Geothermal Part 3

The geothermal installation is complete, including the various extras (humidifier, zoning, filtration). The first it was installed it was actually quite cool outside, so the system basically didn't run. Then we left for vacation, during which it was apparently very hot here. Our house sitters told us the house stayed cool :) Now that we're back, the house is indeed very cool. Interestingly, the humidity level is high enough (50-55%) that the humidifier never runs. But we expect the winter to be much dryer (we were super itchy last winter because of it).

Anyway, here are some more pictures of the last bits.

Here's the loop field connection to the pump.

Different angle of the same space. Both water heaters are visible on the left, the furnace is in the middle, the humidifier is to the right if the middle, and the pump is on the far right.

The space to the right of the furnace. I'm not sure what the box on the left is (it's either a thermostat connection or the humidifier control of some kind). The box on the right is the zone controller. In the middle you can see the thermostat for the basement zone.

Here's one of the vent controls for the zoning. The circular device opens or closes the line to the vent. A bunch of these are set up to control the flow of air to each zone (so only the parts of the house that need it are cooled or heated).

Update: The box on the left (two pictures up) is for the wireless thermostat (one of our zones has a wireless thermostat because it was easier than running a line there, and we'll be moving walls in there soon anyway, so this was just easier for everyone). If you look very closely, above that box and little closer (half cut off by the top edge of the picture) is the wireless antenna (a small gray box on the duct).

Geothermal Part 2

The geothermal installation is almost complete. As usual with these things, it went over schedule a little, so the system won't be turned on until tomorrow. But the trenches have been filled back in, and it's mostly a matter of making the final connections and setting up the zoning system.

Here are some more pictures.

Taken from the roof, this shows 4 of the 5 trenches with the loops in them. Each trench is 150 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 6 feet deep.


Here I am standing in a trench.

Artistic. Taken from the back of one of the trenches facing towards the house.


Here is the yard after the trenches have been filled back in. It will take 6 months for the ground to fully settle, after which it will have to be regraded and then we can plant grass in the spring.


DTE gives a reduced electrical rate for geothermal systems, so we'll be getting a separate meter just for that.


Here's the tubes from the loop field coming into the basement (the entry into the house is shallower than the actual field, presumably to make it easier to work with). Also visible is the second electrical panel for the geo equipment.

The geothermal furnace is on the left, and the water heaters are on the right (there's one behind the visible one there). Also installed but not visible here are the humidification system and the electronic air filter.

Geothermal - A Few Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words

So the time has come to install the geothermal. We chose Haley's Mechanical to do the work. We'll fill you in on all the exciting things to come soon. But for now, these pictures will give you a snapshot into what we are experiencing.

 The Mound has disappeared. The calm before the storm.

There has been a lot of adventures. Electrical, cable, down trees. Stay tuned for the nitty gritty!

Landscapping

As I'm putting together this post about landscapping, we are getting ready to put in Geothermal and basically rip up our entire back yard. So stay tuned for geothermal postings.

Bob and I have been ambitious this year. We've been getting quotes left and right on different things we want done in the yard. Tom from Todd's Services came over and came up with the landscape design above, for the front yard and the immediate back. It looks awesome, and I'm really hoping we can do it this year, but we'll see.

2010 CSA with Tantre Farms - Week 1

The one thing I've been looking forward to all winter long is our CSA to start up again. What is a CSA? It is Community Supported Agriculture where members of the community support their local farms by purchasing fresh produce from them. A CSA can be set up in a lot of different ways. Bob and I signed on for another year with Tantre Farm over in Chelsea, MI. The ways ours works is every Saturday morning we go the farmers market and pick up a box of seasonal produce. It's already packed and ready for us to go, all we have to do is figure out what everything is and what the heck we (OK I'm) going to make with it. A CSA with Tantre is not for the faint of heart. You get a lot of veggies. I mean veggies coming out of every corner of your fridge veggies. Sometimes even though Bob and I eat a plant based diet, it's hard for us to finish everything. And this year we don't have the rabbits, so the pressure is on.

But with the CSA I really feel like summer has arrived and I can begin to take part in the community again. My winter hermit ways are no more. The cool thing about Tantre is that it is organic and they don't require you to work on the farm. There are a couple of optional "work days" which we'll probably go to this year, but over all we just sit back and watch the magic happen.

I'll do my best to break down our weekly shares for you for a couple of reasons:

• To prove that two people can eat this many veggies.
• To show that local food is awesome!

