Author Archives: ellen
Fireplace Boiler Working as Designed
Although we seldom have a fire in the wood boiler we seldom have very cold snowy weather. At least not as much as I expected. But occasionally it gets down to zero and negative temperatures. Then it feels right to … Continue reading
Resetting the Reset Boiler Set Points
Back when we had visitors I reconsidered the boiler set points and thought I was setting the boiler to perform more closely to typical conditions. As it got colder this winter it appeared that the settings were keeping the boiler … Continue reading
Point of Use Water Softener
We have used our SPT dishwasher now for about seven and a half years. I purchased it from a grad student at CSU to fit in the corner of our rustic kitchen. After a few years the inlet valve broke … Continue reading
RV Suspension Upgrade
Just before Christmas we took the RV to the truck shop for our long awaited rear brake job and suspension upgrades. While in the shop there were also delays because when doing the brakes the differential needed service. Then we … Continue reading
Another Trip
My son and his family live only 3 miles from us. We really enjoy being so close to our three grandchildren especially since our older two moved with their parents to Germany. They were the reason we moved to Colorado … Continue reading
Planning for Green Roof
I have been interested in green roofs ever since a USGBC conference in Denver featured them. Our house has a nice flat and almost flat roof on the south side. I had an engineer study the photos and evaluate the … Continue reading
Quick Trip
My sister told us that her son in law took a couple of extra flights and returned immediately to keep his flight status for another year. That made me realize that I also had just a few miles to reach … Continue reading
December Travel
We travelled most of December and despite Covid enjoyed our time with family. Dave and I visited my sister in California for a week and really enjoyed being together. She has my mother’s dining room set that my brother lovingly … Continue reading
Trim Work Phase Two
The next trim project took four days. Scott and Robert worked on the “man” doors to the outside first. It was a bit of a scramble to get all the boards planed as they were needed. I planed the boards … Continue reading
Disappointing Blower Door Test
Since working with the Metro Green Homes Tour I have met several people who have been active in sustainable and energy efficient housing for years. One of these new friends offered to come over with her equipment and do a … Continue reading
Hired Help
I just could not seem to make progress on the house so we decided to hire some help. I found a recommended handyman service on a neighbors group and called. This was the third time I had tried to hire … Continue reading
We Get Green Building Visitors and Boiler Set Points
Believe it or not someone read this entire blog. I am amazed because it obviously takes a certain kind of interest to slog through over 630 posts with 9 years of projects. I received a letter from this gentleman and … Continue reading
Tesla Roof Performance
The Tesla roof was up and running for part of the day on August 28th. It has been operating for almost three months. The app does not have a date to date feature so I downloaded performance for each full … Continue reading
Niagara Stealth Toilet Maintenance
One of the Niagara toilets would not fill but just kept running so Dave took it apart. Dave figured out the problem. He said most internet sites dealing with the tank not filling blame the flow valve. This (fixable) problem … Continue reading
RV Inverter Wiring
This is a nice drawing of the RV power systems and what they run. It leaves out solar which has its own controller/charger that delivers solar power to the batteries. But it shows the function and position of an inverter. … Continue reading
RV Inverter
An inverter converts DC battery power to AC power. The RV uses 120 volt power to charge a computer, run small appliances like the microwave or the refrigerator instead of using gas. If the batteries have enough power an inverter … Continue reading
RV Solar Wiring
Once the rack was finished and the panels installed I had to figure out the wiring from the roof to the equipment inside. One benefit of the Solarland panels is that they use thicker wire. They come with the MC4 … Continue reading
RV Solar Install
I had always wanted to install solar panels on our old RV but instead we used a portable 50 watt panel to boost the batteries when camping. I had the panel strapped behind the storage box we had at the … Continue reading
What is Wrong with the ERV?
No air was coming through the vents. I noticed it getting stuffy when we kept the house closed up because of smoke from the huge wildfires in the west. I thought the filters just had to be replaced and the … Continue reading
Radon Fan #2
Since the new roof was going on it was time to put the hole in for the second radon fan. All this time the fan was in the garage but I was reluctant to try to cut a hole in … Continue reading