July | 2016 | Our Net-Zero House

Been working in the house the past few weeks doing all the little things that makes a house a home and livable. And of course very busy, I think I’ve only taken a day off in the past 5 or 6 week, and haven’t taken the time to read “The How Too” to finely operate the mini-splits and the ERV. But have been playing around with them anyway.

The past couple of days we’ve gotten many small and large tasks off the todo list, one was painting the basement floor. Yesterday morning the house had a chemical smell which I attributed to the floor paint. So I upped the ERV to high , but for a test only turned on the mini-split in the family room. Once, and quickly the house got to 72 degrees and it stayed there all day.. That one mini- split (9,000 BTUs) maintained 72 degrees on the hole (1640 sqft) first floor all day with the outside temperature around 94 degrees. The chemical smell was gone by lunchtime, even though I painted another section of the basement.. OH, Yea the little mini-split took the humidity out on a very humid day.

We prefer open windows with the smell of fresh air to A/C normally. Joan noted at the end of the day how comfortable the house was and how fresh the air was. As some one very famous once said “Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together”

This morning with the A/C off all night and the ERV on high, the house was at 76 degrees outside air temps over 85 and the incoming air from the ERV was at 74 degrees.

Secondly: that basement. I’ve been working in it a number of days and have been think how warm and dry it felt. So this morning I shot temps on all walls and many services. My readings were between 71 & 72 degrees F. I’ve no way to test the humidity but it just feels very dry. When you walk down the steps it just doesn’t feel like you are walking into a basement. Also the GE GeoSpring hot water heater has been running taking heat out of the basement. Maybe I should get a wet bulb and test the humidity.

There is a lot more research to do once we get in, and I get time to read the manuals. And figure how to fine tune the system.

It’s been about a month since my last entry. I don’t think I’ve taken a day off in those 30 days other than last Sunday. Just to much to get done. To many inspections and details to follow up.

The outside is near done, less landscaping. The sidewalks will hold off to go through a freeze and thaw cycle over winter. Grass is in and coming up. All the mechanicals installed and running. It’s purely amazing how easy the mini-splits cool the house. The other day the Great Room mini-split had a problem, so I just left it on fan, and put the master bedroom unit on 72 degrees at 9:00 in the morning, and turned the ERV on. It got to around 94 that day. At noon I shot some temps: the MBR was 72, as expected, The rest of the house was around 74. By 4:00 PM the hole first floor was 72. That’s only one 9,000 BTU unit run, that’s 0.75 tons of A/C for you old schoolers. The first floor is 1640 sqft.

We will need to experiment of how to balance the house out between the mini-splits and the ERV.

The deck is complete.

Inside in 97%, the kitchen cabinets and counter tops are is in waiting the doors and drawer fronts. everything is painted but the stairs to the second floor (Wednesday). I’ll have to post interior photos soon. Joan has a specular color scheme

Tomorrow is the inspection for the NJ Zero Energy Ready Homes program.

Here are some photos of the outside. The house faces east and these were taken in the morning sun. The front porch is a great place for a morning coffee.