k DIY units and the 9k DIY units do not need to have that done.  You will see in the pictures that I had purchased an inexpensive unit from Amazon and just did the process myself.  It wasn't difficult and honestly worth having the stuff around for future things.  

The mini-split itself was pretty easy to install and mount.  Lots of good video tutorials out there for anyone who wants to tackle it.  Just be sure you angle your drain line down and be very careful with moving or bending your copper lines.  Once it was mounted and I built a stand for the main outside unit all I had to do was run the solar power to it.  I purchased and installed a breaker box for the solar as you can see in the pictures.  I started with 6 24v 240w solar panels but ended up doing 8.  They are in a horrible spot and only temporary so they don't get the right amount of sun to run this unit fully on solar.  It also happens to be winter so sun is not as strong.  

Once I got the unit connected and left the vacuum pump and gauges for 24 hours with no movement I was comfortable the setup was all good.  I connected the solar to the unit and had a temporary AC power connected to the unit.  If I keep the setup permanently there I will have a permanent AC setup done.  I was able to fire up the unit with the remote given and test out all features for heat and cooling.  I then downloaded the app to my phone for the units and was now able to watch how much is being drawn from solar and compensated by AC power when not enough watts coming from solar.  If you see the photos below the first one is on cooling (which takes less watts to run than heat) and I had only 6 panels at that time hooked up and leaves still on trees.  Was getting almost no solar power to unit and barely hitting 100 watts.  The second one is from a cloudy day a few days ago with 8 panels and no leaves on tree but winter sun.  This is cold NE winters so solar isn't ideal.  As you can see it was ranging from 250 to 300 watts drawing from solar and the rest from AC power.  I would expect with proper placement of panels getting direct sunlight I should be able to run that unit during normal sun days from just 6 panels but would likely use 8 to be sure.  

I am actually pleased with the unit and may end up keeping it in its current location and ordering the 9k DIY unit for NH.  It is nice to be able to offset the normal power usage it would take from grid power and run solar panels.  If you have an off grid setup you would just tie your AC side into your battery bank inverter setup.  The unit has a built in inverter system for the solar DC side so it would run directly from panels for whatever draw you can get and then draw the rest from your battery bank setup.  It is actually a very nice setup.

The links below are for the new DIY 12k and 9k units that don't require you to do a vacuum of the lines:

EG4 Hybrid Solar Mini-Split Air Conditioner Heat Pump AC/DC | 12000 BTU

EG4 9K Mini-Split Air Conditioner Heat Pump | 9000 BTU |

When I was looking to install an EG4 Hybrid mini-split system I needed solar panels and some sort of mounting hardware for the panels.  I thought about making my own mounts but then came across this kit.  I ordered 2 kits and setup one temporarily since I need to move the panels to a new location before I mount both sets full of panels.  Each kit easily holds the four 24v solar panels I used with extra room on the rails.  I can have 5 panels on each with a little overhang on each end if I choose to.  My panels happen to be 39" wide.  I ended up setting an extra panel on the end and having 3 more standing up for 8 panels total while testing the mini-split.  What I really liked about this kit is I couldn't build this kit for what I paid for each one and they are easily customized and come with a ton of mounting hardware and hold down clamps for various size solar panels since some are thicker than others.  You can adjust your angles and even though it is a ground mount setup that you can put on various mounting surfaces (cement, 4x4s, 6x6s etc) you can also modify for angled roof mounting fairly easily.  The video below shows the setup and how easy it was and the few things you need to pay attention to while setting it up.  The best thing is if the mount holes they have don't work for your needs you can drill quickly whatever you want in the hardware.  The way it came worked out well for me though.  You can view the product with the link below.

EG4 BrightMount Solar Panel Ground Mount Rack Kit

I needed some sort of solution for having winter water at the lake to the kitchen sink during the winter for when we visit.  We normally draw water from lake with a jet pump (as others at the lake do) during most of the year.  I will be working on doing a well soon so we can have year round water and not have to deal with the lake water.  Luckily it is a spring fed lake with multiple springs and is also tested a few times a year for water quality.  We don't drink the water but use it for most other things.  This setup now gives me hot and cold water to the kitchen sink for dishes and whatever water supply we need.  

I use a 12v RV water pump and used water grade plastic hose wrapped in foam insulation and then buried that goes down into the water.  I am not sure how it will fair during dead of winter when lake gets frozen over but I will know very soon.  That RV pump then feeds a split valve that sends cold water directly to the faucet and then feeds the hot water tank under the sink.  That is a small electric one I purchased at Home Depot many years ago and ended up replacing it after the first test because it leaked a little around the pressure release valve.  The one in the video is the new one.  Normally you need a foot valve on you water supply from the lake to keep the water from going back into the lake and breaking the prime seal in the jet pump but with this setup the RV pump is self priming and holds pressure.  So the end of that hose has a filter on it instead of a foot valve making it easier to winterize that water line when leaving.  The setup works very well.  I have a couple of Lifep04 batteries there but also large lead acid ones for the boat trolling motors so I can use those under the sink for power.  

It is really a huge difference having that water supply instead of fancy camping in the winter.