Evacuated tubes - field trip

Trying to finalize the evacuated tube design for the house. I was thinking that the panels that would be providing the hot water and heating for my home would be kinda window-sized on the south wall. But with two 5.5'x7' panels and two 7'x7' panels, that's a lot bigger than window size.

Why evacuated tubes? Evacuated tubes are a newer technology to replace flat panels. They are recently affordable and much more efficient. They can provide higher temperatures than flat panels can, which is critical to providing enough hot water and space heating on cold days. For more about the Thermomax brand of evacuated tube collectors, visit http://www.thermotechs.com/Solar_Products.php, as an example.

Eric Doub of Ecofutures, my contractor for the project, ordered up a field trip. I went into Boulder and saw two installations of evacuated tubes. The first panels were mounted on a garage of a house near North Boulder Park. The second iinstallation was on Lighthouse Solar in Boulder. A couple things I realized: 1- you don't get a glare off these panels so they're not annoying in that way as PV panels can be when mounted at eye level. 2 - the tubs are somewhat transparent, with an outer glass (?) layer, then the vacuum layer and something inside. Okay I need more details, but the point is they are somewhat transparent so they are bit less imposing than I'd imagined. After being up close to these, I have a warm fuzzy feeling about them, so I say, let's continue forward.

Ali at Ecofutures spilled up the sketchup model a bit to note the actual sizes: the blue panels on the south wall are the evacuated tube panels. (The black panels on the roof are proposed PV panels.)

Green paint

Although not an energy saver, paint and primer offer another opportunity to make a different through personal choice. After having some closet organizers installed, i wanted to paint the uncovered areas. i needed paint and primer. I headed to Kwal on Ken Pratt because I know they know the McStain colors. Aspen White is what I need for closets. I asked for low-VOC paint and primer. The salesclerk said it would be more expensive because low-VOC paint and primer were only available in gallons and wouldn't I prefer regular paint.

Ojala (pronounced O-HA-LA...remember this, it's very fun to say)
Arrgh...sales people who want to save you money by making you feel guilty for wanting to spend a few bucks more for a green product!!! What was so lovely was that painting primer, then later with the paint, with my head in the closet, there we no fumes. I didn't have to air out the entire house. It was terrific.

Radon results confirmed, a bit worse

I'd hoped, but not expected, that a second round of radon tests might have more positive results. The second time around I used a different brand: Kidde radon tests. And, the house was closed up for most of the time, as my daughter and I were away on a trip.

Each time I tested the same two locations: the lower level family room (living area) and the crawlspace (unoccupied). The results in picocuries per liter (pCi/l) were:
April (Kidde brand): 4.8 family room, 37.5 crawlspace
Feb (Accu-Star brand): 3.6 family room, 27 crawlspace

Radon mitigation is a for sure part of the to do list now. EPA says do something for occupied areas over 4. As we seal up the house, we want to make sure we're sealing radon out, not in. The high levels in the crawl space reflect radon escaping from the soil into the crawl space air. There are lots of ways to deal with this and we'll just have to figure out a strategy that works with the overall sealing and insulating planned for the crawl space.

Electric heater purrs away

It's so frustrating. Little by little I'm trying to whittle down my electricity usage. Changing lights is saving 30 watts here, 100 watts there. But with snow maybe on the way and temperature of 39F right now, the lower level is cold again, so the electric heater is purring away. Since the heater draws about 1000 kW, even a little use adds up quickly.

The plan is to add solar hot water panels and storage, and underfloor radiant flooring. But until then, we're stuck with the original design which keeps the lower level almost 10F colder than upstairs.

How annoying :-(

Halogen MR16 cfl replacement...not only no, but heck no

Top new CFL, Bottom original halogen
Today I went to Boulder Light Bulb looking for a replacement for the track lights in the lower level family room. Since we moved in in August, already three of the five 50W MR16 light bulbs have burned out. When we moved in the track lighting was using 5 x 50w or 250 watts, and that's a lot. I was psyched to find a compact fluorescent replacement that uses 5W: EcoBulb MR16 from FEIT Electric. That was, until I plugged it in. Oh man, this is ridiculous. Even after five or ten minutes, it produces only the slightest glow in the ceiling in a dull circle. Compare that to the original halogen light with a sprakly, bright, wide circle with the pink additional effects.

