A Day In The Life

I wake up and the mews are all around me.  Marley is under the covers, Iza is at a corner of the bed, Ayla is on the other side pushing ito the crook of my knees.  I can't move.

So I pet them all sitting up to let them know I an GETTING up and breakfast is on the way.

The cats are fed, so I do MY morning stuff.  Get dressed, brush teeth, etc.

I walk out on the deck to see what the day is like.  If it looks bad, I go in and check The Weather Channel on the computer.  Stay on the computer for an hour...  I check Statcounter and it isn't working.  All zeroes.  It wants me to reload "code".  I look at the instructions and decide to do it later.

Turn on the TV to see what Trump has tweeted overnight.  Usual nonsense.  Heat water for my green tea.  Make a half sandwich for lunch (with celery/carrot/cucumber strips) and read the newspaper.  I'm 3 weeks behind.  Which is cool because it means I can skip the sports section, read the bad predictions in the editorials, and get straight to the comics. 

Lunch done, go out to see if the bird feeders need refilling, drop a few goldfish flakes in the small pond, stare at the 10th acre of wild blackberries that need to be cut down (someday), pull all the weeds in one framed garden bed.  Pick beans and tomatoes.

Hear a truck in the driveway.  Oh good, my electric mower arrived.  I got tired of fighting to start the gas powered one.  It for trim work.  I still have the riding mower for the bulk of the lawn. 

Drag the electric mower box into the basement.  The instructions are wretched.  Drawings are way too small.  But I'm not new at this.  I figure everything out, except there are special-fit bolts missing.  I call the company.  They want my purchase number, serial number, and model number.  I understand why the last one matters, but why the serial number?  Do they think I would spend 20 minutes on the phone to get 2 free bolts? 

Well, maybe they can track the serial number to the poor sap who boxed my mower so they can execute him and dishonor his entire family (its from China).  But the nice person says they will send my the missing bolts in 5-7 business days.  I could get them from Home Depot for $2 but it is the principle of the thing.  I will will stupidly deny myself the use of this interesting new toy until the bolts arrive.

So I go outside again.  The pollinating flower garden is a coplete failure this year.  Massive weeds.  I decide to pull them out.  After the 3rd mosquito bite in 2 minutes, I go inside and spritz my arms and neck with Deet.  The weeds are 3' feet tall, but pull out of the dry soil easily.  After those, I focus on another variety and pull those.  Last, I get the crabgrass and mock strawberry out.

There is almost nothing left.  A few Purple Coneflowers.  I'll have to start again.  This time, I will cover the bed with black plastic to smother all the weeds and hope that leaves me a new bed for next Spring.

The Meadow Bed has problems too, but at least there are flowers growing.  I'll try to pull weeds tomorrow.

I collected rainwater for a few days in large trays.  So, before the mosquitos find the water, I transfer it to smaller containers.  Those 12# kitty litter containers are good for that.  And I found a few large funnels on Amazon once that make it easy to fill them.  The funnel is the size of a  helmet.

The saved rainwater is for my 6 Venus Fly Traps.  They need pure water; tap water is poison to them.  So I have about 12 gallons of rainwater now, capped and stored in the basement.

Back in the basement, I find a large envelope on the floor.  Not addressed to me.  Huh?  Don't even recognize the address.  Must have been stuck to the lawn mower box.  Great!  Now I am obligated to return it to UPS.  I saw the truck go down my street, and went to get it to hand it over.

But OF COURSE, I had left the car outside on the driveway for the first time in several years so I could clean the garage a bit.  So I had to go back upstairs to grab the car keys and get the envelope out.  Missed him by "THIS MUCH" (shades of Maxwell Smart).    5 seconds...  And I had stood inside for 10 seconds debating whether I could flag the guy down...  He who hesitates...

So I went back inside.  A few things to do there.  I wanted to rearrange some stuff hanging on the bedroom walls and add some.  So I needed my small container of picture hanger hooks.  Which were nowhere to be found. 

They were supposed to be in the kitchen junk drawer where things like tape, batteries, flashlight bulbs, birthday candles, bag clips, etc are kept.  Not there.  So I had a mental picture of them in a small drawer of one of those storage boxes you get from hardware stores.  Checked them all.  No hangers.  I KNOW I have a lot of pictures hangers "somewhere.

I ended up reorganizing my shelves of odd nails and screws while searching for the picture hangers.  Did a good job too!  Old bags of nails are now in small boxes and labeled.  All the different toggle bolts are together in a plastic bag.  Weird stuff like old deadbolt locks (with keys) are in plastic bags.

But no picture hangers.  So I had a list of stuff that was cheaper to buy at Walmart (butter, milk, ginger ale, etc).  So off to Walmart I went.

