30x40 Earth Berm Passive Solar in Maine

sjdehner · March 24, 2009, 05:45:15 PM

Hey, your place is coming along nicely!

Are you doing all that work on your own? That's quite a to-do list.

Do you have any exterior pics posted yet?

And, by the way, I like the cathedral ceiling

Keep on working, you're making great progress!

S.

HomeschoolMom · March 24, 2009, 09:26:54 PM

Lookin' good!

March 24, 2009, 10:17:46 PM

Thanks MaineRhino, Shawn and Michelle!

I actually bought a domain name and started designing my own website tonight. Warning: only one of the topic links work yet. Most of my time tonight was spent making sense of the horrid GoDaddy website.

http://earthbermhouse.info/

Sassy · March 24, 2009, 11:11:39 PM

You've really been busy - very nice job on the house & a good start on the website!

MountainDon · March 24, 2009, 11:14:02 PM

Good start Sean. Is the software an online version from GoDaddy? I've found it easier to write the pages on my own software on my own computer. Maybe it's just me, the way I work best, but I understand it better that way. Then upload the files via FTP. I offer any help I can.

March 25, 2009, 09:22:20 AM

Thanks Sassy and MountainDon

No, I'm not using any of GoDaddys software. Just navigating their site and getting access to the FTP settings took me an hour.

Oh god, I think if I had to use GoDaddys embedded FTP application, I would go crazy, lol.

Personally, I prefer Photoshop and Dreamweaver with its own FTP client.

Btw, my Electrician recommended a Panasonic Bathroom Light/Fan for reliability and quietness. But with so many models out there to choose from, I didnt know which one I needed. After finding a calculator in which you plug in your bathroom dimensions, I found out I needed at least an 80 somes model. The Panasonic FV08VQL4 met those requirements and I found a great deal on it on ebay for only $135, new in box with free shipping.

Alasdair · March 25, 2009, 09:53:54 PM

Wow BK!

You are certainly a force to be reckoned with! Where you find the energy or time to make a website on top of the phenomenal amount of work you have done in the last 6 months I don't know!
I have really enjoyed following your project so far, your enthusiasm and drive are a great example - especially as my wife and I are about to embark on our own build.
Nice work man!

HomeschoolMom · March 28, 2009, 01:57:25 PM

Sorry to say but as soon as you figure Godaddy out, they change it!

I have done quite a few sites on there. I just use there Website Tonight stuff.

www.bumper911.com
www.homeschoolkalamazoo.com

Those are the two I have right now.

sjdehner · March 31, 2009, 09:48:26 AM

Bishop,

Hey, where did you find that calculator for the bathroom exhaust fan? Is it online somewhere?

I'm prepping to put one in in the next month so appreciate the post!

Thanks.

S.

March 31, 2009, 12:19:39 PM

Those are nice sites Michelle, great job!

Shawn,

Heres the info I used along with my particular case below:
http://www.iaqsource.com/article.php/how-to-size-a-bathroom-ventilation-fan/?id=3

STEP 1
6 ft X 10 ft X 10 ft = 600 cubic feet.

STEP 2
600 divided by 60 = 10.

STEP 3
10 x 8 = 80 cfms

PEX Plumbing

Also, this is not related, but I am doing research on PEX plumbing and I found a free design guide on the web which details the best way to run Pex for residential buildings
http://www.toolbase.org/PDF/DesignGuides/pex_designguide.pdf

From what I've read, the Trunk and Branch method sounds like the easiest and most cost effective way to run Pex. That would entail using a 3/4" trunk and then branching off to 1/2" T connectors.

What this entire process feels like:

I just thought about it now. It feels like I'm in college again, a cold college... Studying and cramming, then taking weekly tests. Overall, I'd say its feels like 4 college courses worth of collective knowledge.

I was also thinking about all the work I put into my house in Dallas that I sold in 10/07. I had bought it as a fixer upper and put about 30k in materials into it, and ultimately got my money out. I realized no net profit on the house, none. Every ounce of labor I put in was not rewarded. I got material cost out before the housing bubble crashed. My point being, this house i'm building now, I'm buying materials and putting in the labor myself, piecemeal. Although I don't plan to sell my house, if I were to, I would probably realize a profit of about 100-200% on material cost of the house and about 100% on the land. So what I'm saying is......Buying and fixing up that house in Dallas was (profit-wise) a waste of time. Now, granted.... I needed that remodeling experience and confidence so I could take on the huge task of building my own house but I do wish I had just bought raw land about 4 years ago and scratched my nails on a virgin piece of land instead.

