SMALL WIND SYSTEMS
Living the Good Life
Forty acres and a 60-year-old water-pumping windmill
got this Iowa couple started toward self-sufficiency.
By Mick Sagrillo
In 1981, Perry-O and David Sliwa bought
40 acres of good farmland near Decorah,
Iowa, with the intention of homesteading. For those not familiar with the
“back to the land” movement, that represents a considerable commitment. It starts
with building your own house if you want
shelter, followed by raising your own food
when you get hungry, finding some water to
Perry-O and David Sliwa get their heat,
power and water from the sun and wind,
and food from their own farm.
drink when you are thirsty, cutting your own
firewood when you get cold, and generating
your electricity when it gets dark and your
flashlight batteries die.
For armchair homesteaders who do more
reading than doing, this list might seem to
represent an idyllic pastime. For anyone serious about such a lifestyle, however, be prepared to roll up your sleeves for some hard
work — for the rest of your life.
The combination of
wind and sun means
that the Sliwas are never
without electricity.
Shelter for the Sliwas began with a
2,000 square-foot, passive-solar,
super-insu-lated house designed by David, who also
built the structure with the help of his father
and family. Constructed with R- 60 ceilings
and R- 30 walls, heating requirements in the
8,000 degree-day area of northeastern Iowa
would be kept to a minimum. David
dismantled another house for 26 truckloads
of limestone, which became the thermal
mass for the new home, including a masonry chimney at the core of the house that
radiates its warmth all winter long.
For heat, the Sliwas depend primarily on
the passive solar features of the house, but as
backup they burn firewood harvested on the
farm. During an average winter, the Sliwas
burn about three cords of wood in both their
cookstove and woodstove. Three cords of
wood for an entire Iowa winter speaks volumes about the energy efficiency and weatherization of the house.
Water is pumped by a 10-foot Aermotor
mechanical windmill, manufactured early
in the 1940s but freshly refurbished. Well
water goes into a 1,500-gallon cistern on the
highest part of their farm, from whence it
flows to the house and gardens — no electricity required. This clever approach to their
water supply guarantees that the Sliwas have
water regardless of the ravages of weather or
power outages.
The Sliwa farm is not connected to the
utility power grid. For electricity, Perry-O
and David installed a battery bank charged
by renewable energy sources. After putting up
the water-pumping windmill and tower,
David rebuilt a 1930s-vintage Winpower
wind generator reclaimed from southwestern
Minnesota. After that system was damaged
by a lightning strike, David put up a 1940s-
vintage Jacobs wind generator on a 60-foot
tower. The Jacobs remains the backbone of
their electric generating capacity today.
The Sliwas also installed two photovoltaic arrays to help charge a large battery bank.
The PV modules sit on home-built racks that
are manually adjusted daily and seasonally
to face the sun as it moves across the sky. In
northeastern Iowa, there is rarely a day when
the sun does not shine or the wind does
not blow. The combination of these remarkably compatible renewable fuel sources,
wind and sun, means that the Sliwas are
never without electricity.
Perry-O and David started life on the farm
with direct-current electrical appliances and
light bulbs. About 15 years ago, they realized
that the incandescent lights were the largest
drain on their renewable electricity system,
and decided to install an inverter so they
could utilize alternating-current compact fluorescent lighting. This also meant they could
replace their DC appliances with high-efficiency AC counterparts. The next job on
their list is to install a two-panel solar water-heating system.
The Sliwas’ renewable systems are not
restricted to those that replace fossil or
nuclear fuels, but also include their “
personal” fuels. The Sliwas are almost completely
self-sufficient for their food, including chickens and eggs. They’re committed to the
organic farming movement, and began supplying organic produce to farmers’ markets
in 1975. They sell garden vegetables, orchard
and garden fruits, flowers and even honey
from their own beehives.
Don’t think the Sliwas live a hardscrabble, Spartan existence. They have a warm,
sunny, comfortable home, and the kind of
fresh, wholesome food that the rest of us
pay a premium to purchase. The Sliwas have
all the comforts of any American home, all
the way down to a computer with internet
access. Their renewable energy systems and
farm work tie them closely to their local
environment and community. Perry-O notes
that they are keenly aware of what is happening with the seasons, the weather and the
cycles of life. They have chosen a simple yet
satisfying lifestyle, deeply founded in their
environmental and personal philosophies,
that suits them just fine. ●
Mick Sagrillo owns Sagrillo Power & Light, a
Forestville, Wis.-based consultantcy specializing in educational workshops and consulting on
small wind systems. Contact him at
msagrillo@wizunwired.net