Found almost everything on my list (they didn't have a small slotted spoon for scooping out olives from a jar).  Walmart just recently reorganized the local store.  Couldn't figure out where most stuff was.  A clerk showed me the picture hangers.  I found a nice little set of 200 pieces of various sizes.  But they were goldish-colored and I thought that might be weak aluminum.

So I went to the kitchen aisle and found a magnetic refrigerator clip.  Brought that to the picture frame hangers and learned they were steel!  So I returned the magnet clip to the proper spot, and bought the hangers.

Getting home, I decided where to put the day clock and the remote minimum/maximum thermometer display.  Picture frame hangers can be a pain.  The nail has to go in at an angle.  I measured the spot carefully and went to tap it in with a small hammer.  The nail and hanger went flying!

So I had to get down and search the carpet.  While I was there, I was looking at a doggie bed I bought for the good old days when Ayla and Iza napped together thinking "room for two" would be good.  Of course not, but the thing has sat in the bedroom ever since.

So when I removed it looking for the nail and hanger, I saw that there was a lot of cat fur bewhind the u8nused bed.  I carefully brushed it away (didn't want to suddenly stick the loose nail into my hand).  I ended up with a football-sized fluff of cat fur... 

And no nail or hanger.  Oh wait, there is the nail!  Half solved.  So I went and got a magnet and moved it around the carpet.  CLICK!  Hanger found!

THIS TIME, I tapped the nail in slightly on it's own.  THEN put the nail in the hanger and tapped it.  Worked great.

Added the min/max display below that.  Now I have a whole bedroom wall to add other stuff to.  And that is a project for another day.

Because it was time for dinner.  Mine.  Don't worry, the Mews got 3 meals during this whole day, and 2 or 3 more coming.  Since I was pretty worn out from the day, I kept it simple.  Thawed out a BBQ chicken thigh, made a quick tossed salad, heated up some thawed cooked red beets, and tossed an ear of corn in the M/W for 3 minutes.  Dessert was mixed chopped fresh fruit.

A typical day...



In the pouring rain...  Yes I had an umbrella. 
But I had left the 

Some Good Things

I complain sometimes.  Well, the things that go wrong bother me.  I don't like failures.  But some things have been going right.

1.  In spite of all my measurements for the new double compost bin,  I failed to  account for the 1/2" hardware cloth on the top accurately enough.  I missed it by an inch.  And an inch is enough for mice and even rats (though we don't have rats here to my knowledge).  A rat in the yard?  Marley would catch those easily.  LOL!

So, today, I added 3" boards to the top . I found 6" wide pressure-treated boards among my collection of excess wood.  I cut them to length and then ripped them in half the long way.  I glued and screwed them under the top frames.  That narrowed the gap to be covered with 36 inch 1/2"mesh to 32"'

Even a mouse can't get through 1/2" mesh wire.  Tomorrow, I attach the 1/2" mesh.  That will complete my compost bins.  Well, OK, I can add some chain to hold the tops at 110 degrees when lifted, but for now they can rest on the fence and that is fine.  I'm declaring the project "complete".

2.  The first compost bin is now a foot deep of kitchen waste and cut weeds.  I have a trash barrel full of old soil and dumped an inch on the top.  That will encourage worms to move there.  I am also setting a small area of good lawn covered with a tarp.  That will stay damp and encourage more worms to the surface.  And I will pound a metal stake into the edge.  When I pound it later, the worms will come the surface.  A trick I learned from Dad.  I will collect them and drop them in the compost bin where they will think they have gone to Heaven.

3.  I had the trailer full of old pressure-treated lumber from the old framed beds of 20 years ago and more from the original 25 year old compost bin.  I hesitated to bring the load to the landfill when it was raining every few days because of the mud and then just never quite got around to it this month.

I finally went there yesterday.  The landfill is more user-friendly!  Small customers like me get to just drive a few 100 feet to a dumpster and toss it in.  They haul it to the real landfill area later.  They don't want cars stuck in their mud.  And there was even a guy there to help me unload my trailer!  OK, I know he was doing "community-service work" paying for some minor crime, but he was friendly and I didn't ask for details.

4.  I took out my electric chain saw and tested it to check that the chain was properly tightened.  In the coming few days, I have 6' long  6" diameter oak logs to cut up into 1" "coins" (like cutting a carrot into round pieces) for use in the smoker,  2  dwarf apple trees to cut down (the squirrels steal all the unripe apples anyway).  More good smoker wood there.  And a bunch of shrubs I no longer want and never loved.  And there are new junk trees that have grown 5' high and must be stopped.