Even a greenie nut like myself can't say yes to this one....I gotta keep looking.

Sketch Up...amazing, free

We're now getting a bit deeper into the project and Ali Ray of Ecofutures Building quickly developed a 3D model using Sketch Up. I'd never heard of this program before. It's a free download from Google (there's a Pro version but the free version is pretty powerful now). It's really incredible. I can't wait to play with it a bit more. Allows you to generate a 3D model that you can 'walk around', etc. This is one of those example of how technology really does open up a world to those of us who otherwise would never have the skills or computing power to even think about this. Once we're a bit further along, I should be able to post a 3D version on my website. For now, I just posted a 2D snapshot of it. Fun!

Tight fit...new ASKO dishwasher installed

Today, the magicians from Boulder Valley Appliance fit a new ASKO dishwasher into a tight space. Turns out my counter height was 3/4" lower than is typical. It took a lot more work to get the old dishwasher out (over the ceramic tile floor that was installed up to the front of the dishwasher) and the new one in.

I'm using the liquid detergent from Seventh Generation because I heard from Eric Doub that some Asko models (theirs) had problems when using regular powdered detergent...too much sudsing.

See post from a few days ago below for dishwasher specs.

ReSource for recycled light fixtures

Today I ventured out to ReSource in Boulder. I always feel like I'm entering the set of the Mad Max movie when I visit. I found two sconces that might be useful as well as a couple exterior fixtures ($6 each). It's a great place to wander around.

I also stopped by the Boulder County Household Hazardous Waste area. I'm considering painting some of the fixtures. Does using spray paint that has already been manufactured and donated, but is still probably pretty toxic, qualify as a green building strategy??? Probably not.

How'd that get there...another CFL install

I thought I'd changed all, or nearly all, the lights in this wacky fixture that I have seven of sprinkled inside and outside my house. It looks like an emergency lighting fixture. Anyhow, I checked one in the hallway and ojala! Found a 60-watt incandescent light lurking inside. It took a total of five minutes to remove it and change it to a 15-watt incandescent. Hmmm...need to do a thorough check throughout the house to see what else I've missed.

Ceiling fan lights...easy change 120W down to 30W

With a friend coming to visit, it's time to move the ladder from the upstairs spare bedroom down to the garage. But first, better check what's hiding in the ceiling fan light fixture. I set the ladder up and remove the one decorative screw thingy that holds the fixture up and discover (not surprisingly) two 60-watt incandescent light bulbs. I put two 15-watt CFLs in and we're good to go. That entire process, including taking the ladder downstairs, took less than 10 minutes. How long did I put that off? We moved in in August...

Now I'm off to jump on the trampoline with my nephew!

Showerhead replacements...same amount of water, lower temp

My roomie Jessica noted that the showerhead in the downstairs bathroom delivered water that was too cold by the time it gets to your skin. I turned the temperature up on the water heater then went shopping for a new showerhead. I found a WaterPik brand at Wal-Mart. Funny to find the product made locally in Colorado at Wal-Mart. The price was less than $10.

The new showerhead uses the same amount of water 2.5 gpm, but now I can set the temperature down on the water heater, which will save energy 24/7.

Photo: old showerhead in hand, new showerhead installed

LED over-cabinet lighting in kitchen

Another place where LED lighting is starting to gain ground is in cabinet lighting. I saw some at Home Depot that was about 50% higher in price, or around $30 for a strip of 2 feet or so.

Instead of going under-cabinet, I found that using a string of white LED christmas lights (for $6.99 at King Soopers) provides an elegant touch for night way-finding lighting in the kitchen. Oftentimes you want to have the kitchen accessible (during TV watching or when someone is awake downstairs and I want some ambient light in the main area.

This string of lights draws less than 1 watt of electricity, so I don't worry about leaving it on all night. For now, it's just plugged into one of the outlets. I might want to fancy that up a bit and wire it directly to get that white extension cord out of view. But for now, it's a nice solution.

