~ 2000 ~
Interview with James Juczak
Interview with James Juczak I first learned about Jim in a paper that he wrote for the CoCoCo/99 Papers. (CoCoCo stands for Continental Cordwood Conference.) Jim’s paper discussed various...
Double-Wall Options
The last few years of El Nino and La Nina weather are a thing of the past it appears and it looks like we are in for a full blown winter. The past month has found me buttoning things up for the...
Look! There goes a BTU into the Floor!
I returned on Saturday afternoon after spending a couple of days at home in Illinois. Weather-wise, things looked ominous for the week. The forecast called for mild temperatures, but very little in...
And the Leaks Shall Inherit the Earth
Ah yes, what would a hydronic heating project be without a few troublesome leaks? Here’s a synopsis of this last week’s tales from the field… Sunday With the weather threatening to...
Trenching in the Pipes
Now that the collectors are up, light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. (The question is, is it daylight or an oncoming freight train.) This last week was spent trenching in one inch pex tubing...
Up go the Solar Collectors
The weather couldn’t have been better for Saturday’s solar collector raising party. Temperatures were in the low 70’s with bright sunshine. The only damper on the day was the...
Building Solar Collector Frame – Part II
What is he building now? I’m sure that we have been the talk of the neighborhood when it comes to building this house. People have stopped by to ask what is that? A giant gazebo or is that a...
Building Solar Collector Frame – Part I
Like most projects for this house, building the frame support for the solar panels has become quite an arduous task. A total of 28 post holes needed to be dug and were accomplished using an auger...
Like a Bridge Over Doubled Circulators
Like A Bridge over Doubled Circulators Okay, I know it’s a stretch but I felt compelled to some how fit Simon and Garfunkel’s song into the title. This week the bridge was completed from...
Preparing Solar Collectors
If you recall, the February 12, 2000 journal entry discussed the arrival of the 4 x 10 foot solar panels. These panels were purchased used, so there was quite a bit of clean up work required. I had...
Radiant Floor Tubing and Concrete Floor Pour
This was the week that it all came together. Here’s a review, day by day. Monday – This was vapor barrier day. A vapor barrier is typically a sheet of 6 mil plastic. Although it is often...
Go… And Pound Sand
Go… And Pound Sand I can’t quite recall who it was that told me to do that, but just for the record, I have done my life’s share of it over the last couple of weeks. Four and a...
Underfloor Plumbing
Before filling the trench or laying down the radiant floor tubing, the under-floor drains must be carefully placed. Much time was devoted to measuring and re-measuring the placement of the toilet,...
Papercrete for Mortar?
Pondering the Potential Possibility of Papercrete Mortar During my visit to this year’s Midwest Renewable Energy Fair, I moseyed on over to Rob Roy’s booth to see what was new and...
Insulating the Sand Bed
Before pouring in the sand and laying down the tubing, the bottom and the sides of the trench need to be insulated. This prevents most of the heat from escaping into the ground and allowing the...
Excavating for Sand Bed and Plumbing
IDig Memorial Day And that about sums up my Memorial Day weekend. I spent the weekend digging a trench inside of the house that will eventually be filled with sand and used to store heat from the...
A Visit by Cliff Shockey
This week was highlighted by a visit from Cliff Shockey. I first started talking to Cliff when I became interested in his double wall building technique. Cliff’s method prevents air...
Cistern Plumbing Installation
This winter and spring have been exceptionally dry (so far). This is quite a contrast to last year’s weather. It seemed that while I was building the frame of the house it did nothing but...
Building the Window Frames
It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote and I’ve been busy building window frames. As stated earlier, the cordwood house is being constructed using Cliff Shockey’s double wall...
MREA Solar Space Heating Workshop
For those of you who live in the Midwest, I cannot stress enough how fortunate we are to have the MREA (Midwest Renewable Energy Association) in our own backyard. I’ve been a member for four...
Window Shopping is a Pane
Following in tradition with other cordwood builders, last week I journeyed into the unknown searching for the ultimate deal on windows. The goal was to find some good quality windows that were...
Electrical Design
Before any of the walls go up and even before the slab is poured, the utility designs must be completed. Over the last week, I’ve been tackling the electrical diagrams for the house. I would...
Rainwater Collection System
Rainwater Collection System Water is a precious resource that we quite often take for granted. Like most everyone else, we had not taken it into consideration until we started planning the house....
A Hybrid Heating Solution
Putting It All Together The most trouble that I’ve had with the design has been designing the backup system. There are a number of ways to heat a house. I frequently had to tell myself to keep...
Backup Heating Systems
Heating System – Backup The backup system will incorporate some form of a wood fired stove and a propane or electric boiler. The reason for this is twofold: (1) the sun doesn’t always...
Solar Heating Design
Heating System – Solar I never realized how many options there were to heating a house. The house will be heated using radiant floor heat and solar hot water collectors. That is a fact. Where...
Solar Collector Purchase
Taking the Next Step A few years ago I attended a hydronic heating presentation (at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair) hosted by Steve Krug, owner of Next Step Energy Systems. Steve’s...
Board with Y2K
A weekly event of mine is scanning the La Crosse area newspaper classified section for any good deals on building materials for the house. Two weeks ago, an ad was placed for barn board. I became...