C. Letellier

Here is something that should be added.  The website it was on originally is long gone but here is the internet way back copy.

Convective solar panels

Another path.  Instead of warming all the water just warm a line thru it.  Then you don't need a pressure rated tank.

Here is the large scale example.  Start at 1 hour and 9 minutes in.

Thermal storage.

smaller scale storage.  Better if more vertical for stratification.

storage "tank" aka box

So you might want to change your thinking on this.

Here is one I deliberately duplicated this fall after the first one gave 3 years of good service.  First one got wet while working on a center pivot and quit working.(disassembly, washing out and drying out got it working again but by then the new meter was on the way).    It does non contact AC voltage and limited capacitance which many meters do not.  Auto power off and runs on AAA batteries(would never by another meter that didn't have those 2 features.)  Temperature and frequency can be of value.  Lacks clamp capability and is limited to 10 amps current but if used properly those are not critical missing functions.  Prefer the continuity tone on this one over many others,  Fuses seemed to protect the meter on over current which many meters won't deal with in spite of the fact that they should.  Back light and work light are handy at times.  Test leads held up fairly well.  

Complaints slow to range so if you are taking hundreds of readings might want something faster and the alligator clips are junk so order a good stand alone cable set if you need that capability.

Over all for the price point I would solidly recommend this one.multimeter on amazon

If all you are doing is jam just run it thru the foley.  Wash the fruit and remove stems.  Cook down and then run it thru the foley to push the paste of the fruit thru leaving the skins and pits above.  One to three turns forward and one backwards.  Keep repeating.  Scrape to a pile to hit forward again with a spatula occassionally.  Keep cycling it till the fruit is mostly thru and  the the skins and pits are left above.  If you are careful you don't lose any but if you think you messed up just run all the jam base thru the system again to get any pits or wads of skin missed.

Foley food mill

Kevin Olson wrote:

C. Letellier wrote:2.  The lower window ledge outside.  Looking at it that is 3 inches that if mirrored or at least pointed bright white would increase light in with little to no cost for the addition.  You can't see it from the ground so painting it white would have very little effect on the outside looks.  If it reflected 50% of the light in that would be like the window was 1 1/2" taller with no corresponding night time losses.

You could go whole hog, and add an exterior operable insulated shutter, hinged at the lower edge and aluminized on the interior surface.  The aluminized skin would reflect maximum visible light (as long as it didn't get dusty).  The shutter, when lowered, could be positioned a bit below horizontal.

C. Letellier wrote:
3.   ... Thus with a double pane window that has leaked its argon I now get frost at night that turns into water down the wall.(oops not in draining)  I want it angled with a routed v in the top to carry all the water to a central point and want to hide a water drain tube to each one going down in the wall out of site to a central water collection bucket.  Every fancy window the seals will eventually fail and we need to plan for that to minimize water damage till it can be replaced again.

Here's a link to a video on mending failed argon filled Andersen thermal pane units

Back when there were a lot of these getting repaired (and replaced), Andersen provided a little drill jig block, which centered the drill between the panes.  I always ended up doing this on a cold, clear (i.e. dry) winter day, to minimize the amount of moisture let into the space between the panes when the vacuum was relieved.  But, the measure and calculate method of drill placement should work, and get your drill in about the right spot (unless one pane is much thicker, i.e. laminated, than the other pane).

Seal up the drilled hole with a goober of clear silicone and a sealing blind rivet.
Maybe something like this: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/blind-rivets/rivet-type~blind/fastener-head-type~domed/aluminum-domed-head-sealing-blind-rivets/

Dry atmospheric air isn't as good an insulator as argon, but it's a heck of a lot better than "all the argon leaked out"!  If you were a fuss-budget about it, you could drill two oles, purge with dry nitrogen, and cork up both of them.

I have seriously looked at doing shutters but I am in Wyoming so extremely high winds at times meaning really rugged shutters would be needed.  The other catch has been the cost.  Figuring by the time I got rugged, tight sealing, insulate and hopefully fully automated that it would be at least $400 to $500 per window.  Have been seriously watching the vacuum insulated windows as replacements as an alternative.  R13 windows would do amazing things.  I would lose the infrared passive part because the windows would nearly totally block it out.  But once the visible light is absorbed inside it is mostly converted to infrared trapping it inside.  So I have been waiting watching prices and hoping things would improve price wise.  Since the current windows would have to be pulled entirely to vent them and get the moisture out the labor is the same either way.  And the cost of the shutters should eventually make a serious dent in the window cost for replacement.

Are you looking at no turn aerobic composting or a turned pile type system?

I have been studying to do no turn aerobic and how to make it work and pasteurize.  Very little information out there on it.

But there is a you tube video on a guy in alaska heating a small green house with totes of compost.  What he found was the compost was doing a poor job of heating the greenhouse.   The totes were something like a 4 ft cube and he got to measuring things and found he was basically only using half his fuel(the compost)  Basically the skin of the pile wasn't heating because it was cooling too fast.  The outer 6 inches was basically not doing anything.  4 ft x 4 ft x 0.5 ft x2 for 4x4x1+3x4x1+2x2x1=32 cubic feet is nearly totally inactive from 64 total cubic feet possible.  The semi cure he found there was to pack 4 totes in a in a tight square and insulate around it on all sides.