LED night lights

While LED lighting is supposed to be the next big thing, for many applications they just aren't here yet. Luckily they really have arrived for night lights. Check out this little fella i got at Home Depot, 2 for $7. This is a 0.35 watt night light that has a built in photo sensor so it turns off during the day. Considering that many night lights use a 7-watt light bulb and have no photo sensor this little baby is brilliant!

I have found too that using one in the bathroom allows quick bathroom use without turning on the overhead light at all. (I must note that someone who has to, say, stand up to pee, this might not be enough light!)

New dishwasher

Today I ordered a new dishwasher from Boulder Valley Appliances. Ive been looking for a few weeks and most of the models had ratings on their Energy Guide lables of 400+ kWh per year. When I went to the Energy Star website I found that ASKO makes several models with energy ratings of around 200 kWh per year. These models are also super quiet, which is helpful for me because the kitchen area is attached to the living room where TV watching and conversation often happens...but with the old dishwasher, it's too loud to run the dishwasher when anyone is using the living room.

There are many Energy Star models available out there. Most barely make the Energy Star requirement of beating the minimum allowable performance by 40%. The ASKO model I found beats the standard by 91%. How much more does it cost? Boy, it's so hard to tell. Seems like you can spend as much as you want on any appliance...ranging from the low end up to about four times more. I'd say that this one is a couple hundred more than the lowest price models I saw. I know these models use a lot less water too, but I don't have the figures on this yet. It's not published on the Energy Star website, so maybe I can find it on the ASKO website

ASKO Model D3122XLW
Energy Guide rating 242 kWh per year
91% better performance than min std
Cost $799
Deliver and removal and haul away of old dishwasher $65
Installation of new dishwasher $70
Taxes $44
TOTAL $978.37

Home on the Range

Today Warren Appliances of Longmont delivered a used electric range and removed my existing gas range. In the Home Performance With Energy Star testing we measured some carbon monoxide production from the gas burners and the oven. As I tighten the house more, I don't want to create a problem with indoor air quality. The other option would be to add venting for the gas range...I'm trying to seal the house and that would seem counterproductive.

This is not an energy saving strategy, but I think is necessary as part of thinking of the house as a system. I like that the range has replaceable elements which makes it easier to maintain longterm. I don't like that there's another glowing clock that uses a tad more electricity all the time. :-(

The range is a used Maytag range, which retailed for $275 and is costing me $322 to have it delivered and installed and the old one removed.

My roomie Jessica asked, what happens to the old one? It works and I'd hoped it would be resold but the delivery guy and co-owner of the store said it would probably be shipped off so China for the steel. Whoa!

Radon results...marginal

Today I received the radon test results in the mail. I'd sealed the crawl space vents and done the three day test, then mailed them in on February 26th.

You are supposed to set the radon tests in the lowest level of the home, where people live. So I set one in the family room on the lower level. I also put one in the crawl space to see what level it would be there, because that's where it would be the highest level and the source of radon in the rest of the home.

EPA recommends that you do follow up tests then take corrective actions to reduce levels to below 4 picoCuries per liter (pCi/l).
Living area: lower level family room 3.6 pCi/l
Unoccupied area: crawl space 27 pCi/l

While technically these results show okay levels in the living space, it does make me want to make sure we understand how any changes we make impact radon...hopefully reducing it.. as we move forward

Ahhh vanity: 240W --> 66W with new globe CFLs

Today I installed compact fluorescent lamps.... CFL bulbs in the vanity light fixture above the sink in the downstair bathroom. When I got here, there were six 40-watt incandescent light bulbs in the fixture. I tried taking some of these out and using swirly CFLs, but that looked ridiculous...basically.

Yesterday I found CFLs that said on the package 'ideal for bathroom vanities' and indeed they were. These CFLs were small globe shapes...the same shape as the original incandescent bulbs. The new CFLs are 11 watts each. So now instead of the original 240 watts this fixture now uses 66 watts. Cool!

They take a few seconds...about 30... to warm up, but my roommate and I decided that we like them.

Washer and dryer delivered

Today the new front loader washer and dryer were delivered by Appliance Factory Outlet of Longmont. They hauled away the old ones and hooked up the new.

