Author Archives: ellen
Garage Siding Paint/Stain
For some reason the former owners tried to paint part of the cedar siding. They chose the front of the garage and ran out of paint before it was finished. So since late 2011 when we acquired this place we … Continue reading
Reused Solar Panels
Way back In 2018 after speaking with solar vendors at the international solar home competition in Denver we decided to have solar panels installed on our garage roof. After comparing the panel specifications and the battery backup systems we used … Continue reading
EG4 Solar Powered Mini Split
It’s been awhile since I got excited and motivated to install an upgrade to the house.We are in the process of adding solar to the front overhang because we had stored 12 panels from our original solar installation that my … Continue reading
Victron RV Upgrades
I have been using Victron solar and battery meter equipment in the RV since we installed solar. The Victron Cerbo allows access to the equipment through WiFi. The WiFi access is available through phone apps. But it’s not easy to … Continue reading
New Well Pump
We bought the house with an existing well pump system that had been installed in June of 2000. It was still working fine in February of 2025. However we had plugged in the circuit breaker incorrectly so that it was … Continue reading
Nuisance GFCI
Today I replaced a GFCI breaker with a regular breaker. After our rewiring in 2016 we had all GFCI outlets installed in the bathrooms but the GFCI breakers were not replaced in the panel. One tripped in the middle of … Continue reading
Challenges and Successes in 2024
In a year so many things are created and break and have to be fixed! My big hobby this year was using the Cricut cutter to make several projects. I ran into a Cricut guru on the Internet that I … Continue reading
A New Year- 2025
We are slowing way down on adding improvements to our passive solar home. Some projects have ended in utter failure and some just can’t find an installer or building to further our dreams. But its a new year and maybe … Continue reading
Birthday Camping
I like to go camping with the family for my birthday weekend every year. This year we tried Eleven Mile State Park for the first time. There is a small reservoir and a marina and a few electric sites for … Continue reading
Major RV Roof Leak During Hail Storm
It was actually the vent not the roof. We were camping overnight with the grandkids to break up the weekend when their parents were taking a birthday trip to New York City. The campground was also a shorter drive to … Continue reading
New Tesla Y Long Range EV
Unfortunately I backed into my son’s brand new EV in our driveway. My rear fender was dislocated and my son’s aluminum trunk was bent. I called to get an estimate then I called to find out what a trade in … Continue reading
RV Pressure Tank
I installed a pressure tank during the camping season last year. In the fall I didn’t winterize for the first cold snap but ran electric heaters and the furnace as backup. When I got around to winterizing I used the … Continue reading
Pool Shelter Kite
Unfortunately we found that once the ground thawed the stakes no longer held tight in the ground and we woke up the other morning to see the pool shelter completely blown over. Depending how you look at this accident the … Continue reading
Spa Pipe Weakness
I repaired a leak in the hot tub pipes just last month. Because I used several Fernco connectors when I initially replaced the cracked jet body last fall, a weakness in this repair keeps happening. Since the repair we were … Continue reading
Not Again! Spa Leak!
We have used the spa a lot this winter. The kids love going out with me to swim and jump in. My granddaughter and I were enjoying the high jets in the spa. The jets on high create a strong … Continue reading
New TV in the RV
The TV in the front of our RV was damaged when we bought the RV. It had a DC transformer that no longer worked and a streak of damaged pixels. We just didn’t use it and instead I installed a … Continue reading
Meters, Meters, Everywhere
Perhaps you noticed the graphs in my last post. One side effect of creating an energy saving house is being watchful regarding our use of energy and any other measure that affects the home environment. I particularly like WiFi connected … Continue reading
Below Zero
Our house is built and insulated for cold weather here in Colorado. That’s why these below zero temperature spells are so rewarding. I have a pair of MCCREO WiFi temperature meters on the Trombe wall. One is outside under the … Continue reading
A Birthday Thank You
My son-in-law Robert Felty works for Automattic, the company that produces WordPress, the sophisticated website software I use for this blog. This was a challenging summer for Rob and his family. While on a business trip to Montenegro he fainted … Continue reading
Shelter Over The Spa
Our exposed skin was too cold in the water since the spa was fixed this fall. We have used it in the winter before but noticed the little ones got cold fast and could not stay in long. I was … Continue reading