2013 garden is coming along. Last snow was April 7th

New Puppy's have joined the Farm

Farm building update 2/3/2013

HOUSE - COMING IN FROM DRIVEWAY
SNOW IS ALMOST GONE -- BUT WILL BE BACK



DORMANT GARDEN AND PUMP HOUSE VIEWED
 FROM HOUSE



 ONE OF OUR FAVORITE VIEWS
(NORTH EAST) SHEEP MOUNTAIN
 

GARAGE & NEW FURNANCE
 

DOOR TO WHAT WILL BE OUR WALK-IN COOLER
 & NEW FURNANCE

 

SOLAR SYSTEM BATTERY BANK
 --PAST TRUCK ON HIGH SHELF



INSIDE WHAT WILL BE WALK-IN COOLER



INSIDE WHAT WILL BE MUD ROOM -
GOING TOWARDS GREAT ROOM





 

 

INSIDE MUD ROOM GOING

 --TOWARDS GARAGE 

  

VIEW OF KITCHEN & NEW PANTRY



TEMPORARY KITCHEN - KITCHEN SINK WILL
BE UNDER THE WINDOWS
DOOR GOES TO LAUNDRY ROOM



ANOTHER VIEW OF KITCHEN AREA



KITCHEN & DINING AREA



ANOTHER VIEW OF KITCHEN AREA



GREAT ROOM --

LIVING AREA

 

LOOKING AT KITCHEN AREA
FROM LIVING ROOM



MASTER BEDROOM
VIEW OF MASTER BATH DOOR



FRENCH DOOR FROM MASTER BEDROOM
TO DECK
 

MASTER BEDROOM WITH
VIEW OF DOOR TO LIVING AREA



MASTER WALK IN CLOSET

BETWEEN MASTER BATH

& LAUNDRY ROOM

LAUNDRY ROOM
 

 

TEMPORARY KITCHEN SINK

& REFRIGERATOR

 

VIEW OF LAUNDRY VIEW FROM KITCHEN

 

DINING AREA

Furnace installation

 The Furnace we purchased is a Clayton 1802 G from U.S. Stoves.

Side view with heating run attached 24x24 inch duct.

On left is fresh air return we are pulling 4 tons of air from inside house. This  is changing out house air about every hour & half.

Front view of furnace it  will take up to a 34" log & will burn coal.

Side view in rear of picture is concrete board we applied over sheet rock to give us a non combustible wall rating.

Long view, blanket is entry to mud room.

Furnace arrived on pallet. It weighs 770lbs wow. Did we have some fun figuring out how to get it lifted & off pallet. But alittle blocking an a come along it was done.

Blocking to hold concrete board off wall. This will allow air to flow behind concrete boards.

Wall framing in garage for mud room wall.

 

Completed picture, took us three weeks to frame & install.

Concrete board work.

Side view of completed concrete board completed.

Weather is still cold 20ts during day 10 to 20 below at night. Furnace works great & is heating house very well. It seems to like to keep house at 75* which is warmer than we have ever been able to reach with our space electric heaters. It is also hooked to the solar power system so during day it is running from panels if the sun shines. We have heat yes it is a big step forward for us. Will try to post more on next clear day agian. God Bless all stay warm.

Mark & Bev

Winter is here to stay for a while

Just a update with no photos. As we get hit with winter storms we are holding our own. House is getting better every day we can hold 60*. I know that does not sound like much but at 20 below out side its allot. Storms make my Internet very erratic so know we are ok. Will post next clear day. We have ordered wood furnace very excited to get it from Tennesse.
Happy new year God bless all.
Mark & Bev
1/3/2013

Installing Solar power

 While trapped inside during storm I started on battery bank rack. As you can can see it is built with main framing posts 6x6 floor to ceiling. 2x6 cross braces & supports legs, First of two shelves. 24 deep cycle 12 volt batteries. 4 parallel tied sets of 6 will give me 48 volts.

 We had a brake in the weather & I did not hesitate I got my tools & supplies & jumped on the roof. I chose galvanized uni strut as my supports being a retired electrician it was my choice for not only for longevity but strength in the supports. I build 13 foot runners. Bottom strut is what I call my safety toe kick run. I can set tools & my foot against for bracing. I will be installing a hand rail off of it in future for safe way to maintain panels safely during all weather conditions.