That got me to thinking of how to combine areas of interest.  If the no turn pile on an oversize pallet was put in an insulated box mounted on a bit of a hill with a solar thermal panel mounted below it going thru a folded path collector to prevent back flow.  Double pane glass tops out at between 140 and 150 degrees according to the collector info and since the pile needs to cook for a year. Load in late june or early july so the solar collector is heating during the best possible time.  Combine with the thermophilic reaction from the pile and it should be possible to bring it up to 140 degrees and hold it for a pasturization time.  The pile should cook for 6 weeks on its composting heat.  Since I suspect it won't stay warm enough thru the winter to keep the worms active the thinking is to put it over one of the air vents for the drain tile system as they steam all winter long.

I have been looking at the current clerestory windows and thinking on what mods I would make in them after having lived with them for nearly 40 years.

1.  The upper outer window sill is flat.  This means is shades the top part of the glass during the peak sun part of the day.  Thus during the best part of the heat I am shading 1 1/2 to 3 inches of the top of the glass with the window sill.  Max good angle would be 51 degrees from the outside top edge of the glass to the bottom of the over hang eve.  Don't want to go nearly that far as I am shortening the thermal path around the glass by doing that much.  But chopping 30 to 45 degrees off that corner would remove most of the shade while minimally affecting the length of the thermal bridging path around the glass.  The ends of the sill should angle to for a similar reason.  Let more light in.  We are already paying for that glass in night time energy loss so don't we want to bring in as much as possible when we have the sun.  The glass itself is 28 inches high with about 27 inches of that usable glass.  If I get 1 1/2" more sun in for say the hour closest to noon that is a 5% gain vs the little bit of loss for the increased thermal bridging.  And at a 45 degree sun angle that is a 10% gain.



2.  The lower window ledge outside.  Looking at it that is 3 inches that if mirrored or at least pointed bright white would increase light in with little to no cost for the addition.  You can't see it from the ground so painting it white would have very little effect on the outside looks.  If it reflected 50% of the light in that would be like the window was 1 1/2" taller with no corresponding night time losses.

3.   inside lower window ledge also white or mirrored to carry the light as deep as possible inside.  Now the other glitch here is the current window ledge is flat.  Thus with a double pane window that has leaked its argon I now get frost at night that turns into water down the wall.(oops not in draining)  I want it angled with a routed v in the top to carry all the water to a central point and want to hide a water drain tube to each one going down in the wall out of site to a central water collection bucket.  Every fancy window the seals will eventually fail and we need to plan for that to minimize water damage till it can be replaced again.

4.  One window is over the stair well and I needed to plan for access cleaning and repairing it.  At 19 using the cabinets as a jungle gym to get to the top of the wall across the stairwell from it as a place for my upper body to fall out and catch me to work on the window was doable  At nearly 60 that is no longer the case.

So for those dealing with clerestory windows what else would be on your planning list.

While this video has some things wrong most of it is correct.  The big thing is that it is sound bite format such that it should draw attention to RMH.  It is a nice quick sales pitch that might encourage someone to do more research.

RMH reel from FB

Brody Ekberg wrote:

C. Letellier wrote:What ever siding you choose suggest study perfect wall style construction.  Rain screen, air gap to breath and dry, insulation, air barrier, wall with insulation.

Good idea. Walls are 2x4 studs and are insulated already. Tar paper on the outside and then aluminum siding. Im tearing off the tar paper either way to inspect the entire envelope of the house and then putting up a new house wrap regardless of what siding we choose.

My dad added foam sheets of insulation when he resided his house and is trying to convince me to do the same. I dont want to though. Our little wood stove and boiler system heat the house fine as is, we have new windows, i hate the idea of spending thousands on styrofoam and creating unimaginable amounts of plastic dust cutting all of it to size.

2 comments here.

1.  Why huge amounts of dust cutting to size??  I built a hot wire foam cutter that makes no dust and for longer cuts is just as fast.  It is 3 8 ft long 1"x2" furring strips(used 4 getting around knots), about 10 feet of baling wire, about 15 feet of light rope, (2) 1/4" bolts long enough to go thru 3 layers of furring strip and put a nut on and 2 wood screws.  And it is driven by the big battery charger.  No great expense, fairly fast, clean to operate and withing the skills set of anyone who will likely be working on a home to build.  Bit slow to warm up for first cut.  The wire draws 50 to 60 amps from the charger so big charger needed is the only real down side.  But no fancy nichrome wire.  Simple baling wire is working for me.  Looks like a giant bow saw.  Add some guide blocks(built out of scrap lumber at either end for the wire to track down.  Super straight clean cuts are possible.  Redesign the blocks and even compound miters are easy.

2.  How about changing the insulation?  What about rock wool instead of foam between the wall and the siding?  That is the answer many of the Canadian builders are doing following perfect wall design.  Very fire resistant, easily drying, doesn't support mold grow and a host of other advantage.  And by making it thick enough they are even eliminating vapor barriers in the wall by moving the dew point out into the rock wool so if any condensation forms it is out where it will not hurt anything meaning the walls dry better.  So if your siding is fire resistant and behind that you have the air gap and a very fire resistant insulation the wall should be very durable that way.  Now the one thing that concerns me there is the batten boards that hold the exterior insulation on the building and provide the air gap out to the siding, acting to mount the siding, as rain screen.  But what if they were made out of black locust.(one of the most fire and rot resistant woods grown in north America)  Borate treat it to provide added fire protection and termite protection.  Would that be enough?  If not, what about painting those boards with an intumescent paint?  This is one I am still researching trying to understand.