Wood Use Check-In

This week we are just finishing up burning a total of 1/2 cord of wood so far this season.

(Since our wood is all cut to 12" long, it is easy to quantify the volume of wood we stack between the posts on the porch. I have a mark at the height of a quarter cord and can easily mark the heights for fractions of that quarter cord.)

Last night Nancy and I discussed how much more we should load onto the porch. I suggested another quarter cord, or maybe an eighth. We settled on a sixteenth.

With the strong sunshine at this time of the year along with warming temps it just doesn't seem like we'll burn too much more wood.

Now that we are beginning to understand our heating requirements the information allows us to consider how we might source our wood needs. In the years we lived in the yurt we needed so much wood (about 3.5 cords per season) that cutting it ourselves was not really a consideration. Harvesting a half cord just doesn't seem so hard so its interesting to think about harvesting our own wood supply from the surrounding woods.

Winter Solstice

December 20, 2010 approximately 10:00 am

September 21, 2010 approximately 12:00 pm

June 21, 2010 approximately 12:00 pm

If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I got quite excited around the summer solstice when I found that within a few minutes of twelve noon on June 21, the only element of the decorative sun pattern on the south face of the house was the sun its self.

I've been anticipating the arrival of the winter solstice and hoping that the weather would permit a noon photo to contrast with the summer event. Tomorrow is the solstice, but the weather report is calling for clouds and snow, so I took advantage of today's clear skies to snap a few pictures of the sun on the house.

What I've noticed and am curious about is difference between the sun's shadow at the mid-summer when it was virtually centered on the gable of the south face of the house, and how now, at the winter solstice the sun is centered on the house at roughly ten in the morning. I know we in the northern hemisphere are tilted away from the sun in the winter, but I think I expected that the sun would still be centered on the house at noon, only at a lower angle. I got the angle part right, but clearly not the centered part. The photo from September shows the sun heading south already.

We'll keep our eye out in March for the next installment.

Window inspectors

Window inspectors at work

This photo shows where each home-run electrical circuit comes down into the basement. Soon enough, the electrical panel (properly known as the load center) will be mounted on this space and each wire will connect to a circuit breaker. The wire coming out of the pipe in the wall is the (unconnected) power supply into the house

The electrical work continued today, with a brief visit by two young window inspectors, along with their chauffeur. While carrying out their duties, they also checked out a couple of special spots that are excellent for kids to hide in while they play hide-n-seek with their uncle. As a thank-you for their services, they were sent home with some just-made maple syrup.

House 2.0

We've been living in a yurt for the last 6+ years and have known that a house is in our future. Well, the time in neigh, and we are steadily moving towards making this dream a reality.

I've been working on the plans on and off for many months and there are still a few bits to work out, but we are largely there. The photos show a 1/4" scale model we've placed on site to study the light patterns and get an overall feel for the house itself. In terms of square footage, the house is about 3 yurts, or roughly in the 1500 sq. ft. range.

Here are a few particulars:

-We are going to build a passive solar a super insulated house. Insulation and air sealing are paramount to minimizing energy input requirements. R-40 walls; double wall construction. Damp spray cellulose insulation. Still working on the actual configuration of the wall configuration.

-Shallow frost protected foundation with slab. Out heat will be mainly wood with rennai back up propane. We're going to lay pipe for radient should we ever want to go that route, but we don't anticipate hooking it up initially. There will be no basement; we've lived without one for years, it is cheaper to build and it works in parnership with our passive solar goals.

-The house is designed to maximize passive solar, with orientation pretty much due south, glazing on the south, with minimal windows to the north. Good shading to the west to avoid harsh late sun.

-Probably an asphalt shingle roof.

The big points right now are still getting a septic plan approved. We've hired a septic engineer who is going to go to the state with the plan, but wants to wait until conditions are reasonably dry. Thats a bit stressful. we'd love to have the plan in hand. Optimal option is we reengage our old system, plan B is that we build new Presby system if state requires it. In either event, we'd have the plan for Presby in place should option A fail at any point.

We may need to drill a new well... TBD.