Douglas Campbell

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since Jun 16, 2015
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Biography
I trained in plant biology, but worked as a microbiologist for many years.  I am interested in energy efficiency, sustainability and permaculture.
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Nova Scotia
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Recent posts by Douglas Campbell

Hi
I am not familiar with aluminum siding systems.
16F (?) in the basement seems way too cold; there must be air infiltration there?
Maybe through cracks?
For rim joists I made plugs of insulation board sealed in with sprayfoam to generate a vapour barrier.
If the previous fiberglass insulation was wet that suggests condensation; also dirty insulation usually means air has been moving through it.
The wall system seems to rely on the inner surface paint as vapour barrier.
GreenBuildingAdvisor online might have guidance.
As Bob wrote you do not want to bury the condensation surface and create rot within the wall layers.
I am not an expert, but battled similar problems in a similar house in a similar climate.

i) If the basement is unfinished, insulating the rimjoist is cheap and fairly easy; you can use insulation board and/or sprayfoam.
  Even more than insulation, plugging draft gaps around the rim joist and elsewhere is important; many older houses will have perforations from past cable, plumbing, etc.
ii) Get furniture, books, etc, in away from the walls to allow air circulation; ex. wooden blocks to space out bed headboards from the wall.
iii) Do you have, or could you put, zone control on your propane baseboards to give a little heat in the problematic bedrooms?
iv) Moving air to and from the area with the stove would help, although it can be difficult on a single level house.
Theory says you should push cold air towards the stove; my experience was better pulling warm air from the stove.  Either way the air flow needs a return.  Eyeballing your nice stove, it maybe a little undersized to heat the whole house?
v) If you reside, adding insulation board underneath the new siding, properly installed, will likely help alot, as long as the insulation extends down below the problematic spots.  It was transformative in my similar past house.  But you need to avoid creating a condensation/frost layer within the wall causing hidden rot.
vi) Can you tolerate doing without the humidifier?
vii) You could possibly put insulation board on the problematic inside wall and drywall over that; besure you achieve a vapour barrier so you do not get condensation between layers of the wall.
viii) You may find you 'chase' wet spots around; solve one, the next coldest spot becomes the new condensation spot.
good luck.  Doug
Range drops, but a bigger issue is that EV retain a small 12V battery to run the myriad electronics, and to drive a solenoid to connect the traction battery to the drive system when starting.
As in ICE cars the 12V battery only recharges when the car is running.

So I had the hallucinogenic experience of an EV with a charged 75 kWh main battery, but a dead 12 V battery, so it would not start.
2 days ago
Check
hearth.com
for extensive woodstove expertise.

The two best purchases of my life have been Pacific Energy Super27 woodstoves, although staring at the flames is a big part of the joy.
I heat/heated 2 sequential ~2000 sq ft houses using the stove on a lower level with stairs as air returns.
If the house has whole-house air exchange that also helps.
Burn time is 8-9 h easily.
2 cords/y of dry hardwood in a climate colder than yours (Nova Scotia) keeps house toasty (although ceiling is ~R60 and walls are ~R30).
cheers Doug
3 days ago
Batteries, even LiFP, show slow deterioration with charge cycling.
So the difference in electricity rates needs to be enough to cover the depreciation of the batteries accelerated by charge cycling.
That may be why EV car makers are slow to offer the function; backup charge cycling might shorten car battery life.
It does work though.
1 week ago
Woodstove pollution varies widely depending upon model, installation, operation and wood quality.
In crowded areas, prone to inversions, regulation is driven by worst cases.
On my previous street one codger burned plastic, with a plume of black toxin rolling from  his chimney.
Meanwhile we emitted a little condensation with an occasional a puff of smoke when restarting.

People bemoan regulation and exalt liberty, but the world is crowded and actions have consequences.
1 week ago
John - it is difficult to keep the floor and piping warm if  building on posts or piles off the ground.
Snow around the base helps keep wind off.
cheers Doug
1 week ago
'with temperatures reaching as low as minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. '

??
'The lowest natural temperature ever directly recorded at ground level on Earth is −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F; 184.0 K) at the then-Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983 by ground measurements.'
1 week ago
Hi David Baillie et al;
Yes I completely agree on using an EV to 'buffer' excess solar from large PV arrays.
That is more or less what we do at our offgrid site.
And, many current EV have vehicle to load, so go both ways if needed.
cheers Doug
2 weeks ago