The old dryer's venting was plastic, crimped and torn and had to be hurting the dryer performance. This time I made sure the venting was as robust as possible...but doing so meant positioning the washer and dryer in such a way that the folding bifold doors blocked the washer and/or dryer doors. Since the washer and dryer are in the closet of the downstairs bathroom, I decided to opt to remove the doors in order to ensure better performance and better access to the machines.

Not a choice I wanted to make. Probably could have stacked washer and dryer but I wanted the tops of the appliances for space for folding clothes or for laundry baskets.

Need to remember to contact the City of Longmont. I'm pretty sure this qualifies for a $50 rebate.

Bathroom pendant lights: 90W--> 10W but offset start times

When a light burns out, that's a good time to see what's in there and see if there's a better option. In the upstairs bathroom, there's a wall fixture that already has a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and two pendants - each with a 45-watt candelabra base incandescent light bulbs.

One of the 45-watt bulbs burned out, so I went to Front Range Lighting to see if the had a CFL that would fit. For $6 each, they gave me two 5-watt swirly CFLs that are small enough to fit in the pendants. There are slightly higher wattage candelabra base lights that put out more light but they are too big to hide in the pendants.

After the first 30 seconds or so, the lighting looks great. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them in there though because when you walk in, one of the new pendant CFLs goes one, then about 3 seconds later the other new CFL goes on. Why is that...they're both brand new!

After the first 30 seconds it feels great in there and the vanity lighting dropped from a total of 90 watts down to 10 watts.

Failure to communicate

Even though I've set the thermostat at 70F night and day for a couple weeks, I just can't get the lower level warm (without running electric space heaters.) My friend and mentor, Doug Swart, at Fort Collins Utilities asked me...so how cold is the crawl space. Pretty darn! I said. But knew that answer was lacking a bit of rigor.

This morning at 8:30 am, I ran around the house and noted the temperatures throughout.
25F outside
36F in garage
40F in crawl space
52F lower level floor temp
63F lower level air temp
68F upper level bedroom over garage
70F upper level at the tstat

HPwES First Look at Results

Mark Shadowen of Comfort by Design came by today to deliver the results of the diagnostics tests they did on January 9th. Lots of good information. I still have to scan it, and digest it, but here are a few nuggets:

Duct leakage:
- Total system airflow (based on fan curve and measured static pressure of .85"water column) is 1,050 cfm
- Supply airflow 675 cfm (36% leakage)
- Return airflow 672 cfm (35% leakage)
Infiltration: 0.52 air changes per hour (fairly tight)

Heating system:
- load 31 kBtuh
- furnace size 110kBtuh input, derated by 12% for altitude and 79% effic =>76 kBtuh output
- oversized by 250% (2.5 times)

Cooling system:
- load 1.8 tons
- AC size 2.5 tons
- oversized by 139%

Infrared Camera Scan today

EnergyLogic out of Berthoud came today to do an infrared (IR) scan of my house. Scott Peters and Scott B. came. Set up the blower door to depressurize the house first (same as you'd do for an infiltration measurement). This helps you see the leaks in the house by making a condition that's like a 15 mph wind blowing on all sides of the house.

Mostly we saw what I'd expect...cold areas (insulation flaws or air leakage) at the roof peak, at cantilevers, ducts, switch boxes on exterior walls. In the previous test, we learned that the entertainment center over the fireplace was not air sealed. We expected to see the space above the fireplace as a cold spot. But instead that looked okay, but the gas fireplace showed up as a bright blue spot (cold). So, having a fireplace in your living room makes a cold spot in the living room that you can warm up by turning on the fireplace. Does that make any sense??

This photo shows colder areas (blue) in corners and the supply air register in the entryway. That means that construction details and the ductwork are both weak points in my house.

Gas & Elec Bills: $1000 per year

After thinking I was never going to get through the corporate machine, in the same week I received a phone call from a customer service agent and two copies of the bills I requested. Now I have two years of monthly gas use and cost! This is good stuff.

Good news, bad news. The total annual cost last year was just under $1,000...great, pretty low bills. But with the utility bills averaging about $85 per month, there's not much room for projects to pay for themselves.

But with the lower level so cold, the improvements might help us gain more use out of the entire lower level...and that's definitely worth quite a bit!