5.  And speaking of unwanted stuff, there are the wild blackberries covering an 1/8 acre after I removed a few trees shading the garden..  You can't win sometimes.  I am debating on how to remove them.  Cutting them down with a hedge trimmer works, but drops them all on me thorns and all and they are hard to pull off.  The chain saw is worse because it is shorter and I have to really get under them.

No brush remover company wants to accept the job.  It is either too small a job for them, or they want to use equipment too large for the area (there are spots I don't want scraped clean 6" deep because there are 100s of daffodils planted there.

I think I need crazy handyman with a steel-bladed weed whacker.

6.  I took 4 wheelbarrow-loads of garden pots out of the basement to the new shelves in the old toolshed.  Every wheelbarrow load makes the basement easier to get around in.  I am even close to being able to have a fire in the fireplace.  I have piles of old scrap wood waiting to be burned.

Between the garden stuff being moved to the toolshed shelves and the scrap wood being burned, I will have 100 more square feet of usable space.  That will be wonderful.

One small improvement every day...

7.  I made pizzas 2 nights.  Hadn't made one for a few years.     They weren't round, but they were good.  And I had dough left over, so I made a calzone filled with bell peppers, cubed smoked pork, an italian cheese blend, and crushed simmered canned tomatoes.

I've never made one before.  It was an experiment.  I made it way too stuffed and large.  Crimping the edges was tricky.  And getting it onto the pizza paddle was delicate.  But nothing broke and with the cornstarch on the paddle, it slid off onto the 400F pizza stone perfectly.

I would normally have cooked it at 500 (and the recipe DID say 400), but I had beets baking on the top shelf so I waited.  The crust was supposed to be "golden at 14 minutes".  14 minutes came and went.

I finally accepted the crust "done" after 24 minutes.  And it turned out GREAT!

On the other hand, why bother?  It is just a pizza folded in half.  I'll just make pizza more often.

Funny story:  My sister and hubby visited me 10 years ago and I made pizza then and referred to them having made it for me when I visited them a few years ago.  She kept trying to "shush" me and I didn't catch on at first.  Oops, 2nd marriage...  It was the first guy who made pizzas...  Yeah, I'm dense...

8.  The Washington Nationals baseball team won a playoff game!  They are notorious for losing them.  So when they were losing in the 8th inning 3-1 I was expecting the worst.  But when they scored 5 runs suddenly, I was shocked.  Maybe they have a chance.

I try not to refer to the home teams as "we".  I'm not on the teams.  But I'm glad when they win.   Not sure "why".  Yeah, it is a bit irrational.  Maybe it is because the core of the team are long-term members.  And it is a "built" team, not a purchased one.  Even most of the new guys are from the AAA farm clubs.  That makes an odd difference.

Home Improvements.

I really have to sit down and make a list of things to hire someone to do.  There are some things I could do "well enough" myself but just haven't for years.  There are some things I could do "barely" but would not be as good as a professional.  There are some things I realize that I'm just not up to any more.  There are some things it is just too hard for one person to do on their own.  There are some things that require some destruction to get to new things and I can't even figure out where to start. 

I was braver about home and yard improvements when I was younger.  Between 37 and 42, I built a 2 level deck, a toolshed, a 350' fence with 2 gates around the backyard, a 2' deep 9' diameter pond and 40' raceway, panelled most of the basement and added electrical outlets and a hanging acoustical ceiling tiles and lights. 

I cleared about 500 sq ft of underbrush, vines and junk trees.  I built framed gardening beds, roto-tilled a couple hundred sq ft of flower beds, installed edging and border stones, and planted some fruit trees, shrubs and a hosta bed. 

And then I pretty much wore out!  In the mid 90s, I decided my yellow walls and "bitterweet orange" carpet had to go.  Don't laugh too hard, the carpet should have just been a deep gold, but I was into bright colors at the time and I was stuck with the yellow paint by the builder (it was white by contract but when I complained a bit, the builder said he had lots of yellow and I thought anything was better than white).  And I hated the 1" mixed tile in the bathrooms.

So I hired a general contractor to change some things.  Well, *I* sure couldn't do those things.   So I had a general contractor remove the carpet and install oak floors, add baseboard and crown molding, and connect the 2 around all the room openings with wood and side molding.  I had the bathroom floor and wall tiles changed to 4" cream tiles,  I had them stain all the unfinished doors moderately dark, add a fold-down attic stairs, and some stuff like that.  

