Week 17: Low Voltage--fewer Watts than Expected



This is electricity week! Our Bellingham son-in-law, Chris, changes the chip in the time-lapse camera in anticipation that there will be lots to see.  



Ditto



While we're waiting for the electricians, our new kitchen window is installed: two mulled windows-- each of which opens to let the cool northwest air into the kitchen.  The window glazing is obscure (frosted) glass as a courtesy to our neighbors, whose bedroom window directly faces our kitchen window.



Speaking of windows, we forgot to mention in last week's log that most of our new windows are coming from Sierra Pacific.  We liked the quality and style of the windows, the prices were very competitive, and a bonus, as we saw it, was that the window manufacturing plant is in Red Bluff, CA, which means that we're making some contribution to the California economy.  We later learned more about Sierra Pacific.  They are apparently a third-generation family-owned and operated forest products company that owns 1.9 million acres of trees in California and Washington (the largest private forest land owner in North America) and operates 12 sawmills, 8 co-generation facilities, and 4 wood re-manufacturing plants in California and Washington, employing 3400 people.



While we awaited the electricians, the HVAC people also did some more work, including installing the ceiling heat registers throughout the second story.  This photo shows the heat register in the new upstairs bathroom.



We also encountered one of many of the local code catch-22s that have entertained us during the project.  There is a code provision that requires a house to have an exhaust fan hooked up to a timer that turns the fan on automatically several times a day.  The purpose is to create negative pressure in the house, which is intended to draw fresh air in any time someone opens a door or window.  The code does not explain why this is necessary in a remodel of a house, the entire first floor of which leaks fresh air like a sieve.  But that's not the catch-22.  The catch-22 is that we are not finishing the basement (i.e., we are not insulating or putting drywall in the basement).  We are simply using the basement for storage and the clothes washer and dryer.  Under the code, this means that, for energy purposes, the basement is not part of the house.  Our original plan was to have the exhaust fan that goes on and off several times a day here in the basement (in this photo the BB is holding the fan up to the vent pipe where it will be installed).  But we have been told that since the basement is not considered part of the house, the automatic fan must be upstairs in the bathroom. This does not mean, however, that we can eliminate the fan in the basement.  So now we have two fans, and the automatic fan is in the bathroom where we can enjoy its whirr and buzz several times a day.



This is the fan in the bathroom that will be placed on timer per the local energy code.



While we were waiting for the electrician, we also completed the framing for the new cabinet that will go over the fireplace.  On the left there is an enclosure for the exhaust flues serving the range hood, the basement furnace, and the gas fireplace.  This will be fully enclosed with drywall.  On the right there is new framing where the chimney used to be, and a new oak cabinet will fill this space.



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While we wait for the electrician, the BP holds up the electrical plan for the basement, first floor, and second floor, which has been over six months in the making.  We are very excited to see all the squiggles on the plan translated into electrical circuits, fixtures, and switches in the field.



This is what a double crew of electricians looks like when they aren't there.  The original plan was that the electricians would start on Monday; then we were told Tuesday; then we were advised that a double crew would be arriving on Thursday.  Two electricians did arrive on Thursday and worked for much of the day.  We never found out whether two electricians is a double crew; they made some progress, but were a good four days behind schedule, and so committed to continue their work on Friday and Saturday.  Two electricians worked part of Friday and one electrician worked for one or two hours on Saturday.  We're now a good week behind schedule.  Our general contractor has been terrific and is aggressively working to get us back on schedule.  We do believe that next week will be more electrifying than this week.



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The entire 200 amp electrical service for the house will ride on these three massive electrical cables.  On the ground in the lower right of this photo is the old electrical panel.  We are adding many new circuits in this remodel, so we'll end up with a new panel with much larger capacity.



This is one of the three massive cables mentioned in the previous picture.  There are 20 individual wires bound together in this cable.



The crew did get a few outlets, switches, and fixture cans placed.  Something that you don't think about until you do a large installation like this is where to put switches and outlets and how to be sure that fixture cans are properly centered on the wall.  It has taken a surprising amount of our time to follow the electricians around with electrical plan in hand, double checking the position of each of these devices.  Also surprising is the number of times we've found that the location of a device in the plan needed to be changed in the field.  The electrical installation turns out to be one of the most detail-intensive activities for us as well as for our contractor and electrical sub-contractor.



More electrical devices and the very beginning of pulling wire to the various boxes.  So far, all the wire being pulled is electrical wire.  We also are installing data, TV, and phone cabling in many locations throughout the house.  We want to be able to plug in a TV or computer just about anywhere, and now is a good time to install terminals that enable us to do that.



This photo shows the cans for the four recessed lights that will be installed in the BB's office. 



This is a close-up of the recessed light cans that we're using.  The manufacturer is Juno, and we decided to use 5" cans, which are significantly less expensive than 4" cans but look better to us than 6" cans.  Altogther, the remodeled house on all levels will have a total of 59 light fixtures, 19 of which will be 5" Juno cans with dimmable LED bulbs.  We also will have a 4' LED strip on the bottom of the cabinet that is over the kitchen sink.  The rest of the fixtures in the house will consist of 8 fluorescent tube lights, 6 low-wattage halogen lights (used mainly in closets), and 25 regular fixtures, all but a few of which will utilize low-energy fluorescent lamps.  Many of these regular fixtures will be recycled from the existing house, 2 will be recycled fixtures we will be bringing with us from Berkeley, and a handful will be newly purchased.




While the remodel has effectively destroyed most of the landscaping in the backyard, a few brave plants along the borders continue to thrive, and we keep them well-watered.