Let the Fun Begin

The Pellet Stove

Comes Home

Tomorrow's the first day of shooting Renovation Nation. We've been a little—make that—a lot of crazy around here. I finally see why home renovation is one of the biggest sources of stress on a marriage. Good thing we like each other!

So, just since last week our segment was canceled, reinstated, projects changed, friends and neighbors recruited, permits acquired, solar panel companies changed, pellet stove purchased, bamboo harvested, bamboo cut to size and bamboo fence section built.

The pellet stove. I found a very nice one (brand new with factory warranty) online for half the normal cost. It's designed in Brazil and we loved it because of it's efficiency, design, and cost.

We were working with the manufacturer of two other leading brands, but in order to get us the teensiest discount they wanted the network (Discovery) to fly and put up one of their installers to basically do an entire promo on the show. So not worth it. 

The Bosca stove works nicely with our aesthetic—we didn't want one that looked like it belonged in a nineteenth century cabin. Not that there's anything wrong with the nineteenth century (actually, I can think of a few things off the top of my head) but that just isn't our style.

We've been really nuts getting ready for the show and the ever changing schedules. That's television. We finally have everything lined up, including the beginnings of a 4kw solar array from Solaris Energy.

Sheesh!

Bio-mass variety, premium grade pellets, battery back-up, ash removal systems, viewing area, efficiency, aesthetics (for Rob)—sheesh! Who knew there was so much to consider when it came to pellet stoves?? 

Well, several people, it turns out. Most notably, for this space anyway, is our friend Mike Cronomiz of Re: Vision Architecture. Mike helped me to sort out some of the questions I had in trying to find the right stove for our House of Bamboo. 

I've narrowed it down to a few models: The Harman Advance, the Quadrafire Classic Bay 1200, the Bosca 1500. These are all good stoves in their own ways. I can't wait to get one of these puppies fired up in the living room. The garage has been cleared for pellet storage. Hopefully we won't run into a pellet shortage. I've heard that there could be one since the new home industry is experiencing a slump (like everything else). Less new construction means less sawdust and other wood product waste. Of course this also means fewer trees cut. Quite the dilemma. Who knows. Maybe some time in the near future we'll figure out how to create fuel from our bamboo grove.

Deadlines and Options and Pellets, Oh My!

Nothing like a deadline to get your a** in motion!

Now that we have a date for Renovation Nation, we can no longer take our own sweet time to get the next project going. 

I'm now in high gear looking at pellet stoves and solar arrays. A pellet stove installation seems like the most pragmatic way to go: One item to install; fewer people needed; can be done in a day or two. Installing a solar array is way more complex, particularly with this kind of timeframe. Oh yeah, and we would also need to put up a new roof first.

My focus right now is comparing the many types of stoves available. We're definitely leaning more towards a wood pellet burning stove. It would be terrific if I could find one that also burns other types of fuel (corn, olive pits, etc.). Since the housing market slump began, it is been bandied about that the sawdust needed to make pellets will become scarce. The other option for a stove is a straight wood burning one. 

The downside to this option is that wood can be much more harmful to the air quality than pellets. The upside is that we could alway burn our furniture if we had to. So many things to consider. Nothing is ever just this way or that.

Rob Fleming and Chris Pastore on Internet Radio

Well, I finally made it to the radio. Imagine a weekly radio show dedicated to sustainability. Nica thought it was pretty good and pretty funny. The podcasts can be downloaded at www.philau.edu/ecomanandtheskeptic.

Renovation Nation

Renovation Nation. That's where we've been living for some time. Now we'll have company. With a camera crew.

Renovation Nation is also the name of the green home renovating program on the Planet Green Network. The program is hosted by Steve Thomas, formerly of This Old House.

What company will we have, you ask (or maybe you don't)? 

Besides being a huge fan of home renovation shows—this one in particular—we've been selected to be a part of  an episode in the near future. You have no idea how hard I'm trying right now not to let my total geek-out excitement come through on this post. I like to think I come across as calm and level-headed in public so I save the geeking out for my immediate family. 

When I told my nine-year-old about appearing on the show she gave me this knowing look, then said, "this is like a dream for you, isn't it?"

Why, yes dear, yes it is.

Cosmetic Progress!

Finally, the holidays are over, and I have a minute to post new pictures before the new school semester begins in 13 hours.

Remember the truly grody kitchen? I'm pleased to say that the current state is much more enjoyable and doesn't make me gag. Not exactly mid-century modern, but sustainable products were used.

The floors are bamboo. If we could've only used the grove in our yard—that would have been super sustainable! Alas, we purchased these planks made from plants harvested after eight years of growth.

We went back and forth with counter material (I wanted Quartz, he wanted laminate). I read somewhere that it has been discovered that granite counters can off gas. Good thing we couldn't afford them! I found a manufacturer of bamboo countertops (Totally Bamboo), so that's what we went with. They're very nice. Warm. Very much like butcher block.


I decided not to use a toxic sealer, so every few months I spread pure tung oil on them. Try asking for tung oil at your local Home Despot (yes, I said Despot) and check out the puzzled looks you get.

The living and dining rooms are taking shape as well. So much has happened that sometimes I forget that we've only been here for six months. 

Below are some photos of the rest of the main level.

View from kitchen to dining/living area

View of entry way

Next month we'll be tackling a new roof in preparation for the solar array!

8 Projects

One of the things about our house that people might want to know is that we went to considerable trouble to find a house with an unobstructed southern exposure. This will allow us to maximize the efficiency of the solar panels we are going to install. anyway that's just a side note.

Project 1 Energy Audit
Of course all sustainable projects must include an energy audit as early in the process as possible. This is something that will happen as soon as possible!

Project 2 New roof/photovoltaic Installation
One of the things that set us back a bit was the harsh realization that we really needed to put a new roof on the house before installing our PV system. We are considering using a new product from www.readysolar.com. It’s basically solar in a box with much of the infrastructure needed to support a PV system built into the panel system. This should greatly reduce installation costs and the system pricing seems pretty reasonable.

Project 3 Rainwater harvesting
As we get our roof completed, we plan to reorute the rain water leaders to a central location just in front of our laundry/mechanical room. This will allow us to install a cistern at a later date which we plan to use for washing machine and gardening, if not toilet flushing on the lower level bathroom.

Project 4
Solar Hot Water
With the money we receive back from rebates and incentives on our PV installation, we plan to install solar hot water for domestic hot water use and potential for radiant floors on the lower level of our house.

Project 5
Pellet Stove
We like the idea of being self sufficient, meaning that if the grid goes down, we can still function at a minimum level of comfort. A pellet stove would be useful because we could purchase a large supply of fuel pellets and store them in the garage.

Project 6
Large Kitchen Window
One of the great things about the orientation of our house is that lots of low winter sunlight enters the house providing free heat in the winter. We would like to enlarge the kitchen window (south facing) for views and for heat gain, while also providing shading to protect against high summer sun.

Project 7
Edible Landscapes
We are working on an early idea of something called front yard CSA’s. During WWII, 40% of food was grown in people’s front yards. We’d like t bring that concept back and join with other neighbors in growing a wide variety of vegetables that will be available during different times of the year. We’ve talked to our farmer friend Dave at Weaversway Coop farm, and he seemed intrigued by the idea.

Project 8
Bamboozled
WE have a large strand of bamboo on our property. So far the only use we could find for it is to make charcoal for cooking. Apparently, you can’t burn bamboo in a fire place. It does not provide much heat, burns quick, and explodes when the knuckles are heated up. But making charcoal would be interesting to try, but we since we don’t have a lot of time or expertise, this project is a bit further down the pike for us.