Afterwards I painted almost all the walls new colors.  Dining room, cardinal red; living room, hunter green; bedroom, Aztec Rouge; Computer and Guest rooms, Blueberry Mist; Kitchen, Bright White (a mistake); and left the bathrooms yellow.  I even painted the stipple ceilings in the living and dining rooms and hallways/stairs a very pale version of the wall color.  I liked the way it looked like the walls were reflecting onto the ceiling.

I left the kitchen floor (brick linoleum)  and counters (butcher block laminate) alone.  I liked then then and like them now.  30 years and they are still in great shape.  I don't get bored with good colors...

But I did replace the cheap appliances in the kitchen.  Energy efficient, well-rated Consumers Reports models, all black. 

The changes were WONDERFUL!  I was thrilled.  And that was when I realized that (except for painting), I couldn't do those things.  So I stopped for years.  Well, I liked what I had, so why not. 

And then it got harder to do things myself.  Professionals could always do it better.  So I spent years improving the yard further.  That's a never-ending job, so I was happy.  Having a sense of accomplishment is good.

But the home improvements were 22 years ago, and there are changes I want to make in the house.  I wish I had extended the crown molding and baseboards and frame covers into the kitchen.  I want tile walls in the kitchen around the oven and sink and counters.

I had the bathroom tiles and tub last year by professionals (cheap original tub with a failing surface that couldn't be cleaned properly) and tiles falling off.  They did that, and I painted the walls a Soft Moss color.  The whole deal.  Removing all the fixtures (towel bar, outlet covers, lights etc).  Cleaning the walls with TSP, rinsing them 3 times, waiting a week for utter drying.  Taping all the edges.  Painting.  Reinstalling fixtures. 

And discovering it needs a 2nd layer of paint...  Argh!  Well, I can do that easily enough.

But I want to have more done.  Extending the crown and base molding (I mentioned previously) in the kitchen, and wall tiles for easier cleaning (and I might consider mirror panels).  But I can't figure out a mix of tile colors (want varied ones in a color group) that will go with the existing red brink linoleum and butcher block counters.  Red/oranges? Or golds?  Or something else?

But that is only part of the changes.  When I panelled the basement, I added a 1/2 bath.  Dumbest idea ever.  Total waste of space.  It has to go.  So I need professionals to rip it out, extend the hanging ceiling to match the existing ones, cap off water pipes, etc. 

Plus, there are few things less welcoming to visitors than an ugly garage door a front door.  Those a probably things I can do myself.  The question is the color.  My house siding is a medium green.  My shutters are a dark green.  I'll color the inside of the house to suit myself, but I should probably make the outside pleasing to the neighbors and visitors.  It is already unique, being green with a mixed brick foundation in a sea of beige siding houses.  So this is about trying to match some colors. 

The garage door and front door are white.  I'm bored with white.  I'm thinking of making the front door match the shutters.  Maybe the garage door too.

But I keep seeing these stick-on fake pictures for garage doors and can't escape loving the idea.

I need to make a list!

Recent Posts and Comments

First, thank you to everyone who commented about my recent house searches. The comments all made good sense (and they were easy to agree with since I was coming to that understanding myself).  I have MUCH to like about my current house and LESS than I imagined to dislike.  After enough years, you have everything where you want it.  Minor problems seem larger than they really are.  Sometimes it seems easier to escape them than just fix them.

I argue with myself about many things.  I see both sides of issues and that can really make decision-making difficult.  I've had friends for whom any question gave them an immediate answer which they acted upon with no further concerns.  Personally, I thought they tended to make bad decisions sometimes, but at least they were never tortured by doubt. 

But thinking too much about everything can lead to "analysis-paralysis" and that can be just as big a problem.  You get to a close decision and you are STUCK in between.  I recently saw a TV ad that used the term "FOBO" (Fear Of Better Options).  I get that.

2 years ago, I looked at houses with County water and sewage and cable and large open yards with sunlight for gardening.  Last year, I looked at rural lots of converted farmland that I could build a new home on.  Starting from scratch in the yard and a new house that would outlast me seemed good.  But all the lots I could find were surrounded by working farmland with overpowering fertilizer smells and I never found the open house structure I could afford (like 100'x50' for one-level living and a workshop attached and a garage.   This year, I looked at large Ramblers about the size of my current size  over a large open basement large enough for my woodworking equipment, and had a 2 car garage (one car, one boat).

The good house was on a lawn dome that fell off into ravines in back and the large side, the house with the good yard had crumbling foundations and obvious water problems in the basement, and the last one had a good yard but was smaller than my current house and, even filtered and softened, the water tasted bad.  And was $150,000 more than my house is estimated

So I have decided to remain here for a while.  Perhaps in a few years County water and sewage will be installed in more rural areas, the cable companies will expand, solar panels will become cheaper and more efficient, etc.  But that time is not now.

