Quote Originally Posted by NortonDommi View Post
I'm with the generator as with Solar you need batteries and a decent sized inverter and to run tools regularly I think it would cost more than a generator plus a generator lets you get going fast and you have it for any emergencies. Solar would be a great option for passive heating.
Just a question as I do not live in America and know nothing about your building codes but do you have to underground power lines?
That would depend on just exactly where in the USA that you live. Back in the mid-1980's I wanted underground power at a place I was trying to build in NW Florida. My mobile home was about 150 feet/75meters from the road where the powerlines were. I was quoted $5000 for the power company to put in the trench to run the branch line underground. The soil in that area is a white limestone sand about 800 feet deep. A power pole for above-ground power was only a couple of hundred dollars then. And I managed to scavenge a power pole with the meter head. Where I live now, the soil is a sandy red clay that's only about 5-8 inches deep. Red sandstone under that. I really don't want to ask what it would cost for underground power here, but since I'm here in the middle of Tornado Alley, it ain't gonna be cheap. That's why you don't find many basement shelters here, though they'd be real handy on a regular basis.

Unless the roof of that shed is large enough to hold all the solar panels, I, too, would recommend the generator. It's possible to do blacksmithing without power tools, like Longfellow's Village Blacksmith, but for folks with disabilities, it's going to be anywhere from a bit to a lot harder. Air conditioning is a necessity in most parts of this country in the summer. Temperatures much over 78degree F, and I'm about useless, and I'm only mildly disabled. Knees are not too great, but not so bad I haven't been able to avoid surgery on them for the past 47 years. I have had both hips replaced, and the back isn't any too good, either, but I can get past that most days. Good lighting is very nice. I say this as my old eyes need more these day, and I'm in good shape comparatively speaking.

With the tooling I have, I couldn't run on less than about a 10KW generator unless I was the only one working there, when 3-4KW would probably do it. I do have multiple lathes and mills, shaper, and drill presses, air compressor, a bunch of bench grinders, plus some blacksmithing gear. I've also got about 600 square feet of space. I don't think George has that much space. Motor-driven tools need from about half again to double the rated power to start up under load, plus about double for an air conditioner, and the lighting at a minimum. Not counting heat, when it's needed, and I'd use LED lighting, as it's a lot less power hungry. For as small a space as I think he's talking about, I think a gas-fired forge could double for winter heat most places. My dad's old wood barn workshop did fine with an old potbelly stove burning scrap wood, and it doubled as a forge for the sort of light work he did. Horse shoes, and probably a knife or two. I didn't get the stove, but did get his anvil.

BTW, the photo problem is probably because of the photo size. If you're using MS Windows, the photo app will let you resize photos. Try something under 400KB or so.

Bill