The above is a revised design extrapolated from, the previously mentioned extremely simplified version of a solar still. The previous design was a good proof of concept. And this new design may not be the final design, but it's more automated now, with more output. The thick plastic wrap may be replaced by a transparent/flexible/hard sheet of plastic, that is pressure sealed and has a natural dip in the center. Otherwise have a weight put into the center that doubles as pressure for an air tight seal around the edges. And maybe a needle poked into the center of the plastic sheet to aid the water droplets.
The above is a homemade wood-burning stove that can be made extremely cheaply. And it should work theoretically. But this is extrapolated from Italian wood burning pizza ovens and wood burning stoves and rocket stoves combined. And you can put it in a house if it's a colder climate for indoor heating and cooking. Or you can put it outside if you don't want it warming your house in a warmer climate, after adding plaster over the adobe to waterproof it.
LATER ADDED: The above stove is probably bad advice and may not work and is untested so instead just get a potbelly wood-burning stove to use in a house unless even that is too expensive, or unobtainable for some reason.
The above shows the slight difference between a smoker and a char paper maker. You may not want the char paper maker directly in the fire, as the goal is to char the paper, not burn it up totally. These are very useful things to have if you're living self reliantly.
There is another school of thoughts on making a smoker, which is to just put wet wood chips directly on top of hot coals. You can soak these wood chips in any liquid, even beer to add flavor to what you're smoking. You also want grease catcher or pan under any cooking meat so that the grease doesn't catch on fire and char your meat from flames, while you're smoking. This could be just a layer of tin foil between the meat and the coals.
Supposedly you don't need a refrigerator if you smoke meat. Look to
Smoked meat on Wiki. And the meat could have come from hunting on your property, or with a license for only the cost of the license. And the rest of your diet could be fruit and vegetables that are free to grow, or pick from a forest.
The above is a picture of an easy to make and test, solar still, for purifying any kind of water indefinitely to make it potable. Without the need for boiling, or chlorinating, or filtering. And this system should be very inexpensive, and easy to find parts for. And it should never be able to break.
You may put a friction sealed hose through the bottom of both containers in order to make a more automated approach to distilled water collection. Or use a safe glue to permanently attach the small cup to the pan, and then just drill a hole into the bottom of both newly glued together containers. And use better plastic for the plastic wrap portion.
Imagine a world where all of the drinking water that you need is absolutely free. And if you put a water jug underneath the distiller then you just store that newly filled jug somewhere afterwards. And you can make as much distilled water as you want if you just scale up the operation.
The above is the indoor heating stove which is only metal piping that goes through the roof and has a rain cover. With bigger piping you can have a bigger fire, based on the size of the room to be heated. This uses wood as the fuel, as long as you have a plentiful source of kindling. Which is also solid state, or will never break. And easy to construct by yourself, if you find the right type of ducting, and put aluminum tape or something around the connections. Also it's more efficient than a fire place because it conducts the heat into the house as it flows through the pipe instead of a brick chimney.
But I now realize that there actually needs to be preventative measures factored into the above picture to keep the fire from migrating up the wood and letting smoke get into the horizontal part of the pipe and from there wafting into the house. So the horizontal part of pipe may be shorter(I'd say only about 1 inch of horizontal pipe, to be exact)leaving just enough room for a grill , and the actual fire. And there may be a cover or screen on the hole to prevent sparks from entering the house. And a heat shield for where the metal pipes touch the house. And also oxidization of the piping may or may not make the metal structure fail in the future. So some testing definitely needs to be done.
Imagine if you had no heating bill. If all of the wood for the rocket stove fireplace was gotten from your property or fallen trees in a nearby forest. Another alternative to this technology would be an electric heater if your house had solar power, and wasn't too far north.
The above picture is how rocket stoves should be made. I don't know why they call them a rocket stove, I call them a homemade BBQ. They are efficient because of low internal heat loss, and you can cook food outside on them, with just some wood. It can be made out of either, metal cans cut to shape, or just out of adobe or clay. Which when made out of adobe can be free to make if you get a thrown away metal grill found on the side of the road. And as I think about it, it may be possible to melt metal, or make burnt limestone(Cement) if you scale up the oven size and blow air into the intake part, with a fan of some kind.
Imagine a world where it is absolutely free to cook food. There is no energy bill from using a stove. And if you have wood scraps on your property, then there is no fuel costs for the BBQ. So now there's no coal or gas cost. And the BBQ is maintenance free and can be rebuilt also, practically for free. And to boil water when you can't distill it, to drink, would be free.
To make a water sealed version of the adobe rocket stove just put it in a fire and bellows in the same way as they make bricks, read following:
Mud bricks
The soft mud method is the most common, as it is the most economical. It starts with the raw clay, preferably in a mix with 25-30% sand to reduce shrinkage. The clay is first ground and mixed with water to the desired consistency. The clay is then pressed into steel moulds with a hydraulic press. The shaped clay is then fired ("burned") at 900-1000 °C to achieve strength.
This taken from Wiki under bricks
The above is an invention of mine that can work in any weather condition and cannot break. You charge it up in daylight, when it's in the "off" position. And at night it can be put behind your ear (like putting a pen behind your ear) in order to have hands free light. And you want to have a big enough capacitor to work all night long. And it will charge itself in even minimal light. But the solar panel has to be the perfect voltage, to not burn out the LED. And the LED is super bright to cut down on space needed to produce brightest light. Therefore it's a perfect small pen light.