There isn't a whole lot I can do about my lack of gardening sunlight, though some ideas occur to me.  Putting up silver-painted sheet metal on the shady side would reflect a fair amount of sunlight back into the garden, for example. 

There isn't much I can do about the trees.  They are tall and narrow.  It's not the overhanging branches; it is their sheer height.  And it has been years since I asked about removing them.  Perhaps paying to have them professionally removed and replacing them with flowering trees like dogwoods would work.  I'll at least ask again.

And if that doesn't work, I do have the right to cut out all roots invading my soil.  Since they are so close to the property line, that might kill them.  And THEN I can offer them lower growing flowering trees that won't cause me problems.  From the shade angles, all I need is that trees be not more than 20' high.  The current ones are 50 to 75'.

As far as the house itself goes, most of the things that bother me are fixable through my own or contractor efforts.  The basement bathroom I installed myself 20 years ago was a mistake, but it can also be removed.  I've never used it except for storage.  It goes back to when I paneled 3/4 of the basement and carpeted the area thinking I would have parties.  I didn't throw parties and tore out the carpet in favor of a wood-working area, but the bathroom remains as dead space.  The ancient refrigerator can go, in favor of a medium chest freezer in the cat room upstairs.

I have 3 rooms with original 30 year old carpeting.  The master bedroom carpet is still oddly good (it gets so little use), but the other 2 are trashable and I'm thinking linoleum for the computer room (getting rid of the annoying chair mats) and tight pile carpet for the cat room).

I have new shingles on the roof, a new deck, new siding, and I have raised the front lawn to solve  drainage problems.  The asphalt driveway is deteriorating gradually; that can be removed and replaced with concrete. 

My 25 year old perennial beds have less in them than my pictures show these days (which is why you have been seeing more pictures of potted deck plants this year).  I can dig up the good plants, rototill the areas, replant the good ones and add more.  But that is what I would be doing in a new place anyway, and with greater effort. 

I could go on, but you get the idea.  I was desiring to escape redoing and fixing things and just starting over.  Starting over is neat and clean.  Summer's Mom mentioned that HER passion was big beautiful houses  and those are what she wants to spend her time and effort on.    I when I lie in bed at night, thinking about what's not perfect about my house, my thoughts are on doing work to make it better.

I have reasons to want to move, but less than I thought a month ago.  I'm staying.  And if you are the kind of person who remembers things like this and I mention moving again next year, remind me about the past 3 years of searches.  LOL!

Statuses

Well, the good news is that my Heat Pump is scheduled to be fixed tomorrow morning.  The repair company called me this morning.  They got their supplier to provide the part for free, they are doing the labor for free, I will pay for the replacement coolant ($200).

I accepted.  They could have given me a bunch of technical runaround "proving" none of it was their fault, but they didn't.  And I get the 1st appointment of the day, so I won't have to sit around waiting in a 4-hour window.

It will be good to having the heat pump working properly again (possibly for the 1st time ever).  My electric company sends me monthly reports showing that my Winter electrical usage is 3x the average of my neighbors (Summer is close).  And I have been extraordinarily fortunate that the outside temperature has been unusually moderate (highs of 70 and lows of 55 for almost 2 weeks while the system was completely off).  I'm a real warm-bodied person and don't sleep well above 70.

I'm patiently waiting for the bathtub tile replacement.  The entire tile surround and backerboard will be replaced, as well as the faucet and temperature valve, the showerhead, soap dish, towelrack, and the tub itself.  I guess for a cheaply built "starter house",  30 years was long enough before some repairs were needed.

I was encouraged when the remodeler said not to use the tub before the replacement work (2 weeks hence) so that they could better tell if any moisture on the studs behind the walls was just dampness from the leaks or actual damaged.

I know that its routine for bathroom remodelers to go for increases to the work required claiming unseen stud damage or mold.  That the remodeler seems to be trying to make sure any such signs of moisture are real is probably why they have an "A" rating on Angie's List.

The aggravation is that they say the work will take 10 days.  I have a showerstall in a half bath to use, but I don't like it much.  And I'm not thrilled about having to be available for workers here 4 or 5 days (it takes 10 days, but they won't be here every day - some things need time to "set").  But after a year of increasingly worsening tiles problems it will be worth it.

My knee (twisted on April 5th) is still not normal again, but I can walk straight-forward almost as usual.  I still feel it on stairs and getting into bed.  I've missed the whole Spring on yardwork, though and the weeds are taking over.  I'll be busy when I can dig again!

Great Shopping Day

I had a long list of stuff to buy at the local DIY store.  And found most.

