How to Brew Solar Powered Coffee
Image: The solar powered coffee maker that we build in this manual. Photo by Marie Verdeil.
There are many different methods for making coffee, some more energy-efficient than others. However, there are no coffee makers that … ⌘ Read more
Thematic Book Series: Too Much Combustion, Too Little Fire
Image: Book cover.
- Buy the print edition.
- Buy the epub edition.
For most of history … ⌘ Read more
How to Build a Solar Powered Electric Oven
Image: The insulated solar electric cooker that we build in this manual. Photo by Marie Verdeil. ARTICLE
- Cooking’s high power use
- [How to adapt an electric cooking device to solar power](#ada … ⌘ Read more
How to Assemble an Electric Heating Element from Scratch
Image: A removable heat brick, consisting of a nichrome circuit sandwiched between two identical … ⌘ Read more
How to Mount a Balcony Awning
Hi Kris,
I’ve been reading your website for quite a while. It’s one of my favourite blogs. Thank you for what you are doing!
We are currently experiencing a heat wave in Germany, so I drew inspiration from Low-tech Magazine’s article “ How to Dress and Undress your Home” and built an awning on my balcony. I documented the process so that other readers can install one themselves.
The ov … ⌘ Read more
The Compressed Book Edition
Image: The Compressed Book Edition. Image by Marie Verdeil and Hugo Lopez.
_The Compressed Edition is available in our bookshop as a [paperback](https://www.lulu.com/shop/kris-de-decker/low-tech-magazine-2007-2021-the-compressed-edition/paperback/product-jeqeevm.html?page=1&page … ⌘ Read more
How to Build an Electrically Heated Table?
Image: The electrically heated table that we build in this manual. Photo: Marina Kálcheva. Model: Anita Filippova.
- Why build an electrically heated table?
- [The table]( … ⌘ Read more
Communal Luxury: The Public Bathhouse
Image: Bathhouse built on top of a hot pool, Taiwan. Photo from early 19th century, public domain. No Running Water at Home
For people in industrial societies, few activities demand mo … ⌘ Read more
Low-tech Magazine: The Ebooks
Image: Ebook.
Many of you have asked for ebooks, and now you can download both the chronological and thematic books series in epub version. The files work on any type of device, without restrictions. You can find all ebooks in our online bookshop.
[Patrons get free access to all ebooks and PDF arch … ⌘ Read more
Workshop in Barcelona: How to Build a Low-tech Website
Image: Workshop in Barcelona.
Website technology is becoming increasingly complex and energy intensive, with big companies like Meta and Google leading the dance. Is this necessary? What does it really take to get our content online?
Low←tec … ⌘ Read more
How to Escape From the Iron Age?
Image: Steel rebar construction for the concrete foundation of a wind turbine in Gilliam County, US. Image by Goose Chap, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) Trapped in the … ⌘ Read more
How to Build a Small Solar Power System
Image: a solar panel with charge controller and lead-acid battery. Photo by Kris De Decker
Readers have told me they like to build small-scale photovoltaic installations like those that power Low-tech Magazine’s [website](https: … ⌘ Read more
Thematic Book Series: Heating People, not Spaces
Image: Book cover. Heating people, not spaces, Kris De Decker, 142 … ⌘ Read more
Test our Bike Generators in Paris, Rotterdam, and Barcelona
Image: Bike generator in Paris. Photo: Marie Verdeil. Bike generator in Paris, France
A year after Low-tech Magazine built and documented [a domestic bicycle generator](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2022/03/how-to-build-a-practical … ⌘ Read more
Plastic Waste in the Fuel Tank?
Image: This car drives on plastic. Image credit: Gijs Schalkx. From wood gas to plastic waste
During the Second World War, [many motorized vehicles in continental Europe were converted to drive on firewood](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01 … ⌘ Read more
Workshop in Rotterdam: How to Build a Bike Generator
Afbeelding: Low-tech Magazine workshop in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Poster: Marie Verdeil. Image: Sara Vercauteren
The workshop takes place on behalf of the “Hous … ⌘ Read more
Thematic Book Series: How to Downsize a Transport Network?
