the agents of moxie :: the 'hood

It's nearly official . . . We've Moved!

2010-03-07T11:55:00.001-05:00

Please visit, comment, contribute maybe, but definitely visit -- http://blog.buildingmoxie.com.
Thank you Blogger . . . we'll meet again soon . . . maybe.

Inside the Pro's Home :: Bill O'Connor's Solar Thermal Set-up

2009-11-25T11:14:00.053-05:00

I am fortunate really that around me here in Lauraville there are many forward-thinking, creative, and community-oriented people. Revitalization, as you might have read, is abounding; new shops and reclamation are the norm. Mixing new with old, the locals here are creating a kinda 21st century stew.

And when I am not off in some distant land fantasizing about my own remodeling biz super-success, I may catch a glimpse of the solar panels sitting on Bill O’Connor’s roof. Sure, I noticed when they first went on, but I did not actually stop until recently to think -- Hey, what might it take to integrate this newish technology with an old house?

Then, one Saturday afternoon, the girls and I stumbled upon our new local street market. And there, below them, as if they were almost powering the activity, those solar panels came up. In the course of chatting at the Baltimore Main Street table, Bill’s wife, Sue, asked, “Are you going to the solar tour today?”

I said, “Well, I don’t know; what is that?”

The 19th Annual Washington Metro (b-more apparently a suburb of DC) Solar Home Tour was stopping at Bill’s house, and I did ultimately pop in. It was that day when I first pitched Bill on the idea for this article. I said to him, “I see it growing every day, interest in solar; and I am sure my readers (as if you number in the many) would love to know what it takes to implement this technology in an old house.”

A few weeks later feeling a little bit like Kevin O’Connor (no relation)

There have only been a handful of times when this job has made me feel a little bit like Kevin O’Connor. But this is one of them. There, as I sat sipping pear cider with Bill and his buddy, Roger Perry, we discussed the process of installing a solar hot water, aka thermal, system for Bill’s house.

Close friends – you could tell. Motorcycling buddies, they have both been in their respective lines of work for 30 plus years. Roger, the owner of Solar Energy Services, survived the “dark days of solar” (my words), and Bill, the House Mechanic (as his business is called), now collaborate frequently on each other’s projects.

Bill admits when he initially contacted Roger regarding solar, he was interested more in solar’s ability to provide power for his home. Roger, and probably working more together, quickly steered Bill away from this as his starting point.

Known as photovoltaic (PV), installations that convert sun power into electrical voltage are pricey, almost three times pricier than the other solar set-up, thermal. So they agreed, instead, to start there – with a thermal system used for domestic potable hot water and radiant hot water space heating.

These systems are, as Roger tells me, more efficient; they offer “more bang for the buck,” he says.

Solar misconceptions

While I certainly have a little experience with plumbing and heating, the concept of integrating solar into a water set up is still totally new to me.

So that day, as we sat on the front porch, I started with questions like: “Did you have to add structural support to the roof to handle the weight of those things (as I pointed upwards towards the panels)?”

And -- "Did you have to crane them up there (again referring to the panels)?"

As I was quickly set straight, I learned that these are not big concerns when working with a solar configuration. In turns out, too, that this line of questioning may actually be even a little further from some of the most common misconceptions about solar.

Bill, that day, told me of some of his early encounters with passers-by. On spotting the panels, some would ask, “What’s it like to live without BG&E (local energy supplier -- Baltimore Gas & Electric)?”

Sizing things up

While there are certainly systems that can get you off of the grid, Bill’s isn’t one of them. Virtually all thermal/hot water systems are supplemental only, and they work in tandem with gas, propane, or oil-fired equipment to do what they do.

Bill’s specifically is known as a closed-loop glycol (that’s anti-freeze) system with flat plate collectors. It is not an uncommon set-up (more on this in a minute). The collectors as I learned are actually only big aluminum boxes -- black of course, that contain copper tubing, paired with a copper-coated plating. (Copper has good heat transfer properties.)