The mailbox door broke after 30 years.  Tsk, tsk!  Only 30 years.  But it is in good shape, so repairable.  It needed a 3/16ths bolt through the 7" wide front.  Was that easy to find?  NO!  I finally found a 12" metal rod with threads.  Have to cut it down to size though.  The good news is that I also found "stop nuts".  Those have nylon on the inside so you don't need nuts and washers.

I got tired on wooden sawhorses that kept getting loose around the brackets.  Found some adjustable metal ones with places to attach temporary boards to protect against cutting the sawhorses.

Helped 3 other customers there looking for other stuff I knew where they were.  If I wanted a retirement job, I know where to go, LOL.

Found some super-magnets. (rare-earth materials)  Wasn't looking for them, but I can sure use them.  Those feeble refrigerator magnets aren't worth having.

Got 150 new plastic 6" plant labels.  My old ones were written over too many times and exposure to U/V rays makes them brittle after a few years anyway.  So, new start.

Green garden twine, stretch tape, and a small seed-sower (little clicks send one small seed at a time down a narrowing slot).  Beats using a tweezer or planting several at a spot!  Or straining my eyes even with reading glasses...

I keep using plastic ties







and I seem to use them a lot.  Buying them a dozen at a time was driving me crazy.  So, at the very bottom shelf, I found bags of 1,000.  GASP!  And they were the same price as 4 packs of 25!  I bought a bag each of 8" and 4".  Talk about volume discounts...  Lifetime supply, I hope.

 The funniest part was the scissors.  I wasn't looking for one, but they were in front of me, so I tossed one into my cart.  The basement scissors had just rubber handles and they finally broke.  So the cashier picks them up and says "what are these".  OK, that really threw me.  Everyone knows what scissors are, right?  I couldn't figure out the question. 

But she meant there was no tag on them, so she couldn't ring them up.  I always seem to find the item with no pricing label!  I just told her to set them aside.  I didn't even know where to go look for another with a label...

I can get scissors anywhere.  But all in all, it was a great day shopping...

More Energy-Saving Work

Now that the BIG DEAL insulation project is completed, I can move my attention to other energy-saving projects. I've seen charts that show the heating and cooling costs account for about a 1/3 of your total energy bill, which was more than I thought but not by a lot.  The surprise was how much hot water costs (10-15%).  That's double the refrigerator!  Now, I have my water heater wrapped up in an insulation blanket designed for water heaters, so my hot water usage cost may be lower than average.  But still, for one appliance, that's still a lot!  So...

First on the list is the water heater.  It's 28 years old, and was certainly a cheap one to begin with. 

I've been debating among a new standard energy-efficient water heater, and instant-on water heater, and a heat pump water heater.  I still can't decide which is best for ME (single person, low-volume, infrequent but frequent fast demand for cooking and dish-cleaning).  I'm inclined to the "instant-on" (heats water as it passes through the pipes rather than stores it); one medium one for the whole house and one small one for the kitchen sink.  But I'll do a final research this week.  The payback depends on the type I select.  The standard type is cheaper, so payback is faster, but costs a bit more over the years.  The heat pump water heater has a longer payback, but is cheaper to operate after that.  The instant-on type is between those. 

The choice might seem obvious in the long-term, but technology changes and maybe I'll have solar panels on the roof in a few years (see way below).

Second is replacing the basement refrigerator (which I use as a sort of root cellar for long-term storage). 

I keep a considerable amount of fresh food in the house (I don't go grocery shopping often), and my current kitchen refrigerator is good but not enough.  The previous (original 28 year old refrigerator) holds the bags of carrots, potatoes, beer, garden seeds, birdseed, and other stuff, and long term frozen stuff.  It is probably HORRIBLY HORRIBLY inefficient, so a newer modest refrigerator would probably pay for itself in just a few years.  And the electric company offers a generous rebate for replacing old refrigerators with new energy-efficient ones.  I'm guessing a 3-4 year payback.

Third, my basement workshop has four 4-bulb fluorescent light fixtures all wired into one switch.  I seldom need them all on.  Most of the time, I just need the one over the basement refrigerator.  I can separate those connections into 2 switches so only half come on at a time.

Fourth, switching more bulbs from incandescent to LED bulbs.  Any LED bulbs I use to replace incandescent bulbs will not only save money, but probably outlive me.  And replacing bulbs in the stairway fixture 15' above the floor is a real adventure.  Same with the floodlights outside the front door.

Fifth, I should consider replacing the washer and dryer.  They are over 15 years old.  I'll be checking to confirm it, but my recollection from reading Consumer Reports magazine is that the newest ones have a payback time in energy savings of about 4-5 years.