 Panels are installed a friend came out to house to help me lift onto roof from there it was not to bad to rope up & install my self. Disconnect is mounted & moving forward with piping & wiring. Panels are 250 watt putting out 39 volts. I will series 3 panels into one run to disconnect 20 amp breaker. I have ran 2 #6 wire to  garage for feeds. 1 #6 to a ground rod just for panels & solar power system. I bonded all uni strut & panels to ground system.

 What a beautiful day all panels installed wiring in inside yes blessed with 2 days of sunshine,

 I have three more racks ready for next set of panels as soon as I can afford them. Total count I want is 36. This will give me a 9kw array when completed. More than enough to power entire property needs during the day also giving me surplus to sell back to power company 3kw give or take.

 On left is a outback Rathion 8kw  inverter, panel & disconnect with two flex 80 Pv charge controllers. Small panel in center is AUX panel feed from grid tied solar system. On right is main 200 amp 40 space panel for all house wiring. Gutter below is fed from conduits  form pump house that go all the way through vaults to power pole at top of property. From outback power system out  I ran 1/0's. Mains from pump house I have 4/0 4/0 2/0 service feeders. Main service from power company has its own ground rod & # 6 ground wire. I did not mix systems. Installed a 70 amp manual disconnect from main panel to outback system. Allowing me to by pass power company with on flip of breaker.

 I know this all is allot to digest just excited to be creating my own power.

 Second shelve is completed & 1st battery bank is up on shelve ready to be wired.

 Another view

System is now all wire & installed for what I have so far. All 120 volt out put is wired into outback system. I ran it for 24hrs with power grid not connected. We have all 120 volt lights, appliance's general circuit's feeding from our own source now. Still need more panels & batteries to get 220 volt on outback system to be able to be completely off grid. But it feels good to be able to know we have power with out having to rely on our local provider. That's all for know got to get back to work on insulation & installing walls.

I added 7 more panels to the system its a cloudy day not much sun. Panels are producing 1.2 kilo watts. I was selling some power back to grid today. 12/13/2012. Today is first day that all 120 volt circuits were completely running on system not drawing any power from power company.

Mark & Bev

Winter has arrived

 It has been a while since my last post.

 It was 70* beautiful & next 10* snow.

 Not quite ready for this but it is here so will deal with it.

 I have to say it is peacful but problematic.

Have not finished ceiling insulation about fifty feet to go so about half done. It in the teens when you wake in the morning but as soon as i get tools working it warms right up. 

Insulation

Started to install R19 in walls. We woke up & wow the cold came in the night. We could see our breath in morning. So I decided to move my attention to insulation. I will leave all bays that need plumbing or electrical or any other framing needs. I will try to get in as much as I can. Wow after three days all I could fill in was done. Big difference it is now just chilly in the mornings when we wake up.

As I get more in it is getting better. The cold nights are not so cold.

 Still have a log way to go but moving along.

Working my way around the house. Ladder & stapler in hand.

kitchen is insulated tyvek installed over it. all walls are done ceiling also. Have about half of the house to tyvek & we will stop heating the world outside us.

 Garage is finialy done.

 Cleaning up mess.

Bedroom & living area.

Kitchen & temp sink.

Range & shelving.

Living room & bedroom. 

Framing exterior walls

 As I said in the past I am no carpenter so I sharpened my pencil got out saw,tape measure, level & here we go.

It looks simple enough but going up & down a 10 ft ladder with a nail gun. I have more respect for a professional carpenter.

Bathroom, Laundry, Walkin closet is framed & ready for flooring. Pluming, Electrical, Insulation is installed.

First the exterior walls 302 boards 2x6x12 ft-- 16" on center to fill in all walls. Started Friday night & by Sunday night we had walls. But still have all the doors & windows to go. They are not so simple have to make allot of cuts.

The move to house

 The move is always a chore but this time it was worth it.

Set up pick nick table as temp dinner table. all in all we thank the good lord for all that we have as with out his help we would still be living in a tent.

I had hoped not to till we had all interior framing & at least plumbing, electrical done but things don't always work out as planned. Time is running by fast have not posted do to all the things needed to be don't to survive the up & coming winter. Little things like toilet,shower, you get where I am going.It alittle like in door camping but with out the sleeping bag.