Drywall, Heater, Solar Equipment, Bathtub.

I seen the dog in the corner of my eye and something just did'nt seem right. I guess she wanted to have a birds eye view while searching for mice. That seems to keep her occupied while I'm busy doing my thing.

For a while there we had some pretty good rainfall happening. The creek was alot higher and wilder than I've ever seen it before for a few days there. A long with the rain came a fair bit of time off from the pay job, and I did manage to accomplish a few things on the house.

I got my loft door framed in, then I insulated it, and will vapour barrier over the whole the thing for now. I think it will be alot easier to install the door once the the deck is built up there, and who knows when that will be. It could be this summer, but it could also be not this summer. The other gable end is insulated with vapour barrier installed. I still have to insulate the ceiling.

The basement outer perimeter is drywalled and most of the main floor perimeter is also. I just have the bathroom to do on the main floor perimeter. I have one 15000 btu propane heater hanging on the wall down stairs so far, but it is not all plumbed in yet. There will be another one of these just like this one on the adjacent wall, but both will be on the same end of the house. Anything vulnerable from freezing up is in the same area as these heaters, and the bathroom and kitchen is directly above. These heaters don't require power to operate, but I have equipped them with the optional fan so I do have the option. I expect to be able to walk away from my place in the winter for days, and have nothing freezing up with just these two heaters running. Unless, of course if it gets so cold that the propane freezes off. -42 propane quits moving, and it is quite possible to reach those temps here, usually if it is that cold, I think I'll just try and be here. I realize that heaters should be mounted lower to the floor, but these are direct vent heaters and the exhaust goes out at least a foot above grade. Larger direct vent heaters would'nt pass the location/distance codes, unless they were mounted on the floor and had a B type vent system. The b vent system gets it's combustion air from inside the house, and I did'nt want that. The b vent system also requires a chimney to be run all the way to the top of the house. Did'nt want that either. I don't expect my two heaters to keep the house at a comfortable temp, but you never know, they might. Yet to come is a wood stove for the basement, and possibly a smaller forced air furnace more for use in the spring, summer and fall. I'm pretty sure that I could also use the forced air furnace in the night as the fire burns down in the winter, but I sure would not expect it to run constantly for days on solar power alone in the winter. I'll be doing alot of experimenting in the near future.

I purchased some more goodies online. All the stuff on the second plywood backing board. Plus a new inverter that is not installed yet. Shown is an Outback 60 MPPT charge controller, solar panel combiner box, and an ac/dc disconnect box. This is the main power in connections all in one convenient place. The Magnum 24 volt to 120/240 volt inverter mounts right on the face of that disconnect box. This system is going to be pretty high tech for me. So far the power that I have in the house is still coming from my shack through an extension cord. But it's all solar.

The plan is to have my batteries right in the basement so far, but that could change also. I could possibly have 24 6 volt batteries, depending on the the size I choose to buy. It could be less but larger batteries, I'll have to do some pricing out when the time comes. It would be nice to have the batteries in a box outside, but then it just seems like more headache to try and keep the batteries warm. In the last two winters that I have lived off grid, I have started the generator alot of times just to warm the batteries up. They lose capacity the colder they get, and if they were at room temperature, I probably could have gotten away with not starting the generator on alot of the winter days or nights.

I don't feel real frugal lately. I do shop around and get the best deal I can find, but I did spend more on some things than I have planned on. It's not like throwing the money away though. I'm sure it will increase the value of the house. When you go shopping for things like bathtubs where I'm from, there sure does'nt seem to be much of a selection. I guess I probably could have ordered something. I'm actually quite happy with my new tub though so far. I thought it was going to be quite the chore to get it from the trailer into the house, but it actually went pretty good.

I laid it on its side to get it in the main door, then had to skid it through the kitchen and into the living room, where the vaulted ceiling is, to stand it up. Then back through the kitchen and into the bathroom. I had to do some debuilding to get it to go through the bathroom door. The door header had to come out as the tub was too high.

I can't wait till I'm using this baby instead of showering in town, or the RV all the time. My bathroom is quite small, so I could'nt really get far enough away for a good picture, but it's looking pretty darned good so far. The tub seems to be a good fit.

Well it sure has been nice to find a little time to get a few things accomplished, but it has'nt rained for awhile here now, and I'm actually wondering why they hav'nt phoned me to go to work yet, but I'm glad they did'nt. Just trying to get as much done as I can before it happens.


Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.