Bishopknight · April 02, 2009, 08:44:38 AM

A couple of pics from last weekend:

Insulated the master bedroom and applied 4 mil clear plastic over it.

Completed the double sink vanity and washing machine DWV

Installed 4 sloped recessed lights

Dry fit the plumbing structure for the whirlpool pump and drain

HomeschoolMom · April 03, 2009, 07:44:23 AM

Great work! I was hoping we would have a new update with pics but I had given up

Bishopknight · April 13, 2009, 03:32:27 PM

My electrician is guiding me in wiring my house and I thought I'd jot down some notes here about what he said in reference to my future solar panel array.

Basically his idea is to limit as much as possible the voltage drop from the panels on the roof to the charge controller. To accomplish this, he recommended a #4 SEU wire run from the main panel to the roof ( as short as possible ), via a piece of rigid out the roof through a roof jack, 12" above the shingles connecting to a Neima 12" square PVC box. Having the box directly on the roof would likely lead to leaks at some point, so keeping it a foot off is the best plan. Also the box must have gaskets to prevent water infiltration as well. Like this:

Inside the box, there will be tie downs for the large SEU cable to the individual solar panel wires which I'll probably use 10-2 to connect each with.

I'll be hooking up the Meter panel, Load center and some conduit this weekend as well. I'll try to take some pictures of the entire process.

MountainDon · April 13, 2009, 10:00:39 PM

What are your system parameters; cable length, design volts, max amps... ?

Is the #4 running from the junction/combiner box on the roof to the controller?

I know, lots of questions; just curious about anything solar.

If that 10-2 you mentioned is near or touches the backs of the panels be sure it's rated for a high enough temperature. Ninety degrees Celsius (186 F) is usually recommended. UV and wet rated, or course. A cable known as USE-2 is commonly used for that.

April 14, 2009, 09:20:23 AM

From the junction/combiner box to the controller, the length should be around 15 feet. The designed voltage will be 12v so we're keeping the distances as short as possible. The max amps are still up in the air. I'm using a 45amp max charge controller so I can have 3 more solar panels at max charging amperage, but realistically, probably around 4 more since my panels rarely put out the max amperage.

I'll mention the temperature rating of the individual wires to Dan. Thanks MountainDon.

MountainDon · April 14, 2009, 11:54:17 AM

Hmmm. If you add enough parallel panels to reach that 45 amps maximum, that comes out to 3.46% voltage drop. At 35 amps that would still be over 2% (2.31). Generally 2% is regarded as the upper limit of desirability.

IF it was 24 VDC at 22.5 amps (same power) and everything else the same, the loss calculates out to more desirable 0.87%.

Bishopknight · April 14, 2009, 02:32:16 PM

Right, That definitely makes sense. Especially after doing a little research.

Someone sums up the inefficiencies quite well in regards to 12v vs 24v. I quoted the following from this URL.
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/10/8/6370/94749

Quote(Ignoring inefficiencies) 50W is 50W, no matter if it is 12 or 24V DC or 120 or 240V AC. So, with (2)x50W panels, you are getting 100W into 24V or 100W into 12V, and taking 100W out at 240V AC would be 100% of power used in either case.

The advantage to a 24V system is that the inefficiencies are less. While the power is the same, since power is volts times amps (put another way, amps is power / volts), you will have 1/2 the amps in a 24V system than in a 12V system with the same power transfer. Since the power lost in the wire is proportional to the square of the current (loss = amps^2 * resistance), you either have less loss with the same wire or you can use smaller wire.

For example, with a 96W (easier math ;-) panel array, this will be 8A into 12V or 4A into 24V. If you have a wire that has 0.2 ohms of resistance (10 AWG for 30m both ways), the loss of the 12V will be (^2*0.2=13W, where the 24V will be (4)^2*0.2=3W. This is a big difference !

