My energy efficient house modifications

[xpc]

I split these endeavors up to make it easier to read and respond too. It was first written for another post on saving power but got carried away so thought I'd make it a separate thread and link to it.

Energy efficient convection oven from walmart for $60, uses 1/3rd the power of an electric oven and cooks much quicker - easy cleanup too.
Keep the meat on the bottom so bloody juice doesn't drip on the crispy baked potatoes that were lovingly rolled in olive oil as I eat the whole spud.

I microwave the taters first then roll in a bowl of salted olive oil and finish off in the oven.

Thats good eatin' plus you get the coveted grill marks

 

[xpc]

I didn't add up all the cost on the new vinyl siding yet but think it was about $1000 total at most. The new roof was also about $1000, everything I did on this house was by myself including carrying up the pert near 4000 pounds in shingles.

The house when I originally bought it, asbestos siding and all.

New roof and siding, enclose the slab porch too

More old windows and the original central air

Almost done, I have new vinyl for all the fascia too.

 

[xpc]

The original bedroom had some pretty spiffy wall paper, it wasn't really paper but rather a heavy clothe backed covering.

The dark holes at the top is where I cut slots with the circular saw so I could pack the walls with cellulose insulation.

New window painted and trimmed - $125 dual pane e-glass

 

[xpc]

The original kitchen when I first bought the place. The entire room was gutted clean including all the walls and ceiling, nothing but the floor remained and had to cut some of that out to get to the plumbing. The refrigerator was left full of food from August until the following May, I duct taped and took to scrap yard without opening.

Got 2 George Foreman grills as a bonus but decided scraping them was best.

Tore out the old double hung windows.

New slider was used to facilitate opening, it is one of the reasons to use a sliding window because of the limited reach factor over the counter. Notice the foam for extra weather sealing power. Don't pay any attention to the beans I hate beans.

Trimmed and painted - looks like one molded piece. This is the only window where I used an outdoor water proof enamel for paint.

 

[xpc]

The original living room as I first bought the place, it was clad in dark pine ship lapped boards.

The original wall was filled with cellulose insulation (look under the window) A second wall was then built leaving a 1" air gap to stop thermal bridging which can account for up to 30% of a walls heat loss. The new $400 window is a dual pane 5' x 6' and has a sill depth of ten inches. I also ran all new electrical wiring in the new wall as most rooms only had one outlet.

New double wall insulated with fiberglass and now has a total R value greater than 30. Most newer homes have an R13 for 2x4 or R19 for 2x6.

 

[xpc]

The original double hung living room windows.

Windows and air conditioner are now history.

An outside view, my only protection for the week was a blanket and hungry pitbull.

New window installed with 10" aluminum flashing caulked and nailed in place.

Re-framed the inside for a slightly smaller window and installed a header were there was none before - probably why the ceiling had cracked there.

Double wall and insulated like the others, the four wall sconces really gives the room some nice ambiance.

 

[xpc]

Solar hot water collector - 4' x 8' using 1/2" copper pipe cost about $200. I built this in my living room in February and commissioned in March.

42 silver soldered joints and only 1 leaked which was really because of a bad fitting as my work is solid.

My aluminum flashing fin smasher - doubles as a wood splitting maul or wife equalizer.

Absorber fins formed and dry fitted in frame.

Pressure testing the new copper heat exchanger grid, my rocket test stand took longer to build than anything else. This took 60 psi of pressure, in real life it will only see 10 psi or less.

Silicone bonding the pipe to the fins, never throw out the old window sash weights until all your projects are done.

Completed panel with sun-tuff poly glazing, don't pay any attention to the incomplete roof in the background as who wants to shingle when there is neat stuff at hand.

Backside insulated with polyisocyanate foam board. I later modified the test stand to swivel east to west to follow the sun and added an adjustable tilt bar for the different seasons too.

As you can see the unit is fairly thin and is only 3-1/2" thick.

The maiden voyage was done near the end of March on a brisk 28F morning using a 10 gallon beer cooler (what else would you put in it) I started with 70F water which is much colder then any water heater would ever see once in operation. It only took 3 hours to heat all that water to 125F and was too hot to touch let alone take a shower with, 110F is about right for that. People seem to have a misconception on water temperatures so here is the burn time list - this is for adults as children can burn much quicker.

Temp. - - - - - - - Type of Burn injury
* F -------1st Deg. Burn -----2nd Deg. Burn
111 ----- 270 Minutes ----- 300 Minutes
113 ------120 Minutes ------180 Minutes
116 ------20 Minutes ------- 45 Minutes
118 ------15 Minutes ------- 20 Minutes
120 ------8 Minutes -------- 10 Minutes
124 ------2 minutes ----------4 Minutes
131 ------17 Seconds ------30 Seconds
140 ------3 Seconds --------5 Seconds
151 ------Instant --------------2 Seconds

At one time I calculated that 6 of these will not only make all the domestic hot water I need but also all the heat needed to keep my house warm all winter using a hydronic floor system, once built and installed it will only cost a few pennies a day to operate. i copied this design from the built it solar website. BTW the stagnation temperature on this when 28F outside was over 150 degrees.

 

[Jaxom]

Nice work there xpc! You're making me sooo jealous! I can't wait to have my own place I can start working on. Soon....very soon! <sigh>

 

[Wifezilla]

Did you buy that house from a frat?

MUCH improvement Good job!

 

[big brown horse]

Incredible work! Smart of you to take before and after shots. I always forget to do that.