Biomass
Build Your Own Barrel Oven – Max and Eva Edleson – Hand Print Press (US) 2012 – 978 0 9679846 9 8 – This is another one hit wonder but a ripper! Everything you wanted to know about turning a 200 litre steel drum into an outside, biomass powered oven. Construction instructions are detailed and there are lots of colour photos and line drawings.
Rocket Mass Heaters – Ianto Evans & Leslie Jackson – Cob Cottage Company (US) 2014 ISBN 978 0 9663738 4 4 – Just what we all wanted (well I did!), a book about rocket stoves! While, as the name suggests, this book is about designing and building space heaters using rocket stove technology, there are also instructions on making small scale cooking stoves as well. Maintenance and fuel choices are discussed and there is a surprisingly honest page or two on the drawbacks of using this technology and some interesting case studies. Lots of line drawings and colour photos.
Build Your Own Earth Oven – Kiko Denzer – Hand Print Press (US) 2004 ISBN 978 0 9679846 0 2 – This is THE manual on how to make your own cob pizza oven. It covers a bit of history, tools and materials required to construct it, making the base, step by step instructions on making the oven and the tools required to operate it. Some black and white photos but lots of line drawings to illustrate what you need to do.
Lorena Stoves (designing, building and testing wood conserving cookstoves) – Ianto Evans & Michael Boutette – The appropriate technology project of volunteers in Asia (US) 1981 ISBN 0 917704 14 2 – This a manual on how to desing and build your own stove using local materials and low tech processes. Construction is mainly of clay and how to win and process the clay so it is ready for use is covered in detail. There are some black and white photos and lots of line drawings of stove designs and how they work.
Solar
Solar Homes and Sun Heating – George Daniels – Harpers and Row (US) 1976 ISBN 0 06 010937 8 – Some interesting ideas in this small book, some could only be included during construction but some retrofit options like insulation and solar collectors. There are detailed instructions on building your own flat plate active solar heating system.
Cooking with the Sun – Beth & Dan Halacy – Morning Sun Press (US) 1992 ISBN 0 9629069 2 1 – This is another oldie but goodie, it is the book responsible for my interest in solar cooking and the plans in the book are what I based my solar oven on. The book covers some history then gives detailed instructions on building a solar oven and hotplate. The rest of the book is given over to recipes appropriate for use in solar cookers. Some black and white photos and some line drawings to illustrate construction methods.
How to Use Solar Energy (in your home and business) – Ted Lucas – Ward Ritchie Press (US) 1977 ISBN 0378 06380 4 – This is technical book, not “how to” which discusses the use of technology available at the time, including some stuff I’ve never heard of (eg the Northrop concentrating solar collector using linear Fresnel lens…..what the?). Info on air type and liquid type solar space heating, passive solar, solar water heating is detailed. Lots of historical interest. Black and white photos with some line drawings and circuit diagrams.
A Golden Thread (2000 years of solar architecture and Technology) – Ken Butti & John Perlin – Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd (US) 1980 ISBN 0 442 24005 8 – This is a great coffee table style book showing the development and use of solar technologies over the last 2000 years. It covers early use of the sun including roman solar architecture and solar hot boxes, then goes through using the sun to power engines, heat water and heat houses. There are lots of black and white photos and line drawings. A good book if you are interested in the history of solar power.
Wind
Wind and Wind Spinners – Michael Hackleman – Peace Press (US) 1974 ISBN 0 915238 02 0 – This was another watershed text for me, all about making a wind generator using automotive components and catching the wind with a vertical shaft savonius (S) rotor. The theory and practice are all here, including how to make and secure the tower that the generator sits on. The book has a few black and white photos but lots of line drawings.
The Home Built, Wind Generated Electricity Handbook – Michael Hackleman – Earth Mind/Peace Press (US) 1975 ISBN 0 915238 05 5 – The name is a bit of a misnomer because it is really about finding and refurbishing old pre-US-rural-electrification horizontal wind generators (lots of luck finding any in Aus today). However there is a lot of detail on making and erecting the tower including where to site the tower, use of batteries (lead acid) and how to construct a control box. Lots of line drawings with a few black and white photos.
Better Use of Your Electric Lights, Home Appliances, Shop Tools - Everything That Uses Electricity – Michael Hackleman – Peace Press (US) 1981 ISBN 0 915238 50 0 – The book shows you how to convert appliance etc (old stuff anyway, I don’t know how modern appliances would be to convert.) to run directly on 12 volts. Very interesting stuff on the theory around wire thicknesses and which ones to use for low voltage. A bit dated but still has some interesting stuff. Lots of Black and white photos and line drawings.
Harnessing the Wind for Home Energy – Dermot McGuigan – Garden Way Publishing (US) 1978 ISBN 0 88266 117 5 – This is not a “how to” but more a “what’s on the Market”. Some interesting historical photos and information on estimating wind energy in your area, but apart from that pretty much out of date. Some line drawings and black and white photos.
Wind/Solar Energy (for radiocommunications and low power electronic/electric applications – Edward Noll – Howard Sams & Co (US) 1975 ISBN 0 627 21305 2 –Lots of info in a small book including wind generators, lots on batteries and inverters and a small amount on rudimentary solar which is interesting from a historical standpoint. There is some info on (then) existing installations. Lots of line drawings with a few black and white photos thrown in.
Hot Water
The Compost Powered Water Heater – Gaelan Brown – The Countryman Press (US) 2014 ISBN 978 1 58157 194 3 – This is pretty much a one hit wonder but it can give you all the information you ever wanted about space and water heating using the heat given off by decomposing organic matter. There is information about large and small scale installations around the world. There is step by step (with photos) project plan for a small scale unit and details on making a larger scale unit. There are lots of colour photos and line drawings.
Handmade Hot Water Systems – Art Sussman & Richard Frazier – Garcia River Press (US) 1978 ISBN 0 932708 00 5 – This is a DIY manual for those who want to make a hot water system which used wood or uses the sun. There is a review of general issues around how water heaters work, then detailed instructions on making a wood powered and a water powered not water heater, then information of how to plumb it all together. I am not sure how the US plumbing instructions translate into the AUS experience. Lots of line drawings to illustrate what is going on.
Methane
Methane: The Anaerobic Flame – Raymond Spargo – Nowra Printing and Publishing (AUS) 1981 ISBN 0 9595720 1 5 – This is a fairly technical manual that covers the use of methane in vehicles, how to make a gravity bell so you can analyse your gas for methane/carbon dioxide, using methane to flame cut and solder, using a methane flame and thermocouples to generate electricity, methane gas lighting, several methane powered radios and a methane generator based on 200 litre steel drums. Mostly black and white photos with a few line drawings.
Methane: Planning a Digester – Peter-John Meynell – Prism Press (UK) 1976 ISBN 0 904727 12 2 – Lots of interesting detail around the process of methane digestion but it is a very technical, mostly text book written around the large scale process rather than the DIY backyarder. Nevertheless a good book if you are interested in the technical side of methane digestion. Has the odd black and white photo and line drawing.
A Chinese Biogas Manual – Michael Crook (translator) – Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd (UK) 1979 ISBN 0 903031 65 5 – This is a basic manual on how to make a small scale biogas digester. Rather than use the 200 litre drum style however they are primarily designed as brick or concrete lined pits. There are details on building a number of different pit style digesters, information on how to operate them and even data on how to make appliances which can use biogas as a power source. Lots of line drawings.