The ones on Bill’s roof weigh only about 150 lbs each. They were hoisted (hand & rope) up onto the roof and were shimmied into place -- where they were then attached. Bill's roof, and there are reasons for this, holds five four by ten plates. These then service a 120 gallon water tank, which is found in his basement.

This set-up is a little larger than most solar thermal set-ups. Roger, whose company recently did an install at the Governor’s mansion (MD), says his most common job is a family of four moving off of an electric hot water heater. In that configuration, we are talking typically about two four by eight panels servicing an eighty gallon tank.

Interfacing

“So why go larger with Bill’s set-up?” I ask.

Roger’s initial response came back as one word, “Load.” But he continued, “Well, we had to look at what we needed to do. For Bill, we were not only going to support the potable hot water and the space heating, but we also had to think about his hot tub out back.”

“Still . . . why five panels?" I asked.

"Well, we simply had the room." Roger answered. "Plus, Bill's roof is a little east-facing.”

In terms of solar collection, you can actually think of the sun as a limited resource. Here in the northern hemisphere, plates are ideally set to face due south. But thanks to the siting of houses, and multiple roof forms, that may not always be possible.

Add to this clouds and occasional rainy periods, and there is sometimes a need, as in Bill’s instance, to go with slightly larger, and more, plates. The additional plates, however, do nothing but make the collection of solar rays a little easier. As you can see with the built chase shown above, the intrusion into and through the house remains relatively insignificant.

Hot water is easier to heat

Through Bill’s expertly remodeled kitchen, passed his world class bumper sticker collection (which lines the walls), and through his workshop (where he happens to be working on a "picklewood" countertop for Roger), he lead me to the real goodies. And there, in his mechanical room, that’s where it really happens – the “interfacing” -- to use Roger’s words.

As you can see in the picture, the tank is actually quiet impressive. The closed loop continues via 1" copper pipe through this point.

You could think of this tank as something of a hub. The boiler and the hot water heater, upgraded too for this project, access pre-heated water in this tank.

By claiming already heated water, the boiler and the hot water heater (still dependent on fuel) have far less work to do. They fire only when the tempature of the water needs to be elevated. Now . . . they often have to work only long enough to bring temps up a few degrees. And . . . equipment that works less, firing for shorter periods, burns less fuel and saves money.

While there is no special requirement on equipment per se – Bill’s home is fitted with a super high efficiency condensing boiler (enough to make this housephile drool). The decision to upgrade this appliance was suggested, too, by Roger very early in the design process.

Think about it – As Roger puts it, “You don’t want to plug a system like this into house that has a boiler or a hot water heater going on 20-25 years old." And I see what he meant -- kinda like putting high octane gas into poorly maintained 1984 Chevette. You would never realize the full benefit of the upgrade.

Million dollar questions (aka so how much did it cost and how much will it save?)

It is tough to say exactly how much a system like Bill’s would cost in your house. A project similar to Bill’s would price out right around $25k; I know that. In Bill’s house, he and Roger not only upgraded both water service appliances, but they also reconfigured some of the existing baseboard heating to create four “more logical” zones.

While Bill certainly receives Energy Star tax credits on his new appliances, he also received both a grant from the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) as well as a federal tax credit for renewable energy. As I understand it, in total, he got a few thousand back once the installation was complete. (And, every little bit helps.)

For that family of four that I mentioned above, their cost would run somewhere in the range of $8-$10,000 for install. They could expect a four for five year payback on their investment by saving between $600 to $800 in annual energy costs.

Bill currently is saving about a 1/3 on his gas bill, and should expect to see a full return on his investment in six to eight years.

One last thing

These systems are in my opinion very intelligent – using (or should I say harnessing) natural elements to run efficiently. And this article only roughly outlines the set up, so you may want to explore more deeply with your local solar expert.