Sixth, and this one is VERY uncertain, replacing the standard heat pump with a geothermal one.  I did some initial research and most places around here like to drill holes down at a cost of about $20,000.  But there are some that seem to work just as well horizontally for $8,000.  Geothermal is VERY energy cost-efficient.  But $20,000 would take a 10-year payback.  The horizontal geothermal is slightly less efficient but needs only a 8 year payback.  But that depends on how much I'm saving with the new home insulation work just completed.  I'll have to wait to see what my Winter electric bills are now.  More research required...

Seventh and least likely, removing the 3 mature trees shading my house and covering the roof with solar panels.  I like the trees, but I'm worrying in every strong storm that one of them will fall onto the house.  Conflicting thoughts here.  I might be able to actually sell the trees (2 are oak) to sawyers.  But I still wouldn't have sunlight on the roof all day.  It's close to cost-efficient, but I can't decide.  I'll need to contact a solar engineer (not a salesman) and a sawyer who buys large trees.  But it probably doesn't make sense to do both geothermal heating AND solar panels, so I'll wait a year.

That's a new TO-DO list, but one I can deal with.

Energy Reduction Quote

I received the company's fixed price quote today.  Interesting reading...  I have some questions about some of their measurements and proposed actions.  They want to meet with me personally to discuss the proposal, but I prefer to do it by email.

I always prefer to take company salespeople out of their comfort zone (talking a lot off the record).  Responding to email questions, they have to answer the questions and I have the email to read and re-read a few times to make sure I see what they are evading (if anything).  And it gives me time to consider more questions.

For example, I've noticed they over-estimated my current annual bill by 20% (and I showed them my last 12 month bills),  they overestimated my "conditioned" (meaning heated and cooled) residential square footage (added in my unheated garage as a "conditioned" area), added an extra exhaust fan to be sealed, etc.

So I will compose a list of questions for them to answer.  They should be pleased.  Their salesperson is 30 minuted away from me and planned a 30 minute visit to explain the quote.  I'm helping them do it in about 10 minutes.  Yes, I'm being a bit sarcastic...  I was a salesman once and know the value of talking face-to-face, sliding around questions, and not have anything in writing except the actual contract (with all the fine print).

Mostly, I know what works for ME.  I bought my last car by email, and it sure saved me a lot of time AND money.  No sitting around while the salesman pretends to "see if I can get the Manager to go for this low deal".  And with everything in writing, there were no "little surprise add-ons" afterwards.  I got the car for $500 above the dealers actually cost (according to the Consumer Reports Car Report I bought for $12).  And the car will be 10 years old In October.  So I like negotiating at a distance.

Back to the energy savings quote...  The total quote is for $5100 (with a $2000 subsidy from my electrical supplier bringing it to $3100).  The estimated savings is about 30% (in line with what I've found at seemingly neutral internet sites about such projects.  My last year energy cost was almost $3000, so that means  $900 per year and a payback of just under 3.5 years.  And that's assuming energy costs don't rise (and they will) so it will be closer to a 3 year payback.

After I get them to make some reductions in their quote, and given their Angieslist "A" rating on both quality of work AND price, I think I will just have them do the work without getting competitive bids.  And there are a few smaller cost-effective things I can do myself...

My House Is Leaky

I mentioned Friday that I had an energy inspector visit to see if I had sufficient problems to justify my electrical supplier subsidizing a further more detailed test  surprise, surprise, I did).  So a guy came by today to do a "negative air blower test" and examine all the rooms with an infrared camera to identify hotspots.

The air blower test was neat.  He opened the front door, sealed the opening, and turned on a large fan to pull air in from outside the house.  The pressure difference inside shows how much leakage there is.

While that was going on, he went from room to room taking pictures (I assume) to show where the hotspots were as outside air was being pulled into the house through gaps.  He showed me the camera display, and I have to admit there were many places that quickly got hotter in the places that one should expect.

I will be getting a fixed quote from the company in about a week.  From what the initial inspector suggested, the usual fixes are baffles in the attic that direct outside air from the roof soffits up to the roof ridge vent, additional blown-in insulation, expanding foam sealant around attic and basement beams and vent pipes.  The quote should also have a secondary section of things I can do or arrange myself (and that they will do if I choose) like an attic exhaust fan, new water heater.

I think this is all legitimate, though it isn't the kinds of things I can verify myself.  The company is part of an energy savings program sponsored (and subsidized) by my electrical supplier, they have a top rating on Angieslist, and the electrical supplier has previously advised me that I use more electricity than neighbors in similar houses.

