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LOW←TECH MAGAZINE

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Low-tech Solutions

Interesting possibilities arise when you combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials, or when you apply old concepts and traditional knowledge to modern technology.

Reinventing the Greenhouse

Contrary to its fully glazed counterpart, a passive solar greenhouse is designed to retain as much warmth as possible.

How to Build a Low-tech Internet

If we want the internet to keep working in circumstances where access to energy is more limited, we can learn important lessons from alternative network technologies.

The 4G Mobile Internet That's Already There

These days, so many households have a WiFi-router installed that sharing the signal of these devices could provide free mobile internet access across densely populated cities.

Water Johads: A Low-Tech Alternative to Mega-Dams in India

Before the British arrived, people on the subcontinent used traditional low-cost, low-tech engineering to collect rainwater for thousands of years.

How to Keep Warm in a Cool House

If we are looking for quick and substantial energy savings for existing buildings, then local heating systems deserve our closest attention

Radiant & Conductive Heating Systems

Radiant and conductive heating systems make energy use independent of the size of a room or building.

The Revenge of the Circulating Fan

Cooling people by increasing local airflow is at least ten times more energy efficient than refrigerating the air in a given space.

If We Insulate Our Houses, Why Not Our Cooking Pots?

A fireless cooker doubles the efficiency of any type of cooking device because it shortens the time on the fire and limits heat transfer losses

Modular Cargo Cycles

Modular cargo cycles are cheap to build and easy to customize.

Heat Your Clothes, Not Your House

The arrival of compact lithium-ion batteries has increased the performance and diversity of electrically heated clothing.

Back to Basics: Direct Hydropower

The hydro power installations in use today are less energy efficient than those of earlier centuries.

How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware

A modular system unites the advantages of standardisation (parts can be produced cheaply in large amounts) with the advantages of customisation (a large diversity of unique objects can be made with relatively few parts).