The technology has evolved as such that maintenance on these systems is almost negligible. The glycol (remember anti-freeze) in Bill’s system will require a flush and change every five years at a cost between $200 and $400. But Roger tells me, this is really the only major maintenance consideration. Cool, huh?
Thank You both, Bill for opening your home, and Roger for taking the time to drive up for the meet.

More Moxie:
Solar Energy Services: http://www.solarsaves.net/

Very good overview on thermal solar systems courtesy of RemodelCrazy.com and written by Solar Energy Service's Senior Residential Solar Consultant, Rich Schroeher. This article outlines several options in solar thermal and provides a great graphic showing such things as the sensors found on both the exterior and interior portions of the set-up: http://www.remodelcrazy.com/2009/green/solar-collectors-part-2.html

19th Annual Washington DC Solar Tour: http://www.solartour.org/

This Old House host Kevin O'Connor: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/biography/0,,441624,00.html

Energy Star Appliances (Boilers): http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=boilers.pr_boilers

Maryland Energy Administration :: Solar, Geothermal and Wind Grants: http://www.energy.state.md.us/incentives/residential/index.asp

IRS Form 5695 :: Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf

"Where do you get all of these great gifts?" she said

2009-11-23T08:03:00.032-05:00

A review of sorts

Not long after my wife and I started discussing potential birthday gifts for my nephew, my godson, Jackson, we came up with a target. Having now shepherded two children of our own through the face-smearing of a first-birthday cake, we had a little inkling of what would make a decent gift.

Surely to be overloaded with puzzles, trucks, and the now obligatory “Yo Gabba Gabba” doll, we were going to go in a slightly different direction. We knew; so we focused in on something a little more practical.

Toddlers, we thought, just learning the basics of standing, walking, and hygiene need just a little assistance when getting into position for a hand or face washing. Enter the step stool; the only questions – in what style and where to find it?

Shopping for the perfect gift

When I say step stool, and if you have kids -- you know the ones. I mean -- you’ve noticed them, at Sears, at Target, and in the handful of homes that you may sometimes visit.

The wife attempted first by grabbing one at Wal-Mart. In basis colors, she was planning to add some stenciling detail to it. Not super sturdy, though, so we discussed. “What is his room theme again?” My wife providing the answer – Animals.

OK, and after further chatting, we figured we could do better. So we, as we often do, turned to the internet. My wife first -- she was going to do some exploration.

After about a half an hour, me watching the girls – she called me in. As we started making our way through the ten or so windows that she had open, we came to it: http://www.allchildrensfurniture.com/, a CSN Store.

CSN had contacted me a short bit ago about potentially doing a review for another of their 200 or so home-related sites. And I remembered it; so I said, “Hey, let’s look here. . . . Animals, right?”

I searched and quickly found this: http://www.allchildrensfurniture.com/Guidecraft-G83206-EZ1201.html -- the Guidecraft Safari Storage Stool. A cool step stool -- with storage no less -- Bonus! It would work perfectly.

Assembly required

When I finished unpacking things from the weighty box, I was quick to notice the embossed features on the piece; elephants and zebras – nicely made, again, perfect. Sitting there in my office not far from the computer that I write at – I made this thing happen.

I really liked the way everything was labeled very clearly. I was even more surprised that the hex-screws included for the fastening of the structural elements were long, possibly up to four inches long.

It took me only about 15 minutes to assemble the piece; 10 minutes more, and I took some pictures. For grins – and since this stool was actually much nicer than the hand-me-downs we have, I sat it in our 1/2 bath. Wow, it looks great; what do you think?

And there one last picture -- the beautiful bronze plate, the stamp – Guidecraft, Made in the USA.

The big day

It was huge turn out, especially on a Ravens' gameday. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends – all there to celebrate a big day. My girls were excited themselves; they love hanging with Jackson.

We ate, we drank, we watched football. I took some time to sneak into his room and grab some shots of where our gift will live.

