Some Christmas Light Pictures

Pool Upgrade Complete

Just had the contractors finish up the pool upgrade.  Had Peak Pool Plastering, inc put quartz plaster in my pool along with new tile, color LED light (shown here in long exposure red), new skimmer, deco drain, and new deck coating.  Basically everything you could touch around the pool has been replaced.  $10,748 total cost.

 More color options, they can cycle too!

Below are some in process pics from filling the pool back up to what the old pool used to look like.

From the Other Angle - From Start to Finish

Garage Epoxy Job for Gov Shut Down!

Garage needed some love.  This pic is after extensive grinding, cleaning and etching.  There was decades of old paint spills, glue, tar, tire, oil etc.  Major prep to just get to this stage (about 30 hours).  Used Epoxy Concrete patch, 2 gallons of clear coating, and 3 gallons of tan garage epoxy along with 6 lbs of paint chips.

 Epoxy filling of heavy cracks

 First gallon of epoxy paint

 2nd gallon of epoxy paint

1st gallon of gloss coat

Solar Powered Heater!

Constructed this solar heater based on the following data I found on the internet.

http://rimstar.org/renewnrg/solar_pool_heater_diy_fp.htm

I figure in our climate I get more like around 1kW from each of the receptors.  Additionally I was able to utilize some of the corner space pulling in more polyethylene than the original poster.  (about 5-10 feet extra per coil).  I designed around the Intelliflo 011018 pump which I have had purchased and installed amid this upgrade.

Total cost of project <$400 USD.  Cheapest installation option I found out there was $3000.  20 hours of personal labor worth $2600.

There are easy attachment points for 2 additional receptors for a total of 10.  I may add the last two as weather gets colder.  I am sure I will shut down during the hottest months so I dont get my pool too warm!

Planting Season

Euonymus Silver King

Planted 10 Euonymus Silver King Shrubs along my front fence.  They should grow fast to 4-6 feet wide and tall.

Daphne's Room Gets Painted

From a blah white room to a primary palace!  Bought 1 gallon of each color.  Used up almost all the yellow.

Final Door Blower test shows a reduction of almost 200 cfm down to 2,235 cfm @ 50 Pascals. Although being slightly tighter, I think I will have to replace the single pane windows before being able to get tight enough to be considered energy star compliant. Energy Star 2.0 < 1983 CFM @ 50 Pascals

 

Building Buildings?

Just playing with the aerial shot of my property and laid out a casita along with a 500 SQFT garage and driveway that could be built to my fence line.  Just something to keep in mind for the future.

Red = 1000 SQFT house

Purple = 500 SQFT Garage

Green = 20 Foot Driveway

R60 Attic Update #1

After getting two quotes at $2100 and $3000 for R48 attic insulation only, I decided to let EnergyPro do my attic at R60 for $2175.  Additionally they leak tested my house, leak tested my ductwork, installed weather stripping at 3 doors, insulated all my wall outlets, and spot seal my attic; canned lighting; ductwork & plenums.

All in all, I think it was a good deal.  Turns out I had a wide open vent at my kitchen hood vent.  I plan to replace the entire hood and install an internal damper.  Currently I have removed the fan and just taped off the open 8" duct.  This duct was responsible for the previous posts super high CFM in the leak test.

This new test I believe is more accurate result of my "loose" house which really was not that bad.  This tested value was 2400 CFM @ 50 Pascals.  Not too far from an Energy Star compliant home!   We shall see if I get there after all sealing is complete.

Both my heat pumps were leak tested at a 25 Pascals and found to be leaking at around 250CFM each which when divided by their 4 Tonnage size results in the calculated loss of about 14% (anything over 20% is considered faulty)

For more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_leakage_testing




Bedroom Unit: 224 CFM@25Pascals / 1600 = 14% leakage

Kitchen Unit: 214 CFM@25Pascals /1600 = 13.4% leakage






Sealed up many openings in attic and all around the chimney:

 12 Canned Lights Throughout House

Chimney Perimeter Had Clear Openings to Living Room

 

Although Not Energy Improvement, Possible Leaks Prevented At Roof Openings 

Bathroom Fans Too

Filled up the attic with CertainTEED blown fiberglass to a height of 22 inches getting a maximum of R60.

Filling In Around Chimney Area - Voids of Chimney Sides Also Filled In.

The workers said this was a really big house and they used 6 cans of foam sealant when they normally use 1 or 2.  They worked until about 8pm and had to close up before finishing.  They will need to come back to "pooky" seal up the rooftop AC plenums and perform their final pressure tests to verify the sealing improvement to the house and ducts.  

Truck Pumping Fiberglass