The Summer Solstice has come and gone, but we wanted to demonstrate the intent of the shading design in these photos. We have some small amount of daylight that streams in the northern windows in the early morning in a couple of areas, but is blocked by trees in the late afternoon. We have two west facing windows that we shade with shutters in the late afternoon as needed much to the dismay of the cat. As you can see, the eaves block the sunshine right at the window sill at the peak of summer at solar noon on the south side. Click this link to see the You Tube 3D animation we did in the design phase.
We started installing the siding last week which involved adding a layer of 5/8” plywood sheathing over the foam insulation. I asked JA Schmitt Construction to give me a hand with the gable ends as they are the largest expanses, over 20’ high, and at least a two person job to install the plywood. We have completed the plywood around most of the home, and have completed the shingles on the west elevation. The remaining shingles are all straight runs at ground level which I should be able to manage on my own.
We opted to install the shingles around the corner using a method called the "Boston Weave" rather than install corner posts. The method is a little more labor intensive, but is more in keeping with the craftsman period. Rae selected the perfect paint color to tie the roof and shingles together, and Judy has taken the week off to paint the trim. The colors and materials reside comfortably on the landscape.
The heat in the upper 90’s has been oppressive, and we have had to knock off early to recover. We have been able to experiment a bit with the geothermal radiant floor cooling. The first day we turned it on, we had very high humidity, and we could see the outline of the radiant tubing on the floor from the dew that condensed on the concrete slab. That was quickly remedied by turning on the dehumidifier, which has been running nearly nonstop for the last week. We had purchased two dehumidifiers, but one of them is in the repair shop. We have been struggling to keep the humidity in the low to mid 50% range.
The Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) has been bringing in fresh air, but it has brought in the very humid hot air for exchange with the exhaust air. The continuous addition of the humid air from outside in addition to any moisture we generate from our activities indoors does affect our comfort level.
The current energy and water use in the house will not be reflective of typical use. We knew that we would be doing a protracted period of dehumidification to extract the water content of the concrete and the insulation. This is a very energy intensive proposition. Our May and June energy bills averaged about 500 Kwh (about $80). Our design energy budget was 439 Kwh/month. Both months should have been below the energy budget particularly as we had unseasonably warm weather this spring. We would anticipate higher energy use than the budget in the winter months as we heat the place.
Establishing the lawn has required extensive watering, and we have had no assistance from mother nature. In May we had not yet seeded and our average daily water use per person was 40 gallons. In June we applied over 10,000 gallons to the yard to make it viable raising our average daily use per person to 197 gallons. Fortunately, next year irrigating the lawn will not be necessary. The only cost to us for this added irrigation is in the electricity to run the pump. We have not yet decided on a water treatment system, though we know we need to do something soon.
The garden has grown explosively after only having been planted for three weeks. The tomato plants are waist high, the corn is knee high, the squash is taking over the garden. We harvested our first zucchini and baked it into zucchini bread, and we have a lot of tomatoes starting.
We have two woodchucks which have been named Sylvia and Jack. It is apparently common knowledge among our Iowa kinfolk that woodchucks climb trees. We have seen both Sylvia and Jack in these 20’ tall shrubs happily grazing on the leaves. This is Jack distinguished by his more scraggly tail. Of course we are guessing at their gender. We will be as surprised as you if Jack should have a litter of woodchips one day.