When gift-opening time came, my sister, this her first child, may not have expected just how many gifts she would get for Jackson’s first b-day. The flood of learning toys, clothes, dolls, and books was, in fact, pretty prolonged. Ours, wrapped in its no-wrapping-paper-goes-to-waste craft project, was grouped at the tail end with other big ticket items.

Opting to take in the feeling of my success over taking pictures, I reveled in the moment she opened our gift. Finally, third from the end, this is what came out of my sister's mouth as she unwrapped, “Where do you get all of these great gifts?” (We do have a decent track record.) All eyes in the room turned to me, and I heard – “Did you make it?”

I said, “Cha (or something like that) . . . I wish." And I deferred answering, not divulging my secrets. But you’ll know -- I found this great piece at http://www.allchildrensfurniture.com/.

More Moxie:
Yo Gabba Gabba :: the official site: http://yogabbagabba.com/

Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (Shouts to)

2009-10-01T15:41:00.020-04:00

Thanks to Facebook and some forward-thinking friends, I saw the news announcement. This perked my interest, but, really, it wasn’t till this weekend that I found out what it was all about.

The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC) is a nine-month pilot program currently targeting eight neighborhoods in Baltimore City:

1) Mt. Washington 2) Reservoir Hill 3) CARE (or Banner/Middle East near Hopkins Hospital) 4) The Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville 5) Park Heights 6) Fulton Ave in Sandtown 7) Ten Hills & 8) Roland Park

This innovative program is being launched by the Baltimore Office of Sustainability in partnership with the Baltimore Community Foundation. It is backed by several prominent organizations including Baltimore City Civic Works, Rebuilding Together Baltimore, The Coalition To End Childhood Lead Poisoning, and the Baltimore Housing Weatherization Program.

The primary goal of the program is two-fold. First, the push is . . . to reduce city-wide energy usage by 15% by the year 2015. The program will promote simple techniques to do this; i.e. turning lights off when leaving a room, setting the thermostat to 68 degrees in the winter and 78 in the summer, wrapping the home's hot water heater, etc.

Second, and in the words of Shaine Griffin, BNEC Program Assistant for our Greater Lauraville area: “We want to establish energy conservation as a social norm. We are empowering the participating communities encouraging them to join together in an effort to change their own energy habits.”

Central to this effort is the organization’s “pledge,” a simple vow to reduce energy usage. By taking the pledge, individuals gain access to a clearinghouse of information on local auditors, contractors, grants, and subsidies, as well as, and get this, low and/or no cost products and services.

In tandem with this, the organization provides everyone pledging with a free pledge kit -- full of energy-saving products. This kit is set to include: a reusable grocery bag, carbon monoxide alarm, toilet tank bank (man I need one of these for my 1931 Standard), an exterior-rated CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulb), draft stopper gaskets, and an energy-savings informational booklet.

Further, BNEC is recruiting 10-20 individuals (per neighborhood?) to act as “energy captains” within the targeted areas. These captains are asked to participate in a two-hour energy event, and are to act as leads in spreading the word.

These captains will not go unrewarded; they too will receive perks, including a visit from Civic Works Project Lightbulb. This service is essentially a free two-hour energy upgrade. It includes the installation of a carbon monoxide alarm, two faucet aerators, a low-flow showerhead, up to 15 CFL's, a hot water heater wrap, insulation for up to six feet of hot water pipe, and a check/adjustment of the refrigerator's and the hot water heater's temperatures.

The program, if successfully in these eight neighborhoods, will ultimately launch city-wide within the year.

*******

To take the pledge or to become a Neighborhood Energy Captain – Visit the website at http://www.baltimoreenergychallenge.com/ or call Reed Schuler at (410)-575-3413.

For those within the CARE and Greater Lauraville communities, contact Shaine Griffin at shaine.griffin@baltimoreenergychallenge.com or call (415) 999-8934.