I asked about window leakage (through the glass and around the frames).  He mentioned that the  EPA (Environmental Protection Agency for my non-US readers) has a list of most common energy losses.  They are in order; gaps, insufficient insulation, inefficient heating/airconditioning units, old water heaters, incandescent lights, windows, and large TVs.  I plan to replace the windows and old water heater anyway.  And he replaced (for free - subsidized by my electrical supplier) all my incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent ones.  I had already switched many fixtures to CFLs or LEDs where they stayed on for long times, but free ones for the rest was great.  There are even 3-way CFLs now.

He mentioned something else that really surprised me.  It is recommended by the EPA that 30% of the house air be replaced each hour, so even if they could seal the place up completely, it isn't healthy.  But 30% per hour?  WOW!  I would have guessed "per day".  Well, I guess that's why the house doesn't smell of cooked food and cat litter boxes all the time...

I plan to take the work proposal (to be received next week) to another highly rated company and ask for a similar quote.

One nice note...  Before the guy sealed the front door for the air pressure test, he pointed out that he could see light around the door (meaning leakage).  Well, I did know that myself and had put some weatherstrip along the outside of the door.  It was an odd kind that went on the frame outside the door, and I don't think it works very well.  I need the kind that goes between the door and the frame.

But the neat thing was that, when he assembled his door sealer for the air pressure test, he said that it should measure all the house leakage.  And I said "Well except for around that door".  He turned and looked at me, smiled, and said that I was the first homeowner he had met that had "caught" that. 

Well, I can't wait to see the work quote...

Interesting Day, Part 1

Some days are better than others, and today was a nice day.  Both productively and weather-wise.  But I'm talking about a sales visit today.

I got a cold call on home improvements yesterday, and I "never" respond to those.  But this one I did.  They offerred a free "energy inspection" (my verbal reply was "oh sure").  But they claimed to be operating under a program sponsored by my electrical company, the initial inspection was free as in "really free", and IF I decided to go with a full "energy audit" with real equipment tests, the cost was only $100 (because the other $300 of their costs are paid by the utility in hopes of reducing energy usage.

OK, I scheduled the initial visit for today.  Some people have trouble getting out of paying slowly increasing costs once a company "gets their foot in the door".  I'm not one of those people.  I love free inspections.  If a problem is found, then I go find a really professional company to do it again and if necessary, I get 3 bids to fix the problem.

So an energy inspector came by today.  She spent an hour poking around the basement and attic, asked me questions about known drafts and warm/cold rooms throughout the house.  Then she explained that (surprise, surprise), there were enough possible improvements to recommend a "negative air pressure test" and the various ways they could fix the energy leaks (depending on where the $100 audit found leaks.  Fortunately, I have some former professional experience with heating and ventilation practices, and the $100 cost (for me) was very reasonable. 

So I have the air pressure test scheduled for next week.  The air pressure test is familiar to me.  They open the front door, seal it with a powerful fan pulling air out of the house, and have air pressure gauges inside and out to see how much air gets pulled from outside into the house through air leaks.

So, after she left, I did some internet research to check the company, the methods, and the likely savings outcomes.  Angieslist gave them a high customer rating, the methods seem to be "good industry practice", and if my electrical supplier is subsidizing the work that seems like a decent recommendation too. 

And the electrical supplier subsidy is substantial.  They pay $300 of the total $400 cost for the detailed energy audit.  More importantly, they pay 50% of the first $4,000 dollars of actual work later.  I wouldn't even have to request reimbursement, I just wouldn't pay their 50% to begin with. 

I should explain that my house is 100% electric, that I get routine charts with my electric bill showing that my energy usage is above average for my type of house locally (3x average in Winter), and that I have been considering having some "fixes" anyway for a year.  That increased Winter spike started when I had a new heat pump installed 3 years ago, and it has been bothering me a lot recently.

I (naturally) didn't mention to the energy inspector that I will bid any serious work to 2 other highly-rated companies once I get the fixed work quote.

Aside from all that, I had an interesting time discussing the potential future "fixes" with the inspector.  I was not surprised that some of the improvements involved additional insulation in the attic (who argue against more insulation?).  I was a bit surprised that they propose to remove all the rolled/batted attic insulation, caulk around all the attic joists/drywall, and replace it with "blown-in" insulation to "R-49" (R-16" is standard code around here).  I'll check about that tomorrow.

But what surprised me?  She didn't know how insulation actually works! I didn't pursue the question, but it was informative.

So anyway, after researching the "good industry practices" (and keeping in mind the my energy supplier is willing to pay 50% of the first $2,000), I'm willing to go to the $100 equipment test (which involves about 2 hours of 2 person's work.  The company is not making any money off that!  I'll know more about things when I see their fixed quote with detailed work described.