Infrared Camera search

It's been surprisingly challenging to find an infrared camera operator to come scan the house. When I worked at Fort Collins Utilities we had one we could use for our customers.

I checked the auditors working under contract to the Center for Resource Conservation, the City of Longmont Power & Communications, and a few others I know in the business. A few people have cameras but the access for a project like this is limited. For example, the City's camera is used for inspecting safety of electrical power lines and isn't available for residential scans. At a value of around $10K, I can understand wanting to be careful about these, but they give such good information and provide such a rich visual picture of what's happening, it seems a shame that they're so few and far between.

Finally I found a couple leads:
Alpine Inspection in Golden
EnergyLogic in Berthoud

If not us, if not now

I've been thinking about how we need to ask the right questions. If we don't we get waylaid and mired in answering the wrong questions.

Today I saw on a coffee cup (I know, was this an MLK quote?)...
If not us, who
If not now, when

Getting gas bills...harder than you'd think

I've been trying for a couple days now to make some progress on getting the gas bills (or at least the cost and use history) for this house. The problem is that I need 12-months, or better 2 or more years, of data to give us a good idea of how the house uses gas. I've only been here since August so only have a handful of gas bills.

I got the previous owner's signature on a release authorization form. Here's what I've done so far:
Jan 16
- I called Xcel Energy and they said due to a higher than expected call volume, they recommended calling another time.
- I looked in the phone book for a local office. Couldn't find any address other than Minneapolis (though I know there are offices in Denver.)
- Found a 'contact us' section of their website. Sent an inquiry asking for two years of history, and offered to fax the authorization. Received an immediate notice saying I'd hear back within three days
Jan 17 9 pm
- Got an email response from Xcel. Thanks for your inquiry. We'll initiate a request. We can only send you data for the time you were in the home. AAAARRRRRGGHHH! I already have that info.
Jan 18th
- I sent a reply to that e-mail restating (with some pomp and urgency) how the previous owner was happy to cooperate, how I'd paid for two energy audit programs, and how this info was needed urgently.

Six years of electricity bills...woohoo!

Today I finished entering data for a total of six years of electricity bills. It didn't take too long and gives us the long view on how the house (and occupants) use electricity.

It took me getting a signed release from the previous owner, and two trips to the Longmont Power & Communications office, but I now have all the electricity history details I need.

Heating up downstairs

I attended a talk by Rich Moore hosted by the Boulder Green Building Guild yesterday. Rich's explanation of stack effect, and how some new homes are being built gave me some ideas about my house.

What's really uncomfortable on these cold days is how the main floor (with bedroom, family room and bathroom) stay a good 8-12F colder than the upper floor (kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, bathroom). Rich talked about new homes that provide heat to the crawlspace in order to alleviate the temperature and pressure difference that drive stack effect.

I cranked the thermostat up to 80F to try to get the downstairs into the 60's. It's been hovering around 52F ever since it cooled down when the furnace was last off. Given what I now know about how that space is over a vented crawl space, with no heating equipment or ducts in the crawl space, and supply air registers on the ceiling of that level, that helps explain the cold. But still, it seems crazy that this is such a problem in a relatively new (12 year old) McStain home in Boulder County.

The previous owner asked if I'd figured out a way to solve that problem, so I know it's been an issue for a long time, probably since day one.

Hot surface ignitor replaced and MLK inspiration

This time when the heat failed, it wasn't my fault, really. The furnace just stopped working last night. Comfort by Design happened to be in Boulder in the morning, so they stopped by and diagnosed the problem. They installed the new part and we had heat that afternoon.

This makes me think again how dumb it is that we build houses that can't coast comfortably through a couple days without a fully functioning gas or elec system.

At the Martin Luther King Human Rights fair today, they gave out bracelets....It's always the right time to do the right thing.