Image: Book cover. [How to downsize a transport network?](https://www.lulu.com/shop/kris-de-decker/how-to-downsize-a-transport-network/paperback … ⌘ Read more
Direct Solar Power: Off-Grid Without Batteries
Image: a laptop running on direct solar power. Photo: Marie Verdeil.
Conventional solar installations do not question our dependence on fossil fuels and the energy-guzzling lifestyle that results. Both rooftop solar panels and … ⌘ Read more
Thematic Book Series: How to Build a Low-tech Internet?
Image: Book cover. How to build a low-tech internet?, Kris De Decker, 16 … ⌘ Read more
Human Powered Air Compressor and Energy Storage System
Image: Human powered air compressor and energy storage system. Photo by Andy Lagzdins.
When I look around my motorcycle shop, pneumatic tools are everywhere. From handheld … ⌘ Read more
Rebuilding a Solar Powered Website
A screenshot of the markdown file for this page.
During the last months we have been working on switching the solar powered website from one static site generator (Pelican) to another (Hugo). Many readers will not notice the changes right away, as we have not made any major adj … ⌘ Read more
Low-tech Magazine: The Comic
In early 2022 I received an email from Guillaume Lion, a young filmmaker based in Brussels, Belgium. Having read Low-tech Magazine for several years, Guillaume recently started making comics, which he considers low-tech cinema. He proposed to visit me in Barcelona and make a portrait of me. I have never taken myself too seriously, so Guillaume came by later that year. The comic origina … ⌘ Read more
Low-tech Magazine: The Comic
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Can We Make Bicycles Sustainable Again?
Cycling is the most sustainable form of transportation, but the bicycle is becoming increasingly damaging to the environment. The energy and material used for its production go up while its life expectancy decreases. ⌘ Read more
What if We Replace Guns and Bullets with Bows and Arrows?
The bicycle and the bow are both highly efficient, human-powered technologies that could substitute for two very harmful alternatives: the car and the firearm. Why do we promote one but not the other? ⌘ Read more
When Lethal Weapons Grew on Trees
While manufacturing modern firearms and bullets depends on a global supply chain and fossil fuels, bows and arrows can be made anywhere out of anything, using only human power and simple hand tools. ⌘ Read more
How to Build a Bike Generator with Control Panel
We built a pedal-powered generator and controller, which is practical to use as an energy source and exercise machine in a household — and which you can integrate into a solar PV system. We provide detailed plans to build your own, using basic skills and common hand tools. ⌘ Read more
The Revenge of the Hot Water Bottle
Imagine a personal heating system that works indoors as well as outdoors, can be taken anywhere, requires little energy, and is independent of any infrastructure. It exists – and is hundreds of years old. ⌘ Read more
The Printed Website: Volume III & The Comments
The printed archives of Low-tech Magazine now amount to four volumes with a total of 2,398 pages and 709 images. ⌘ Read more
Fascine Mattresses: Basketry Gone Wild
Around the 17th century, the Dutch started reinforcing their dykes and harbours with sturdy mats the size of football pitches – hand-woven from thousands of twigs grown on nearby coppice plantations. These reinforcement structures were weighted with rocks and sunk into canals, estuaries, and rivers. ⌘ Read more
How to Build a Low-tech Solar Panel?
George Cove, a forgotten solar power pioneer, may have built a highly efficient photovoltaic panel 40 years before Bell Labs engineers invented silicon cells. If proven to work, his design could lead to less complex and more sustainable solar panels. ⌘ Read more
How to design a sailing ship for the 21st century?
It is surprisingly difficult to build a carbon neutral sailing ship. This is even more the case today, because our standards for safety, health, hygiene, comfort, and convenience have changed profoundly since the Age of Sail. ⌘ Read more
Urban Fish Ponds: Low-tech Sewage Treatment for Towns and Cities
In the mid 20th century, whole cities’ sewage systems safely and successfully used fish to treat and purify their water. Waste-fed fish ponds are a low-tech, cheap, and sustainable alternative to deal with our own shit — and to obtain high protein food in the process. ⌘ Read more