Week 1 was pretty exciting because, well it was the first week and I'd been waiting a long time. We've enjoyed:

• Radishes, turnips, lots of lettuce, lots of spinach, asparagus, spring onions, garlic scapes, more spinach, random greens, chives, did I mention spinach?

So far it's just been a salad type of week. That's pretty much what we do with the first couple of week's shares.Tonight, I did get creative and make garlic scape pesto and tossed in in with pasta, fresh tomatoes, and asparagus. Nothing exact, just delicious pasta goodness.

Are you wondering how you can get in on this CSA goodness? Head over to Local Harvest, type in your zip code and away you go.

Long Overdue for an Update

It's been a rough past month at the Pitt. Every weekend in May one or both of us were out of town. And even though some of those trips were for pleasure, you never really appreciate how much you love just being home.

First thing is first, three weeks ago we had the house reappraised. As the date was approaching I became more and more nervous, the house had to appraise for a lot in order for us to get the mortgage that we wanted. All of my worrying was for nothing, the house appraised way above our expectations and we now have 20% equity in our home. Good-bye PMI! So now we have a real 30 year fixed mortgage. Deep sigh of relief.

We would like to take this opportunity to give thanks:

• My dad has been instrumental in making this happen for us. Without him there would have been no way for us to buy this house. 
• Good friends helped us out with much needed furniture. (Going from 750 sq. ft. to 3000 was a big step).
• Good friends who stopped by to help with all the little things. They really add up!
• Good friends who listened and are still listening to us bitch and moan about this place and continue to offer encouragement.

Bottom line for this post; real mortgage, real house, real grown ups. 

Spring!

Spring has arrived! Although it can't decide whether it's going to be a super warm spring, or a way too cold to be outside spring, but it's here. The trees have buds, dandelions are poking through, a couple of tulips are blooming, the grass is green and incredibly long (especially where the dogs do their business). And the surest sign? My allergies are out of control.

We decided to trim the apple trees this year so I could "harvest the fruit." Urban Foresters came highly recommended, so we called them out. The trees have been dwarfed, and the first signs of flower buds are appearing. In fact, we have so many fruit trees, that in another week, 8 trees in our yard will be in full bloom. And now that the  siding is complete, our house will look amazing!.

We are also in the process of getting numerous geothermal estimates to get our heating and cooling taken care of this year.  So landscaping the back yard is out for the time being, seeing that most of it will be excavated. The good news is that we will get rid of the giant lump in the middle of the yard with this project.

We are having someone come out and do a "master plan" for our front yard. we love our brick wall, but it's bowing out and really needs to come down. There are a lot of really cool ideas flying around; cobblestone path, double brick accent walls, eliminating the steps, lots of demo and the wine table and chairs that Nikki thought was a great idea since the beginning.

Our other big project for the year is moving the basement stairs over. There may be a good chance that we'll hire out the moving of the stairs and do the demo of the old stairs ourselves. Stay tuned for that.

Of course it wouldn't be spring if the dogs weren't getting sick. Mr. Scamp was the first to take a turn at the vet. As soon as the weather got nicer, he began limping again (he limped last year) and started getting a rash on his belly. This confirmed our suspicion that Scamp is allergic to grass. Yes. We have a dog that is allergic to grass. So we headed over to HSHV to see Stacey and get some x-rays and meds. His x-rays were clear, but since he has a history of limping, we're taking him over to MSU to see an orthopedic vet. He's also back on his seasonal allergy pills.

Not to be outdone, a week later Pepper began throwing up. I didn't think much of it because it's spring and they're eating grass like crazy. But I became concerned when it didn't stop. Now instead of jumping to conclusions and taking her to the vet right away, I tried to see if we could get her back to healthy on our own. We withheld food, and started a bland diet, little bites at a time. We had no success. So back we went to vet. The sad thing is, I called them and they recognized my voice! Sigh. I have become that crazy dog person that is always there. But they were great and got Pepper in right away to be seen. Over the next two days a series of x-rays and barium were taken and it was decided that Pepper needed surgery. By this point she had not held down food for 6 days and had lost 4 pounds. So we let them take her in. Pepper was pretty pathetic on the first night and really worried me, but she's been getting better and better every day and is finally holding down the food.

So the excitement of last week is winding down and the dogs this morning were just chilling in the yard. In the picture below you can see how far they shaved Pepper's belly.

Happy spring to all!