E-amp fuse

Charlie Richardson talked me through some troubleshooting steps this morning on the phone. The house was freezing! Figured out that I had blown the secondary fuse on the furnace circuit board (when those wires had touched with the power still on). Looked like a special kind of fuse.
"Does it have any markings on the fuse?", Charlie asked.
"It says 'E'," I said.
Hmmm, what was this?
Until I saw a note on the circuit diagram that said 3-amp automotive blade type fuse.
Sure enough, when I flipped it over, suddently it said '3'.
I bought the fuse, plugged it in and we were back in business.
I'd like to say I turned the power off before I took out the old tstat and rewired the new one, but I don't want to lie. (Besides, I had spare E-amp fuses :-)

Installing new thermostat...no heat...bad mom

I got the Hunter Set & Save thermostat from Lowe's. And I didn't read the real directions...just kinda looked on the packet. Anyhow, I skipped reading the part that said, turn off power to furnace. It didn't occur to me that it was an issue because the thermostat is low voltage. But the spark reminded me that maybe I should care.

When I got the new fancy thermostat wired in, nothing. No heat. Now the temperature was about 5 degrees. So, I gave up after awhile and rewired in the old thermostat. Still, nothing.

What kind of a mom takes a perfectly functioning heating system and messes with it, then disables it before the few days of 0 degree weather hits? Nothing to do until morning.

The digital thermostat shows 70F and the logger shows 68F. I have no way of knowing which is more accurate :(

Refrigerator...smarter tstat...measuring design heating load

Charlie Richardson, came by today. He's doing the technical audit portion of a city-subsidized energy audit I signed up for through the Center for Resource Conservation. Since I'd already had a blower door test done yesterday, we brainstormed some other ideas.

Refrigerator energy use
- based on the values that my Kill-a-Watt meter showed, my refrigerator is using about 431 kWh per year. Charlie directed me to a website that lists published energy usage for most models. At the Kouba-Caballo Associates website, we entered the refrigerator model and found predicted energy use of 561 kWh per year. Either way, it's surprisingly efficient.

Design heating load
- Charlie had a brilliant idea that had to do with the upcoming weather.The next few days were predicted to have 0F temperatures for multiple days. When you're sizing a heating system, you need to know how much heating you have to provide for these worst case days. People may use 5F or other similar numbers for Front Range locations. By reading the meter at 24 hour increments, and logging the temperatures inside and out, we could do a measurement to show actual heating energy use for days that had the actual design conditions. Another piece is the Hunter Set & Save thermostats (available from Lowe's) that Charlie said will track the amount of time the furnace runs (hours and minutes) for the current day, previous day, current week and previous week. This could give us another look at how close the current heating system is sized compared to the design load. Whoa....this is exciting!

As Charlie left he said, so you think you can get that thermostat installed this weekend? Oh wait, I have to actually do something?

Brainstorming Zero Energy...bad news about rebates

It was a great experience to sit for a few hours with Eric Doub of Ecofutures to see just how you put pencil to paper to start laying out options for what exactly should be done, what kind of heating and electric loads the house has, and where photovolatic (PV) and solar thermal panels could go. Should we convert the furnace to a heat recovery ventilator? Is there space for a large storage tank? What's the value of a specialized system vs. something that's less agressive but could be duplicated in more homes?

One sad note that I can't believe I didn't think of earlier. Since I'm not in Xcel Energy territory for electricity, there are no rebates for PV. While the City of Longmont offers net metering, in essence, allowing the meter to run backwards to credit the homeowner for electricity produced, there is no rebate that would pay for roughly half of the system. When a PV system runs in the $40-$50K range easily, that's a big deal.

Funny though, Eric also noted that the electricity rate was really low...just about 6 cents per kWh compared to about 10 cents per kWh for Xcel.

Home Performance with Energy Star tests today

Comfort by Design (our of Fort Collins) was here before 8 am this morning. Tony (left) and Eric (right) spent the next five hours performing diagnostics on the house...testing the furnace, water heater, oven, air infiltration. Using carbon monoxide monitors, gas pressure gauge, blower door, puffer.

Interesting finds...
- though the foundation feels like it's a freezing slab, it's a crawl space (with vents to outdoors). No, the secret door in the closet doesn't go to Narnia, as our videocameraman Christian, proposed.

- high carbon monoxide readings from the gas burners and oven. No CO from the gas fireplace.
- flame rollout observed at the furnace...something is making the gas pressure float and when it drops too low, the flames roll out, then the furnace turns completely off.