Over the past year I have been learning about being self sufficient . Some call it alternative living , or being GREEN. One day as I was looking for solar panels to power a cabin , I ran across a site called , simple solar homesteading. It look interesting , so I clicked on it . I read through the site, watched the videos , and even bought LaMar's e-book. In his book he tells you how to make a solar dishwasher. At first I thought this was some guy going to tell me how to hook up a solar panel up to a dishwasher. But no, not even close to it . It was something so simple , I don't know why anyone else hasn't thought of this before.
So I ended up making one. I think over all I spent about $20.00 .
The Link Below is to more photos of the solar dishwasher.
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/maidmercy/Solar%20Dishwasher/
You could probable get away with making one for less. When I first made mine , I didn't think I would use it all that often .My main reason for the build was to have it in case we went camping , or if we had no electric . But as time has went on I find myself using it almost daily. I'll tell you why. You may laugh ,but here it goes.
My automatic dishwasher if 5 years old , it still works , but It's kinda noisy . When it's on . I'm fighting with my husband over the volume of the TV "TURN IT DOWN! ARE YOU DEAF?"
I'm sure it's like that for many of you. If it's not that ,
when I have a load in the dishwasher going, and my husband comes home for lunch.He will open the door on the dishwasher , which stops it , and will watch TV ,eat , and then go back to work. When I got to put the dishes away I find out that the dishes are really dirty because he didn't shut the door on it and let it finish washing them. Then we have the problem with it sometimes not getting the dishes clean enough. This is due to me not buying the $4.00 bottle of Cascade that the dishwasher is suppose to use. I don't see the point in paying $4.00 for dish soap when I can get reg dish soap for $1.00. So I buy the off brand , and use it .
Then over the summer I had 5 kids to watch almost everyday . During the week, I was making 2 meals a day for them. Which dirtied up a lot of dishes. I had my auto dish washer full of dishes , and still had a sink full. So I pulled my solar dishwasher out for the first time. I placed my dishes in it , squeezed some reg. Dawn dish soap on them . Then I picked it up , and took it outside and filled it up with water , using my water hose. I placed the lid on , and cooked the dishes with the sun for a few hours. Smile I know that sounds funny . Cooked my dishes. lol I went back a few hours later , and dumped the water out in the yard , picked it up , brought it in the house. I rinsed , and dried the dishes and I was done.
It wasn't until the weather turned cold that I tried it out in the house. I did the same thing , but I used a 1 gal bucket , and the kitchen sink to fill it , and empty it when I was done. I got the same result. CLEAN DISHES!
I was surprised that the hot water stayed hot for soo long even in the house. I put dishes in it around 2pm, and it was still warm at Midnight the same day. I have noticed that the water being use is less then a reg. dishwashing machine. I only use the water I need. If the water is still clean , hot, and soapy I have reused the same water. Then there is the other plus. I am not using any electric while washing dishes.
The only complaint I have gotten from my husband , is the plastic dishes taste soapy. I think that is my fault. Either not rising them well enough , or adding to much soap is seeps into the plastic.
I do need to warn you on rust. I had some cheap pans , and left them over night in the solar dishwasher. The next morning they had rust spots. This has also happened on cheap silverware. I have mainly seen it on a few of my knives. But it's not a biggy. Same thing would happen if left in the sink over night.
Tip to help with moving it around I suggest getting a flat , 4 wheel ,furniture dolly. I found one for my brother for $10.00 at Big Lots. I was lucky enough to find a wooden drawer with wheels for $4.00 at my local Salvation Army. Thrift Store. It's made life a lot easier when doing the dishes in the solar dishwasher.
Now go forth , and go built your own to be a little greener , and maybe have a
happier husband. :)
-Mercy
If you would like to read more of my blogs. You can find it here http://simplehomestead.tumblr.com/
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