On my adgenda
Written by Mark // May 27, 2016 // Current Project Updates, In The Works, Looking Ahead, News From The House On Third Street, Uncategorized, Updates
The garage has been an on going project, but this winter I was able to wire, drywall, prime and put a finish coat on the upstairs. As with previous benchmarks, I feel a sense of relief, but this time I know that the major projects are behind me. The trim and flooring will have to wait until the budget allows or a reason comes up to make it a priority. At this point there is a long list of smaller projects. This house will always keep me busy.
Finishing the upstairs of the garage allowed us to clear out the front bedroom in hopes of actually using it as a bedroom. We had a custom 2/3 glass door built to match the adjacent bathroom door. As you can see I found the perfect shade of yellow paint. The doors was made by Carter Lumber’s mill shop in Akron, Ohio. The service and workmanship were great.
It’s been a strange Spring. The weather has been cool and wet. I was able to cleanup and mulch the landscape beds. I also replaced all of the Daylilies along the front sidewalk with Stella D’Ora Daylilies. The Stella D’Ora blooms all summer and is a deep rich yellow, which I like a lot. I didn’t enjoy working outside in 52 degree weather, but I worked through it in order to get the house ready video a Between the Lines segment, a program the Sandusky Register lives streams. Barnes Nursery’s Frank talked me through how to cleanup landscape beds, how to trim hedges and how to makeup a flower pot. Sandusky’s In Bloom.
I also was finally able to trim our Honey Crisp Apple tree. It something that’s been on my list for a long time. I didn’t understand YouTube video instructions and the State of Ohio’s Master Gardener travels around the state and I wasn’t able to work out a time with him. So, when Frank to video Between the Lines, he gave me some tips and guidelines.
I’m also working with my good friend Andy Stack of Stack Heating to automate the attic heat recovery system. The system consist of 400 feet if 1/2 copper pipe mounted on a rack in the attic, a solar water storage tank and a pump. When the attic heats up, the pump circulates glycol through the pipes in the attic, picking the attic’s heat. It then flows underground and through a heat coil inside the water storage tank located in the garage, warming the water.
Up to now, I’ve had to monitor the attic temperature display in the utility room to determine if the attic is warm enough to justify turning the system on – and if it is, to then go out to the garage and turn the pump on. I then have to remember to monitor the attic temperature throughout the day and turn the pump off when the attic gets too cool to contribute any additional heat. As you can imagine, it’s easy to be distracted and to totally forget about it.
The plan is to place a wireless temperature sensor in the attic. I already have low voltage wires installed between the utility room and garage, so I’ll be able to install a wireless thermostat in the utility room that will control the pump, which is located in the garage. Andy made the project a whole lot easier for me when he pointed out that we could use the cooling side of the thermostat because it will kick the pump on when the attic temperature rises to whatever we set it at and turn off when temperature cools below the temperature we select. In short the system will turn on when the attic gets warm and turn off when it cools down.