For those within Park Heights and Roland Park, contact Whitney Petty at whitney.petty@baltimoreenergychallenge.com or call at (361)-798-6273.

For the remaining neighborhoods (this will soon be changing) contact Alice Kennedy at alice.kennedy@baltimoreenergychallenge.com or call at (410)-960-9803.

More Moxie:

Baltimore Office of Sustainability: http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/planning/sustainability/

Baltimore Community Foundation: http://www.bcf.org/

Baltimore City Civic Works: http://www.civicworks.com/

Project Lightbulb: http://www.civicworks.com/projectlightbulb.html

Rebuilding Baltimore Together: http://www.rebuildingtogetherbaltimore.org/

The Coalition the End Childhood Lead Poisoning: http://www.leadsafe.org/

Baltimore Housing Weatherization Program: http://www.baltimorehousing.org/ps_ohep.asp

the curious case of the exploding toilet :: an Update

2009-09-28T10:20:00.015-04:00

Click here for the incredible true story

I saw Steve last night. We had dinner at my mom’s, and ok – the toilet didn’t actually explode. To get you up to speed: about a month ago, and when Steve returned home from vacation, he had found that the toilet tank in his 2nd floor bathroom had developed a rather large crack.

This mysterious crack, as his tells me now, was approximately 1/8 inch wide and ran from above the flush handle, down and all the way around to the back of the tank’s base. It was large enough, as he estimates, to spill about a gallon of water every 15 minutes . . . . And over the course of week, it dumped enough water to cause lots and lots of damage.

$10,000 worth of damage, to be exact, or at least this is what the insurance company has given him for the repairs. The restoration is now underway.

It could happen

I mentioned in original post that he initially feared his insurance policy would not cover this type of damage. Luckily it did. And as Steve tells me, the insurance adjuster did in fact mention that this type of disaster is not as uncommon as you would think.

The toilet was, I confirmed, the original toilet in the house -- 25 years of dedicated service – just to fail like this. And I asked him – did you take pictures? Steve said, “No, no, I didn’t.”

I guess I really can’t blame him – and he now promises that he will send a pic of the now completely uncoupled piece of china. I guess, when disaster strikes, recording events is sometimes the last thing on one’s mind.

Nonetheless – and I asked him – do you think you will every go away on vacation again and not shut off the water main? His answer, “No way.”

Just today – he and the contractor he is working with are going to try to figure a solution for a set of first-floor joints (one almost as much as ¾ of a inch) that appeared to have deflected under the weight of inches of water. He has some options with this – all of which, as I discussed with him, are, well, challenging.

More Moxie –
Steve tells me that ServiceMaster – a leading damage remediation company, and recommended by his insurance carrier – did a fantastic job of drying the place out. A total of 12 air movers, plus fans, were used in his case: http://www.800respond.com/

the curious case of the exploding toilet :: a True Story

2009-08-24T10:20:00.041-04:00

Welcome Home

When Steve B. returned home from a seven-day vacation -- this is what he found:

Approximately 2" of water in his basement.
A saturated master bedroom carpet.
2 full sheets of sheetrock lying on his bed.
A recent wallpapering job peeled down . . . and . . .
He found the source of the damage listed above -- a toilet in his upstairs bath had apparently exploded.

Ok, it didn't explode -- the toilet, its tank had developed a rather large crack that ran from its base all the way up to the flush handle.

The worst nightmare

Steve lives in Owings Mills in a 2500+ sf contemporary that he had built in the '80s. This particular toilet sits in a second floor bath immediatedly above his master bedroom. Living alone, it is not used frequently.

At this point, we do not know why and how this happened. And I really do not want to speculate on it too much. My immediate feeling is -- it is possible that a small crack had gone unnoticed from the time the toilet tank bolts were cranked down.

Was this the original toilet? I am not sure.

