The excavation company, Wades Excavating, completed the structural pad yesterday. A day ahead of schedule and a day quicker than the original time estimate. They trucked 34 tandem loads of blast rock to fill the hole for the house and rolled it in with a vibrating roller to pack it down. The site was inspected by a geotechnical engineer that will now provide a slab certificate that says its good to build on. The depth of the hole was very deceiving and I realize that, in such large quantities, fill cannot be estimated visually. So keep in mind that structural fill will really chew a hole in the excavation budget if you ever decide to build on a sloped lot. A 4' drop over almost 80' is enough to add a significant cost increase to your home.
With the pad in place, we now have a good solid foundation for the house. Parts of the pad will have to be dug down in the back for footings and to facilitate our grading plan. Tomorrow I will be calling the well driller to have a look at the proposed position of the well. If he thinks he can fit the drilling rig between the house and the trees we'll be ready to move ahead...otherwise we'll be waiting for several weeks for the well to be drilled before we start the foundation. The build is about 2 weeks ahead of my original proposed timeline so we have some time to play with but I know that other things will pop up. So if we can keep the momentum going, we'll be in better shape later.
You`re moving right along. Lots of rock for sure and good compaction. I am at a slow pace compared to you. Just calculating COP for measurements of March 22 and 23,and 24th, which suggests COP of 3.6 to 4.O for my setup , these at temperatures of o.6C, -2 C, and -8.2 C, when comparing to baseboard. At COP 4, this is 75 percent reduction. My heating for a year for 1000 sq ft is about 260.00, but my monitoring will be more detailed. What is odd is that -8.2 seemed to give the best COP, maybe more sun, or other factor, like less frosting on the coil.......need to double check that.
ReplyDeleteI took time today to go to the Fortis AGM to tell them they do a poor job in Nfld as to Energy Conservation and Efficiency.......not what they want to hear.They are profit hungry.....and you will not add much to that. Wish you good weather. You seen to take more care than Nalcor does on the North Spur, where there is quick clay that could give out.
They need to fill a 200 ft deep hole, but wish to avoid the expense......and risk 6 billion!
Winston
We are! The well is scheduled for the 15th. O'briens will be drilling it. They assured me that they can get their rig in without me having to stop construction...so full steam ahead. Marking for the foundation on monday and starting footings. Within the next two weeks I expect to have concrete walls done! As we are working on foam, we'll be working on the electrical and plumbing roughin. I am hoping to be starting framing in june. At this rate we are right on schedule.
ReplyDeleteThat COP is crazy for winter on a mini split. Like you said, comparable to the COP for ground source. Its all that "conditioned" attic space for lack of a better word. If I were to guess, there was some other variable for that COP to work out so well at -8.2C. Low temperatures here often coincide with open clear days or nights. I suspect that the those were very sunny days.
They don't want to hear that they are bad at energy conservation and they don't want anybody speaking out about it. They convinced us that we needed more energy when really we didn't. Exploration of other possibilities wasn't even on the radar. The heat pump argument wins out here. Heating and hot water account for most residential energy usage. All we had to do was concentrate on that and asses the situation: Sit on it until we explored the consequences of Muskrat falls.
Good weather is in the forecast! The Flatrock Passive house is taking shape!
Hi David
ReplyDeleteArrived at my cottage at Bishop`s Cove, to stay for a week, (where my attic HP is) after 3 weeks at Logy Bay.
Arrived 7pm, and with the solar gain my heat has been off since this morning. Attic, at 7 PM was 66F,(it likely exceeded 75 around 3 PM) and 35 RH, with the sun just setting here. The Airport shows 41 F and 53 RH, so 25F warmer in the attic. My sun room on the west end showed 79F. My attic is low slope and moderate black shingles, so yours under todays conditions would likely be 85 or 90 F, so more potential.
By 9pm the airport shows 36F and 62 RH, the attic 55F and 36 RH
By 11:30 the Airport shows 33F and 68RH, the attic 46 and 40 RH
The HP did not cut in until 10:45 pm at very low load, and may not even run steady overnight
At present conditions for attic temperature the unit should give 3.6 COP if operating at full speed , but due to part load operation, COP would be over 4.
This is a great time of the year for your solar benefit,.... actually April, May and June are the best for my HP gain,in terms of COP, with the sun at this good angle and heat needed for these months which are relatively cold.
Yours will outperform mine on solar benefit in winter with your superior construction and triple pane windows.......nevertheless, I ran 30.00 for heat in April,about a dollar a day, without much sun, for 1000 sq ft. When occupied heat load actually drops some. Early May so far is similar to April with cold nights .......if it warms, May should see less than 20.00 for heat here. Today will be about 60 cents for heat.
My unit has an HSPF factor of 8.5. Newer ones at a factor of 12 or more are about 20 percent more efficient. I look forward sometime to monitor one like that.I have concerns if frosting will be more of a problem as fins are closer spaced, so factory performance may not be what one gets in the field, but would hope they are better.
Next year this time you will have some good idea on your performance, and amount of wood needed.
I used to drive to Flatrock regular once, and hope to see you there sometime this summer.Meanwhile, enjoy your posts and pictures. At least there are two of us who beleive in house efficiency! Wait until power price doubles!
Cheers
Winston
Hi. I would like to chat in person and /or by email.
DeleteWe are building and would like to have discussions and exchange tips and ideas. How do I reach the people who post, if they are open to chatting.
you can contact me at dgoodyear@gmail.com and we can exchange contact information!
ReplyDelete