Author Archives: ellen
Drawer Dishwasher
Shortly after returning from Germany we went out to see our son’s family and meet his new baby girl. I decided to order a Fisher and Paykel tall tub single drawer dishwasher to install in their apartment. This will be … Continue reading
German Distractions
While visiting the family in Germany I helped put together furniture that they purchased second hand through the German eBay that functioned more like Craigslist here. They bought loft beds for the kids, and Ikea like slat beds called “lattenrost”. … Continue reading
Germany!
In a strange turn of events, my daughter and her family, including my two wonderful grandchildren, have moved to Germany for a few years for her husband’s job! We moved close to them when we retired and although we like … Continue reading
One Day, Two Mirrors
It is past time to have moved everything that is destined for the house into the house. These mirrors needed to come in and claim their space. I had the big couch against the long wall in the living room … Continue reading
Cleaning out the Garage
Unfortunately the charge cord that came with the JuiceBox is only 20 ft. long. And the 30 amp outlet is in the storage cabinet at the far end from the garage door. That means that the car has to be … Continue reading
Installing a JuiceBox 220v 40 Pro Charger
I decided to upgrade to a Level 2, 220v EV charger in order to charge faster during the highest solar production time of day. After researching various options, it appeared the JuiceBox delivered the most bang for the buck. Some … Continue reading
Solar Powered Volt
Way back in 2003 we bought the first model of hybrid Honda Civic sold in the US. It was the only car we would ever buy that was featured in a car show! It was a 2003 model but it … Continue reading
Books Unpacked
As part of the move the kids returned a couple of large bookshelves that they had brought from our Indiana house when they moved to Colorado. I had used our enclosed bookshelves to display my mom’s china and silver and … Continue reading
Moved To Germany!
We had a busy May helping our daughter and her family move to Germany for her husband’s work assignment. They had to completely empty their house to rent it as they decided to keep it while they are abroad. Dave … Continue reading
Tesla Solar First Month Report
On the occasion of our first utility bill after adding solar, we found a significant reduction in the cost of the electricity we consumed from the grid. As the Tesla engineers predicted the solar provided about half of our electricity … Continue reading
More ERV Controls
I spent another day on ERV controls. It is unbelievable that these controls are taking so much time. I was gratified that I finally got the variable speeds to work with the Lutron Caseta wifi dimmer and the GRX-TVI control … Continue reading
New Toilets
I was tired of looking at and trying to clean the old biscuit colored toilet in the back bathroom. It flushed fine with its 1.6 gallon flush–a water saver in its day. But the tank and the bowl were stained … Continue reading
UltimateAir ERV WiFi Control
It has been just over a year since I last tried to hook up the ERV to a WiFi dimmer. But with my son’s advice and encouragement the deed was finally accomplished. He designed a circuit for me to convert … Continue reading
Solar is Up! Day One
Yesterday the Xcel technician stopped by about 4 PM to install the solar meter. That completed the setup for our solar system. She gave me a hang tag that said the system was ready to bring online! After she left … Continue reading
If It’s On A List, Then It Must Get Done
Sooner or later the list must get done. It is past time to come up with a Spring list and I’m looking at the items that I have paid no attention to for a season and feeling like I had … Continue reading
Painted Garage Door
I was surprised that our garage door was so shy. I had to look long and hard for any photos of the door before it was painted. This is how it looked when we bought the house. There was always … Continue reading
Rustic Bathroom Door
We are having guests at the end of the week. I thought it would be great to have a real door on the master bathroom now that the shower is also completed. I even used the shower before our trip … Continue reading
Winter Tent Worked
I was distracted from building projects by preparing for our spring trip to the Grand Canyon with the family. We have a small RV that fits us and the grandkids just fine but the rest of the family did not … Continue reading
Passed the Final Inspection
April Fools! But we did have the inspector come out at the end of February and we are very close. We had three things that needed to be done to pass: first, finish the showers; second, caulk around the bathroom … Continue reading
Solar System Commissioned
Commissioning was basically a test of functions. I had the Tesla app open on my phone so I could follow along with the tests. The commissioning was early in the morning so the system was not yet producing full power. … Continue reading