The reality is that regardless of how or why it happened -- it happened. And if you ever wondered what kind of water a toilet inlet, unrestricted by a fill valve, can put out in a week -- this is your answer. Enough water to cause thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Did the crack begin to stretch before he left for vacation? I am not sure. My guess is - the condition appeared shortly after he pulled out of his driveway on his way to fun, sun, and relaxation.

Fred Flintstone

This has got me thinking -- how could this have been prevented? I mean, if you are like me -- five o'clock Friday the week before vacation, I am packed and ready to slide down the dinosaur's back.

Arrangements made for all ours animals -- with our cats, someone is always paid to come in, feed them, clean the litter, and to check for anything weird around the house.

With that little tidbid worked out -- mail on hold, windows and doors locked, security system engaged, and a few strategic lights turned on -- We are out the door without a second thought to the oven or the ironing board.

A Vacation Checklist

I did a quick search of both google and bing this morning, and came up with a few decent articles on "How to prepare your home for a vacation." Surprisingly few results were actually returned, but I will link below to a pretty comprehensive list provided by doityourself.com.

Outside of the basics (mail, security, yard, plants, pets, and plugs), these are the first two things that pop into my head. 1. Most traditional hot water heaters have a vacation setting on their thermostat -- why not use it. 2. I usually set my heating/cooling thermostat by season (override programmables) to a position that won't melt my pets in the summer and/or freeze my pipes in the winter.

And this is the advice I would typically go with. But Steve's situation has caused me to rethink my short list: What is stopping you from shutting off the house main when going away for anything more than a day or two? An irrigation system might have me revising this advice, but I think -- nothing. Only takes a twist of a valve.

Further -- where gas/propane/etc. applies -- why not shut the gas main off (only in the summer months of course)? Sure you will find yourself possibly re-lighting pilots, but -- most newer appliances are equipped with automatic pilots, and this process probably wouldn't take more than a half an hour at start up. Besides this inconvenience -- can you think of any reason not to?

Clean up

Yes, I was on vacation with Steve last week. He is my mom's long time boyfriend. And this is how I come across this story. Amazing really, and I know I (with my limited knowledge) have never heard anything like it.

When my wife and I got the call after we arrived home, all I could say was -- "Wow! Take pictures, call the insurance company, and start drying her out." The problem here -- Steve was not sure whether or not his policy would cover this kind of water damage. Double Wow!

Anyway, I will try to get my hands on pictures and keep you abreast of the restoration process.

More Moxie:

We have all heard or seen condensating toilets. Could this have been a factor advancing a small crack? Possibly -- but I will stop there. What do you think?

Preparing Your Home for a Great Vacation :: doityourself.com: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/hotelgetaways

Welcome to the 'hood

2009-08-24T09:34:00.015-04:00

The 'hood

I live in Baltimore, Maryland. Within certain circles, the area in which I live is known as the 'hood. Short for neighborhood, of course.

The 'hood encompasses an area of North East Baltimore framed on its north by Baltimore County. It is made up of the communities represented by the Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville, or NOGLI, and runs along the Harford and Bel Air Road corridors. I have written about Lauraville a handful of times here within the Agents of Moxie.

The 'hood is famous for its somewhat liberal views, its relatively diverse population, and its stock of great old houses.

Agents of Moxie :: 'the hood

As a name, it works -- thanks in part to the rep BMore has received from such fine theatrical works as the HBO series the Wire.

The 'hood, the blog, -- fills a need I have. It is a place for me to write stuff about houses that I have not worked on, and place to post stuff submitted by others.

My focus is not on the 'hood (as defined above) alone. I will include stories from all over Greater Baltimore (Harford, Howard, Anne Arundel, etc. Counties) -- hopefully some being generated through the "contact form" I placed on http://www.buildingmoxie.com/.

Please read and comment. BMoxie BMore!

More Moxie:

Great organization here :: Live Baltimore -- http://www.livebaltimore.com/neighborhoods/list/lauraville/

Lauraville Improvement Association --
http://www.lauravillemd.com/