The advantage to 12V is that you can upgrade in smaller chunks (1 solar panel or 2 batteries vs. 2 solar panels or 4 batteries for 24V) and there are more appliances available for 12V.

Stay with 24V (or consider 48V); you won't be sorry.

You don't happen to have any of the resistances of certain types of wires, do you? Like 4/4/0 SEU vs 2/2/0 SEU?

MountainDon · April 14, 2009, 04:58:54 PM

No, I don't have the resistance numbers handy, but I know I have seen a reference table.
I don't bother with the actual values for different wire sizes. I rely on the calculator that screen shot came from. It has factors for copper vs aluminum built in, as well as the temperature rating coefficients. It's better than any of the free calculators I've seen; it is not a freebie. It's capable of more than I am.

If you would like I could run any numbers through it.

As you can see from the previous image it will solve for 1. voltage drop, 2. Wire Gauge needed, or 3. maximum length of cable.

Common Input variables are: AC or DC, Voltage, Load Current, Copper or Aluminum, Cable Temp rating (default is 75C (60C or 90C)

1. For Voltage Drop the the wire gauge and one way distance are also required.
2. For required wire gauge the allowed percentage of voltage drop and one way wire length are also required.
3. For maximum cable lebgth the allowed percentage of voltage drop and wire gauge are also required.

I'll run some for you or anyone with the understanding that I'll do it as I can.

Bishopknight · April 20, 2009, 10:41:22 PM

Weekend Update:

Raised terrace garden bed in front of house:

Drywall being installed where allowable.

I drywalled the bedroom closets and hung 2 doors

A wall mount tv will be mounted here, with no wires showing

The trench I dug for the electric wire. Total cost = $10 in gas since I own the backhoe

I also met a neighbor who built his own strawbale house. I took a pic of it. I dug him a hole for his own well tile and I'll come back and lay the tiles for them at a future date.

glenn kangiser · April 21, 2009, 02:27:59 AM

Thanks for the update, BK -- Isn't it great to have your own toys. Mine are actually making me a bit of money now.

April 21, 2009, 08:59:55 AM

Love seeing new pics! You just made my day.

Bishopknight · April 21, 2009, 09:10:12 AM

Thats awesome Glenn. They really are great, and if anyone can afford the up front cash outlay, I say go for it, they definitely pay for themselves if acquired early on in the development process. When I first bought my backhoe, I never expected I'd be digging other peoples wells at some point also

speedfunk · April 26, 2009, 04:40:14 PM

Looks great BK!!

I really like the round rock look of retaining wall. We don't got rocks like that . All though our rocks in upstate NY do stack better

Hope you got to the the house site this weekend. We didn't have as much time as we wanted but nice day to work!!!

Peace
jeff

Dog · April 26, 2009, 10:14:02 PM

Hey...how did the gardening go? It was the perfect weekend!

We have a lot of perennials that are coming up. Some good rain and good sun. They look great. Working on weeding an mulching. If I had more land I'd grow a massive veg garden. I have to settle for planters for now.

Have a nice week an enjoys building your house!

Bishopknight · April 27, 2009, 08:55:18 AM

I actually had to destroy most of the rock wall this weekend to finish the electric service cable trench.

And of course, it was 80 on saturday and the black flies arrived right on schedule

Grace did a lot of drywall patching and cleanup around the property and I worked the PEX plumbing. I went with a "trunch and branch" system, using 3/4" as the trunk and 1/2" on the individual fixtures, except for the hose bib outside, which I'm keeping 3/4". I read somewhere that PEX brass fixtures can crack/snap/break if the tube is installed putting pressure on it, but I find that highly improbable. I had to cut a piece off one of the 1/2" pex drop ears and it took me 5 minutes of sweat induced labor to just hacksaw off a 1/4" side bracket. After seeing how hard it was, I wasn't worried any longer but just in case, all my connections have little to no bend from the plastic pipe going into them.

We also stacked firewood. I started trenching for the water line as well. I'm working out a deal with the electrician to let him borrow my backhoe in exchange for work. I can't say enough about the benefits of owning your own backhoe. Its already paid for itself and now its starting to make/save me money. If you can afford one, by all means get one.